Monday, August 17th MLB Top Plays

Draftkings, Monday August 17th Top Plays

Its a new week in the world of DFS MLB and we’ve got some great matchups to take advantage of tonight… I’ll do my best to highlight a few players for you to utilize in your lineups this evening.

3B Miguel Sano ($4,400)

Sano has taken the league by storm since his call up earlier in the year. He’s really helped the Twins form a formidable Offense over the last few months, and while, the Twins as a team haven’t been playing all that well, Sano continues to rake… Today, he gets a nice matchup with the Yankees unproved RHP Bryan Mitchell, who is making a spot start today… Mitchell was roughed up by the White Sox in his last outing, giving up 4 ER and 7 hits in just 4 innings… I feel like Sano and the Twins will be a popular play today.

Miguel Sano vs RHP: .311 avg – .423 OB% – .439 wOBA – 46.3% Hard Contact Rate – 37% Fly Ball Rate

OF Nelson Cruz ($5,500)

By now, you should know the routine… Whenever Nelson Cruz gets a matchup vs a LHP just plug him into your lineups and move on… Cruz is putting up historic numbers vs LHP over the last 2 years and I don’t see him slowing down any time soon… He gets a somewhat tough matchup today, vs Cole Hamels of the Rangers, but, Hamels hasn’t been his former Cy Young self this year… Hamels has decent numbers overall, but, if you take a look at the Cheat Sheet for today, you’ll see that he’s given up 15 HR to RHB this Season… This makes me feel good about some of the Mariners right handed bats tonight vs the southpaw.

Nelson Cruz vs LHP: .339 Avg – .443 wOBA – .295 ISO – 40% FB Rate – 40% Hard Contact rate
Cole Hamels vs RHP: .254 Avg – .301 OB% – .300 wOBA – 32% FB Rate – 28.2% Hard Hit Rate

Cruz’s teammate, Franklin Gutierrez is quietly putting up some “Cruz like” numbers this Season vs Left Handed Pitching… The same rules apply to Gutierrez today, while Hamels is not normally a pitcher we like to pick on, I think some of the Mariners Right Handed Hitters are in good spots tonight as they simply Mash left handed pitching…

Franklin Gutierrez vs LHP: .345 Avg – .446 wOBA – .345 ISO – 31.8% FB Rate – 37% Hard Contact rate
Cole Hamels vs RHP: .254 Avg – .301 OB% – .300 wOBA – 32% FB Rate – 28.2% Hard Hit Rate

The funny thing about DFS MLB is that players like Mike Trout, are never really a “bad” play… On any given day, Mike Trout is arguably the best hitter in the game regardless of matchup. Today is one of those days where he actually has a great matchup, to go along with his great skills as a hitter. Trout gets a matchup tonight with the White Sox left hander Carlos Rodon, who has really struggled this year vs right handed hitters. Trout might be a sneaky option with the links of Cruz and others being more obvious “top plays” today.

Mike Trout vs LHP: .288 Avg – .390 OB% – .405 wOBA – .268 ISO – 38% FB Rate – 39% Hard Contact rate
Carlos Rodon vs RHP: .292 Avg – .396 OB% – .376 wOBA – 27% FB Rate – 33.2% Hard Hit Rate

If you’ve played DFS MLB since the start of the 2014 Season, you probably noticed a bit of a trend in regards to 1st Basemen Ownership % in Large GPP’s and even Cash Games… For some reason, Jose Abreu always seems to be underowned, even when he has a (+) Matchup… Well, tonight, he has that (+) matchup again, and I’m not sure if the trend will hold as this one seems obvious (at least to me)… Angels right hander Andrew Heaney while electric at times vs left handed hitters, has really struggled this year vs right handers… His overall statistics don’t appear to be that bad, only a .239 batting average allowed, and only a .294 OB% allowed, but, he doesn’t miss many bats vs right handed hitters, as you can tell by his minuscule 14% K Rate. When righties hit the ball, they hit it hard and that’s something I love to target… Abreu should tee off tonight, at least once and gets my DONG OF THE DAY badge of approval tonight.

Jose Abreu vs LHP: .314 Avg – .392 OB% – .406 wOBA – .245 ISO – 28% FB Rate – 39% Hard Contact rate
Adrew Heaney vs RHP: .239 Avg – .294 OB% – .292 wOBA – 44% FB Rate – 40.2% Hard Hit Rate

About the Author

CeeGee, has been an avid Season long fantasy player since the days of steno notebooks and weekly calls to the league commissioner to make lineup adjustments… Currently a Top 3% Grinder (according to RotoGrinders rankings) has been grinding Daily Fantasy Baseball since 2013… While a cash game player at heard, there have been Several Top 1% Tournament finishes in MLB, NBA and NFL since 2013