MLB DFS Bargain Bin- Sunday, August 5th Later Slates

MLB DFS Bargain Bin – Sunday, August 5th Later Slates

Welcome to a Sunday 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 Sunday’s early slates!

DraftKings /

MLB DFS Bargain Bin – Sunday, August 5th Later Slates Bargain Pitcher

Trevor Cahill, OAK vs. DET

Cahill shapes up as the one value arm I trust on Sunday’s late slates, as he has a number of factors working in his favor. The right-hander is coming off a strong six-inning, six-strikeout quality start versus the Blue Jays, and he’s looked very good in two of three post-All-Star-Break starts overall. Moreover, he’s pitching in the friendly conditions of the Coliseum, where he’s been virtually unhittable over a small sample this season.

Cahill owns a sparkling 1.13 ERA, .177 BAA and .236 wOBA allowed over 39.2 home innings. He’s also yielding just a .240 on-base percentage and .289 slugging percentage in his home park, along with a minuscule 0.86 WHIP. All of his metrics are essentially better in the Coliseum, including particularly fantasy-relevant numbers like a 9.08 K/9 (including 11.21 versus lefty hitters), a 27.2 percent strikeout rate, and an impressive 0.68 HR/9.

He could hardly draw a better matchup Sunday, as Detroit has been especially inept against right-handed pitching on the road over the last month. The Tiger sport an MLB-low .250 wOBA, 53 wRC+, -16.3 wRAA and .104 ISO in 305 plate appearances against right-handed pitching over that span, along with a 27.5 percent strikeout rate. They’re making hard contact at a pedestrian 30.5 percent clip as well, and have generated just a collective .200/.262/.304 line, this despite producing a respectable .266 BABIP that doesn’t really hint at much bad fortune when putting the ball in play.

And not to be underscored is the fact that Cahill could see a robust amount of run support. Not only is the Athletics offense red-hot at the moment, but opposing number Francisco Liriano is vulnerable at this stage of his career and could get walloped by the likes of Khris Davis, Jed Lowrie and company. Cahill has compiled quality starts in five of his six trips to the mound at home (and came just one out short against the Giants of making it six-for-six), and he’s poised to accomplish the feat again Sunday.

FanDuel MLB /

MLB DFS Bargain Bin – Sunday, August 5th Later Slates Quick Hits

Drew Hutchinson takes the mound for the Rangers on Sunday, and he comes in sporting a .420 wOBA allowed to left-handed hitters, despite a respectable 28.6 percent hard contact rate allowed. On the other hand, he yields a much more palatable .323 wOBA to righty bats, but he’s surrendered 36.4 percent hard contact to them. It’s a situation, especially considering the overall vulnerability of the Rangers bullpen and the favorable hitting climate, where all affordable Orioles bats of either handedness are in play. As far as history against Hutchinson goes, worth noting that Chris Davis has tagged him for three homers over 26 plate appearances (but also struck out nine times against him, so it could be feast or famine), while Mark Trumbo has a pair of hits in five plate appearances versus Hutchinson.

On the other side, Yefry Ramirez has been effective in a very small sample on the road thus far, but he’s given up a .341 wOBA to left-handed hitters overall. Once again, considering the hitter-friendly weather, affordable left-handed value bats the likes of Shin-soo Choo, Ronald Guzman, Joey Gallo and Willie Calhoun look appealing for the Rangers.

The D-Backs know Giants southpaw Derek Holland very well, and a number of them have given him trouble over the years. The red-hot Nick Ahmed is certainly one, as are Eduardo Escobar and Ketel Marte. Holland allows a .348 wOBA to right-handed hitters on the road and has given up 11 of his 15 homers on the season in that split as well, so Steven Souza, Jeff Mathis or John Ryan Murphy and A.J. Pollock (where affordable) are also definitely worthy of consideration.

On the other side, Robbie Ray certainly has the talent to stymie any team at any time, but he’s undeniably struggled of late. He’s been especially vulnerable to right-handed hitters at home (.326 average, .464 wOBA, 29.3 percent line-drive rate, 55.9 percent hard contact allowed), so I wouldn’t hesitate to roll out the red-hot Andrew McCutchen, Evan Longoria, Buster Posey, Austin Slater, Chase D’Arnaud, Nick Hundley, Hunter Pence and/or any others that might find their way into the lineup. Additionally, worth noting the left-handed hitting Joe Panik owns a .412 average over 18 plate appearances versus Ray, and that Arizona relievers have allowed a .310 average and .373 wOBA to right-handed hitters at home in the last month.

MLB DFS Bargain Bin – Sunday, Aug. 5th Later Slates Quick Hits (cont.)

The Tigers’ Francisco Liriano always seems to be good for some control issues and giving up plenty of hard hits to righty bats. He’s yielded a .359 wOBA and 10 homers to that handedness overall, making him a target for affordable Oakland bats such as

and

More from FanSided

The Blue Jays’ Sam Gaviglio has been especially hit hard on the road, where he’s yielded a .434 wOBA to left-handed hitters and a .397 figure to righty bats. Meanwhile, the Toronto bullpen has allowed a .359 wOBA, including five home runs, to right-handed hitters on the road in the last month, and matching figures to lefty hitters over the same span. All Mariners affordable bats are therefore in play, such as Dee Gordon, Denard Span, Cameron Maybin, Kyle Seager, Ryon Healy and Mike Zunino.

On the Blue Jays end of things, Mariners starter Mike Leake has struggled with some of their hitters, including Russell Martin (.314 average, two homers, eight RBI over 36 plate appearances) and Yangervis Solarte (.444 average over nine plate appearances). Leake has allowed nine homers at home overall, and most Toronto bats feast on the high 80s fastball that Leake throws, and Randal Grichuk, Kendrys Morales, Justin Smoak and Curtis Granderson also do very well against the cutter, Leake’s second-most often-used pitch.

Although Gerrit Cole is a pitcher that naturally isn’t targeted very often in DFS, worth noting that many of the Dodgers know him well from his NL days. Joc Pederson (.571 average over eight plate appearances), Yaisel Puig (.455 average over 12 plate appearances) and Justin Turner (.500 average over six plate appearances) have especially had success in the past, and half of the 14 homers Cole has allowed this season have come on the road. He’s also allowing 35.8 percent hard contact away from Minute Maid Park, including 38.7 percent to righty bats, and he yielded a season-high 27.3 percent line-drive rate in July. For very large-field tournaments, this could be a way to differentiate.

The Dodgers’ Walker Buehler has likely been a bit on the lucky side against right-handed hitters at home, as he’s yielded a 38.1 percent hard contact rate to them that’s been offset by a .226 BABIP. Once again, more so as large-field tournament plays, I’d consider the likes of Yuli Gurriel, J.D. Davis or Max Stassi as an affordable right-handed bat that will likely be pretty low-owned to roll out against him.

And then we have the last game of the night, an intriguing matchup to say the least. The Yankees and Red Sox always offer the potential for plenty of fireworks when they get together, and especially when there’s two pitchers on the hill that each team knows so well. On the Red Sox side, Steve Pearce is one affordable bat that’s done well against Masahiro Tanaka in the past (.333 average, including two homers, over 16 plate appearances). Tanaka struggled in Fenway Park earlier this season, and even though his wOBA numbers on the road look impressive overall, he’s yielded 10 homers to righty bats away from Yankee Stadium. Therefore, in addition to Pearce, Eduardo Nunez is in play in terms of cheap right-handed Boston hitters.

On the Yankees side of things, they’ve frequently knocked David Price around in the past. In terms of what could be considered affordable New York bats, Didi Gregorius (.433 average over 31 plate appearances) and Austin Romine (.429 average over 15 plate appearances) are certainly worth considering, along with all the other expensive options.

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MLB DFS Bargain Bin- Sunday, August 5th Late Slates

By Juan Carlos Blanco | Aug 5, 2018