MLB DFS Bargain Bin- Friday, August 24th Early Slates

DraftKings /

MLB DFS Bargain Bin – Friday, August 24th Early Slates

Welcome to a Friday 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 Friday’s early slates!

DFS MLB /

MLB DFS Bargain Bin – Friday, August 24th Early Slates Bargain Pitcher

Gio Gonzalez, WAS at NYM

No one said bargain hunting in MLB DFS comes without risk, and today’s bargain pitcher suggestion is a prime example. The mere sight of Gonzalez’s name is enough to produce a wince or two from those who’ve rostered him lately, but the old adage rings true — you must have a short memory when playing daily fantasy sports. Gonzalez has taken it on the chin against the Reds, Cardinals and Marlins in three of his last four starts, yet the match-up lines up well for him Friday.

The Mets check in with a paltry .280 wOBA, 82 wRC+, -5.1 wRAA, .136 ISO and 23.0 percent strikeout rate over the last month against left-handers at Citi Field. They also have a bottom-10 walk rate (6.6 percent) versus southpaws at home during that stretch, certainly a point in Gonzalez’s favor considering his frequent control issues. Gio has also turned in solid outings in his two previous meetings with New York this season, as evidenced by a 2.53 ERA and 11 strikeouts over 10.2 innings over two starts against them. Just as important is the fact that he hasn’t allowed a home run in either of those appearances.

There’s also the matter of Gonzalez actually profiling a bit better on the road this season. While his 4.65 ERA away from Nationals Park isn’t pretty by any stretch, it’s been partly skewed by a couple of recent five-earned-run outings against the Brewers and Cardinals. There’s also a 40-point improvement between his home BAA (.287) and his figure on the road (.247), and a favorable 38-point gulf between the wOBA he’s allowed at home (.358) as compared to on the road (.315).

And finally, not to be underscored is the solid win probability Gonzalez has if he can hang in there long enough Friday — his opposite number is Jason Vargas, who’s struggled to the tune of a 3-8 record, 7.67 ERA and 1.72 WHIP this season.

The combination of what’s likely to be lower ownership than he would have sported earlier in the season and the price drop he’s seen due to recent struggles make Gonzalez a viable cost-savings option on Friday’s earlier slates, even if he understandably makes you a bit antsy.

ALSO CONSIDER:

Joe Musgrove, PIT at MIL

DSF MLB /

MLB DFS Bargain Bin – Friday, August 24th Early Slates Quick Hits

Wrigley Field could be the sight of a late-August fireworks display Friday afternoon, as

Matt Harvey

and rookie

Alec Mills

take the hill for the Reds and Cubs, respectively. Harvey has actually been serviceable-to-good in many of his starts with the Reds, but he still always carries some vulnerability, especially to lefty hitters. Harvey has allowed a .399 wOBA to lefty hitters on the road overall during his time with the Mets and in Cincy this season, making the switch-hitting

Ian Happ

and

Ben Zobrist

, as well as the left-handed

Daniel Murphy

, especially appealing as cheaper Chicago bats (in addition to the expensive options such as Rizzo and Schwarber).

More from DFS

Meanwhile, Mills had more than his fair share of struggles at Triple-A this season, putting together a 5-12 record and 4.84 ERA. He hasn’t been bad about keeping the ball in the park (10 homers allowed over 124.2 innings), but he could naturally be ripe for the picking due to his inexperience. Both sides of the plate have experienced success against him in the minors (with a nod to righty hitters), so all affordable Reds bats are worth considering, with Phillip Ervin and Curt Casali especially standing out due to their track records versus right-handed pitching.

C.C. Sabathia comes off the DL for the Yankees on Friday to take on the Orioles, and although I’m not a fan of overly targeting the crafty veteran southpaw, there’s a couple of interesting Baltimore bargain bats to consider. Adam Jones has the most extensive history against Sabathia (.261 average and .489 slugging percentage, including five homers, over 99 plate appearances) and can always be rolled out, while Jonathan Villar (.347 wOBA, .462 CXwOBA versus lefties) is worthy of consideration as well.

On the other side, it’s Alex Cobb toeing the rubber for Baltimore, putting any cheap Yankees firmly in play. Cobb has been hit hard by both hitters from both sides of the plate, so the few affordable New York bats — typically the likes of Greg Bird, Austin Romine, Neil Walker, Brett Gardner and Ronald Torreyes — are in play for tournaments, as well as any others that might find their way into the lineup.

The Phillies’ Jake Arrieta has been solid overall, but he’s been susceptible to left-handed hitters on the road to an extent (.274 average and .331 wOBA allowed). As such, it’s not out of the question to deploy the likes of Justin Smoak (where affordable), Kendrys Morales, Curtis Granderson and even Richard Urena for tournaments.

On the other side of the matchup, young southpaw Ryan Borucki will take the hill for Toronto after a couple of rough outings. Borucki has talent, but he doesn’t miss many bats and has allowed a .342 wOBA to right-handed hitters, including .355 at home. Consequently, the likes of Carlos Santana, Cesar Hernandez, Maikel Franco, Wilson Ramos (check status of wrist) and Jorge Alfaro especially come into play. Naturally, Rhys Hoskins does as well, although he may well be priced out of value range.

There could be quite a few runs crossing the plate at Comerica Park on Friday as well, as the inconsistent Reynaldo Lopez and Michael Fulmer draw starts for the White Sox and Tigers. Lopez has been hit hard by both lefty (.364 wOBA allowed) and righty (.347 wOBA allowed) bats on the road, so all Tigers are under consideration (considering their all affordable). Due to their excellent track records against him, Nicholas Castellanos (.467 average over 15 plate appearances) and James McCann (.636 average over 11 plate appearances) particularly stand out.

MLB DFS Bargain Bin /

MLB DFS Bargain Bin – Friday, August 24th Early Slates Quick Hits (cont.)

Meanwhile, Fulmer makes a DL return from an oblique injury and draws a matchup against a White Sox team he’s struggled against in the past.

Jose Abreu

(.353 average over 19 plate appearances),

Omar Narvaez

(.571 average over seven plate appearances) and Yolmer Sanchez (.429 average over eight plate appearances) especially stand out as value options due to their past successes versus the right-hander, but others like

Tim Anderson

and

Matt Davidson

are certainly in play also.

More from FanSided

As alluded to earlier, the Mets’ Vargas makes for quite the target Friday, given his struggles against all comers this season. The veteran lefty’s numbers look horrid all the way around, so no need to overthink it — all affordable Nationals bats can be considered.

Red Sox starter Hector Velazquez has allowed a 5.70 xFIP and owns a minuscule 7.4 percent strikeout rate versus lefty hitters on the road. That puts the likes of Ji-Man Choi, Kevin Kiermaier, Mallex Smith, Joey Wendle and Jake Bauers in terms of cheap Rays bats.

It’s a bullpen day for the Rays, with Diego Castillo scheduled to open. Castillo has been particularly effective at home, and the scheduled long man Friday, former BoSox prospect Jalen Beeks, just stymied his old organization his last time out. However, it’s the second time around with a short turnaround for the talented Boston bats, so I’d give those affordable ones that hit lefties well — Steve Pearce and Ian Kinsler, in particular — some consideration.

With Dan Straily on the mound for the Marlins on Friday, the Braves become a highly appealing source of potential value. Straily has been decimated by right-handed hitters at home (.371 wOBA and 41.4 percent hard contact rate allowed), so get the likes of Kurt Suzuki (.385 average lifetime against Straily) and Dansby Swanson into some lineups in addition to all the pricey options. Also worth noting that even though Straily has been much better versus lefty bats at Marlins Park, Nick Markakis (.409 average over 26 plate appearances) has enjoyed plenty of success against him in the past.

The Brewers’ Wade Miley has been very good thus far over a small sample this season, although he’s been a bit more vulnerable of late. Given the hitter-friendly environment of Miller Park and the strong track record of affordable Pirates bats David Freese, Elias Diaz or Francisco Cervelli, Starling Marte and the switch-hitting Josh Bell against southpaws, I’d give them consideration Friday.

The Twins’ Jake Odorizzi hasn’t been very good at home (5.12 ERA, .348 wOBA allowed), making him a target for affordable Athletics bats from either side of the plate. Marcus Semien (.429 average over seven plate appearances against him) leads the way, while Nick Martini, Ramon Laureano, Stephen Piscotty, Jonathan Lucroy, Matt Olson and Jed Lowrie all hold appeal as well (in addition to expensive options like Davis and Chapman).

Interestingly, the A’s Sean Manaea has had particular trouble with same-handed matchups on the road (.305 average, .372 wOBA, 27.7 percent line-drive rate allowed to left-handed hitters away from the Coliseum). That makes the likes of Joe Mauer (.387 CXwOBA against southpaws), Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler and Jake Cave especially interesting for large-field tournaments.

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