DraftKings Main MLB Picks August 29: Which rookie should we ride?

CINCINNATI, OH – MAY 04: Fans make their way into the ball park through the rain prior to a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 4, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

DraftKings Main MLB Picks August 29: Which rookie should we ride?

Our main DraftKings slate is still pretty full with nine games, but with all of the great pitching that we had yesterday, the arms tonight are not great. They aren’t as bad as the early set, but we are still going to have to do some digging to come up with good prospects.

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Ohio doesn’t look good for rain tonight. In Cincinnati, the threat seems to be an in game delay, so SP’s are risky. In Cleveland, it appears as though the start of the game will be delayed, but they should get it in if they wait about 90 minutes to start.

The only wind is the customary Bay Area breeze in San Francisco.

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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ATLANTA, GA – AUGUST 10: Pitcher Freddy Peralta #51 of the Milwaukee Brewers throws a pitch in the first inning during the game against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park on August 10, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Freddy Peralta ($9,700): DraftKings certainly makes you pay up for potential. Peralta has by far the best strikeout potential of the night, but facing the Reds in Cincy is risky regardless of rain. Peralta does have 12 strikeouts on 12 innings against the Reds, and has picked up 41.2 DraftKings points off of him. However, his 5.06 ERA in eight road games makes me nervous enough to drop down to CC.

Dereck Rodriguez ($9,500): Rodriguez has allowed quite a few base runners against Arizona, but none of them crossed the plate. The rookie has been huge this year, especially at home. He has a 2.01 ERA in eight home starts, and has not lost there. He doesn’t quite have the strikeout upside that I want at this price, but I’m betting Rodriguez puts together another good start. After all, he picked up 23.5 DraftKings points in his first start against Arizona.

Sean Newcomb ($9,200): Newcomb rebounded with a nice start against the Marlins last week. The Rays lineup isn’t much better. The current lineup is 0-10 against Newcomb lifetime. Most of what little power the Rays have is from the right side though, so I would say there is at least a little bit of risk here.

Middle Tier:

CC Sabathia ($8,900): The price seems a touch high, but keep in mind that CC has a 2.44 ERA in 12 home starts. He also racked up 30.6 DraftKings points on the White Sox the first time he faced them this year, and that was in Chicago. Of course, the dozen strikeouts helped, and that highlights why CC is one of the better plays of the night. While the White Sox are dangerous, especially to lefties, their free swinging ways can really inflate the point totals of opposing pitchers. That’s what we are banking on here.

Zack Godley ($8,600): How brave are you? The Giants may have the worst offense in baseball by quite a margin. However, the Giants are hitting .348 with five homers and 15 runs in just 69 at bats against Godley. The upside here is, well, it’s the Giants. They have struck out 18 times in those 69 at bats, and Godley gets a huge park upgrade. This is a high risk-high reward situation.

Alex Wood ($8,400): On the surface, this doesn’t look like a very good spot for Wood. He does have a 2.81 ERA in his last ten starts, but it’s hot and humid in Texas. The good news is that Texas is far more dangerous to righties, and Wood handles lefties very well. There isn’t huge upside here, but I don’t expect Wood to be highly owned, so this could help separate you, for better or for worse.

Jake Arrieta ($8,000): Arrieta has a 2.88 ERA in 12 home starts this year, and has held the Nationals to only four runs (three earned) in 11 innings this year. That is the issue though: Arrieta hasn’t gone deep into the game against Washington either time. He could here, and I do like his home numbers, but it’s hard to bank on just that. It’s not like the Nationals are bad just because they moved Murphy. This is still a potent offense that bother Arrieta again. However, for this price, I’m taking a chance that Arrieta will pitch well at home again.

Bargain Pitchers:

Gio Gonzalez ($6,700): Gio is the target of many a trade rumor since he cleared waivers, and my guess is that he will be on the move before he can make this start. If he does start against the Phillies though, there is upside here. The Phils are hitting just .179 against Gio with only one homer and eight runs in 140 at bats. The strikeout total isn’t very high, but neither is the price. This is a good spot for Gio should he still be a National by 7pm eastern.

Alex Cobb ($6,400): I told you it wasn’t going to be easy, but this is one of the tougher ones to take the plunge on. On one hand, Cobb has allowed just one or two runs in each of his last five starts. On the other, the Blue Jays have destroyed him this year for 13 runs (ten earned) in just 8.2 innings. Something has to give. The Jays did some of that damage as recently as a month ago. I’m inclined to ride Cobb’s hot streak, but he doesn’t get enough strikeouts to bail us out if this goes poorly.

Jalen Beeks ($5,600): Beeks is tapped for the middle innings of this one tonight, so there is solid potential here since you really only have to worry about the righties. This park is great for lefty hitters, but hard on righties. Beeks has a 2.96 ERA in August, so I do like him at this price.

Reynaldo Lopez ($5,200): Lopez held the Yankees to just one run on four hits in seven innings en route to 21.6 DraftKings points on August 7th in Chicago. Yankee Stadium is going to be an entirely different experience, but my point is that this offense is still missing a few key pieces. Lopez was able to exploit it, then promptly gave up 10 runs over his next to start to Kansas City and Detroit. There is massive risk if you are tagging Lopez to try and do this again.

KANSAS CITY, MO – AUGUST 26: Jason Kipnis (R) of the Cleveland Indians celebrates his two-run inside-the-park home run with Jose Ramirez #11 in the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on August 26, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. All players across MLB will wear nicknames on their backs as well as colorful, non traditional uniforms featuring alternate designs inspired by youth-league uniforms during Players Weekend. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

Baltimore Orioles vs. Ryan Borucki:

Borucki has been impressive at home. One of those days we expect him to take it on the road. I suppose it could happen here against Baltimore, but with all of those right handed power bats, I wouldn’t bet on it. I think Borucki still has a decent score because he will get strikeouts, but he’s going to give up a few runs. Mark Trumbo is at the top of the list. We saw Craig Gentry go nuts batting second last night, and Mancini wasn’t far behind. Sprinkle in a little Beckham and Adam Jones, and we have a pretty stout stack against a lefty tonight.

New York Yankees vs. Reynaldo Lopez:

I highlighted why I would even consider a Yankees stack last page. Lopez is one of the more inconsistent pitchers out there. That said, the Yankees didn’t even really get to Shields last night. Stanton is a must play in any stack, but I don’t know if he is where to go for a one off. Andujar may be a better pick. Hicks and Gardner are kind of cold right now, but could still be used. I probably like Gleyber Torres more than any of the others right now if you aren’t stacking.

Cleveland Indians vs. Kohl Stewart:

Stewart has done little to show that he can handle major league hitters. Oakland is by far the best offense he has faced so far, and he was okay against them. The Indians pound okay. Lindor and Jose Ramirez are at the top of every list with Brantley and Edwin not far behind. Finish this off with either Greg Allen or Yonder, hope for the best with cheap pitchers, and rocket up the leaderboard.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Mike Minor:

Minor hasn’t been horrible this year. Whenever a pitcher is prefaced by that ringing endorsement, it could be bad. The problem for Minor is that the Dodgers have the horses to attack both righties and lefties. I wouldn’t go hard after Bellinger or Muncy here. Instead, Manny Machado is the place to start. Grandal, Dozier, Kemp, Kike Hernandez, Justin Turner, and Yasiel Puig are all deserving of the other four spots.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Trevor Williams:

Yeah, I know. Williams has pitched well lately. However, the Cardinals have just torched him for a .368 average in 95 at bats with four homers and 18 runs. Part of me tells me not to attack this too hard, but part of me says to go balls out because this isn’t likely to be a popular stack. Matt Carpenter is a must play. Not only is he still hot, he is 7-16 with three homers and six RBI off of Williams. Paul DeJong has taken Williams deep as well. Jose Martinez, Greg Garcia, Harrison Bader, and Yairo Munoz have all hit .400 or better against Williams. The only one to really avoid is Gyorko. He is only 1-10 against Williams.

CINCINNATI, OH – AUGUST 28: Scooter Gennett #3 of the Cincinnati Reds hits a single in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park on August 28, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

This game really doesn’t look good for Adam Plutko either. I could advocate a stack here, but I’m a Twins fan and I honestly can’t find five hitters on this team I really like. Lefties have pounded Plutko though, so Eddie Rosario could be worth that massive price. Mauer and Jake Cave look good on the cheap, and Max Kepler is always worth a look. I think I’m only using two of the four though.

I don’t know how much of a shot you want to take at Freddy Peralta, but Scooter Gennett would be the place to start. He is 11-16 in his last four games, and he hits righties hard anyway. Billy Hamilton is worth a look until he cools off.

If you want to go after Jalen Beeks, it would appear that Acuna is the way to do it. Or is he? His first at bat will be against a righty. If I’m going after this, I think I would rather go with Camargo or Dansby Swanson. They should get at least one more at bat against the lefty than Acuna.

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Middle Tier:

Curtis Granderson may be the best place to get some exposure to Cobb if you want it. Granderson is 5-15 with a homer, five walks, and five RBI against Cobb. Morales has homered off of Cobb as well, but I think he has hit his quota for the month.

Tim Anderson has the only White Sox homer against CC, but I’m not in the habit of targeting Sabathia at home. He sure does pitch well in Yankee Stadium!

Cesar Hernandez has had the most success against Gio Gonzalez if you are looking for ways to go after him. I don’t really want to spend the money on Hoskins or Ramos. I think I would rather go after Alfaro or Asdrubal if you want more exposure.

I’m not sure how much of a run you want to take at Newcomb, but C.J. Cron looks like the way to go. You could add in Tommy Pham for good measure, but I wouldn’t go too crazy here. This is a pretty contrarian play at this point after Newcomb’s last start.

In the for what it’s worth category, Mark Reynolds is 9-22(.409) with a homer and four RBI against Jake Arrieta. No one else really has great numbers here, but Bryce Harper has walked seven times in 25 plate appearances.

The Texas power isn’t much from the right side. If you feel like you want to take a run at Wood, I think it has to be limited to Profar and the struggling Adrian Beltre. Yeah, I don’t like it that much either.

Bargain Shoppers:

I don’t know how hard I’m going to go after Matt Harvey. He has pitched well over the last month. Arcia and Hernan Perez are the two Brewers that have homered off of Harvey, but the numbers say that the way to attack Harvey is with lefty power. The Brewers have no shortage of that. The bad part? They are all expensive. Shaw and Christian Yelich are the ones I would use if I can afford it.

The Giants are cheap, so if you want to take a shot at Godley, you certainly can. Hunter Pence is 4-8 with two homers against Godley, and he is just $3,300. Hundley, Brandon Crawford, and McCutchen have all homered against Godley as well. Only McCutchen is over $4,000.

I’m not sure what to do with Mikolas here. The Pirates have hit him pretty well, but said Pirates are pretty cold right now. There is no upside for Mikolas since he doesn’t put up strikeouts. I think it’s best to take a small shot at him with some cheap Pirates. Corey Dickerson and whoever catches look pretty good.

Next. MLB Game by Game breakdown August 29. dark

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