DraftKings MLB Picks August 31: Severino or Wheeler?

PHILADELPHIA, PA – MAY 13: Rain falls on the on deck circle during a rain delay before a game between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on May 13, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Picks August 31: Severino or Wheeler?

We have a massive 15 game slate to finish off August. With Christmas Eve for us College Football fans upon us (hey, we get presents on Christmas Eve too!), it can be hard to pay attention to baseball. I’ve got you covered no matter which direction you go. I’ve heard sleep is overrated. We can do this!

More from DFS

There is a slight chance of a delayed start in Philly and a stray shower in the middle innings in Chicago, but it is conceivable that no baseball is harmed by the weather. Make sure to check out the DFS forecasters before first pitch. They are an invaluable tool!

There is a brisk 15 mph breeze out to left in Kansas City and a boatload of righty power in the Baltimore lineup. Stay tuned!

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!

For you first time players, if you would like a free shot at a million dollars, use this link for the referral bonus with your first deposit of $5 or more! You will receive a free entry into the Fantasy Football Millionaire contest on opening weekend!

NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 25: Zack Wheeler #45 of the New York Mets pitches in the third inning against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on August 25, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Players are wearing special jerseys with their nicknames on them during Players’ Weekend. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Luis Severino ($11,300): The Tigers have little experience against Severino, but almost none of it is good. They are only hitting .227 in 44 at bats with just two runs and an astonishing 15 strikeouts. This may not be a fluke. Severino has bucked the trend of some Yankee pitching and has dominated at home. Severino is 9-2 with a 2.73 ERA in Yankee Stadium with 94 strikeouts in 79 innings. Add that to his domination of the Tigers (37 DraftKings points in his start against them this year), and you have a strong case for paying up for Severino.

Zack Wheeler ($10,600): Wheeler continues to dominate the team that traded him, holding the Giants to a .188 average in 48 at bats with no homers and five runs with 13 strikeouts. With Posey done for the year and McCutchen jettisoned to New York, the worst offense in the National League somehow found a way to get worse. You can definitely make a case for fading Severino for Wheeler in San Francisco.

Michael Kopech ($9,100): The Red Sox are a dangerous offense. A dangerous offense that was dominated by a guy with a 8.18 ERA at home last night. That alone is enough to consider the phenom Kopech, who may have the most upside of anyone on this slate. Boston came up empty until they got into the bullpen last night. Can Kopech repeat that performance? This is a steep price to pay to find out.

Middle Tier:

Nathan Eovaldi ($8,800): Nothing like a meeting with Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez to jack Eovaldi’s price up. The White Sox strike out at an alarming rate, and Eovaldi throws hard, so this looks like a good match. However, Eovaldi has struggled lately. This is the boom or bust GPP play that can make or break your lineup. Eovaldi could score in the high 30’s or end up in single digits.

Tanner Roark ($8,500): Roark has held the Brewers to a .220 average in 82 at bats with just two homers, five runs, and a decent 20 strikeouts. I fail to see why he is more than Chacin, but if you want to separate yourself, Roark is a solid place to do it. Ownership should be low, but I don’t trust this. The Brewers are loaded with lefty power, and Roark has a 4.78 ERA in 12 home starts. However, he did put up his best start of maybe his entire career against Milwaukee earlier this year. Roark held the Brewers to just three hits over eight shutout innings with 11 strikeouts en route to 41.6 DraftKings points.

Jhoulys Chacin ($8,100): Chacin has held the Nationals to a .225 average in 89 at bats with only two homers and six runs to go with a strong 27 strikeouts. In his one start against the Nats this year, Chacin dominated racking up 31 DraftKings points and just one run on two hits in 5.2 innings. Somehow, Chacin keeps getting it done. His home/road splits are nearly identical, so it’s hard to find a reason not to use him.

Andrew Suarez ($7,800): This game is like Orioles-Royals except the pitchers bat, the ballpark is twice as big, and the wind blowing out means nothing. Suarez has a 3.39 ERA at home, and the Mets don’t have enough right handed power for me to really want to chase anything. There is decent potential here for Suarez, but the fact that he is playing the Mets shouldn’t increase his price this much. I think we can do better on a full slate.

Austin Gomber ($7,700): Gomber has been a blessing for the Cardinals rotation, putting up a 2.79 ERA in six starts and 13 relief appearances. I’m a believer since Gomber shut down the Rockies, including the Lefty Destroyer 5000 (Nolan Arenado) in his last start. The Reds are scuffling right now, and they are running into a hot pitcher that is guaranteed a win against Homer Bailey. Hey DraftKings, can I pay to use Gomber’s bat against Homer Bailey as well?

Bargain Pitchers:

Jose Quintana ($7,500): I usually leave Quintana to all you Pepto mainliners out there, but I may venture over to the dark side tonight. The Phillies are hitting just .189 against Quintana in 122 at bats with four homers and eight runs and a pretty strong 37 strikeouts. Quintana has been better on the road, and he put up a strong 25.8 DraftKings points on the Phillies the first time around. I’ll take that for this price!

Framber Valdez ($6,900): Valdez gave up just one run on two hits in his first major league start last weekend in Anaheim. With Upton and Pujols out of this lineup, there isn’t much that scares me. Valdez isn’t going to go much, if any, longer than five innings in this one either. However, if he can get around 16-18 DraftKings points again, that’s decent return for the price.

Brad Keller ($6,700): After a bit of a rough start in the majors, Keller has allowed two runs or less in five of his last six starts. The wind is blowing pretty hard out to left, but Keller holds the advantage against the righty heavy Orioles and has only allowed six homers in 105.1 innings pitched this year. It seems like a bit of a fools errand to chase this. The lack of strikeouts means that Keller has virtually no upside, but you can’t argue with the results he has been getting lately.

Aaron Sanchez ($6,100): Sanchez’s return from the DL was nothing to write home about, but he did throw 86 pitches. If he is allowed to throw around 90 again, he is actually in a really good spot here. For one, he is in a massive ballpark against an offense that has zero lefty power. You can do worse in GPP’s than Sanchez tonight. There is enough upside to consider this.

ST. LOUIS, MO – AUGUST 28: Jose Martinez #38 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first inning at Busch Stadium on August 28, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Chicago Cubs vs. Nick Pivetta:

This could be an under the radar stack, but Pivetta has been clobbered by lefties. The Cubs put up four runs on Pivetta in the first outing, and could do that or more tonight. Pivetta has allowed 11 runs in his last two starts to the Blue Jays and Mets. The Cubs are way ahead of both of those clubs offensively. I definitely want Rizzo here, who is 2-4 with a homer and four RBI off of Pivetta. Schwarber, Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward, and Daniel Murphy are all worth a look here.

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Dan Straily:

It’s hard to advocate a stack in a pitcher’s park, but Straily doesn’t strike out many batters and gives up homers. The Jays are hitting .298 against Straily with three homers and 11 runs in just 47 at bats. Kendrys Morales has two of them, but his price is still inflated from his homer tear. Granderson has the other one, but it is his only hit in nine tries against Straily. Grichuk has good power and is worth a look. Pillar and Teoscar Hernandez as well if you are stacking the stack less played.

Texas Rangers vs. Stephen Gonsalves:

Until Gonsalves proves that he can get anyone out, he is stack bait. On the surface this doesn’t look like a can’t miss spot for Texas, but their lefties hit lefty pitching pretty well. Shin-Soo Choo, Rougned Odor, and Joey Gallo all have solid numbers off of lefties. That’s right……Gallo can hit lefties this year. I like Elvis leading off, and Jurickson Profar is worth a look as well. I’m not a huge fan of Adrian Beltre anymore, but even he is in play here in the heat and humidity of Arlington.

Minnesota Twins vs. Drew Hutchinson:

Maybe the good hitting weather can wake this offense up a little. Hutchinson has struggled against lefty, a commodity in which the Twins are pretty rich in. Joe Mauer, Eddie Rosario if he plays, Max Kepler, and Jorge Polanco are all worth a look here. Jake Cave is looking pretty good too since the Twins are all pretty low priced.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Homer Bailey:

This is a BvP feast! The Cardinals have absolutely smashed Bailey in his career. The Cards are hitting .444 with seven homers and 26 runs in just 135 at bats. 135 at bats is enough of a sample size that this is not a fluke and the Reds are just being big ol’ meanies for making Homer go back out there against these guys. Yadier Molina is hitting .404 in 47 at bats with three homers and seven RBI, so start there. Harrison Bader, Paul DeJong, Jose Martinez, and Matt Adams have all homered off of Homer as well. Matt Carpenter is hitting a blistering .452 in 42 at bats, but he hasn’t homered off of Bailey. There is literally no Cardinal in the starting lineup that I wouldn’t use right now. I would use the freaking batboy if he were starting.

Oakland Athletics vs. Mike Leake:

It’s tough to stack on Leake because he’s a slippery little bugger. Leake always seems to pull a Houdini and get out of whatever jam he’s in without the wheels coming completely off. That said, The A’s are hitting .301 with four homers and 18 runs against Leake in 143 at bats. Lucroy has two homers and eight of the RBI. Matt Chapman and Khris Davis have homered off of Leake as well. I’m not opposed to using the struggling Matt Olsen here or Jed Lowrie. This is not necessarily a great stack, but there are several pieces that could work as a compliment to, say, the Cardinals.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Hyun-Jin Ryu:

Ryu has pitched well when he can stay on the field this year, but Arizona has demolished him. The Diamondbacks are hitting .354 with two homers and 14 runs in just 79 at bats against Ryu. Goldy has both homers and seven of the RBI. Even if you don’t stack, Goldschmidt should probably be in your lineup. Pollock, Ketel Marte, Daniel Descalso, and David Peralta are all hitting .333 or better against Ryu. Take your pick!

NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 30: Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the New York Yankees flips the bat after his third-inning, two-run home run against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium on August 30, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The home run was Stanton’s 300th in the Major Leagues. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

The Yankees haven’t totally torched Jordan Zimmerman as you might expect. He has been serviceable against the Yankees, but Giancarlo Stanton has three homers and six RBI off of Zimmerman. No other healthy Yankee has anything, but Zimmerman has never faced Andujar either.

Tyler Glasnow has been good with the Rays, but I really don’t trust any pitcher against Cleveland right now. I wouldn’t go after Glasnow that hard because he really doesn’t give up much for homers, but Lindor and Greg Allen are a pretty good wrap around mini stack if you want exposure to this.

The Pirates are cold, otherwise I would consider stacking against Anibal Sanchez. Despite his strong season, Sanchez has had some issues with the Pirates. Both Marte and Josh Harrison have homered off of Sanchez if you want to throw a dart at Anibal.

I’m not really wanting to go after Kopech, but he isn’t going to pitch a complete game, so the Red Sox are going to get a crack at that bullpen again. It is a tough sell to play guys just to go after the bullpen, but J.D. and Mookie are getting hot again.

Jaime Barria‘s numbers against the Astros aren’t bad, but Houston is on a roll. If you stacked here, I wouldn’t blame you. However, Barria doesn’t surrender an alarming number of homers. I think I would rather go after him with the hot Tyler White and Jose Altuve. Anything else seems too risky for no real reason.

I don’t care how bad Brett Kennedy has been, I simply can’t stack Rockies on the road, nor would I recommend that you do. I’m happy when we win, and stacking Rockies away from Coors has been a bad idea about 57 out of 60 times on the road. Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado are the only ones that have shown any signs of life at sea level, so I would limit my exposure to them.

I’m not opposed to using Mike Trout with a lefty on the mound, but he seems really expensive for no apparent reason.

More from FanSided

Middle Tier:

I personally don’t like any Phillie against Quintana, but Rhys Hoskins has homered off of him. Bautista has two, but they are his only hits in 25 at bats.

Ryan Zimmerman is 6-22(.273) with two homers and five RBI in his career against Chacin. The rest of the team has one lousy RBI against Chacin in 67 at bats, so I have a hard time finding upside with Washington here.

The Dodgers have hit their former teammate hard enough, both over his career and over this season, for me not to use him. Both Cody Bellinger and Grandal have homered twice off of Grienke. Justin Turner, Joc Pederson, Chris Taylor, and Matt Kemp have taken him deep as well. However, I will likely limit my exposure to one or two. The great Dodgers stack didn’t pay off last night either.

Part of me wants to go after Roark and his horrible home splits. Jonathan Schoop has homered off of him twice in just four at bats. Aside from that, Christian Yelich is hitting anything resembling a baseball right now. Travis Shaw is worth a look too, but I’m not sure just how much exposure we want here.

I just don’t trust Antonio Senzatela right now. He doesn’t really strike anyone out, and the Padres are dangerous if you don’t make them swing and miss. Wil Myers has a homer and five RBI in just nine at bats off of Senzatela, so I definitely want him. After that, you can mix and match. There is serious blowup potential here.

No White Sox really catch my eye on a full slate, but Yoan Moncada and maybe Nicky Delmonico are decent spots to try and go after Eovaldi in case he blows up again.

I’m not real crazy about either side despite the wind and average pitching in Kansas City, but I’m not opposed to using Salvador Perez or Mark Trumbo on the off chance that they get a hold of one.

Bargain Shoppers:

If you absolutely, positively, want to take a shot at Severino, your only consideration should be Nick Castellanos. Castellanos is 6-12 with both runs. The rest of the team is a combined 4-32.

I’m not playing any Rays, but they have hit Kluber well enough to continue my Kluber boycott. If you must use a Ray, go with Kevin Kiermaier. He is 3-8 with four runs scored and two steals against Kluber.

Mike Fiers has a 1.50 ERA in four starts with the A’s, and you can’t even blame it on that black hole of a stadium they play in. Fiers has only made one start there. Fiers may well be worth the $9,600, but I can find better ways to spend the money. The Mariners have hit Fiers hard, but I respect the numbers to some extent. I’ll throw a couple of cheapies at him. Robinson Cano is 5-14 with two homers and five RBI. Maybin has two homers and five RBI against Fiers as well. Kyle Seager is 5-15 with a homer, and he is just $3,300!

I like Jameson Taillon, but not for $9,000 against the Braves in Atlanta. I’m not in a hurry to play Braves against him either. The only current Brave that has faced Taillon is Adam Duvall, who kept me from a really big night last night. Duvall is 6-27 with two homers and four RBI against Taillon. However, there is no Braves hitter that really stands out as being worth the money on a full slate.

Next. MLB Game by Game breakdown August 31. dark

We promised some big news in June for Fantasy CPR, right? Well here it is! We are now looking for PAID writers to join our team to write about fantasy sports. Seasonal or DFS, any sport you want – get your voice heard and get paid for talking fantasy sports. Apply today HERE!