This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
The World Series continues Wednesday night, and while this used to mean that DFS baseball was done for the season, that is no longer the case.
There are a few changes to the scoring system in the Showdown slates. Hitters are rewarded for sacrifice flies and sacrifice hits, which is not the case in the Classic format.
The bigger differences come with pitching, where multi-inning relievers can become useful plays in certain scenarios, since holds and saves are rewarded, and reliever innings are worth 3.9 points (1.3 points per out) compared to starting pitchers' standard 2.25 points (0.75 points per out). Reliever strikeouts also receive a bump, earning 3 points each compared to the usual 2 for starting pitchers.
There is also an extra bonus for a 10-strikeout game (two points for 10+ Ks), but that is increasingly difficult to find with the heavier bullpen use by most managers during the postseason.
Vegas Info
The Red Sox are a -140 favorite with an over/under of 8.5 for Wednesday's game.
The Starting Pitching Matchup
Price had one of his best career playoff starts in the series-clincher against the Astros, going six innings and allowing only three hits with nine strikeouts. His two prior postseason starts resulted in 6.1 IP and seven earned runs with only four strikeouts.
Ryu has been the opposite in the playoffs, dominating the Braves in his first start, but then struggling in two appearances against the Brewers going only 7.1 innings with seven earned runs and 13 hits allowed. Unlike Price, Ryu was pitching well heading into the playoffs, as he only allowed one run and 12 hits in his final three starts.
Team Splits
The Red Sox didn't have good numbers against southpaws in the regular season, but that hasn't mattered in the playoffs as they blew up Clayton Kershaw for seven hits and five runs on Tuesday and already took down J.A. Happ, CC Sabathia and Dallas Keuchel.
In the last month of the season, Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts stood out against lefties with a .536 OBP and .500 OBP, respectively. J.D. Martinez didn't get on base most often, but unsurprisingly he had the most power and also didn't strikeout with a 7.4 K%. Andrew Benintendi struggled to close the season, yet has been huge in the playoffs, doing a lot of damage to lefties and singled in all three at-bats against Kershaw. Steve Pearce is in that same boat and in addition to reaching base in every postseason game, he had a .407 wOBA and .255 ISO against lefties this season.
Similar to the pitchers, the Dodgers bats have been the opposite in the postseason after closing with a .353 wOBA and .196 ISO in the final month of the regular season against southpaws.
David Freese and Justin Turner were at the top of the list with a .545 OBP and .429 OBP, respectively, and that's continued in the playoffs, though Freese hasn't gotten regular at-bats. While Turner hasn't shown much power in the playoffs, he's gotten on base in every game and that continued in Game 1 with a couple singles. Enrique Hernandez and Chris Taylor were equally successful against lefties in the last month of the season, but Hernandez is near the bottom of the lineup and Taylor is a risk to be replaced by Cody Bellinger again if that's the route Dave Roberts takes. Manny Machado may be the biggest threat to Price because he has the most experience against him with five homers and a .341 OBP in 43 career plate appearances.
Lineup Construction
After both teams got out to hot starts in Game 1, it's reasonable to avoid both starters in this game, but backing Ryu ($13,100) won't likely be a popular option given his most recent performance and poor .339 wOBA allowed on the road this season. Price ($13,400) is far from reliable and his postseason career backs that, but he at least was better at Fenway this season with a .281 wOBA allowed. Combine that with LA's numbers against lefties in the playoffs and Price is worth the extra money. The problem with Price is that he's either getting shelled or having a nice outing so if you roster him, you might as well go all in on Boston.
With Price, it's almost worth it to also go Craig Kimbrel ($3,300) because he's cheap and if Price does well, Kimbrel would be set for another save situation after only 13 pitches in Game 1. And if you take that Boston route, it's almost a must to get either Betts ($11,000) or Martinez ($10,400) in the lineup. Martinez has the power and clutch gene, while Betts always finds a way to get on base. Both of them will be highly popular, but if Ryu gets taken out early, one of those two (or both) will likely be the reason.
Since Benintendi's ($9,000) price shot up, Pearce ($6,700) may provide the best value on the Red Sox simply because he's getting on base and that's enough in the World Series. If you go Benintendi with either Betts or Martinez, you'd likely have to use another reliever with the best choice being Ryan Brasier ($2,400), who allowed his first run of the postseason on Tuesday.
As for the Dodgers, Turner ($7,800) can be used with either a Los Angeles or Boston stack because even if he gets a couple singles, that still doesn't harm Price's outlook. The most expensive Dodger is Machado ($10,000) and for good reason. He has solid career numbers against Price, but is also having a great postseason and had three RBIs on Tuesday. Of course, it's counteractive to spend money on Machado if Price is in the lineup so Machado makes sense in either a Dodgers stack or one without any pitchers.
While there are known bats on Boston, the issues with Los Angeles hitters was seen in the first game when Brian Dozier ($6,000), Freese ($6,400) and Taylor ($7,200) were all replaced in the lineup after two or three at-bats. Freese is a nice value against a lefty, but Pearce is only $300 more and less likely to be replaced. Pedro Baez ($2,100) is another reliever that lost his scoreless run on Tuesday, while Ryan Madson ($2,000) may be the safer option after he pitched in five of seven games in the Milwaukee series.
