This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
We will be taking a look at two five-game slates on a Wednesday that has 14 games overall. While the early contests feature a glut of strong pitching, the evening slate has more offensive stack options, meaning that players will need to adjust their strategies accordingly.
Pitching Overview
Corey Kluber ($10,900) is a strong option on the early slate. The former Cy Young award winner finished 2018 with a 2.89 ERA and 222 strikeouts in 215 innings. He will take on a White Sox offense that notched a league-high 26 percent strikeout rate against right-handers last season.
Aaron Nola ($10,200) is another pitcher who notched an impressive strikeout rate (35 percent) with a minuscule ERA (2.37) last year but the matchup against the Nationals is far from ideal, as they struck out just 20 percent of the time against righty hurlers last year while logging a .328 wOBA.
The Rays offense has struck out a whopping 33 percent of the time in their first 207 plate appearances of the season, which should give German Marquez ($9,900) some comfortable upside away from Coors Field.
Charlie Morton ($8,800) is worth a look in the other dugout due to the bottom-10 mark the Rockies achieved away from Coors Field last year according to wOBA. Their road strikeout rate (24 percent) was the ninth-highest mark in the league.
Luis Castillo's ($8,100) strikeout upside can make him a GPP-only play for the price but the Brewers have looked awfully scary since the addition of Christian Yelich.
Kyle Gibson ($6,300) is the cheap option to round out the morning contests, having notched a career-best 22 percent strikeout rate last year to go along with his typically strong ground ball numbers. The Royals logged a bottom-10 mark against righties last season according to wOBA.
Gerrit Cole ($11,400) bounced back from a lackluster 2017 to be one of the best pitchers in the game last year but the environment in Arlington has me fading Cole in most spots at such an aggressive price.
Those interested in a five-figure option on the late slate will likely turn to Ross Stripling ($10,200). The Giants will be an attackable offense until they show they can put some kind of consistent offense together, and Stripling notched a 3.02 ERA with 136 strikeouts in 122 innings last year.
Miles Mikolas ($7,200) makes for an interesting play for those looking to save some money, as the Pirates were a bottom-10 team against righty hurlers last season according to wOBA. It is also worth noting that they hit the ball on the ground at a 44 percent clip, which should play into Mikolas' groundball-heavy attack.
Key Values
Both slates tomorrow contain just five games, so top-shelf hitters like Yelich ($5,500) will almost certainly be popular. Castillo has looked good since the second half of last season but it will be tough to fade the Brewers' newest face completely in Great American Ball Park.
The same can be said for Bryce Harper ($5,400) who draws a deceptively effective Anibal Sanchez. Harper had a bit of a down year in 2018 by his standards but has come out of the gate on fire, logging two doubles and three homers in his first 14 at-bats of the 2019 campaign. Sanchez will be a tough pitcher to use against Philadelphia but he certainly doesn't look like a stack target, having notched a 2.83 ERA with 135 strikeouts in 136.2 innings with the Braves last year.
Nelson Cruz ($5,000) should be popular in his matchup with Homer Bailey, and for good reason. Cruz tallied a .237 ISO against righty pitchers last year, while Bailey got stung to the tune of a .502 slugging percentage in 55.1 frames.
Juan Soto ($4,700) may be facing an elite talent in Nola but I imagine prospective owners will want to get their hands on him while his price tag is below $5,000 after he tallied a .231 ISO and .401 wOBA against right-handed hurlers last year.
Carlos Santana ($4,200) sits at a manageable price against Carlos Rodon, who finished 2018 with a 5.44 xFIP against opposite-handed hitters.
Scott Schebler ($3,900) and Jesse Winker ($3,700) are both interesting low-cost plays against Freddy Peralta, who finished the 2018 season having surrendered a .374 wOBA to left-handed hitters.
The evening slate features Mookie Betts ($5,500) heading into a favorable matchup with fly-baller Marco Estrada. Betts has struggled to begin the year, which could make him a scarcely owned commodity against someone in Estrada who allowed a .562 slugging percentage to righty hitters last season. His teammate, J.D. Martinez ($5,100), will likely be a bit more popular with all the same opportunities for fireworks.
Alex Bregman ($5,400) is worth a look in Arlington against a pitcher in Mike Minor who held a 4.83 xFIP against right-handed hitters last year.
Ronald Acuna ($4,800) put a hurting on his opposite hand in 2018, logging a .293 ISO and .415 wOBA against left-handed pitching. Lester finished the year having posted a 4.43 xFIP against right-handed batters.
Anthony Rizzo ($4,900) logged a .21l ISO and .378 wOBA against righties in 2018. Meanwhile, Julio Tehran couldn't control his walk rate, which contributed to an xFIP approaching 6.00 against lefty hitters.
Nate Eovaldi was excellent against right-handed hitters in 2018 but I still expect some love for Khris Davis ($4,600), who has hit five homers in eight games this season and finished last year with a .315 ISO against righty pitchers.
David Freese ($3,700) has drawn starts against two of the three lefties the Dodgers have seen this year, and with good reason, as he logged a .377 wOBA against southpaws last season. He will get to face a pitcher In Derek Holland who ended last year with a .467 slugging percentage against righty bats.
Stacks
Twins against Homer Bailey: Nelson Cruz, Jorge Polanco ($4,100) Eddie Rosario ($4,700)
It might feel strange to pay such a premium price for Twins' hitters but the reality is that prospective owners can plug in cheap bats at their leisure to round out this stack, as Bailey's fastball clocked in at more than 19 runs below average in 2018.
Reds vs. Freddy Peralta: Joey Votto ($4,000) Scott Schebler, Jesse Winker
If you are looking for a stack to save money, it doesn't get much better than this. We already covered most of the players involved, and while Votto had a bit of a power outage in 2018, his wOBA was still strong at .370.
Red Sox against Marco Estrada: Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Andrew Benintendi ($4,800)
The evening slate has more stackable pitchers, which means higher-priced offenses. Still, there is a lot to like in this matchup, as Estrada finished 2018 with xFIPs of over 5.50 against both sides of the platoon.
Cubs against Julio Teheran: Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber ($4,600) Ben Zobrist ($3,900)
It's imperative that we play at least a few lefties against Teheran, and while Zobrist isn't the sexiest name on the list, he is likely to bat leadoff against the right-handed starter.
Houston vs. Mike Minor: Alex Bregman, Yuli Gurriel ($4,200) Robinson Chirinos ($4,000)
This is the only game taking place in a massively hitter-friendly park on the late docket, so DFS players will want as much exposure as they can handle. Minor should provide enough reason to get involved, never mind the fact that Bregman, Gurriel, and Chirinos are all capable of going yard.
