Welcome Back!
We are back with the stud and steal of the day for MLB DFS! Looking at tonight’s slate of fifteen baseball games, it can be daunting to decide who deserves a place in your lineup. Knowing which star player is worth the money can be the difference between a winning night and one that ends in failure. However, finding the hidden gems that perform well are equally as important because they can let you spend more on your starting pitchers. This article will touch on one expensive player who is primed to have a big night, and one cheap player whom you wouldn’t normally play but is a great play tonight in MLB DFS.
Past Plays:
6/27:Mike Trout:3/4, 1 HR, 2B, 2R’s 1 RBI
6/28: Josh Donaldson:2/5, 3B,BB,3 RBI’s,1R
6/28:Giancarlo Stanton :3/5, 1 HR, 2 1B, 3 RBI’s, 1 R
7/4:Kris Bryant: 1/1, 2 BB’s, 1 HR, 2 RBI’s
7/4:Travis d’Arnaud: 3/4, 1 HR, 2 1B’s, 2 RBI’s, 2 R’s
7/5:Buster Posey: 1/3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB
-All Star Break-
7/25:Albert Pujols: 3/5, 3 1B’s, 1 R, 4 RBI’s
7/28: Maikel Franco:1/5, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI’s
Next: The Stud of the Day
MLB DFS: The Stud of the Day: Jose Altuve, 2B, ($5,600 DK, $4,100 FD)
While there are certainly bigger players you could choose to headline your lineup, today’s stud of the day is the Astros 5’6″ second baseman Jose Altuve. While Altuve rakes against both lefties and righties in terms of average, 13 of his 18 home runs this year have come against righties and he faces off against a below average one in R.A. Dickey. While Dickey isn’t the traditional pitcher as a knuckleballer, Altuve does have a home run off of him in 4 career at bats and I like his chances tonight.
Altuve vs. RHP: .354 AVG, 20 2B’s, 13 HR’s, 58 R’s, 48 RBI’s
These numbers would lead you to believe that Altuve is one of the top 5 hitters in all of baseball. Spoiler alert: he is. The only thing that had been missing from his game was decent power, and this year he has completely changed that. He has blown by his previous career high of 15 HR’s and already has 18 with close to 60 games left in the season.
While there are a lot of cases of a player going through a power surge at the plate, what makes Altuve unique from a fantasy perspective is that his stolen base numbers are just as high as they were last season. The added power hasn’t taken away any of Altuve’s speed, which is huge considering that you get 5 points per stolen base on Fanduel and Draftkings.
You can’t get much safer than Altuve tonight, I would expect at bare minimum to get at least 10 points on both sites. Look to stack him with fellow right handed hitters George Springer and Carlos Correa against Dickey.
Next: The Steal of the Day
MLB DFS: The Steal of the Day: Jose Abreu, 1B, ($3,600 DK, $2,900 FD)
Today’s steal comes from the Chicago White Sox, none other than slugging first baseman Jose Abreu. Now the White Sox hitters are normally underpriced on Fanduel and Draftkings because on a normal day most people wouldn’t choose to roster them. This, however, is not a normal day. The White Sox get to face off against Anibal Sanchez of the Detroit Tigers, who they have had a lot of success against. Jose Abreu in particular.
Abreu vs. Sanchez: 8/14, .571 AVG, 2 2B’s, 2 HR’s, 7 RBI’s
While I tend to stay away from batter vs. pitcher stats for the stud of the day, when you’re trying to find a value hitter I would heavily recommend using all of the available data. In a case like this, you have a player in Abreu who has a ton of power, but has struggled at the plate this season (.269 avg). Since he has hit Sanchez extremely well in his career, I can still get amazing value, especially on Fanduel, where the $2,900 price tag is astronomically low.
Not only would I get Jose Abreu in my lineups, I would even think about using a White Sox stack in a GPP as a contrarian play that could take down the whole thing if the bats come through. Look for Adam Eaton and Melky Cabrera as two cheap outfield options who have also had success against Sanchez in their careers.
Best of luck to everyone playing tonight and make sure you have Abreu and Altuve in your lineups!