MLB DFS Bargain Bin- Friday, August 3rd Evening Slates

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MLB DFS Bargain Bin – Friday, August 3rd Evening Slates

Welcome to a Friday edition of the MLB DFS Bargain Bin, where the goal is to provide a general overview of the ledger and touch on where the weakest pitching spots might be, and by extension, where there may be some value bats to consider. Additionally, I’ll look to identify where a value arm or two might be intersecting with an offense that’s running cold or is otherwise inefficient against a certain handedness.

Before we go MLB DFS Bargain Bin hunting, a few particulars about format and content:

The nature of the beast with value plays is at least a modest amount (and sometimes substantially more) of risk. After all, these players are usually priced where they are for a reason. Therefore, the Bargain Bin may prove to be a bit more of a rollercoaster ride on some slates than your typical “tout” article!
Naturally, that doesn’t mean there isn’t upside to be had. All of these selections are therefore suitable for GPPs (and usually avoidable for cash games), and they can often help you accommodate multiple higher-priced studs into your lineup.
In this DFS MLB Bargain Bin Quick Hits version, I’ll suggest players that are typically value-priced across all four major DFS sites (Yahoo, FanDuel, DraftKings and FantasyDraft). Naturally, check final pricing before making your lineup decisions, as I am not listing salaries in this edition.
This is not a position-by-position breakdown, but rather, I’m just identifying games where I think there’s value players in potentially favorable fantasy spots.
The goal is to recommend truly affordable players, as opposed to, say, a player priced just $300-$400 away from the highest-priced option at his position. I don’t have set-in-stone price limits in mind for each site, but I do consider legitimate affordability a very important criterion.

With those housekeeping items out of the way, I’ll give you my thoughts on where there may be some value spots to exploit on Friday evening’s slates!

MLB DFS Bargain Bin – Friday, August 3rd Evening Slates Bargain Pitcher

Ryan Borucki, TOR at SEA

Borucki has been one of the pleasant surprises for the Blue Jays in a rough season overall, and he’ll come into Friday’s start at Safeco Field having posted quality starts in five of his last six trips to the mound. The southpaw has had one rough outing, and he gets a bit of a mulligan for that one — it came against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. He just neutralized the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in his most recent start (6 IP, 2 ER, 5 Ks), and he also has a June 26 quality start against the Astros at Minute Maid Park — certainly no small feat — on his road resume.

The Mariners have a formidable lineup, but they don’t line up badly as an opponent for Borucki on Friday. Seattle sports a pedestrian .294 wOBA and 91 wRC+ against lefties at home over the last month of play, along with a .119 ISO and -3.0 wRAA. As those numbers imply, they haven’t exactly been putting good wood on the ball versus southpaws, posting an anemic 24.4 percent hard contact rate over that stretch when facing lefties.

Meanwhile, Borucki has been solid against both sides of the plate, generating over 17 percent poorly hit balls from left-handed and right-handed hitters alike. The projected Seattle lineup sports a 23.1 percent strikeout rate against southpaws as well, while Borucki has managed a serviceable 28 whiffs over 35.0 innings and has recorded at least five strikeouts in four of his last five trips to the mound.

One other highly favorable number associated with Borucki is his ability to keep the ball in the park — he’s yet to give up a home run this season, continuing a pattern he exhibited throughout his minor-league career. Safeco also sets up nicely for him as a pitching environment, as it ranks as the fourth pitcher-friendliest stadium in the majors in terms of park factor (0.799 run factor).

ALSO CONSIDER:

Junior Guerra, MIL vs. COL

MLB DFS Bargain Bin – Fri. Aug. 3rd Evening Slates Quick Hits /

The Reds’ Anthony DeSclafani can certainly run into trouble against left-handed hitters, including on the road, where he’s allowed them a .407 wOBA and 50.0 percent hard contact. Besides the lefty Nationals bats that will be priced above value range (i.e. Bryce Harper and Juan Soto), the likes of Matt Adams, Adam Eaton, Daniel Murphy, and the switch-hitting Matt Wieters and Wilmer Difo can all be considered.

On the other side, the Nats’ Gio Gonzalez has had issues with righty bats at home (.352 wOBA allowed), so Jose Peraza, Phillip Ervin and Brandon Dixon are among the cheap hitters in play. Additionally, the switch-hitting Tucker Barnhart does hit lefties very well also (.381 wOBA).

The Marlins’ Trevor Richards has been a tough guy to figure out, and he’s now put together three impressive starts in a row. He’ll still run into issues with right-handed hitters (.372 wOBA allowed) at times, so rolling out Maikel Franco isn’t the worst idea for tournaments, as well as any other economical righty bats that might make their way into the Phillies lineup (with Rhys Hoskins very appealing above value range, naturally).

The Phillies’ Vince Velasquez isn’t too much of a DFS target, but among affordable Marlins, worth noting that both Martin Prado (.333 average over 12 plate appearances) and J.T. Realmuto (.364 average over 12 plate appearances) have both enjoyed success against him in the past.

The Pirates’ Chris Archer will be making his Steel City debut, and despite his electric stuff, he’s always a target for left-handed hitters (.348 wOBA, 40.2 percent hard contact rate allowed). With that being the case, the likes of Greg Garcia and the returning Kolten Wong can be considered as affordable deep tournament plays.

Left-handed hitters at Fenway Park against Rick Porcello might be one of the more underrated DFS go-tos, and the Yankees are a team that obviously offers you plenty of upside with that strategy. Brett Gardner (.308 average over 55 plate appearances) has given the Red Sox starter plenty of fits over the years, while Greg Bird and the switch-hitting Neil Walker are also considerations. Pricier lefty bats on the Yanks would also of course be in play.

Despite his recent troubles, New York’s Luis Severino has the talent to turn things around at any time, so I wouldn’t overly target him. However, among the affordable Boston bats, Mitch Moreland has enjoyed success against him in the past and also boasts a whopping .496 CXwOBA versus righties.

MLB DFS Bargain Bin – Fri. August 3rd Evening Slates Quick Hits (cont.)

The Angels’ Jamie Barria has been an abject disaster versus right-handed hitters and has allowed them a .443 wOBA — including five homers — and 39.1 percent hard contact rate on the road. There’s not many cheap right-handed Indians bats, of course, but Yan Gomes and Rajai Davis would fit the bill if in the lineup.

The Braves’

Anibal Sanchez

has shown some cracks lately, although he’s still enjoying a solid season overall. Not too much to target here in terms of value bats, except to note that

Austin Jackson

(.429 average over seven plate appearances) and

Jose Bautista

(.300 average over 24 plate appearances) have both enjoyed prior success against him.

More from FanSided

Much like Richards, the White Sox’s Lucas Giolito can sometimes run the gamut in terms of performances, and he’s been blasted by left-handed hitters on the road for a .383 wOBA and 37.4 percent hard contact. Rolling with the likes of Jake Bauers, Mallex Smith, Kevin Kiermaier, Joey Wendle and Michael Perez certainly is worth a shot in tournaments, and it’s also worth noting Chicago relievers have allowed a 6.14 ERA to left-handed hitters on the road in the last month.

It’s the height of hitting weather in Texas right now, and with David Hess and Ariel Jurado on the mound Friday, it could be another very busy night for the scoreboard. To sum it up without going too much into the weeds, Hess is poor against both sides of the plate, so any affordable Rangers bats are appealing regardless of handendess. On the Orioles side, Jurado has been better against lefty hitters, so sticking to the likes of Tim Beckham, Adam Jones, Mark Trumbo, Trey Mancini, Renato Nunez and Joey Rickard is acceptable strategy, along with any other cheap righty bat that might be in the lineup. Also worth noting that both bullpens are vulnerable and have been logging heavy innings.

The Royals’ Heath Fillmyer has been touched up by right-handed hitters for a .358 wOBA, so Miguel Sano and Mitch Garver are among the cheap Twins bats worth considering. Royals relievers have been even worse versus righty bats, allowing a 6.38 ERA and .431 wOBA to them on the road over the last month.

The Twins’ Jake Odorizzi has had more trouble at Target Field than on the road, as he’s allowed a .285 average, .367 wOBA and five homers there on his way to a 5.11 ERA over 49.1 innings. I’d give Royals bats from both sides of the plate that have some upside consideration, including Salvador Perez, Alex Gordon, Jorge Bonifacio, Lucas Duda, Adalberto Mondesi and Rosell Herrera, along with any others that may be in the lineup.

There should be some solid pitching overall in the late-night slate tonight, but cheap Arizona bats of either handedness against the Giants’ Chris Stratton isn’t a bad idea given his recent struggles.

Cheaper righty bats on the Astros like Evan Gattis, Max Stassi, Yuli Gurriel, Tyler White, J.D. Davis and Jake Marisnick qualify as tournament plays against the Dodgers’ Alex Wood as well, as he’s yielded a .322 wOBA, including eight homers, and a 44.8 percent hard contact rate to right-handed hitters at home.

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