DraftKings MLB Picks July 10: Verlander or Bauer?

BOSTON, MA – JUNE 07: The Fenway Park facade displays a Pride flag in honor of Pride night at Fenway Park before a game between the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox on June 07, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Picks July 10: Verlander or Bauer?

We have a full 15 game tournament for the first time in weeks, but don’t get too excited. There are only three pitchers priced in the five figures, and one of them is pitching at Coors Field. However, the middle tier is pretty strong, and there are bargains to be had in both pitchers and hitters. Let’s dig them out!

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There may be a little rain in Boston in the late innings, but my guess is that the game completes before the worst of it shows up.

There is a 12 mph wind out to center at CitiField, which could be worth watching. There is a 14 mph wind blowing straight in from center in Cleveland, which could keep runs down. The crosswind at Coors shouldn’t affect things much, and the customary wind out to center in San Francisco is a non factor once again.

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!

For you first time players, if you would like $20 in free DraftKings dollars, 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

OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 29: Trevor Bauer #47 of the Cleveland Indians pitches against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on June 29, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Trevor Bauer ($13,600): Bauer has held the Reds to a .222 average with two homers and three runs with ten strikeouts in 36 at bats. My reservations here are the same as they were with Clevinger last night. The Reds offense is rolling right now. Bauer may slow them down, but he likely wont dominate to the point that we need him to for this price. I’m not going to play him just for the four free points for opposing Sal Romano.

Justin Verlander ($13,300): The A’s are only hitting .224 against Verlander with four homers and seven runs in 67 at bats with 16 strikeouts. Those are pretty solid numbers, but not dominant numbers that you want to see from a pitcher you are spending this much on. Cole bucked his trend against the A’s last night and turned in a dominant performance. Can Verlander do the same?

Sean Manaea ($9,200): The lack of strikeouts is a bit concerning, but Manaea has 36.8 DraftKings points in two starts against Houston this year. On top of that, Montas shut down the potent Astros last night. Now, the Astros do hit lefties better, but Manaea has been marginally better on the road this year. The numbers are good, but the risk is really high for someone in this price range. Manaea has held the Astros to a .230 average with four homers and 12 runs in 139 at bats, but he does only have 25 strikeouts.

Middle Tier:

Rich Hill ($8,600): I usually don’t condone using HIll for a wide variety of reasons. Blister issues are only a small part. There is plenty of risk here this year with Hill posting an unsightly 4.56 ERA in ten starts. However, the Padres are hitting just .169 with two homers and four runs in 71 at bats with 29 strikeouts against Hill. If you are willing to take the risk, there could be a handsome reward.

Garrett Richards ($8,400): Richards has already faced Seattle three times this season, picking up 59.1 DraftKings points in total. Those are solid numbers, and worth riding Richards here as a middle tier SP2. He picked up 25 DraftKings points last week in his first start back against, you guessed it, the Mariners. Seattle only has three homers and eight runs in 122 at bats with 32 strikeouts against Richards. That’s good enough for me!

Enyel De Los Santos ($7,500): It’s usually too risky to use a pitcher in his major league debut, especially on a full 15 game slate. However, de los Santos is making his debut against the Mets. He posted a 1.89 ERA in 95.1 innings for the AAA Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. There is a lot of upside here for de los Santos. The Mets are really struggling for the most part.

Aaron Slegers ($7,300): Slegers made his first major league start against the Royals earlier this season and did pretty well. A better start against the Orioles last week earned him another crack at the Royals. Slegers isn’t going to strike out hardly anyone, but he’ll get you outs. That said, his price is likely too inflated, even against the Royals, due to limited strikeout potential.

Bargain Pitchers:

Jeremy Hellickson ($6,700): Some will shy away because the Pirates erupted against Jefry Rodriguez last night. Hellickson is a better pitcher. The Pirates are hitting just .148 against Hellickson in 81 at bats with only two homers and four runs to go with 17 strikeouts. Even those strikeout totals are more than Hellickson’s career rate. We saw Hellickson rack up 19 DraftKings points on the Pirates earlier this year. I expect another solid start here as well.

Ryan Yarbrough ($5,600): The Rays have not announced who will relieve Matt Andriese tonight, but it should be Yarbrough’s turn. If it is, look out! Yarbrough could rack up a ton of points against this struggling offense. Just make sure it’s confirmed before you roll Yarbrough or anyone else out there.

Andrew Cashner ($5,000): Cashner has only given up four runs in 12 innings against the Yankees this year, picking up 32 DraftKings points in those two starts. Not bad for $5,000. Cashner’s numbers, especially the 1.56 WHIP, mean that things can go awry at any minute, but his career numbers against the Yankees are also pretty good. Despite the .261 average in 88 at bats, the Yankees only have two homers and six runs.

BOSTON, MA – JUNE 26: J.D. Martinez #28 high fives Mitch Moreland #18 of the Boston Red Sox after hitting a solo home ru in the sixth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Angels at Fenway Park on June 26, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /

Boston Red Sox vs. Yovani Gallardo:

Many people were cussing their Red Sox stack after Minor only gave up two runs through six innings last night. However, Minor has had strong numbers all season. You can’t say the same for Gallardo. The Red Sox are hitting .260 with two homers and ten runs in 96 at bats. Those aren’t numbers to write home about, but this offense can get going at any time. Steve Pearce was the star of the Sox last night, and he has homered off of Gallardo in the past. So has Mookie if you are willing to pay up. I also like Bogaerts, J.D., Benintendi, and Moreland tonight.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Drew Gagnon:

Going to the other side of this, I’m all for stacking Phillies against 28 year old Drew Gagnon is his major league debut. Gagnon has a 4.40 ERA (4.67 at AAA) in the minors this year. They don’t have hitters like Cesar Hernandez, Rhys Hoskins, Odubel Herrera, and Maikel Franco in the minors. Nick Williams is also worth a look as a low priced lefty here.

Cleveland Indians vs. Sal Romano:

Romano has a 6.67 ERA in his last ten starts, so he is trending the wrong way right now. He also has a 6.11 ERA on the road. Cleveland didn’t do much offensively last night, but they should make up for it here. I’m high on Ramirez and Lindor of course, but cheaper options like Brantley and Jason Kipnis are worth using as well. I also think I like Yonder Alonso over Edwin at 1B.

St Louis Cardinals vs. Dylan Covey:

Covey has been wrecked lately, even at home. He has lost 18.4 DraftKings points over his last three starts. The one before that he netted a whopping 0.1 points, but at least he didn’t lose anything. The Cardinals are a solid but unspectacular offense. They could look spectacular for one night. I’m highest on Carpenter, but Tommy Pham, Yadier Molina, Paul DeJong, and Marcell Ozuna are all in play here.

Minnesota Twins vs. Ian Kennedy:

Kennedy is bad enough when he’s not in his first start coming off the DL. The Twins are hitting .326 with ten homers and 26 runs in just 129 at bats against Kennedy. The best part? The Twins have won five straight, and still aren’t all that expensive. Logan Morrison, Eduardo Escobar, and Brian Dozier have all homered twice off of Kennedy. Rosario, Grossman, Kepler, and Mauer have all homered once. This is my favorite Coors fade spot.

Colorado Rockies vs. Patrick Corbin:

I’m still kind of undecided about how crazy on Coors I’m going to go. Patrick Corbin’s career numbers against the Rockies are not great, and they are even worse in Coors. Corbin is 3-2 in nine career Coors Field starts, but he has a disgusting 7.11 ERA. The Rockies have also slugged ten homers and driven in 25 runs in 175 at bats with a .280 average. DJ LeMahieu has been the punisher here. He has four homers and seven RBI off of Corbin. Nolan Arenado has homered twice off of Corbin. Story, Blackmon, Desmond, and CarGo have also taken Corbin deep. This is definitely a time to attack Corbin.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Tyler Anderson:

Anderson was destroyed by Arizona earlier this year, giving up seven runs in 2.1 innings. All of that and he still has a 3.90 ERA on the season. Anderson just can’t handle Arizona. The Diamondbacks are hitting .288 off of him in 59 at bats with three homers and 15 runs. Jeff Mathis, Nick Ahmed, and Jake Lamb have the homers, so you may not even have to pay up for the best part of the stack. Pollock and Goldschmidt are still the best options.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Eric Lauer:

Lauer has done better lately, but the Dodgers offense is really beating up on people right now. I like most of the righties a bit more tonight with Kemp and Chris Taylor leading the charge, but you simply can’t ignore what Muncy and Bellinger are doing right now. Yasmani Grandal is worth a look as well.

TORONTO, ON – JUNE 6: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees is congratulated by Didi Gregorius #18 in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run in the thirteenth inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on June 6, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

If you are using Yankees, pay up! Judge and Gregorius are the ones that have homered off of Andrew Cashner before. Aaron Hicks is 4-6, but has nothing to show for it.

Joe Musgrove has pitched well in limited action against the Nationals, but I don’t trust him here. This offense is really humming right now. Bryce Harper has hot streaks that can last a while, and this appears to be one of them. I also like Juan Soto here. For a really cheap option, try the red hot Mark Reynolds.

I’m not ready to pay the premium on Cueto yet. His first start back against the Cardinals was not a good one. Even though he has a great history against the Cubs, I’m more inclined to go with Rizzo, who has homered twice off of Cueto. Addison Russell is worth a look on the cheaper end as well.

Pablo Lopez was roughed up by the Nationals in his last start, and that could happen again. Eric Thames and Travis Shaw both feast on righties. Christian Yelich did well in his return to Miami last night. I’m willing to ride him again here!

Khris Davis has homered twice off of Verlander in just six at bats. Matt Olson and Lucroy have also homered off of Verlander in the past.

Mike Leake‘s numbers against the Angels aren’t horrible, but Mike Trout is 7-14 with a homer against Leake. Andrelton Simmons and Justin Upton are very good plays in a mini stack of Angels as well.

Alex Bregman is just 3-15 against Manaea, but he has two homers in those three hits. Gattis and Altuve have both homered off of Manaea as well, but have done little other than that.

Joey Votto and Adam Duvall have the homers against Trevor Bauer. With the way that Billy Hamilton is going, I’m inclined to use him for salary relief.

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Middle Tier:

Honestly, the whole Orioles team just makes me want to stay away from them. However, it’s hard to ignore how hard they have hit Masahiro Tanaka. Adam Jones is 11-27(.407) with three homers and seven RBI. Schoop also has three homers with six driven in. Joey Rickard homered in his only game against Tanaka. There is potential here for a low price.

Some of you are going to be on Jose Quintana because, hey, it’s the Giants at home, right? We all know that Quintana has very favorable road splits, so what’s the holdup? Quintana has a 4.97 career ERA in San Francisco. Take Posey and Brandon Crawford, the two that have homered off of Quintana in his career.

I’m not stacking Mets against Enyel de los Santos in his debut, but Asdrubal Cabrera is worth a look. He is the Mets offense right now.

For those of you thinking about using Hector Velazquez, don’t. $7,000 is too much to pay for a pitcher that has only thrown 50 pitches in a game once since April. However, I’m not opposed to throwing Gallo out there against him for the power potential. Nomar Mazara has homered off of him before, so he is worth a look as well.

Gregory Polanco was huge last night, and he and Josh Bell are the only Pirates to homer off of Hellickson. I’m using Polanco to ride the hot hand if I use any Pirate.

Jhoulys Chacin has decent numbers against the Marlins, but their offense is doing pretty well right now. So well that most of them are priced out of the lower tier. Well, at least the ones I would use. I like Starlin Castro and Justin Bour here. Maybe Brian Anderson as well if I can carve out room in the crowded outfield.

Matt Boyd dominated the Rays in his first start against them, but that was in Detroit where Boyd has been very good this year. He has a 5.55 ERA on the road this year and his ERA is 5.72 over his last ten starts. I like C.J. Cron, Wilson Ramos, and Matt Duffy for the power potential here.

Miles Mikolas has had his priced jacked up too high just for playing the White Sox. He has only broken 20 DraftKings points twice in his last eight starts. That span included the likes of the Marlins, Pirates (twice), and Padres. I would rather leverage this with Moncada and Jose Abreu.

The Blue Jays have hammered Julio Teheran, but I just don’t trust this offense. Luke Maile, Justin Smoak, Devon Travis, and Solarte have all homered off of Teheran. Russell Martin has two in just 11 at bats. Granderson has slugged three homers against Teheran. I’m only on the lefties tonight in SunTrust though.

Bargain Shoppers:

I don’t really trust any Detroit hitters right now. JaCoby Jones is a cheap leadoff guy, and Jose Iglesias is worth a look on the cheap as well. I’m not really willing to spend on anyone in this offense.

Hunter Dozier and Lucas Duda have both homered against Aaron Sleger. Duda’s was a three run shot on him last September.

If you don’t trust Rich Hill, Renfroe and Margot are worth a look for the power potential. If I can find the cash, Villanueva and Wil Myers are going to find their way into a couple of these. You can say that I don’t trust Hill. Or that I need the Padres homer still. Or I’m just crazy. I’ll let you readers decide.

Ryan Flaherty is super cheap, and he has a homer and four RBI against Marcus Stroman from his time with the Orioles. Stroman could go one of two ways here. Due to that, any Brave not named Flaherty will only be used as part of a stack. Freeman and Albies are the building blocks.

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