DraftKings Main MLB Picks September 19: Hamels could dominate

CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 01: Cleveland Indians fan Jim Stamper of Cleveland, Ohio shows his support for the team before the start of the game against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field on October 1, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images) /

DraftKings Main MLB Picks September 19: Hamels could dominate

With the Mets and Phillies going earlier than the rest and three afternoon games, we are down to ten games for our main DraftKings tournament today. We have pitchers priced as aces, but I’m not sure they really stand out as aces. That said, there is a strong middle tier and a couple of bargains, so let’s get to that!

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Wind wont be a bother for any games tonight, and there is only a slight chance of a stray shower near the end of the Cleveland game, so it looks all clear just like the afternoon!

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 – SEPTEMBER 8: Walker Buehler #21 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Colorado Rockies in the fifth inning of a game at Coors Field on September 8, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Walker Buehler ($11,300): Buehler is the most expensive pitcher out there, and he just might be worth it. Buehler has a stellar 2.32 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in ten home starts. The Rockies are just awful on the road. There is no other way to say it. I don’t even know that I trust Arenado here. It wouldn’t surprise me if Buehler were the highest scoring pitcher of the night, so he should be worth the price.

Carlos Carrasco ($11,100): The White Sox are hitting just .193 against Carrasco in 161 at bats, but they do have six homers and 17 runs to go with the 49 strikeouts. The elevated strikeout potential shears a lot of the risk off when using Carrasco. Carrasco has absolutely dominated Chicago this year. He has 75.4 DraftKings points in just two starts against them, racking up 20 strikeouts in 14 innings without and earned run. Pay up, he’s worth it!

Middle Tier:

Cole Hamels ($9,600): Hamels has been lights out with the Cubs, allowing just 10 earned runs in nine starts. Arizona has been putrid in this series continuing their home offensive woes. Hamels doesn’t have great numbers against Arizona, but he has been a master with the Cubs and with Arizona only mustering two runs in two games so far in this series, Hamels should dominate here.

Chris Stratton ($8,400): The price is steep for someone who doesn’t pick up much for strikeouts, but Stratton has only allowed two earned runs in 13 innings against the Padres this year while racking up 35.4 DraftKings points. He could come close to 20 here again, but I have a hard time paying this much for someone with a 4.66 ERA just on principal alone.

Bargain Pitchers:

Chris Archer ($7,700): There is risk here since Archer really hasn’t pitched well with Pittsburgh. He has a 4.40 ERA at home and a 6.12 ERA on the road as a Pirate. There is potential here against a pretty weak hitting Royals team, but the Royals that have faced Archer have done pretty well off of him. This is mostly a contrarian mid tier play, and I would steer clear in cash games.

Brett Anderson ($5,400): Anderson has a 2.55 ERA in four home starts and only allowed two runs over five innings to the Angels earlier this year. Now the bad news: Anderson didn’t look sharp in his return from the DL and only went 3.1 innings. He should be able to get in five innings tonight, so I can see some potential here due to his home numbers. This is a huge risk, but the bargain tier of pitchers is rather ugly.

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 16: Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees reacts after striking out in the fifth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on September 16, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

New York Yankees vs. David Price:

David Price has a 4.75 ERA in 20 career starts at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees overall are hitting a robust .307 with 12 homers and 38 runs off of him in 215 at bats. Gary Sanchez has truly clobbered Price, going 6-12 with five homers and 11 RBI. Hicks has homered twice off of Price. You can finish the stack with Torres, McCutchen, Judge, Stanton, or Gregorius. All of them have hit Price well, hard, or both.

Baltimore Orioles vs. Marco Estrada:

Estrada’s 2018 nightmare has only gotten worse. He has had negative DraftKings points in three of his last four starts. This looks like a good time to attack with Orioles. Cedric Mullins, Trey Mancini, Adam Jones, Tim Beckham, and Jonathan Villar are a pretty affordable stack that can rack up the points even if Estrada only lasts three innings again.

Cleveland Indians vs. Dylan Covey:

Why don’t they just set up a pitching machine out there? The Indians are hitting .315 with two homers and 14 runs in just 89 at bats against Covey. Kipnis and Cabrera have the homers. Lindor and Jose Ramirez hit literally everything. Greg Allen and Michael Brantley are worth a look as well if you want to pull a wraparound stack sort of thing. The possibilities are endless.

Cincinnati Reds vs. Gio Gonzalez:

Gonzalez hasn’t been any better with Milwaukee than he was with the Nationals. The Reds have hit him hard over his career and again this year. Overall, the Reds are hitting .324 with six homers and 16 runs in 102 at bats. Joey Votto has three of those homers. Suarez, Ervin, and Brandon Dixon have the others. Jose Peraza and Curt Casali are also hitting better than .350 against Gio despite not having a homer.

Houston Astros vs. Roenis Elias:

Chances are that Paxton wont start this game either, so the Astros get to tee off on another lefty. Elias has been superb on the road, allowing just three runs in 20.2 innings, but the Astros smash lefties. Altuve, Springer, Tyler White, Correa, and Evan Gattis are all worth a look if you can afford them.

OAKLAND, CA – SEPTEMBER 18: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels stands in the dugout before their game against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on September 18, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Fillmyer has struggled on the road, but the Pirates are in a pitcher’s park, so I’m not going all out. However, I do like Dickerson, Marte, and Pablo Reyes here.

Mike Trout looks like a great play with a middling, and struggling, lefty on the mound. I like the value of Kole Calhoun as well.

Matt Harvey hasn’t been bad enough to stack against, but I definitely want shares of Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain here. Both of them have hit Harvey hard. Travis Shaw is worth a look as well if he is in the lineup.

Robbie Ray has a 5.37 ERA in ten home starts, and the Cubs are having no trouble scoring on the Snakes in the desert. I’m not going too crazy, but I do like Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras quite a bit here. Javier Baez is worth a look, but man, is he expensive!

I’m not sure I trust Tyler Anderson here. His numbers against the Dodgers are decent enough to consider him, but he has struggled lately. Machado, Kike Hernandez, Justin Turner, and Puig are all worth a look here, but I’m not sure I want to stack Dodgers either.

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Middle Tier:

I have no earthly idea who is going to start for Baltimore, but I’m playing Gurriel and Aledmys Diaz regardless. The smart money is on Jimmy Yacabonis, so Hernandez and Smoak or Morales are worth a look too.

Khris Davis, Matt Chapman, and Matt Joyce have all homered off of Felix Pena this year. He hasn’t pitched that well against the A’s, so I do want some exposure here.

Severino’s numbers against Boston are decent, but not good enough for me to pay this price. I want to go after him with Benintendi, who is 11-24(.458) with two homers and ten RBI against Severino. Pearce and Kinsler have homered off of him as well.

The only guy I feel even remotely comfortable in taking a run at Carrasco with is Jose Abreu. Abreu has two homers and eight RBI off of Carrasco, but is hitting just .186 in 43 at bats against him.

A few Mariners have hit Dallas Keuchel well. Nelson Cruz has five homers and eight RBI with a .310 average in 42 at bats. Kyle Seager has three homers. Zunino and Segura both have two. Any and all of these are worth a look if you want to throw a stack out there or just a couple of one-offs.

Bargain Shoppers:

Alcides Escobar is very happy to see Chris Archer again. Escobar is 10-19(.526) with two RBI and a steal against Archer. Salvy is 4-10, but has no counting stats.

No matter how tasty the matchup, I have a really hard time stacking Giants. Hunter Pence was huge last night, and I want him in there against Robbie Erlin. Crawford hits lefties well enough, and I also like Hundley batting cleanup. Outside of those three though, I don’t see any must play options besides maybe Longoria. If you can stomach stacking Giants though, this may be the place to do it.

I don’t trust anyone on this Arizona offense at home, but Souza is cheap and has homered off of Hamels in the past.

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