DraftKings Main MLB Picks August 19: Will Happ own his former team?

NEW YORK, NY – JULY 27: The game between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals is postponed due to rain at Yankee Stadium on July 27, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

DraftKings Main MLB Picks August 19: Will Happ own his former team?

We have 11 early games, which makes this the main DraftKings tournament of the day. Chris Sale is now off the list, so it leaves us with a couple of risky propositions in the five figure range, with a pretty barren middle tier. At least that means there are plenty of stackable offenses with these kinds of pitchers going. Who is worth paying for? Let’s take a look!

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Rain is going to be pesky in New York all day. They may or may not get that one it. Atlanta is even worse. If they wait to play this, it could be a couple of hours, but should get played at some point. If they don’t, the Rockies are going to have to head back east for one game, which doesn’t seem ideal for either team. Keep an eye on this one.

Wind will be a factor in all three of the hitter’s parks this afternoon. It is blowing in at 12 mph from right in Texas, but that wont matter much. The concern is in New York with a 12 mph wind in from left and in Boston, with a stiff 16 mph breeze in from straightaway center.

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!

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CINCINNATI, OH – AUGUST 13: Mike Clevinger #52 of the Cleveland Indians pitches in the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on August 13, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

J.A. Happ ($10,700): Happ has been brilliant with the Yankees, and possibly offended some of Canada’s faithful when he lamented about toiling away on a team with no chance. At any rate, that narrative will take place when Happ goes back to the great white north. He should dominate his former team here in the Bronx, especially with the wind blowing in for right handed batters. Happ has allowed just four runs in 19 innings at home with his new team.

Mike Clevinger ($10,200): The Orioles are a pathetic 4-30(.133) against Clevinger in his career with one run and six strikeouts. In Clevinger’s start against Baltimore earlier this year, he pitched a two hit shutout. Machado was still there at the time. I’m more inclined to take a step down here just because the Orioles have very little offense. Toronto has more pieces that can hurt, especially from the right side.

German Marquez ($9,300): Marquez has put up four straight quality starts, and has a 2.92 ERA on the road this year. I don’t much care that the Braves lit him up in Coors. His ERA is 6.42 at home. I do care how well Marquez has been pitching everywhere lately. There is very good potential here, and some strikeout upside to go with it. The Braves are a very good offense though.

Middle Tier:

Luis Castillo ($7,600): It almost turns my stomach to recommend Castillo, but here we are. All of Castillo’s good games have been at home, and his 3.94 home ERA reflects that. The Giants are having problems putting the bat on the ball lately. They have decent power and are in a hitter’s haven, but the potential on Castillo is hard to ignore. He definitely has the strikeout upside we want and is facing a cold lineup.

Hector Velasquez ($7,500): I do have a hard time paying this much for a spot starter, but the stats are in favor Velasquez has a 2.67 ERA in 30.1 home innings, and he has allowed only three runs to the Rays in 13 innings this year. The knock on Velasquez is that he doesn’t strike out many batters and he likely wont go very deep into the game. There is plenty of risk there, and I don’t see a huge reward when you are paying this much for Velasquez.

Jaime Barria ($7,300): We essentially have about 20 lottery tickets at pitcher today. Barria has been filthy against the Rangers this year, allowing just five hits in 11 innings, a solo homer, and nine strikeouts. This is the kind of domination we are looking for. However, this Texas offense is waking up lately. The breeze blowing in should help, but Barria has not given up more than three runs in a game since July 23rd. There is pretty good potential here.

Gio Gonzalez ($7,100): It has been a rough stretch for Gio lately. He has a 5.96 ERA in his last ten starts. Gio picked up 17.6 DraftKings points in Miami on July 28th, and the Marlins are only hitting .250 in 88 at bats with no homers, four runs, and 17 strikeouts overall against Gio. It’s hard to trust Gonzalez right now, but for this price and with this opponent, I can definitely see the upside.

Bargain Pitchers:

Jake Odorizzi ($6.700): The Tigers are hitting just .162 in 37 at bats against Odorizzi with only one run and eight strikeouts. Odorizzi is very inconsistent, but he puts up decent strikeout numbers and is facing an offense that has really only hit against really bad pitching. There is decent upside for Odorizzi here, especially when you consider how strikeout prone the Tigers are.

Reynaldo Lopez ($6,300): Playing Lopez usually isn’t a good way to make money, but he put up 15.6 DraftKings points on the Royals two weeks ago. We know that Lopez has shown flashes of how good he can be. The big issue is his inconsistency. On a day where there are a horde of average pitching options, Lopez has a good chance at being above average for a pretty good price. He has only allowed seven run to the Royals in 101 at bats so far.

Jose Urena ($6,000): Urena’s suspension is pending for throwing at Acuna on the first pitch earlier this week. He should be very well rested here. I kind of want to stack Nationals here, but Urena has held Washington to a .174 average in 86 at bats with only two homers and eight runs. I kind of think the Nationals hitters are going to have a vendetta against Urena here, but the past stats says we can use him.

BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 12: Jackie Bradley Jr. #19, Mookie Betts #50, and J.D. Martinez #28 of the Boston Red Sox celebrate after the game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 12, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. Red Sox won 4-1. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa bullpen:

The Sox beat up on Glasnow last night, which tapped this bullpen already. Usually I have a pretty good idea of who will relieve the opener for the Rays, but tonight I have no idea. I could see them bringing Faria back to the majors, or using a six or seven man staff to get through this game. At any rate, this will likely be ugly for the Rays. Benintendi, J.D., and Mookie are the top plays, but Moreland is in play with all the righties in the pen. I like Bradley for some salary relief. Xander Bogaerts is reasonably priced as well, and can hit righties and lefties.

Cleveland Indians vs. Yefry Ramirez:

Yefry has a 9.26 ERA in three road starts. A trip to Cleveland probably wont help that. David Hess shut Cleveland down on Friday and Alex Cobb stymied them yesterday. They should take out their frustrations on Ramirez here. Jose Ramirez and Lindor top my wish list again. Brantley and Kipnis also look good from the left side, and I’m still a big Greg Allen fan at the bottom of the order as part of a wraparound stack.

Washington Nationals vs. Jose Urena:

Yeah, the stats don’t support this. Call it a gut feeling. Every hitter felt something for what Urena did earlier this week, regardless of whether they like the Braves or not. This is not the first time that Urena has thrown at a hot hitter. I definitely like Harper here. He is the guy that could really clobber Urena. Juan Soto, Anthony Rendon, and Trea Turner are favorites as well. However, there is some uncertainty here as well. With a pitcher this volatile and inconsistent on the mound, anything can happen.

Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit bullpen:

The Tigers have been hit with a rash of injuries to the rotation. We still have no clue as to who may start this game for the Tigers, so it’s hard to pick just which Twins to use. However, we can guess that they wont be facing a very good pitcher. They even dug up Jacob Turner from the pitcher’s graveyard and threw him out there for a game. They’re desperate. Joe Mauer is a definite no matter who’s on the mound. Rosario hits lefties well enough to toss him in there as well. After that, I’m still on Forsythe even though he is cooling off a bit. Jorge Polanco looks good, and I’ll go with Garver against a lefty or Jake Cave against a righty.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Jhoulys Chacin:

We saw some normalization of Wade Miley‘s stats last night. It should be coming for Chacin as well. The Cardinals are hitting .337 with three homers and 18 runs against Chacin in just 92 at bats. Jose Martinez, Matt Carpenter, and Yadi have the homers. Marcell Ozuna is 5-8 with four RBI. Jedd Gyorko and Harrison Bader are worth a look as well.

Los Angeles Angels vs. Bartolo Colon:

I do believe that Bartolo will go to the Hall of Fame, but it will be in spite of the last two years instead of these helping his career numbers. The Angels are hitting .374 with six homers and 23 runs in just 91 at bats against Colon, and those stats are WITHOUT Mike Trout! Pujols has four of those homers in just 27 at bats with nine RBI. Justin Upton and Rene Rivera have the others. Andrelton Simmons is 13-28(.464) with six RBI against Colon. I like Kole Calhoun here as well.

NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 15: Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the New York Yankees files out to end the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on August 15, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

I don’t think I’ll go as far as to stack Yankees against Ryan Borucki. After all, he held them to one run in seven innings in Toronto earlier this year. However, that wont happen in the Bronx. Stanton is heating up, and Aaron Hicks and Miguel Andujar terrorize lefties.

The Reds got to MadBum some last night. Suarez is essentially MadBum with half the talent. I like Eugenio to win the Battle de los Suarez on the banks of the Ohio. May as well take Peraza to go deep again, and I’m still on Billy Hamilton batting leadoff.

Ozzie Albies was the only Brave to homer off of Marquez earlier this season, but I can’t ignore Acuna’s hot streak. Dansby Swanson is worth a look too, especially since he drove in three against Marquez at Coors.

If you want to go after Barria, I’m not going to stop you. The Rangers have a lot of lefty power headlined by Gallo and Odor. Jurickson Profar is worth a look as well.

Jameson Taillon has not pitched well against the Cubs at all in his career. Just the fact that he only gave up three runs to them earlier this year qualifies as a major victory for Taillon. Javy Baez and Anthony Rizzo have both homered twice against Taillon with a combined ten RBI. Those are the Cubs I want.

John Gant can thank his defense for committing the errors that make his stats against Milwaukee look respectable. Gant gave up five runs, but only one was earned despite the 2.25 WHIP in that game. I’m not stacking on Gant since he has been good at home, but Eric Thames drove in three runs in that game. Travis Shaw is worth a look as well.

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Middle Tier:

Luis Castillo still is plagued by home runs, so taking a shot with a Giant or two is not the worst strategy. Brandon Belt is so cold that I can’t justify his price, but McCutchen and Brandon Crawford are certainly worth a look.

Of course, Jose Abreu has homered against Heath Fillmyer. If you want the one most likely to join him, it would probably be Matt Davidson. I also like Tim Anderson here as well.

I’m not sure how you can trust Jose Quintana right now. Cervelli and Josh Bell have both homered off of him in the past. I also like David Freese against the lefty. Elias Diaz is in play as well if he starts for Cervelli.

If you don’t trust Odorizzi, I don’t blame you. However, don’t attack him with Nick Castellanos (1-11), go with Niko Goodrum instead.

Bargain Shoppers:

How about this? Gerardo Parra is 10-19(.526) with five runs and two RBI against Anibal Sanchez. I don’t know that I trust any other Rockies enough except for maybe Blackmon, but I love the idea of saving money with Parra. Story, CarGo, and Ian Desmond have the homers if you think Sanchez is going to pitch poorly.

The Royals are cheap, and Reynaldo Lopez is far from a sure thing. Jorge Bonifacio, Alcides Escobar, and Perez have all homered against Lopez in his career. I’m not opposed to Alex Gordon either since he always seems to hit the White Sox. He hasn’t done so to Lopez yet, but that could change quickly.

Starlin Castro has driven in three of the four Marlin runs against Gio Gonzalez. He is about the only Marlin that I’m interested in tonight.

Kendrys Morales has homered off of Happ before, and he will only set you back $3,400.

Next. MLB Game by Game breakdown August 19. dark

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