It would be easy to recommend Rockies and Astros in Coors Field and even easier to recommend Yankees against a crappy lefty like Jason Vargas. That’s not our goal here though, as we want to give guys you some value plays. Getting those Yankees, Astros and Rockies into your lineup will be critical but you need some cheap guys to fit them in. That’s why every bat in this article will be below $3,500 to make things much easier for you!
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Pitcher
Matt Strahm (SD): $7,600 vs. SF
The 4.94 ERA is going to make a lot of DFS owners stray away but I absolutely love Strahm in this spot. Let’s start with that ERA, as Strahm has been much better than that number would indicate. In fact, the Padres lefty has a 4.19 career FIP and a 1.18 WHIP. That pairs beautifully with his 26 percent K rate and it’s simply a case of bad luck killing his ERA. That poor luck should end here, with Strahm facing one of the worst offenses in baseball. In fact, the Giants rank 28th in runs scored, 26th in xSLG and 29th in wOBA. That’s why we’re looking as Strahm as a -165 favorite in a game with a total of 8.
There are a lot of pitchers at $10,000 or below that I like on this slate too and they include: R. Stripling vs. ARI ($6,500), Jack Flaherty vs. SEA ($7,900), James Paxton at NYM ($8,700) and Matthew Boyd at CWS ($10,000),
Catcher/First Base
Eric Thames (MIL): $3,000 at CIN
We’re going to go over a lot of surprising prices and this is definitely one of them. Thames is actually above $4,500 on DraftKings and that tells you everything you need to know about him. This gargantuan man has been mashing righties since joining the Brewers and FanDuel is clearly slow to react to that fact. Since 2017, Thames has a .534 SLG and .896 OPS against right-handed pitching while providing three doubles and two homers over his last four games in total.
Second Base
Scooter Gennett (CIN): $3,000 vs. MIL
Gennett just made his season debut last week and it’s just a matter of time before he gets closer to $4,000. We’re talking about a guy with a .508 SLG and .859 OPS between 2017-18, as he’s simply one of the best second basemen in the game. What we love here is that he gets to face a righty, with Gennett posting a .903 OPS in that same span against right-handers. It happens to be a weak righty too, with Anderson pitching to a 4.42 ERA and 1.39 WHIP this season.
Third Base
Jose Ramirez (CLE): $3,200 at KC
Ramirez has been one of the biggest disappointments in the league this season for season-long owners but we’re playing DFS here! What happened before really doesn’t matter and we’re going to bet on J-Ram outperforming this price tag. The recent results are what’s really encouraging, with the Cleveland third baseman hitting .288 over his last 14 games en route to an .858 OPS. The thing that makes him enticing on this slate is that he gets to face Jakob Junis, who’s pitching to a 5.23 ERA and 1.47 WHIP. Ramirez is typically better against righties too, posing an OPS north of .900 against them since 2016.
Shortstop
Chris Taylor (LAD): $2,900 vs. ARI
This price made my jaw drop to the floor and it simply makes no sense. Taylor is easily one of the hottest hitters in the game right now and for some reason, FanDuel decided to drop him $700. Moving out of Coors Field always drops prices but Taylor’s hot stretch extends way longer than that. In fact, Taylor has nine doubles, three homers, seven walks, 10 runs scored and 16 RBI en route to a .431 AVG and 1.268 OPS over his last 15 games. That doesn’t even take into consideration that he faces one of the worst pitchers on this slate and we’ll go over that more in our next write-up.
Outfielders
Joc Pederson (LAD): $3,300 vs. ARI
We left you hanging in the Taylor write-up, so let’s go over why we love the Dodgers. Taylor Clarke will be toeing the rubber for the Diamondbacks and that’s a Dodgers fan’s dream. The Arizona righty is currently pitching to a 6.10 ERA and 1.51 WHIP this season. That’s why we love Taylor and Pederson, as Joc should be in his usual spot atop this lineup. There’s a reason he bats leadoff against righties too, with Pederson generating a .526 SLG and .869 OPS against right-handers so far this season.
Yasiel Puig (CIN): $3,300 vs. MIL
If you’ve been following me, you know that I love Puig. This dude is simply a fantasy stud and he does everything possible to contribute. While he got off to a nightmare start this season, recent results are really promising. Over his last 15 games, Puig has six homers, four steals, 11 runs scored and 12 RBI en route to a .352 AVG and 1.204 OPS. That’s all you can ask for from someone in this price range, especially against a guy like Anderson.
Jacoby Jones (DET) $3,100 at CWS
Jones has been the leadoff hitter for the Tigers for a couple of weeks now and it’s done wonders for his fantasy value. Over his last 10 games, Jones has five doubles and an .897 OPS. That’s pretty surprising from a guy who’s struggled throughout his career but it squarely puts him in play in a matchup like this. Detroit will actually be one of the sneakiest stacks on the board, facing a pitcher who’s posting a 6.12 ERA and 1.58 WHIP. That makes it hard to understand why Reynaldo Lopez is even in a rotation and it definitely puts the Tigers leadoff hitter in play with the platoon advantage in his favor.
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Joel Bartilotta is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Joel, check out his archive and follow him @BartilottaJoel.
