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DraftKings MLB Picks July 26: Greinke’s Sunday funday

By Mike Marteny

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 17: Zack Greinke #21 of the Houston Astros delivers the pitch against the New York Yankees during the first inning in game four of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 17, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 17: Zack Greinke #21 of the Houston Astros delivers the pitch against the New York Yankees during the first inning in game four of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 17, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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PORT CHARLOTTE, FL – FEBRUARY 26: Blake Snell #4 of the Tampa Bay Rays pitches during a Grapefruit League spring training game against the Minnesota Twins at Charlotte Sports Park on February 26, 2020 in Port Charlotte, Florida. The Twins defeated the Rays 10-8. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Zack Greinke ($10,900): Greinke dominated the Mariners in his only start against them last year. This lineup is only 11-50 against him lifetime with 13 strikeouts. When Dee Gordon has the only homer off of him, I’ll take my chances. Greinke doesn’t have elite K upside, but he is great at limiting baserunners, which also maximizes his potential on DraftKings. He should be in every cash game lineup today. Besides, the Astros have won 15 straight against Seattle. This is a free win!

Blake Snell ($10,700): Snellzilla is back! He didn’t beat the Jays last year in three tries, but that wasn’t his fault. He had a 2.51 ERA against them and 18 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. The current Jays roster is hitting just .154 against him in 52 at bats with only one homer and three runs with a staggering 28 strikeouts. There’s plenty of risk with Snell considering he wasn’t all that dominant last year before he got injured, but he has a 2.88 ERA in 11 career starts against Toronto.

Corey Kluber ($10,300): Kluber was dreadful in seven starts last year, but he has looked strong this summer so far. Add in the anemic Rockies road offense and a new home that is suppressing runs thus far, and you have an interesting GPP option. Greinke is going to carry high ownership, but Kluber could go unnoticed and put up some big numbers.

Middle Tier:

Dakota Hudson ($9,300): Hudson is the home-cooking special of the day. I don’t expect him to succeed as much as Hendricks and Matz did, but Hudson did have a 2.71 ERA in 18 home starts last year. Add that to the Pirates struggles at the plate in the early going, and he could turn in a nice outing here. Now the bad news: Hudson will need to go deep into this game to hit value because he doesn’t get a lot of strikeouts. He only struck out seven Pirates, with the pitcher batting, in 17 innings against them in 2019. Chances are we’re better off avoiding the middle tier all together today.

Kenta Maeda ($9,000): Full disclosure: I’m a Twins fan that’s pissed off about giving up Brusdol Graterol for an aging pitcher that barely completes five innings anyway. I’m trying to will him into success by throwing money at him just like a real major league team. The issue here is that it’s ungodly hot and extremely humid with the wind blowing out.  I’m banking on Maeda limiting baserunners and therefore limiting damage on the homer or two he allows. I’m also banking on him winning this with the way the Twins pummel Lopez. That’s good enough in a weak middle tier today.

Freddy Peralta ($8,200): My concerns with Peralta are the same as mine with Maeda. It’s hot and windy in Chicago. Peralta’s only career start against the Cubs was a good one, but he’s honestly in a bad spot. At this point you’re hoping for the strikeouts to keep his head above water and for the Brewers to punish Chatwood so he gets the win. Both are likely, so I can’t rule Peralta out.

Bargain Tier:

Ryan Weber ($6,400): The righty-heavy Orioles battered Perez yesterday, but they’ll have trouble with the craft righty Weber. Weber isn’t going to rack up a lot of strikeouts, but he should get the QS and win bonuses that will make him a solid investment for the price.

Kyle Freeland ($4,700): Freeland was bad last year, but this Texas park is playing like a pitcher haven so far and he’s super cheap. We forget that Freeland had a 2.85 ERA in 2018. This is a huge risk, but one that may be worth taking to get all of those big bats in our lineups.

Thomas Hatch ($4,000): If you have a few expensive bats that you can’t live without, you can do worse than Hatch. He dominated AA after being acquired from the Cubs last season. He turned a solid summer camp into a roster slot into a spot start. He has never pitched above AA, so the hitters wont be all that familiar with him. If you use Hatch, you’re just hoping for double-digit DraftKings points. I think that’s very possible today.