DraftKings Early MLB Picks May 9: Is a Coors stack worth the money?
By Mike Marteny
DraftKings Early MLB Picks May 9: Is a Coors stack worth the money?
We have six early games on getaway day, and a couple of sure aces out there. Can we afford both of them? Should we? Who is a cheap option that could come up big? Let’s answer these questions by taking a look at some past stats.
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We have a high probability of rain in Chicago today, and the Windy City will live up to it’s name as well. It will blow as a wicked crosswind on the south side, but it will be blowing out to left in Wrigley. We also have a fairly stiff wind blowing in from right in Arlington.
We will provide you with several options to build your lineup here. Want to spend all your money on pitchers and play bargain bats? We will highlight who is worth the money. Want to punt arms and pay up for the big boppers? We can help you with that as well, and everything in between!
These tips are based mostly on past performance. This is a nice tool for building a lineup, but should not be the only pieces of information you use. Stacking against a bad pitcher is always a good idea!
For you first time players, if you would like a free $20 PGA entry for this weekend, use this link for the referral bonus with your first deposit of $5 or more! Then continue reading for tips on how to turn those DraftKings dollars into more!
Next: DraftKings Pitcher Plays
Top Tier:
Gerrit Cole ($13,400): At first glance, this doesn’t look so great for Cole. Oakland is hitting .267 against him in 75 at bats with ten runs, but a solid 24 strikeouts. However, if you take out Lucroy, the team is hitting just .204 with three runs and 22 strikeouts in 54 at bats. Lucroy could be out in the day game after a night game anyway, so Cole is still a great option. If Lucroy is in the lineup, I like Cole a little less.
Carlos Carrasco ($11,500): Carrasco has had a couple of poor outings lately, allowing 11 runs (10 earned) over his last two starts. At this point we do have to wonder if his back is still bothering him. This is a great place for Carrasco to get to back to form though. The Brewers are only hitting .208 off of Carrasco in 46 at bats with one run and seven strikeouts. However, that is a small sample size, and the last two starts are cause for concern.
Jose Quintana ($9,700): There aren’t a lot of times that I will trust Quintana, but this is one of them. The Marlins are hitting just .173 against Quintana in 52 at bats with no homers and eight strikeouts. Somehow, the Marlins have scraped together six runs in that span, but so long as Quintana can limit baserunners, he could have a nice afternoon. He also has a great chance at a win against Chen.
Middle Tier:
Francisco Liriano ($7,800): The healthy Rangers are hitting a decent .240 against Liriano in 50 at bats, but they only have one homer and five runs to go with 13 strikeouts. There is potential here against a Rangers lineup that isn’t all that great against left handed pitching. Facing Bartolo Colon can’t hurt either.
Trevor Williams ($6,700): Williams has not allowed more than three runs in any of his seven starts this year. That includes games against the Nationals, at Philadelphia, Colorado, and at Wrigley. It hasn’t all been easy matchups for Williams. Facing an A.L. lineup has his price down, and Williams likely wont get that many strikeouts, but there is good potential against a Chicago team that sometime struggles to score.
Bargain Pitchers:
Bartolo Colon ($5,600): Speaking of Colon, this is a great place to use him too. Big Sexy still puts together solid outings even though he doesn’t have a whole lot of upside anymore. He’ll get you a handful of strikeouts and six innings while allowing around three runs. If that sounds good to you, roll him out there against a Detroit team that is hitting just .167 off of Colon in 48 at bats with only one homer, three runs, and nine strikeouts.
Top Tier:
As much as Anthony Rizzo has struggled in the early going, I don’t quite trust him against lefties yet, even questionable ones. Kris Bryant is a much easier pick for a Cubs stack anchor.
21 year old Jaime Barria has had a couple of solid starts so far, but even Kershaw looks human most of the time at Coors Field. I like Arenado a lot here, and Ian Desmond is worth a look as well.
Middle Tier:
Yonder Alonso looks pretty good sitting there at $3,800. Edwin Encarnacion is never a bad pick either. Guerra may not have a horrid game, but I would be surprised if he held Cleveland under four runs.
I’m glad that Albert Pujols is still priced in the middle tier. That makes him an easy part of a stack, and even a decent standalone option if you just want some exposure to this game.
Alex Bregman is only $3,500, and he is 3-4 with a walk, a double, a run, and a RBI against Daniel Mengden already.
Bargain Shoppers:
Victor Martinez is cheap and batting cleanup with Miggy out. He is also 6-22(.273) with a walk, two doubles, a homer, two runs, and three RBI in his career against Bartolo Colon. Whatever Colon allows today, it’s a good bet that Martinez will be involved in it somehow.
Brian Anderson is 1-2 with a walk and three RBI so far against Jose Quintana. Yes, that was all this year in Miami. He is a nice cheap option with the wind blowing out at Wrigley.
Jonathan Lucroy is 9-21(.429) with a walk, two doubles, two runs, and seven RBI in his career against Gerrit Cole from their time in the N.L. Central. The rest of the A’s are a combined 11-54(.204) with only three runs and 22 strikeouts.
Reynaldo Lopez has been roughed up a little over his last two starts. His season totals are still impressive, and he has only given up more than two earned runs once all year, but teams may be figuring him out. It’s worth throwing a cheap Josh Bell out there to see if anything sticks.
Top Tier:
Some of the luster is starting to wear off of Junior Guerra. The 2.33 ERA still looks great, but he did give up five runs to Pittsburgh in his last start. Facing off against Cleveland is not a good formula for his success. I am all over Indians lefties here, starting with but not limited to Lindor and/or Kipnis.
Almost the entire Astros team has hit Daniel Mengden hard, but especially Altuve and Correa. Altuve is 7-14 with a double, a homer, and four RBI against Mengden. Correa is 5-10 with four walks, a double, a homer, four runs, and five RBI in his career against Mengden.
Middle Tier:
Ian Kinsler is a reasonably priced leadoff man for a lineup that could score a lot of runs. He is $800 cheaper than Andrelton Simmons. I would much rather have Kinsler for the price.
Ben Zobrist is 15-43(.349) with four walks, three doubles, a homer, seven runs, and three RBI in his career against Wei-Yin Chen from their time in the A.L. East together. It has not been a good trip to the Windy City for the Marlins. Expect that to continue today. Addison Russell is worth a look as well. A Cubs stack could be a solid contrarian stack to the Angels or Rockies.
Bargain Shoppers:
Starlin Castro could be worth a look against Jose Quintana back at Wrigley Field.
Dixon Machado and Jose Iglesias are decent punt options against Bartolo Colon if you don’t feel like paying for middle infielders.
Next: Top Outfield Plays
Top Tier:
The Rockies have a lot of left handed power in their outfield. I think I like Blackmon over Trout in today’s matinee, and yes, price does have a little to do with it. Good lower priced options in include Carlos Gonzalez and David Dahl with a rookie righty on the hill.
Half of the pitchers on this slate are cheaper than Mike Trout. HALF! Trout may just be worth it against lefty Tyler Anderson. I do like Justin Upton here too.
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Middle Tier:
Once again, I like almost all of the Pirates outfield. They are affordable, and everyone but Marte holds the platoon advantage over Reynaldo Lopez. Lopez hasn’t been bad enough to stack against, but if you need a stand alone slot, I like Dickerson and Polanco both.
Michael Brantley looks very good at $4,400 facing off against Junior Guerra. His low strikeout rate and high batting average make him a really good play in DFS most days.
Nomar Mazara is only 1-6 in his career against Francisco LIriano, but he has the Rangers’ only homer off of him so far.
Lorenzo Cain is 11-32(.344) with a walk, a triple, a steal, and three runs against Carrasco from his days in Kansas City. Cain is a solid option today if you want to try to capitalize on the recent struggles of Carrasco.
Bargain Shoppers:
Albert Almora is worth a look with a lefty on the mound so long as he starts. With Happ starting to heat up, Almora’s playing time is going to take a big hit, but against a lefty, Almora should still be in play.
Cameron Maybin is 2-8 with a walk, two doubles, and three runs against Jose Quintana. He is also a cheap way to pay up for some of those huge prices at Coors Field if you so choose.
Next: MLB DFS Picks and Pivots
Good luck out there, and check out our picks for FanDuel baseball, along with our PGA picks. Still in NBA mode? No worries, we have the NBA DFS covered for the playoffs as well!