This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Over at DraftKings for Wednesday, the DFS slate I am focusing on consists of eight games. Excised are the 12:35 p.m. ET start and the 7:05 p.m. ET start. The edges have been shaved off, in essence. That leaves us with 16 teams, hundreds of players, and a first pitch at 1:10 p.m. ET. Here are my DFS recommendations.
Pitching
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, LAD at WAS ($9,600): After that disastrous first start for the Dodgers, Yamamoto has shown why there was so much excitement about him coming over to MLB. He hasn't gone deep into games as he's adjusted, but over his last four outings Yamamoto has a 2.57 ERA, a 12.0 K/9 rate, and an 1.7 BB/9 rate. The Nationals are in the bottom five in runs scored, and even if we allow for some differences in games played at this point in the year, they are still safely in the bottom 10.
Cole Ragans, KC vs. TOR ($8,300): Don't sweat Ragans' 4.32 ERA. He has a 1.98 FIP and his numbers are dragged down almost entirely by a brutal start against the Orioles. That's what happens when one start makes up 20 percent of your outings thus far. Ragans had a 2.64 ERA in 12 starts for the Royals last year after being dealt over by the Rangers and one start doesn't change my opinion on him. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays are scuffling down in the bottom 10 in runs scored.
Top Targets
Walks, homers, and strikeouts. Kyle Schwarber ($5,600) is the personification of baseball's "three true outcomes." He has six home runs this season through 25 games, and since 2022 he's slugged .519 versus righties. Nick Martinez, a right hander, is popping back into the Reds rotation. He has a career 4.33 ERA, and Cincinnati's park is known to be friendly to power hitters.
All that's been missing for Julio Rodriguez ($5,000) thus far is the power. He's batted .266 and stolen six bases. Given that he hit 32 homers and 37 doubles last season, the power should arrive for the 23-year-old outfielder. Andrew Heaney has a 5.79 FIP to start 2024, and he's allowed 1.59 homers per nine innings in his career. Maybe this is the recipe for Rodriguez to start picking up his power numbers.
Bargain Bats
What stuck out about Edouard Julien ($3,800) in his promising rookie season are his .898 OPS against righties and his .918 OPS at home. Well, Wednesday he will be at home, and he will be facing righty Michael Soroka. Sadly, Soroka's injuries have robbed him of all his former promise. He has a 6.85 FIP and his K/BB rate is 0.80. Yes, he's walked more hitters than he's struck out through five starts.
Last year, in his age-24 season, Wilyer Abreu ($3,500) slashed .316/.388/.474 in 28 games with the Red Sox. That helped the lefty earn a regular role with Boston, and he's posted a .322/.412/.542 slash line with two homers and four stolen bases. Triston McKenzie had a 5.06 ERA last year, but that was in only four starts, and he was coming off a serious injury. Well, this season through four starts he has a 5.00 ERA. Now I'm worried about him.
Stacks to Consider
Padres at Rockies (Dakota Hudson): Jake Cronenworth ($4,400), Jackson Merrill ($4,200), Luis Campusano ($3,900)
It's another chance at Coors Field for the Padres, so stack while you can. The Rockies are also kind enough to field a rotation solely comprised of below-average starters, which helps. In his career, Hudson has a 4.54 FIP, a 5.98 K/9 rate, and a 4.13 BB/9 rate. Oh, and this is his first season with the Rockies. Since he is right handed, I have two lefties in my stack.
Back in 2021, Cronenworth slashed .266/.340/.460 with 21 homers and seven triples. After a couple down years, he's hit .253/.339/.411 to start 2024. Even with his struggles the last couple years, the southpaw has slugged .400 since 2022. Merrill debuted this season as one of the top prospects in baseball, and nothing he's done has undercut that. He's batted .318 with one homer, one triple, and four stolen bases and proven much better versus righties and on the road thus far. You need a catcher in your lineup on DraftKings, and Campusano is playing at Coors Field, so that's my logic here. However, he's also batted .309 and slugged .465 over the last two seasons.
Dodgers at Nationals (MacKenzie Gore): Mookie Betts ($6,500), Freddie Freeman ($5,800), Teoscar Hernandez ($5,000)
Through four starts in 2024, Gore has a 3.60 ERA. However, his numbers are heavily bolstered by five shutout innings against the Athletics, where he also racked up 11 strikeouts. With that start, his ERA dropped from 4.09 to 2.81, but now after one more start he's up to 3.60, as I noted. I have two righties in this stack, since Gore is a lefty, but the National pitcher actually has allowed lefties to hit .277 against him in his career. Thus, I didn't mind including one particular Dodgers southpaw.
Betts is going to be the NL MVP and put up wild numbers. Is it too soon to say that? Not for me. He's batted .365 with six homers and five stolen bases. Betts is an elite talent and has been for a decade. Freeman is the lefty in the mix, and like Betts he has an MVP to his name. Since 2022 the southpaw has an .889 OPS versus his fellow lefties, and in that time he has an 1.005 OPS on the road for good measure. Hernandez's move away from Seattle has seemingly helped, as he's hit .255, slugged .459, and hit five home runs. Additionally, over the last three seasons he's posted an .869 OPS versus lefties.
