FanDuel MLB DFS Breakdown – 7/20: Kershaw’s Going Fishing
By Joe Metz
FanDuel MLB – Top Catchers / First Basemen
Top Play: Josh Bell | PIT | $4,100
If you read my article earlier last week when Zach Eflin took the mound, I stressed the desire to jam Dodgers LHH into my lineup and you saw why. I’ll be going right back to the well here and targetting almost any and all Pirates LHH, starting with the NL MVP candidate Josh Bell.
On the season, Bell has absolutely rocked right-handed pitching to the tune of a 0.431 wOBA, 0.346 ISO and a 49.8% hard-contact rate. On the flip side, Zach Eflin should feed right into the strengths of Bell here, as he’s surrendered a 0.374 wOBA, 0.276 ISO and a 41.5% hard-contact rate against batters from the left side of the plate.
Value Play: Joc Pederson | LAD | $2,900
Pederson is quickly becoming a regular over the last week in my FanDuel MLB writeups and both times I’ve included him, he’s gone yard, so let’s hope to continue the trend as he still seems to be a few hundred dollars too cheap.
He’ll match up with Sandy Alcantara, whose mitigated a lot of damage this season, but has an xFIP of 5.32, showing that some regression on his 3.92 ERA could be on the horizon.
Against lefties, he’s only recorded a 13.2% strikeout rate and has struggled with control, issuing an 11.7% walk rate. Combine that with Pederson’s 0.382 wOBA, 0.308 ISO and 10.5% walk rate against righties and you have an elite value play.
Honorable Mention(s): Carlos Santana, Mitch Garver, C.J. Cron, Michael Chavis