Identifying the top high salary and value catcher plays from around Major League Baseball for your July 18 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 Ross, Cubs (4,800): It is not a banner day for catchers around the fantasy landscape. Case in point: Ross, Chicago’s 39-year-old veteran backstop, is tied with Miami’s J.T. Realmuto for the highest salary. We’ll throw the veteran some love though, and point out that he sports an impressive .324 average against lefties this season. He’s worth a long look against New York Mets southpaw Steven Matz (7-5, 3.38 ERA).
Curt Casali, Rays (4,100): We did mention it was a weak day for catchers, right? Casali is hitting just .169 overall this season, but the average jumps to .224 against left-handers. The Rays are in Colorado to play the Rockies at Coors Field, which always increases fantasy value, and they’ll be facing a young left-hander in Tyler Anderson (1-3, 3.03 ERA).
High Value
Nick Hundley, Rockies (3,800): Hundley is a great play anytime he faces a left-handed pitcher, as he’s hitting .302 with a .581 slugging percentage against southpaws this season. As luck would have it, the Rockies host Tampa Bay and struggling lefty Drew Smyly (2-10, 5.47 ERA) on Monday. Players from this game, both Rockies and Rays, will likely be popular in DraftKings contests, but Hundley is worth a play anyway.
Jason Castro, Astros (3,100): Castro should only be deployed as a GPP punt play, given his low average and virtually non-existent power. That being said, he’s still hitting .239 with all six of his home runs this season against right-handers. He’s worth some consideration Monday against Oakland Athletics righty Kendall Graveman (5-6, 4.37 ERA).
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