Early DraftKings Picks August 17: Should You Pay For Pitching Or Stack Bats?

SAN DIEGO, CA – AUGUST 16: Clayton Richard #3 of the San Diego Padres reacts after getting the final out in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies at PETCO Park on August 16, 2017 in San Diego, California. The Padres won 3-0. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /

DraftKings Early MLB Picks For August 17

We have an even split between the DraftKings tournaments today with five games each in the early and the main tournaments. For the early one, we have two pitchers that are priced pretty high and in decent situations. Which one do we use? Do we use either of them? Let’s check out some stats!

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The money line yesterday was at 116.6 DraftKings points. My lineup just missed at 112.75. The goose egg from Rhys Hoskins didn’t help, but the rest of the lineup was solid enough. I really thought the Kole Calhoun pick would be enough.

The winning lineup was down to 183.3. He got the shutout from Clayton Richard to go with Urena and the big days from Yonder Alonso and Lorenzo Cain.

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

CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 03: Mike Clevinger #52 of the Cleveland Indians looks out from the Indians dugout before the start of the game against the New York Yankees at Progressive Field on August 3, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians defeated the Yankees 5-1. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images) /

P: Mike Clevinger ($7,600): The Twins are only hitting .245 against Clevinger with two homers and four runs in 63 at bats. The Minnesota offense has gone dormant again. Clevinger has a 3.35 ERA over his last ten starts, and that includes two blow ups at the end of July. It’s not that I don’t like Chris Archer or Jon Lester today. They both have favorable starts. It’s just that you can’t afford the good stacks if you pay up for pitching. On a day where there are solid options in the middle tier, I am stacking bats instead.

UPDATE: With the rainout last night, the Twins and Indians will move Wednesday’s starters back to game one. That takes Clevinger, a great bargain, out of play so I had to retool the whole lineup to fit in Carlos Carrasco at $11,100.

P: Chris Rowley ($5,900): Rowley had a very nice debut against the Pirates, and faces a team with a lot of strikeout upside for his second start. the Rays have the bats to get to him, but Rowley should pick up enough strikeouts to limit the damage. I’m not expecting a miracle from this price, but a solid start should be attainable.

C: Yan Gomes ($2,900): Stacking against Kyle Gibson is never a bad option. I’m a Twins fan. I know just how bad he can be. However, the Indians in particular have torched Gibson to the tune of .344 with ten homers and 30 runs in 160 at bats. Gomes is 9-20 with a walk, two doubles, two homers, four runs scored, and four RBI off Gibson in his career.

1B: Edwin Encarnacion ($5,400): Edwin is heating up, slugging five homers in his last five games. He has also feasted off of Gibson, hitting 6-15 with four walks, a double, three homers, four runs scored, and eight RBI against him in his career. Even if you don’t stack Indians, Edwin is a great standalone play.

2B: Jason Kipnis ($3,900): Remember what I said yesterday about Kipnis being too good for his price? Well, the bargain potential goes down here, but he did hit a homer last night. Kipnis is also 9-20 in his career against Gibson with eight walks, two doubles, a solo homer, five runs scored, and two steals. A return on your investment again tonight is very likely with Kipnis.

3B: Eugenio Suarez ($3,700): Making room for Carrasco makes it virtually impossible to put both Freeman and Blackmon in your lineup. I don’t like any of the other lower tier pitchers with Clevinger off the table, so the smart play is to downgrade here. Suarez is hitting .333 with three homers and six RBI over his last ten games, so he seems a bit underpriced.

SS: Trevor Story ($3,700): The good part is that with no good third base options that are significantly better than Suarez, I can take $200 more and upgrade to Story over Marte. This could be a huge upgrade. Story racked up 41 DraftKings points last night!

OF: Charlie Blackmon ($5,800): Blackmon easily has the most potential of the day. He hits, he runs, and he hits for power. Lucas Sims has a 5.71 ERA in his three starts so far, and considering that his debut was a solid start, it’s safe to say that Sims is in a bit of a rough patch. Blackmon is hitting .359 with four doubles, a triple, two homers, two steals, and three RBI over his last ten games. He is also hitting .390 at home this year. That is not a typo. Pay up. He’s worth it.

OF: George Springer ($5,000): A road trip to Houston should help Patrick Corbin some. The bad part is that he finds one of the best offenses in the league there. Springer is perfect against Corbin so far with a single, a double, a homer, and four RBI in three plate appearances. Look for Springer to take advantage of him once again.

I still like Springer, but the whole Carrasco thing is at play. I elected to import my full Cleveland stack from last night. That means Bradley Zimmer gets the nod in the outfield.

OF: Billy Hamilton ($4,200): Hamilton is a frequent visitor to my lineup against the Cubs. He is 7-16(.438) with a double, two solo homers, five runs scored, and six steals in his career against Jon Lester. Lester has been better at Wrigley, but you can argue the same thing for Hamilton. If he gets on, he’s running. That’s good enough for me!

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!