DraftKings MLB Picks August 20: Is Cole worth the price?

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 MLB Picks August 20: Is Cole worth the price?

We have ten games on our Monday, which makes it a pretty busy one for our DraftKings tournament. We have three pitchers priced as aces, but the middle tier is pretty barren. Who can we pluck out of the lower tier to offset the cost of an ace. Let’s take a look?

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The only real rain chance is in Minneapolis, and it’s not a real big chance. Just be aware that we may see a delay. The roof will likely be closed in Miller Park though.

The only wind is the customary breeze in Oakland once again.

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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MIAMI, FL – AUGUST 10: Zack Wheeler #45 of the New York Mets makes a pitch in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on August 10, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Gerrit Cole ($13,300): The Mariners are hitting a respectable .248 against Cole, but have just a .064 ISO and .284 OBP. That means they aren’t doing much with the hits. Seattle has just one homer and eight runs in 109 at bats with 19 strikeouts. I think the price is a touch high, but Cole has owned Safeco Field so far. In two starts there, he has allowed just two runs with 13 strikeouts in 13.2 innings pitched. Kershaw had his way with the Mariners yesterday. There is a good chance that Cole does as well.

Zack Wheeler ($9,300): Remember the part in Major League when Dorn is messing around with Wild Thing and puts the red tag in his locker in Spring Training? Vaughn then proceeds to go into Lou’s office and go on a tirade about what he’s going to do every time he pitches against him. I think Wheeler said that to the Giants when he got traded for Carlos Beltran. The Giants are hitting just .194 off of Wheeler, but they do have six runs to only seven strikeouts. Wheeler has been cruising lately, posting a 2.51 ERA and an average of 22 DraftKings points per game over his last ten. He has not allowed more than two runs in a game since before the All Star Break. Think the Giants and their struggling offense can touch him? Good luck!

Middle Tier:

Chris Archer ($7,800): The Braves are hitting only .237 in 38 at bats with no homers, four runs, and 12 strikeouts. Archer has yet to really settle in for Pittsburgh, however, this will be just his second home start for Pittsburgh. He has yet to really reap the benefits of the park. There is risk here with the talent in that Atlanta offense, but when Archer is on, he is hard to touch.

Kevin Gausman ($7,100): The Pirates are hitting just .184 against Gausman in 49 at bats with only one homer, two runs, and 11 strikeouts. Gausman gets a nice park upgrade here, but his strikeouts aren’t really high enough to make me want to pay this price. That said, the Pirates offense has gone cold again, so there is pretty good potential here.

Ryan Yarbrough ($6,900): It should be Yarbrough’s day after Ryne Stanek departs. Yarbrough has been cooking lately after stumbling out of the break. A meeting with the Royals should only keep his hot streak going. Yarbrough held the Royals to one run in five innings earlier this year. He doesn’t really rack up strikeouts, but he did pick up 16.5 DraftKings points in that game against Kansas City. That’s a solid return on this price.

Bargain Pitchers:

Marco Estrada ($6,800): Estrada has been a powder keg most of the year, but the Orioles are only hitting .171 against him in 117 at bats. The bad news is that the Orioles have six homers. The 41 strikeouts for Estrada will help him counteract that, but this Baltimore offense has been known to go off from time to time. I think I trust Cashner more, but I don’t know that I see a reason to target either of them here.

Chase Anderson ($6,600): The Reds are only hitting .218 in 55 at bats with one homer and four runs with nine strikeouts against Anderson. Anderson has hit a rough patch lately, and the Reds offense finally woke up yesterday, but Anderson does have 33.8 DraftKings points in two starts against the Reds this year. That’s a solid total for the price.

Andrew Cashner ($5,700): Cashner is still prone to the occasional blowup, but he has put up 42.3 DraftKings points in three starts against Toronto this season. Those are pretty good numbers for the price. However, there is still some risk here since Cashner really doesn’t strike anyone out, and his ERA is a half run worse on the road. However, the Toronto offense isn’t much to write home about.

Stephen Gonsalves ($5,400): I’ve been waiting on this one for a while Gonsalves has been one of the best pitching prospects for the Twins for a couple of years now. I was surprised that Stewart got the call first, but I knew that Gonsalves wouldn’t be far behind. This is a great spot for the rookie against the White Sox. This team does have some right handed power, but with the elevated strikeout totals, Gonsalves has a really good chance to shine in his big league debut.

Lucas Giolito ($4,700): How brave are you? Giolito has 32.4 DraftKings points in three games against the Twins this year, and that was with Escobar in the lineup. The Twins destroyed Detroit’s staff, so there is risk here, especially when you consider that Giolito really doesn’t strike out many batters. This is the place to use him if you want. Giolito’s ERA is almost four runs better on the road. The Twins also have only four runs in 50 at bats against Giolito.

MILWAUKEE, WI – AUGUST 03: Eric Thames #7 of the Milwaukee Brewers celebrates a three run walk off home run against the Colorado Rockies during the ninth inning of a game at Miller Park on August 3, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Jorge Lopez:

I’ll say that teams should take their crack at Lopez while they can because I do believe that he will be good at some point. In his first start for the Royals, he was clobbered by the Blue Jays for six runs in 4.2 innings. The Rays don’t score a ton of runs, but there are some dangerous hitters. Here. Mallex Smith and Joey Wendle lead the way here. Kevin Kiermaier, Jake Bauers, and the hot C.J. Cron make for a pretty intriguing stack. Especially when you consider that Burch Smith and his 9.67 ERA over the last six games are on deck if Lopez gets smacked around.

Cleveland Indians vs. Rick Porcello:

Yeah, I know. Stacking against a 15 game winner can blow up in your face. However, Porcello has a 4.57 ERA at home, and the Indians are hitting a robust .341 against him with three homers and 24 runs in only 138 at bats. Melky, he of the grand slam yesterday, is 15-28(.536) with a homer, three RBI, and an amazing ten runs scored against Porcello. Brantly and Kipnis have the other homers. Yan Gomes and Yonder Alonso have hit Porcello well as well. You may notice the absence of Lindor and Jose Ramirez. There’s a reason. Each of them only have one hit in a combined 13 at bats against Porcello.

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Homer Bailey:

Eric Thames has 14 homers in just 99 career at bats against Reds pitching. Surprisingly, he has not hit a homer off of Homer. That could change if Thames is in the lineup. The Brewers are hitting .328 with eight homers and 21 runs in just 125 at bats against Bailey. Ryan Braun has slugged four homers against Homer. Manny Pina has two. Jesus Aguilar and Travis Shaw have taken Bailey deep once each. There really is no wrong choice in a Brewers uniform tonight.

Oakland Athletics vs. Bartolo Colon?:

We don’t know for sure if Big and Sexy is taking the mound in his former stomping ground after he was scratched due to back stiffness yesterday. If Colon is out there, I’m throwing Khris Davis, he of the two homers yesterday, out there. Matt Chapman, Marcus Semien, Stephen Piscotty, and Chad Pinder are worth a look too due to Colon giving up a ton of long balls to right handed hitters. If someone else starts, I’ll still have Davis in there but Matt Olson and Nick Martini could be in play too.

Texas Rangers vs. Mike Fiers:

The Rangers are hitting .307 with eight homers and 21 runs in 114 at bats against Fiers so far. I’m a little apprehensive since this is in a pitcher’s park, but Joey Gallo could hit it out of anywhere. He also has two homers off of Fiers in only nine at bats. Odor and Elvis Andrus have a pair of homers each off of Fiers as well. Jurickson Profar and Beltre have the other homers, and Choo is 6-16 so far.

Houston Astros vs. Felix Hernandez:

The Astros took Sean Manaea out behind the woodshed yesterday. Don’t be shocked if they do the same to Felix. Hernandez has not had a quality start since June 25th. While it is true that he has been marginally more effective at home, I simply can’t trust him right now. The Astros had more fire yesterday than they have in a while. Look out Seattle! This could get rough. That starts with Felix. Bregman, Correa, Evan Gattis, Springer, and Marwin Gonzalez have all hit homers off of King Felix. Those five look like a pretty strong stack there!

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Austin Gomber:

The Dodgers (usually) hammer lefties, especially at home. My favorites here aren’t necessarily the most expensive. Matt Kemp and Kike Hernandez are reasonably priced, and both hammer left handed pitching. Justin Turner is heating up, and Dozier hit lefties hard while with the Twins. Now, as we know with the Dodgers, this is far from a sure thing. Gomber has pitched well over his last two starts after a rough first one in Pittsburgh. However, they were against the Royals and slumping Nationals. This is probably an all or nothing proposition with the Dodgers.

CINCINNATI, OH – AUGUST 19: Billy Hamilton #6 of the Cincinnati Reds rounds the bases on his way to a triple in the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Great American Ball Park on August 19, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds won 11-4. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

The Red Sox stack was a bust for us yesterday, and stacking against Corey Kluber isn’t a very good idea. However, the Red Sox have hit six homers against Kluber in his career. Both J.D. Martinez and Jackie Bradley have homered twice off of Kluber. Mookie and Mitch have taken him deep as well. There is a reason I’m not paying for Kluber, and it’s because this lineup is still dangerous.

Eugenio Suarez has homered off of Chase Anderson before, and driven in three of the four runs. I also like the scorching hot Billy Hamilton here.

Alex Wood is finally starting to get on track here, so I’m not going to go too crazy with Cardinals. I could actually see this being another low scoring game at Chavez Ravine. Matt Carpenter has homered off of Wood so far, and Harrison Bader‘s hot hitting makes him worth a look as well, but I don’t think I want a lot of exposure to either side of this game. There are better places to stack, but having that late night hammer is a good feeling if you stay up to watch until the last games are over anyway.

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Middle Tier:

Kohl Stewart got beat up by the Tigers in his debut. If you think the same fate awaits Gonsalves, the White Sox have plenty of righties to target. First on the list is Jose Abreu. He may not slow down for the rest of the year! The power of Moncada, Matt Davidson, and Tim Anderson is worth chasing as well. This is an affordable team to stack if you choose to take that route. Just be aware that you could come up completely empty.

Andrew McCutchen is the only Giant I would even consider today, and it’s only because he wants to play well enough to be traded out of San Francisco purgatory.

Both Eddie Rosario and Jorge Polanco have homered against Lucas Giolito in his career. Joe Mauer isn’t a bad idea either. The Twins offense is cooking right now, and Giolito’s 2018 has mostly been a disaster.

I’m telling you right now that Derek Holland is overpriced. The junkballer has put up solid numbers, but lately the Mets have remembered why they take bats with them to the plate. Todd Frazier is hitting nearly everything lately, and Jose Bautista has got going as well. I’m not really on the lefties here since Holland has done well enough against them. I do like Amed Rosario as a cheap flier considering he could lead off again.

I’m not really crazy about any Royals hitters, but if it is Yarbrough that takes the hill, Salvador Perez and Whit Merrifield are worth a look.

Bargain Shoppers:

If you want to go after Cashner, I certainly don’t blame you. Randal Grichuk is the one to really target. Grichuk has homered twice off of Cashner. Kendrys Morales is 4-7 with a homer and two RBI as well. Smoak, Martin, and Granderson have also homered off of Cashner, but they aren’t hitting very well overall.

Chris Davis is still dirt cheap, and he has three homers and eight RBI against Marco Estrada. Trumbo has homered twice against Estrada as well.

Next. MLB Game by Game breakdown August 20. dark

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