DraftKings Early MLB Picks July 8: Newcomb should bounce back

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JULY 15: A general exterior view prior to the 85th MLB All-Star Game at Target Field on July 15, 2014 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

DraftKings Early MLB Picks July 8: Newcomb should bounce back

We have a top heavy Sunday as well with 11 of the 15 games taking place in the afternoon. Most of the action is on this slate, so get those lineups in on time! We lack the star power of yesterday with just one pitcher topping five figures, and I have serious reservations about using him. Which way should we go? Let’s check it out!

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We have another clean weather day with the only wind being the customary ones in San Francisco. There is also a 13 mph wind out to left in Minneapolis.

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. We have plenty of writers on here who give you relevant information no matter which site you play on!

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NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 15: Nathan Eovaldi #24 of the Tampa Bay Rays pitches in the first inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on June 15, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Sean Newcomb ($8,700): I’m pretty excited to see Newcomb’s price this low after he got dusted up by the Yankees. Hey, these things happen. Especially as a lefty against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. Newcomb is ripe for a rebound here against a Milwaukee team that has most of their power from the left side. I see Newcomb rebounding in a pretty big way here. Even after his hellish start against the Yankees, he still has a 3.11 ERA in 17 starts this year. There is very good potential here.

Nathan Eovaldi ($8,000): Eovaldi has world class heat, but he sometimes has troubles harnessing the power. Lately Eovaldi has learned the advantage of taking something off and inducing more grounders. Despite the lower strikeout totals, his overall DraftKings numbers are still really good. Eovaldi pitched well against the Nats and held his own against the Astros before dominating the Marlins. The Mets don’t scare me here at all. Oh, and the Mets are hitting just .158 off of him in 38 at bats with only one run.

Middle Tier:

Nick Kingham ($7,500): Kingham was destroyed by the Dodgers in his return to the majors, and while the Phillies certainly have the ability to do the same, I like Kingham’s 2.89 ERA in three home starts. I see him having a solid game here (think the bare minimum required for a quality start) at low ownership due to what the Dodgers did to him.

Jake Odorizzi ($7,300): Odorizzi has actually been hit pretty hard by the Orioles, but this offense isn’t looking all that great right now. Odorizzi has only allowed two runs on seven hits over his last two starts combined. Odorizzi is riding his best stretch of the season right now, so he seems to be catching the Orioles are the right time.

Luis Castillo ($7,100): The Cubs are only hitting .238 with one homer and three runs in 42 at bats against Castillo. With the wind mostly calm in Chicago today, it’s a pretty decent environment for pitching in Wrigley. There is risk involved here, but the strikeout potential for Castillo is enough to give him a look at this price.

Bargain Pitchers:

Ryan Borucki ($6,300): It takes some stones to use a lefty, especially a rookie lefty, against the Yankees. Come on, the Yanks even hit on J.A. Happ quite a bit yesterday. However, Borucki has better numbers than Happ had going into this. I’m not totally sold on Borucki, but I understand it. His price is reasonable, and so is the upside. You just have to realize the risk involved.

Austin Bibens-Dirkx ($4,600): ABD had a poor game against the Astros. Big deal. Many do. How quickly we forget the two strong games he had before that against the Padres and Royals. This Tigers team is much closer to those two, and Bibens-Dirkx gets a massive park upgrade heading to Detroit. His price is so low because the strikeouts are as well. Hey, for $4,600, I’ll take my 12-15 DraftKings points and be happy with it. The Detroit offense doesn’t scare me at all.

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 02: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals celebrates after hitting a home run in the eighth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Nationals Park on July 2, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /

Cleveland Indians vs. Brett Anderson:

Hey, Brett Anderson’s back! That’s great news for Cleveland. The Indians have more lefty power than from the right side, but if you think that Lindor and Brantley can’t hit a lefty, especially this one, you are sorely mistaken. However, I am more inclined to use Jose Ramirez, Edwin, and Yan Gomes here.

Washington Nationals vs. Trevor Richards:

Someone woke the Nationals offense, and boy, are they pissed! They have racked up 35 runs in the first three games of this series. Bryce Harper is an elite play with Juan Soto, Daniel Murphy, and Trea Turner not far behind. To complete the stack, I’m leaning towards Rendon over anyone else.

Minnesota Twins vs. Alex Cobb:

There is no part of me that trusts Cobb right now. Cobb’s 6.09 ERA over the last ten games is actually an improvement on his 6.53 season mark. The Twins don’t have great career numbers against Cobb, but Target Field is a hitter’s park. Make no mistake about it. Eddie Rosario, Brian Dozier, Joe Mauer, Logan Morrison, and Eduardo Escobar are all on my radar. Max Kepler and Robbie Grossman are worth a look as well.

Houston Astros vs. Lucas Giolito:

The Astros are hitting .440 in 25 at bats against Giolito with two homers and nine runs. Altuve and Reddick have the homers off of Giolito. George Springer, Gurriel, and Bregman are all worth a look here as well. You may even be able to get great value out of the cheaper plays like Marwin Gonzalez and Evan Gattis.

Chicago White Sox vs. Dallas Keuchel:

Hey, don’t laugh. The Sox racked up five runs on Charlie Morton yesterday. They are also hitting .311 with four homers and 14 runs in just 74 at bats. Jose Abreu has homered off of Keuchel twice. Avi Garcia and Kevan Smith have also taken him deep. Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada are worth a look here as well. This is a lineup loaded with right handed power. Keuchel is not in a very good spot today.

Boston Red Sox vs. Jake Junis:

The wheels have fallen off of Junis already. Now he is a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle with a florescent green peace sign painted on the door with no wheels in a junkyard. Or at least the Red Sox will make him look like that. Boston erupted for 15 runs last night. Don’t be shocked if they put up another dozen. Mookie, J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, and Benintendi are all worth a look if you are willing to pay up.

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 09: Brett Gardner #11 of the New York Yankees celebrates with teammate Aaron Judge #99 after they both scored on a double from teammate Giancarlo Stanton in the third inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on May 9, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Aaron Judge homered off of Happ yesterday, but it was Brett Gardner who did a bulk of the damage against the fellow lefty. Will the same fate await Borucki today? It’s worth rostering a Yankee or three to find out.

Kyle Schwarber has the homer against Luis Castillo. Anthony Rizzo is worth a look as well, but I’m not sure how much I want to invest against Castillo

Finally! Junior Guerra is getting some respect! I’m a fan, but there is no way that I’m paying nine grand for him against the Braves. Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies scare me way too much for that. Nick Markakis is a good hitter too, but I’m not so awestruck by these bats that I’m going to use them. I’m avoiding this whole thing.

If you don’t believe in Odorizzi’s mini hot streak, and you are not alone, Manny Machado has four homers and 11 RBI in 45 at bats against Odorizzi. Chris Davis has homered off of him three times, and Danny Valencia has taken him deep twice. So has Adam Jones. The best part? Only Machado costs more than $3,500.

I’m never going to say that Hoskins and Odubel Herrera are bad plays, but I’m in no hurry to put a bunch of Phillies in against Nick Kingham at home.

Jon Lester has poor career numbers against the red hot Reds anyway. Suarez and Duvall have both homered twice against Jon Lester. Even Billy Hamilton is 7-21 with two solo homers and six steals against Lester. Considering Hamilton stole three bags yesterday, he is a huge bargain at his price.

I still like Jesus Aguliar against the lefty Newcomb at home. If you are on a tight budget, try lefty specialist Hernan Perez for a very low price if you want exposure to this game.

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Middle Tier:

Domingo German did not pitch well in his first start against Toronto, and his 5.37 ERA on the season (6.26 on the road) doesn’t inspire hopes of him doing much better here. That said, this Toronto offense is mostly a nightmare right now. If you are going to bank on one good game from them, the smart money is on Teoscar Hernandez, Justin Smoak, and Yangervis Solarte.

Michael Fulmer‘s numbers at home are starting to match his road numbers. What that tells me is that he is a mostly average pitcher. Gallo and Mazara have homered off of Fulmer in their careers. It’s also worth riding Shin-Soo Choo‘s hot streak.

Nick Castellanos, come on down! You’re the only Tiger I trust today, even against an average pitcher!

The price on Shane Bieber is just too high, especially after he got rung up by the Royals in his last start. Bieber has been splendid at home, but the A’s are not a poor hitting team like they are often made out to be. To me, Khris Davis is the only one whose price is too high. Lowrie, Chapman, and Semien are all reasonably priced. So is Dustin Fowler batting leadoff.

Chris Flexen has been thumped in relief this year. While I don’t see the Rays doing an inordinate amount of damage here, I expect them to pick up a handful of runs. Kevin Kiermaier and Jake Bauers from the left side look pretty good today.

I’m really not in favor of the huge markup on Rick Porcello. Porcello has only had one start worthy of paying this price for in the last two months. I don’t like those odds. Moose and Salvador Perez are the only Royals that I really like here, but if you need to save a ton of cash, Alcides Escobar and Lucas Duda could be worth a look as well.

Bargain Shoppers:

Lost in the fact of the Marlins getting dismantled by the Nationals was the fact that this offense scored four runs on Max Scherzer. They are hitting .291 with five homers and 24 runs in just 124 at bats against Tanner Roark. Derek Dietrich and Martin Prado have both homered off of Roark in their careers. Justin Bour has three homers and eight RBI against Roark despite hitting just .172 in 29 at bats.

I see a lot of upside in players like Colin Moran and Elias Diaz against Drew Anderson here. Gregory Polanco and Starling Marte are worth a look as well if you are looking to ride more Pirates bats.

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