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DraftKings daily picks: Fantasy baseball first base-July 22

By Andrew C. Lovell

Jul 21, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (34) hits a home run against the Minnesota Twins during the eighth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 21, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (34) hits a home run against the Minnesota Twins during the eighth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports /
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Identifying the top high salary and value first baseman plays from around Major League Baseball for your July 22 DraftKings lineup.

Our goal is to help you win DraftKings contests with consistently strong lineups. To accomplish that, we’ll be highlighting some higher salary players worth paying up for, and some value picks that will help you save salary in key areas. These picks are specifically for DraftKings lineups, so all references to prices and fantasy points are based on DK figures.

As always, be sure to double-check final MLB lineups and monitor weather situations before locking in your DFS lineups.

High Salary

David Ortiz, Red Sox (5,500): The Boston lineup made life tough for Tyler Duffey on Thursday and its likely to do the same to his Minnesota Twins teammate Kyle Gibson on Friday night. Ortiz went 3-for-5 with a home run and 26 DK points on Thursday. Similar numbers are possible on Friday. Ortiz is hitting .349 with a silly .743 slugging percentage against righties this season. Start Ortiz with confidence.

Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays (5,400): Mark Trumbo and Todd Frazier better look out — Encarnacion is quickly closing in on the top spot for home runs. Trumbo and Frazier both have 28, but Encarnacion is up to 26 after launching long balls in three of his last four games. He’s reached double-digit DK points in four of his last six games and his 86 RBIs lead the majors. Encarnacion is a force, and Seattle Mariners lefty James Paxton (2-4, 4.56 ERA) is in the line of fire.

High Value

Chris Davis, Orioles (3,600): Davis is almost always best suited for GPPs, given his home run-or-bust approach at the plate. That being said, he’s an interesting choice Friday against Cleveland Indians right-hander Trevor Bauer (7-3, 3.36 ERA). Bauer has been uneven in his last two starts, and if that continues Friday, the Orioles could pile up some runs against him. At this discounted price, “Crush” is an attractive gamble.

Brandon Belt, Giants (3,300): The lack of home runs is concerning for Belt, who hasn’t gone yard since June 19. He’s never been a slugger, but surely more than 10 home runs by late July was a reasonable expectation. Regardless, Belt has a great chance to add to his total Friday with the short porch in Yankee Stadium. The matchup with Masahiro Tanaka (7-2, 3.15 ERA) is tough, but he’s too cheap to ignore completely.

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