This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Wednesday's eight-game slate makes it a bit tough to find quality hitters in good matchups, as a lot of talented arms will take the mound for their respective teams, but we've scoured the slate in order to find the best bats in all ranges. The upshot of this ocean of quality pitching is that it should be relatively easy to find hurlers to plug into our lineups.
Pitching
Walker Buehler, LAD vs. MIL ($8,800): Blisters limited Buehler down the stretch in the shortened 2020 season, but he was effective when he was on the hill, logging a 3.44 ERA and a 29 percent strikeout rate in 36.2 frames. The Brewers will be a team to pick on as long as they are in the postseason, thanks to the bottom-5 wOBA they logged against right-handers in the regular season. They also struck out against righties 27 percent of the time, which was second highest in the league. It should be noted that Buehler threw just 65 pitches in his last outing as he returned from the aforementioned blister issue, but he showed no ill-effect, and it should be all hands on deck for the three-game series.
Dallas Keuchel, CWS at OAK ($7,300): The discrepancy between Kuechel's price and how effective he was this year alone would be a good enough reason to roster him, but he's also walking into a favorable matchup against the Athletics, who posted a bottom-10 wOBA against lefty hurlers in the regular season. Kuechel has been in his best form to close out September, allowing just two runs (one earned) in 20 innings (five starts).
Top Hitters
Wil Myers, SD vs. STL ($5,100): With so much young firepower up and down the Padres lineup, it's easy to forget about a post-hype player like Myers. DFS players should always look to work him into lineups when he is facing a lefty, as he finished the season with a .328 ISO and .433 wOBA against his opposite hand in 64 at-bats. Kwang Hyun Kim kept a 1.66 ERA in his eight starts this year, but it must be noted that he had a rather light schedule, facing the Brewers, Pirates and Reds twice each. He also struck out just 12 percent of the right-handed batters he faced, which contributed to a 4.65 xFIP.
Paul Goldschmidt, STL at SD ($5,000): Chris Paddack's 2020 simply never got on track after a phenomenal rookie season, as he finished the year with a 4.73 ERA in 59 frames. Much of this can be attributed to the ineffectiveness of his fastball, which came in as a bottom-5 pitch according to RAA. Goldschmidt had a .377 wOBA against righty hurlers this year while notching a 10.0 RAA against the fastball in 191 at-bats.
Best Values
Lourdes Gurriel, TOR at TB ($3,900): Gurriel was having a perfectly respectable season until the calendar flipped to September. From there the 26-year-old went unconscious and awoke to a .653 slugging percentage in 95 at-bats to close out the year. Tyler Glasnow will always be a rosterable option due to his penchant for strikeouts, but the 2.5 HR/9 rate he allowed against same-handed opposition in 29.1 frames should motivate players to take shots against him with cheap talent.
Kyle Schwarber, CHC vs MIA ($3,800) The .188 batting average Schwarber ended the regular season with may be a sight for sore eyes, but we are here to focus on his ISO against right-handed pitchers, which clocked in at a robust .239 in 138 at-bats. Sandy Alcantara's 2020 season ended with the right-hander allowing a .493 slugging percentage against his opposite hand, to go along with an xFIP of 5.27 in 18 innings.
Eugenio Suarez, CIN at ATL ($3,500) Suarez is another hitter whose big power may get overlooked due to the paltry .202 batting average he kept, but we must remember that he absolutely hammered lefties to the tune of a .294 ISO in 51 at-bats. Max Fried had a fantastic year for the Braves, but faltered a bit down the stretch with a 4.91 ERA over 11 innings in September.
Stacks to Consider
Cardinals against Chris Paddack: Paul Goldschmidt ($5,000) Brad Miller ($4,600) Tommy Edman ($4,100)
The nice thing about attacking a pitcher like Paddack is you can select hitters from either side of the platoon, as the 24-year-old allowed a .495 slugging percentage against righty bats and a .533 slugging percentage against lefty hitters. This makes Miller a nice hitter for us to target, as he notched a .224 ISO against right-handed pitchers.
Padres against Kwang Hyun Kim: Wil Myers ($5,100) Jurickson Profar ($3,700) Tommy Pham ($3,600)
Kim's lack of strikeouts should give comfortable at-bats to a very powerful Padres lineup. Unfortunately for us, most of the biggest contributors reside at the top of the slate in terms of price, but we can still find a bat like Pham, who logged a .267 ISO and .410 wOBA in 30 at-bats against southpaws during the regular season.
