Early DraftKings MLB Picks For August 9: Should We Pay For The Top Pitchers?

ATLANTA, GA – AUGUST 08: Odubel Herrera #37 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts with Maikel Franco #7 after hitting a two-run homer in the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park on August 8, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

DraftKings Early MLB Picks For August 9

We have five afternoon games today, so we have more to choose from than usual on these days. There are two clear top pitching options. Should we try to go cheaper and stack bats, or are there cheap bats that can produce? Let’s check some stats!

More from DFS

The money line last night was the highest of the season at 151.2 DraftKings points. All three of my lineups made it in, with the published ones getting 155.1 and 164.8 respectively. This was largely to do with the successful Phillies stack and Chris Sale and Corey Kluber.

The winning lineup was up to 281.15, the second highest total of the season. He managed to use both Sale and Kluber. The lineups I tried with those two I didn’t like, but he made it work with cheap Twins and cheap Phillies.

These picks are based mostly on statistical analysis . If you have a gut feeling, then by all means, follow that. This is not an exact science. The best lineups usually have a mix of proven stats and hot players. Check out this post from Matt McGarvey for great tips about whether to use a hot player in DFS or not.

For you first time players, if you would like $10 worth of free entry tickets, use this link for the referral bonus! Then continue reading for tips on how to turn that $10 into more!

Next: DraftKings Early Lineup

BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 04: Starting pitcher Kevin Gausman #39 of the Baltimore Orioles throws a pitch to a Detroit Tigers batter in the first inning during a game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 4, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /

P: Madison Bumgarner ($12,600): The Cubs are hitting .250 against MadBum in his career, but he has allowed just one homers in 88 at bats, to Jason Heyward of all people. Heyward has also driven in five against Bumgarner. The rest of the team has four. If he can stay away from Heyward, he should be able to live up to this lofty price tag this afternoon.

P: Kevin Gausman ($9,900): Gausman’s career numbers against the Angels aren’t that great. They have hit .317 against him with three homers. However, two of those are by the slumping Luis Valbuena, and Gausman has been great lately. Not just good…..great. He has allowed just two runs over 26.2 innings over his last four starts while striking out 32. It’s not like he is beating up on bottom feeders either. Those starts came against the Rays, Tigers, and Rangers twice. The Angels are worse than all four of them.

C: Bruce Maxwell ($2,500): The pickup of Dustin Garneau could result in a strict platoon behind the plate for the A’s. At any rate, Maxwell sat last night, so he is a go for the afternoon game against Yovani Gallardo. Gallardo has done pretty well against Oakland in his career, but he still has a 5.35 ERA on the season. The A’s hitters are low priced enough to make a bit of a stack against Gallardo this afternoon.

1B: Chris Davis ($3,400): Troy Scribner is making just his second major league start, so he has no past history. All I know is that this price is way too low for what Davis is capable of. If you pay up for pitching like I did, you have to go cheap on hitting. My favorite targets are established veterans who have a favorable matchup. Davis fits that bill.

2B: Robinson Cano ($4,000): Cano is 3-6 with two homers and three RBI so far against Jharel Cotton. Cotton has been able to fool some major league hitters, but Cano is not one of them. His price is too low this afternoon.

3B: Joey Gallo ($4,300): Rafael Montero was serviceable in his last start, giving up four runs at Coors Field. This is another tough matchup for him. Gallo has slugged fiver homers in his last ten games, and is showing no signs of slowing down. Montero doesn’t allow a lot of homers, but all he needs to do is make one mistake to Gallo and it wont matter.

SS: Marcus Semien ($3,400): Semien is starting to come around after missing over two months of the season. His price is still low enough that he is worth taking a chance on, especially on a short slate like this one at a shallow position.

OF: Yoenis Cespedes ($3,500): Cespedes also falls into my criteria of an established veteran in a good position. The Rangers have not announced a starter yet, but it wont be Nolan Ryan or Cliff Lee, so I like the matchup for Cespedes.

OF: Jarrett Parker ($3,200): Parker has been on an absolute tear since coming off of the DL on Thursday. He has double digit DraftKings points in all five games so far. In the only game in which he only had one hit, it was a home run. I am riding him until he cools off.

OF: Mark Canha ($3,100): Canha should get all the at-bats he can handle at first base with Yonder Alonso now in Seattle. Canha hit 16 homers as a rookie two years ago, so he has solid pop in his bat. One of those just happened to be off of Gallardo, for those of you that follow past stats.

Next: DraftKings MLB Main Slate Picks

Good luck out there, and check out our picks for FanDuel baseball, along with our PGA picks. We also have plenty of NFL stuff to get you ready for football!