Early DraftKings MLB Picks May 9: Bassitt on the trail

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – APRIL 21: Brandon Woodruff #53 of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park on April 21, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Early DraftKings MLB Picks May 9: Bassitt on the trail

Thursday is a good split for our DraftKings MLB tournaments. We have five early and five late games. Perfect, right? It is until weather and other factors get involved

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The early slate is going to be battling some rain and wind. Rain is likely throughout the day in Detroit, but they may try and play through it. Right now, it looks like they are going to have trouble getting this in regardless of if they start it on time or not. With the 15 mph wind in from right center, it’s best just to avoid this one altogether, I think.

There is a chance of rain in Cleveland, but it’s mostly later in the day. If this is a quick game, it wont be an issue. There is also a juicy 16 mph win out to dead center. The wind also switches in Wrigley too. There’s a 12 mph wind out to center, but there could be some rain lingering. It should only affect the start time though. When the game starts, it will be good to go.

The early lineups went pretty well yesterday with Woodruff and stacking the Pirates/Rangers stack. I placed well into the money despite having Hellickson.

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, and we all attack the slate from different angles.

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CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 28: Starter Carlos Carrasco #59 of the Cleveland Indians pitches during the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field on August 28, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Early Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Carlos Carrasco ($10,200): Whenever Carrasco is the unquestioned ace on a slate, I get nervous. This is usually when he has a letdown. Still, the White Sox are only hitting .185 in 157 at bats against Carrasco with six homers and 14 runs to go with 53 strikeouts. Those are really good numbers. Carrasco has a 3.24 ERA in four home starts, so his troubles are on the road. Fine, I’m on board. Sign me up for some Carrasco today!

Middle Tier:

Chris Bassitt ($8,800): Bassitt is 1-0 with a 2.12 ERA and 22 strikeouts over 17 innings in three starts. After seeing how the A’s pitching has handled the Reds so far, I’m all in on Bassitt here. He’s a suitable pivot off of Carrasco, or you can use them both together if you fade Coors. That’s a very risky proposition, but also not a build most people will do. No matter what, Bassitt is in my line.

Tanner Roark ($7,600): This afternoon slate is not so much about breaking the slate with a pitcher as it is budgeting in the key plays. Roark is in play in a pitcher’s park simply because he doesn’t get hammered. Roark gives up 2-4 runs per game, but usually no more. He’s not going to give you great numbers, but there is also little chance of him getting you a score that destroys your lineup. That counts for a lot on a small slate with questionable pitching.

Bargain Pitchers:

Kyle Freeland ($6,700): Freeland has actually struggled at Coors this year. Do we trust that trend or his solid year and a half there prior to this year? I don’t know that it matters much against the Giants. This offense isn’t that great, even at 5,280 feet. Take advantage of the low price and elevated strikeout potential. Freeland is a must play if you want any Coors bats.

My picks: Carrasco, Bassitt; Bassitt, Roark

MIAMI, FL – MAY 01: Jorge Alfaro #38 of the Miami Marlins celebrates with teammates after scoring a run in the sixth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Marlins Park on May 1, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Early Notes

If Detroit manages to play, there’s a few hitters than may be of interest. Honestly, Ryan Carpenter looks good to use as a cheap pitcher if that game manages to play without issue. The chances of that are pretty slim though. Still, using a couple of Detroit bats as fillers against Felix Pena isn’t a bad idea.

A Cleveland stack against Manny Banuelos is going to be a pretty common one. Jose Ramirez and Carlos Santana are the top targets here, but I honestly wouldn’t shy away from lefties either. One Banuelos gets chased, that bullpen takes over. It’s a green light on all Cleveland bats. Whatever you can afford! I still love a cheap Jason Kipnis.

Yonder Alonso looks like low hanging fruit since he has homered twice off of Carrasco in only 12 at bats. The bad news is that those are his only two hits against him. Jose Abreu has two homers and eight RBI, but costs over $5,000 and is hitting .186 in 43 at bats lifetime against Carrasco.

The wind is blowing out at Wrigley, which doesn’t look good for Trevor Richards. He gave up five runs to the Cubbies in his start against them last year. Kris Bryant, Javy Baez, and David Bote all look like great plays here. I could get on board with Albert Almora on the cheap if he’s leading off too.

I don’t care what Yu Darvish’s history against the Marlins is. He walks too many batters and is getting thumped this year. Still. The only Marlin I would really avoid here is Granderson. Everyone else is a good lineup fill on the cheap, especially Chad Wallach or Jorge Alfaro. The Marlins catcher will be in all of my lineups today.

Dereck Rodriguez was good enough against the Rockies at sea level, but Coors is a much different animal. Stacking Rockies does get expensive though. You know Story, Arenado, and Blackmon are elite plays, but unless you actually want to use Rodriguez, you can’t cram them all in. So you need to look for cheaper components like Tony Wolters or Raimel Tapia that could still get you solid return. I’m not even opposed to using Ian Desmond if he’s in the lineup.

I think I would leave the Giants alone though. Freeland has been good in his career at Coors. Both of the free spaces are left handed, so that doesn’t leave a lot. I do like Mac Williamson, but he’s still kind of pricey.

Khris Davis is the only A that has homered against Tanner Roark so far. Piscotty and Kendrys Morales both have solid numbers against him too.

You can take shots at Bassitt if you want, but that’s an effort in futility so far. Maybe Nick Senzel is worth a look here, and so is the hot Derek Dietrich, but not much else.

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