DraftKings MLB Picks: Top Bargain plays for August 23rd.
Finding value can be the ever so elusive, “Holy Grail.” Making cap room for pitchers and big bats can make all the difference in a lineup. With a little elbow grease in the research department, I’m hoping to provide a handful of players that could provide critical salary relief for tonight’s DraftKings MLB picks.
Tonight’s slate is a full one, featuring 15 games. There are no games that stand out as the clear-cut favorite to score the most points, but near the top are, Baltimore (5.2), Chicago White Sox (5.1), Arizona (5), Chicago Cubs (4.9), Toronto (4.9). The pricing is very soft tonight and offers many value plays. I couldn’t find one singular team that stood out as underpriced, but again I’ll try to update my top stacks on Twitter (Hopefully you played BAL and ATL last night). In order to pay up for the likes of Bumgarner and Arrieta, here is a list of players who may provide salary relief.
Next: Value Batters
Hyun-Soo Kim – BAL (OF) – $3900
Fire up the “Kim” machine. He’s facing a righty tonight and is my favorite play on the slate.
Omar Narvaez – CWS (C) – $2700
The White Soxs have one of the highest projected team totals and Narvaez is simply too cheap. He’s much better against righties, where he holds a .437 wOBA split. At this price, his place in the order doesn’t matter.
Steve Pearce – BAL (1B/2B) – $3300
Pearce, a righty, has fairly neutral splits and he’s much too cheap for his team’s projection. We’ll be looking for Pearce to be batting sixth or better.
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Justin Morneau – CWS (1B) – $3300
Morneau will be on the good side of a righty vs. lefty splits when he faces Thompson tonight. Morneau holds a .369 wOBA against righties and will bring value if he’s batting fifth or better.
Tommy Pham – STL (OF) – $3800
If you’re a fan of playing lead off batters, Pham is your guy. St. Louis has a favorable projection and if Pham is leading off, he provides some value.
Dexter Fowler – CHC (OF) – $3900
Similar to Pham, Fowler gains value from batting lead off on a team with a top run projection.
Ezequiel Carrera – TOR (OF) – $2900
Carrera will face Skaggs, a lefty. Carrera has reverse splits where he holds a .402 wOBA. He’s much too cheap for Toronto’s projected 4.9 runs.
Michael Saunders – TOR (OF) – $3200
Saunders is your power option from the bargain bin tonight. Like Carrera, he’s extremely cheap for Toronto’s projection and holds reverse splits. Saunders crushes lefties with a .420 wOBA and a .327 ISO. I like Carrera and Saunders in tournaments as they may be low owned due to their reverse splits.
Next: DraftKings MLB Plays August 23
Note: Keep in mind that recommended plays are based off of early information and will be subject to change as lineups are released. Some cheaper players are more suspect to be scratched from the lineup or bumped down the lineup order. Follow me on Twitter @MattMcGarvey215, where I’ll try to update these plays the best I can!