Happy weekend, folks. To ring in Saturday, there’s a whopping 10-game featured slate on DraftKings. With so many options across the board, we’re taking a look at the best value picks and bargain plays to fill out your DFS fantasy baseball lineups.
There are plenty of value options to be found. Here are my three favorites from tonight’s action:
- Diamondbacks SP Kohl Drake ($6,200) at Guardians
- Brewers SS Cooper Pratt ($3,600) at Angels
- Tigers OF/SS Javier Baez ($2,800) at Athletics
Set your DraftKings MLB DFS lineups here: MLB $125K Relay Throw [$25K to 1st]
SP Kohl Drake, Arizona Diamondbacks at Cleveland Guardians, $6,200
This is a risk-reward pick, but there’s reason to believe that perhaps rookie Kohl Drake can succeed in just his third MLB start. The argument simply hinges on the opposing lineup’s incredibly poor splits against left-handed pitchers. The Guardians slash just .221/.309/.339 with a .649 OPS against southpaws this season, and they’re dead last in ISO at .119 in the split as well. That could be meaningful alongside a .271 BABIP against such arms. So, we look towards the left-handed Drake today even despite a small MLB sample. The Diamondbacks’ No. 12 prospect, he went 5.0 innings in his debut for the club with one earned run allowed on four hits and two walks, striking out five against the A’s. He was hit around by the Nationals in his second outing, conceding four earned runs in 4.0 innings, but that included a pair of homers among his five hits. A poor showing against the best offense in baseball isn’t something to really sweat yet, so an outcome in the range of 15 fantasy points like in his debut is the ceiling we’re shooting for in a positive matchup.
SS Cooper Pratt, Milwaukee Brewers at Los Angeles Angels, $3,600
He’s not super cheap by any means, but Cooper Pratt comes in a little towards the lower end of the spectrum in terms of price. The output, however, does not. He averages 7.6 FPPG this year and has been on a tear over the last week, notching double-digit points in four of his last six outings with totals of 16, 16, 14, and 29. He’s hit just one home run over that span as well, so it’s not even like he’s homer-happy to make those numbers happen. The Brewers’ No. 3 prospect is slashing .288/.379/.396 for a .775 OPS this year, stealing 10 bases as well since his MLB debut back on June 16. He doesn’t bring much power, but high OBP is what we really like to see when combined with his elite speed on the basepaths. Pratt is also on the positive side of his own splits against RHP Jose Soriano, slashing .329/.422/.471 for an .893 OPS against right-handers.
OF/SS Javier Baez, Detroit Tigers at Athletics, $2,800
He missed a solid chunk of the season, but Javier Baez recently returned to the Tigers’ lineup just a few games ago and has been quite awesome in a very small sample. He’s gone 8-for-13 with a double, five runs, and five RBI. His fantasy outputs over those games read 19, 14, and 13. He averages 6.4 FPPG this season overall and slashes .304/.323/.435 for a respectable .758 OPS, which is about as much as you can ask for at this price point. Dual-position eligibility in the outfield or at shortstop is a plus, and he gets a nice little matchup against the Athletics at the hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park. RHP Jack Perkins gets the start with a 6.45 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP and 80 strikeouts across 68.1 IP. Baez has kept his own K% down this year at 17.7% and he brings a .313/.329/.433 line for an OPS of .762 against right-handers.
