DraftKings Main MLB Picks August 30: Verlander loves the Angels

Our main DraftKings slate is still pretty full with eight games. Fortunately, after all of the bad pitching we had to put up with yesterday, we have some pretty good options out there tonight. The bargain tier looks a little rough, but Cleveland played in the afternoon and Colorado is on the road, so we shouldn’t have to pay quite as much for bats.

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There is a chance of a delayed start in Atlanta again and in St. Louis. Fortunately, once the rain clears, it’s gone for the night. both games should play without issues.

The only wind is the customary Bay Area breeze in Oakland.

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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DENVER, CO – AUGUST 25: German Marquez #48 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning at Coors Field on August 25, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. Players are wearing special jerseys with their nicknames on them during Players’ Weekend. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Justin Verlander ($12,000): The Angels are hitting just .177 with four homers and eight runs in 141 at bats off of Verlander with 40 strikeouts. Those are the exact kind of stats that you want when paying top dollar for an ace. The other option is to stack cheap Red Sox and pay for Verlander. I honestly can’t tell you which is the best, but it sure is hard to pass on Verlander tonight.

Mike Foltynewicz ($10,400): It would be foolish to dismiss a guy with a 1.32 ERA this month without fully looking into it. Folty has dominated lately, and he is going deeper into games. The Cubs have a solid offense, and they have the lefties to tag him a couple of times. It likely wont matter. The strikeouts that Foltynewicz has put up lately will erase the homer or two he does give up.

J.A. Happ ($10,000): Happ has dazzled as a member of the Yankees. He has a 2.22 ERA in four starts at Yankee Stadium so far. Of course, Happ has struggled against the Tigers, so it makes it a little harder to go with this. Detroit is hitting .306 with three homers and 16 runs in just 85 at bats against Happ. One of these times the small dimensions of Yankee Stadium are going to catch up to him, and the Tigers have the right handed power to make that happen.

Middle Tier:

German Marquez ($8,500): I can’t believe that Marquez is this cheap. The Padres are only hitting .218 off of him with three homers and five runs to go with 17 strikeouts in 55 at bats. This includes the Coors Field stats. Marquez has a 2.57 ERA over his last ten starts and a 2.89 ERA on the road. There is no reason for Marquez to be this cheap. He is the easiest way to get partial Verlander production without the huge price tag.

Andrew Heaney ($7,400): Heaney has held the Astros to a .217 average with two homers and seven runs in 92 at bats with a solid 21 strikeouts. There is a massive risk since Houston is healthy and hitting everything. Heaney himself has not pitched all that well lately, and has a 5.37 ERA on the road. If we are stacking Red Sox, there wont be much left over. Heaney is a good GPP flier, but he is very dangerous, and not in a good way.

Bargain Pitchers:

Joe Musgrove ($7,000): Musgrove dominated the Cardinals earlier this year, holding them to just five hits in seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts en route to 30.8 DraftKings points. He may not do that again, but Musgrove has done his finest work for the Pirates on the road. Musgrove’s road ERA is 2.92 in six starts. He wont rack up the strikeouts, but he is a really strong play at this price point.

Frankie Montas ($6,000): Montas is nothing special, but he has been respectable. What you are paying for here is a respectable start. Nothing more, nothing less. Montas doesn’t put up much in the way of strikeouts. He will probably give up a handful of runs too. You are just paying for around 12-15 DraftKings points and calling it a night.

TORONTO, ON – AUGUST 7: Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates the victory with Xander Bogaerts #2 during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on August 7, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

Boston Red Sox vs. Lucas Giolito:

Giolito has been a wreck for much of the year, mostly at home. His 8.18 ERA in 12 home starts mean we are stacking Red Sox then seeing what we can afford afterwards. It really doesn’t matter who you take from this lineup. Everyone in a Red Sox uniform is in play. Mookie, J.D., and Benintendi are the best options, but Moreland, Xander, and Jackie Bradley aren’t far behind.

New York Yankees vs. Francisco Liriano:

Honestly, Liriano has been awful for much of the last two months. His last quality start was on July 4th. Not of 1776, but it sure feels like it. Liriano is a hard no for me tonight, but there could be value in a Yankees stack. Andujar is hitting well right now. Hicks, Stanton, and Torres all hit lefties hard. On top of that, rightly Luke Voit has three homers in his last ten games. This could be a very bad start for Liriano.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Robbie Ray:

I really hate this, but every single night the Dodgers match up well with their opponents lately. They are hitting .285 with seven homers and 17 RBI against Ray in just 130 at bats. Kike Hernandez has three of those homers and five RBI. Matt Kemp has two more and also five RBI. Dozier and Puig have the other homers. Justin Turner and Manny Machado torch lefties, and Ray hasn’t made it through six innings in over a month. This is not looking good for Ray, even though he pitches better on the road.

Colorado Rockies vs. Clayton Richard:

NOTE: Eric Lauer may be activated to start this game. If he is, the same stack applies. The Rockies have punished Richard at home and on the road. They are hitting .338 with eight homers and 37 runs in 213 at bats. I usually don’t use Rockies on the road, but this could get ugly. Iannetta has homered three times and driven in six in just 19 at bats. Ian Desmond has a homer and seven RBI. Story and Arenado are the others that have homered. The one thing of note is that Richard has not given up a homer to a Rockies lefty, but Blackmon is still 7-18 with five runs off of him.

KANSAS CITY, MO – AUGUST 10: Matt Carpenter #13 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates his two-run home run with teammates in the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on August 10, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Matt Carpenter seems expensive against a guy like Musgrove, but every time I say something like that, he goes off again. There it is in print. Play Carpenter at your own risk.

My list of Cubs is a very short list. Anthony Rizzo is 3-7 with a homer and three RBI against Mike Foltynewicz. Daniel Murphy is 9-22(.409) with four runs, but he has no other counting stats. Other than that, I’m staying far away from this. Folty is dealing in August!

Altuve and Marwin Gonzalez are the Astros that have homered against Heaney so far. However, with the way righties hit him, you can’t rule out a reasonably priced Carlos Correa. The red hot Tyler White is in play as well.

Wade LeBlanc is going to have a solid game. That’s what he does. That doesn’t mean Khris Davis can’t smack him again. Davis is 3-4 with a homer off of him. Mark Canha is worth a look as well, but I wouldn’t get too crazy here.

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Middle Tier:

I’m all over Nick Castellanos for $4,200. Castellanos is 11-19(.579) with a homer and six RBI in his career against Happ. James McCann is worth a look on the cheap as well, but due to the way Happ is pitching lately, I wouldn’t go beyond them.

Jon Gant has been just bad enough not to use and just good enough not to use others against him. He has not allowed a homer to the Pirates in 41 at bats so far, so if you are chasing homers, it’s best to look elsewhere. Polanco does have three RBI against Gant though.

Rich Hill was destroyed by Arizona earlier in the year, but he has pitched better lately. I’m not stacking, but A.J. Pollock is worth a one off. Pollock is only 3-15 against Hill, but all three hits are homers. Goldschmidt is 6-15 with a homer and four RBI. Either of them are worth a one off.

I honestly don’t like any Padres with the tear that Marquez has been on. If you want to go that way though, Eric Hosmer is probably the way to go. Hosmer is 3-7 with a homer and two RBI off of Marquez.

Bargain Shoppers:

Mike Montgomery has been solid all year, but I make it a point not to use pitchers fresh off the DL. Also, Montgomery doesn’t have a ton of strikeout upside either. I’m not really going to take a shot at him, but I do have one in the chamber: Adam Duvall. Duvall is 5-17 with a homer and five RBI off of Montgomery from his time with the Reds. The best part? Duvall will only set you back $3,500.

I understand the upside with Rick Porcello, but he is wildly inconsistent and the White Sox have actually hit him well. 10 runs in 56 at bats well. The strikeout upside is there, and Porcello has been better on the road, but he’s too expensive. I would rather chase him with Nicky Delmonico, who has homered off of him. Avi Garcia is 7-20 with three RBI and a steal. The best part is they are cheap.

Albert Pujols is the only Angel I would think about playing against Verlander. Pujols is 10-36(.278) with two homers and three RBI off of Verlander, but with the way Albert hits now, this is more a GPP dart than anything else. Thinking about Trout? Think again. Trout does have two solo homers against Verlander, but he is 4-32 in his career against them. That’s a real long shot.

Next. MLB Game by Game breakdown August 30. dark

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