DraftKings Early MLB Picks August 9: Berrios or Kluber?

MILWAUKEE, WI – OCTOBER 10: General view of Miller Park before Game Two of the National League Championship Series between the St. Louis Cardinals of the Milwaukee Brewers on October 10, 2011 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Cardinals defeated the Brewers 12-3. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

DraftKings Early MLB Picks August 9: Berrios or Kluber?

We have nine games on our Thursday, which is the most quiet one in a while. The split has three early games in the early DraftKings tournament, but there are two aces going head to head. Should we pay for either of them? Let’s take a look!

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There is no rain today, but they may have to close the roof in Miller Park. Wind wont be much of a factor either, so it looks like a good weather day!

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!

CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 04: Corey Kluber #28 of the Cleveland Indians pitches against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim during the first inning at Progressive Field on August 4, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Corey Kluber ($10,900): The Twins have actually hit Kluber hard when they have been able to make contact. That hasn’t been all that often. The Twins are hitting only .224 against Kluber in 161 at bats with five homers, 11 runs, and 48 strikeouts. This is shaping up to be another pitcher’s duel in Cleveland. Kluber has more strikeout upside than Berrios, but both are reasonably priced if you want to roll with one or both in the all day slate as well.

Jose Berrios ($9,000): I’m kind of enjoying this price break on Berrios here. The Twins starting pitching has stifled Cleveland so far in the series, and Berrios himself has owned the Indians. they are hitting just .162 off of him in 99 at bats with one homer, six runs, and 20 strikeouts. Berrios also has 43.8 DraftKings points in his two starts against Cleveland this year. The caveat here is that Berrios hasn’t been nearly as good on the road this year. However, Berrios is 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA in two career Progressive Field starts.

Middle Tier:

Anibal Sanchez ($8,100): Sanchez has terrible overall numbers against the Nationals, but we will get into that later. First, the good. Sanchez has faced the Nationals three times this year. He has held them to a 1.69 ERA with a 18.1 DraftKings point per game average. That’s a solid number if you can’t afford to pay up or don’t want to go cheap.

Junior Guerra ($7,300): The Brewers starters have had kind of a rough series at home, so Guerra doesn’t look as enticing as he did on Sunday. The current Padres are a pathetic 3-24 against Guerra, so this looks like a place to attack. As usual, Guerra carries pretty strong overall numbers, but the one that stands out to me today is the 2.55 ERA in 13 home starts. San Diego goes cold today. It’s Guerra time!

Bargain Pitchers:

Gio Gonzalez ($6,100): Many of you reading this will think I’m crazy because you have been burned by Gio lately. I get it. He has had some horrid starts lately, and his past stats against the Braves don’t suggest that anything better is in store. However, Gio put up 24.8 DraftKings points on the Braves in his only start against them this year. This seems cheap for a pitcher of Gonzalez’s talent, but he hasn’t won a game since May 28th. Keep that in mind if you are going to try to game the pricing system today.

Robbie Erlin ($4,600): Erlin made a strong return to the rotation against the Cubs last week, but he doesn’t strike out a lot of batters and wont go deep in the game. There is reason to believe that he can be solid against the Brewers with all of the left handed bats in this lineup, but they have enough righties to make him pay as well. This is only for brave people who don’t mind finishing last in a GPP.

NEW YORK, NY – JULY 15: Trea Turner #7 of the Washington Nationals bats against the New York Mets during their game at Citi Field on July 15, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Anibal Sanchez does not have good numbers against the Nationals, so there is no way that I’m paying $8,100 for him. Regression is coming, and it could start here. Trea Turner, Adam Eaton, and Matt Wieters have all homered twice off of Sanchez. Matt Adams, Bryce Harper, Murphy, and Zimmerman have taken him deep as well. If you are looking for an early slate stack, it should be here. I may pass on Juan Soto today. He is 0-5 against Sanchez this year.

I don’t see the upside with going overboard with Brewers here, but Lorenzo Cain looks like a strong play. It seems ridiculous that Jesus Aguilar is still that expensive despite being in a slump since the break. However, Jonathan Schoop and Hernan Perez provide affordable righties that could have a decent shot at Erlin here.

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Middle Tier:

Freddie Freeman is 15-48(.312) with four homers and a staggering 17 RBI in his career against Gio. Kurt Suzuki and Dansby Swanson has taken him deep twice as well. Johan Camargo is pretty cheap considering he is 7-14 with a homer and four RBI off of Gio already.

Edwin is the only Indian to homer off of Berrios so far, but Lindor does have three RBI. Unfortunately, he also has just three hits in 14 at bats. I’m not sure taking a shot at Berrios is the right move today.

Bargain Shoppers:

I can’t think of any Padre that I really want to attack this with, but in the spirit of full disclosure, it is worth mentioning that Hunter Renfroe has a homer against Junior Guerra.

Joe Mauer is 16-54(.296) with two homers and four RBI against Corey Kluber. Rosario has a homer and two RBI with a modest .273 average. Max Kepler has also homered against Kluber, but he is just 2-10 against Klubot overall.

Next. MLB Game by Game breakdown August 9. dark

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