DraftKings Early MLB Picks August 5: Roll with Nola

CHICAGO – AUGUST 22: Exterior view of Wrigley Field as fans stream into the ballpark for the Chicago Cubs home game with Florida Marlins at Wrigley Field on August 22, 1995 in Chicago, Illinois. The Marlins won 8-6. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

DraftKings Early MLB Picks August 5: Roll with Nola

We have a busy Sunday afternoon on DraftKings today with ten games in the early tournament. Only Nola is priced as an ace and there is no Coors, so it’s going to get wacky! Where should we turn for pitching? Let’s take a look!

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There is no elevated rain threat today. There could be some pop up showers here and there, but it looks like a clean weather day finally!

It’s going to be a fun day in Wrigley with the wind blowing out to straightaway center at 15 mph. The wind is blowing in from right at 12 mph in Arlington, so that could hurt the offenses a little there.

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!

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JULY 9: Danny Duffy #41 of the Kansas City Royals delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning of the game on July 9, 2018 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Aaron Nola ($12,400): Nola is priced like an ace because he pitches like one. The Marlins are only hitting .217 with no homers, seven runs, and 20 strikeouts in 92 at bats. Nola sure appears to be worth the price here and will likely anchor a lot of staffs this afternoon. If you want separation, you will have to drop down. I just don’t really see anyone that is going to score near Nola here.

Tanner Roark ($9,600): This is a tough spot since Roark is the second highest priced pitcher on the slate, and the Reds have hit him well, if not hard. The issue is that Roark is on some kind of a roll right now. Roark has 81 DraftKings points over his last two starts against the Brewers and Mets. The Reds aren’t all that hot, especially on the road. I can see the appeal here, I’m just not sure that Roark is going to dominate again and he would have to for this price.

Middle Tier:

Jon Gray ($8,800): In three starts since returning from AAA purgatory, Gray has compiled 73.8 DraftKings points. Two of those starts were at home, and one of those was against Houston! I think it’s safe to say that Gray is back, so there is a lot of potential here since Milwaukee strikes out like it’s going out of style. Gray has gone at least seven innings in each of those last three starts. The trip down I-25 to Colorado Springs seems to have done him a lot of good.

Danny Duffy ($8,000): The Twins are hitting a solid .252 off of Duffy, but they only have two homers and seven runs in 139 at bats. Duffy has dominate the Twins this year, allowing just two runs in three starts with 17 strikeouts in 19 innings. Add in his 3.29 ERA in 14 road starts, and you have the potential for a great bargain at this price. The mostly lefty Twins are going to have issues with Duffy once again.

Julio Teheran ($7,800): If you are going to use Teheran, you better make sure it’s in a really good situation. The Mets are a really good situation. Teheran has held them to a .148 average in 128 at bats with three homers, ten runs, and a respectable 29 strikeouts. Also, this is a road game, which is good for Teheran. He, like most righties, has struggled in SunTrust Park. For the price, you could do much worse than Teheran.

Bargain Pitchers:

James Shields ($6,800): Who is this guy, and what has he done with James Shields? Shields has at least 19 DraftKings points in three of his last four starts, and he put up 18.9 in the first meeting against Tampa this year. The Rays are now hitting just .193 against Shields with only two runs in 57 at bats to go with a whopping 20 strikeouts. The bad news here is that Sheilds has been much worse on the road with a 6.06 ERA in nine road starts. Something has to give. You can roll with Shields in a GPP, but he is far too risky for cash games.

Yefry Ramirez ($5,000): Yefry turned in the best start of his young career against the Rangers earlier this year, racking up 22.3 DraftKings points. I’m not too worried about the Rangers with the wind blowing in. It’s not as humid as it has been in Arlington, so the offense should be tempered a bit. Jefry isn’t going to shut out the Rangers again, but there is very good potential for a quality start at a very low price.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 21: Rhys Hoskins #17 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates with Carlos Santana #41 and Odubel Herrera #37 after hitting a three run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park on April 21, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Pirates 6-2. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Atlanta Braves vs. Corey Oswalt:

Oswalt has been solid at home, but this Atlanta offense is scary. If you don’t want to stack here, I can get on board with that since Oswalt has a 3.38 ERA in three home starts. Two of those games were against the Phillies and Nationals, so he could come up big again. I’m still more comfortable rolling out Met killer Freddie Freeman, Albies, and Acuna for sure. Kurt Suzuki is worth a look and so is Camargo.

Cleveland Indians vs. Deck McGuire:

With Skaggs landing on the DL, McGuire will make a spot start here. You know, because the 6.12 ERA out of the bullpen is so good. At any rate, this is a horrible matchup for McGuire. Major League hitters have had no problems with McGuire. The Indians are expensive, and and I expect this to be a chalk stack again tonight. Unless you get a little creative. Lindor and Ramirez have to be in there. After that, Brantley, Kipnis, and Edwin look like the chalk plays. I think I would rather go wtih the lefty Alonso and possibly Leonys Martin instead.

Washington Nationals vs. Luis Castillo:

Castillo can blow your doors off, or he can give up six runs. There isn’t much of an in between here. The Nationals have crushed Castillo to a .295 average with four homers and ten runs in just 44 at bats. I wouldn’t worry about Harper, since he is just 1-6 against Castillo anyway. I’m starting this off with Juan Soto, of course. Rendon has two homers and just four at bats against Castillo. Turner has a homer off of Castill as well, as does Matt Adams. Castillo has never recorded an out vs. Adam Eaton. In fact, Eaton has crossed the plate every time he has stepped to it off of Castillo.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Dan Straily:

This is the alpha and omega of stacking today. The Phillies are hitting .355 with seven homers and 23 runs in just 93 at bats against Straily. Rhys Hoskins is 6-10 with three homers and seven RBI against Straily, so start there. Asdrubal, Odubel, Jorge Alfaro, and Maikel Franco have all homered off of Straily in the past as well. I don’t think you can really go wrong with any Phillie today.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Trevor Williams:

The Cardinals have destroyed Williams with a .407 average in 81 at bats with three homers and a staggering 19 runs. Carpenter has two homers and five RBI. DeJong has the other homer, and is 3-7 against Williams. Jose Martinez, Marcell Ozuna, and well, anyone else in a Cardinal uniform are worth a look here. Go nuts or go for value. Go for both. Everything is in play here!

Kansas City Royals vs. Ervin Santana:

The Royals have hit Ervin well over the years, even when he has pitched well. The Royals only have a .255 average, but they have three homers and 18 runs in 157 at bats. Santana is clearly not back yet, so the Royals have the potential to be a lucrative and cheap stack. Alex Gordon is just $3,400, and he has two homers and five RBI off of Santana. Perez has the other homer. Alcides Escobar is 13-44(.295) with six RBI. Whit Merrifield is the most expensive Royal, but he has hit Santana well. The power of Lucas Duda or Jorge Bonifacio is tempting as well.

Baltimore Orioles vs. Martin Perez:

Any time you put that many righty bats against a questionable lefty, there is reason to take notice. Villar and Trumbo have both homered twice off of Perez so far. Tim Beckham is 5-9 off of him so far. Renato Nunez, Adam Jones, and Danny Valencia have hit homers off of Perez as well. You have a solidly priced stack to go with Nola here.

CINCINNATI, OH – JULY 24: Eugenio Suarez #7 of the Cincinnati Reds hits a two-run home run in the seventh inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park on July 24, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. St. Louis defeated Cincinnati in 11 innings. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

I’m not a huge fan of Shane Bieber against the Angels, especially with Trout back. I’m not going to go out of my way to attack this, but Trout, Upton, and Ohtani are all worth a look. Calhoun’s price is a little too high for me here.

I’m all for Eugenio Suarez as a one off here since he is hitting anything that moves and remotely looks like a baseball right now. He has five homers in the last ten games with 11 RBI in that span. I’m not high on any other Reds though. Votto’s power is MIA, making it really hard for him to live up to the price.

I’m not going to stack against Jack Flaherty because some games he can just turn it on. However, he really hasn’t pitched well against the ‘Burgh so far. Starling Marte and Cervelli have homered off of him so far. If using Pirates, that’s about as deep as I would go unless you want to use Polanco.

For all you BvP warriors, Christian Yelich is 6-15 with a homer and six RBI against Jon Gray. Travis Shaw has homered off of him as well.

I wouldn’t stack against Wade Miley. His track record this year speaks for itself, and the Rockies don’t hit well enough on the road to really attack this. The one that does is Nolan Arenado. If you don’t use Suarez, Arenado should be the only other 3B you consider with the way he pummels lefties in any stadium.

Joey Lucchesi has pitched well enough to not stack against him, however, the wind is blowing out at Wrigley. Some exposure seems prudent. Javier Baez and Willson Contreras are the places for right handed power. Throwing the finally hot Rizzo out there is not a bad idea either.

It’s hard to pass on Rougned Odor. He has torched the Orioles in this series. I’m not as wild about Gallo with the wind blowing in, but Choo is still an option, especially if you don’t believe in Yefry.

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Middle Tier:

If you want to go after Teheran, the only one-off that I’m really comfortable with is Conforto. His .235 average is the second highest against Teheran for a Met, and he has one of those three homers.

The only White Sox hitter than I’m really interested in is Jose Abreu. The tough part about all of these bullpen days for Tampa is that some of them really are bullpen days. Meaning the Rays sometimes use up to six pitchers instead of just an opener and long reliever. The rest of the Sox have too drastic of splits to really attack with any kind of objectivity.

If you want to take a shot with Miguel Sano, I get it. Just be aware that he strikes out once for every three at bats. Robbie Grossman is more of a practical play, and he is 7-20 with a homer and two RBI against Duffy. Sano is just 3-18 with his homer.

Bargain Shoppers:

It’s hard to ignore just how awful Shields has been on the road, but the only Rays hitter that I’m really looking at is Willy Adames as a cheap play. Bauers is going to be really popular, but I’m not expecting a poor outing from Shields here.

I will say that I don’t trust the Padres offense, but I trust Jon Lester even less. The amount of righty power in this lineup is staggering, and Lester gets hit pretty hard by them. Christian Villanueva and Hunter Renfroe are the top targets. Jose Pirela is a solid pick as well.

Next. MLB Game by Game breakdown August 5. dark

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