Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, StarsDraft and DraftPot 9/15/15

Still hungover from football? That's cool. Daily fantasy baseball is in full effect and Fanduel and DraftKings are running monster contests today for you to get those NFL winnings in on. And unlike NFL, baseball's the gift that keeps on giving. Especially with these picks.

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Pitchers

Stephen Strasburg - FD 10100 DK 9800 StarsDraft
Opponent- Phi (Buchanan) R Park- @Phi
Let the record show that I never once stopped believing in the guy (except for that extended period this season where I clearly stopped believing in him). Strasburg is a labor of love for sure. He makes nothing easy and once you think it's all sorted out, he rips your heart of your chest with a massive blow up. But five of his last six games have lulled me into a state of non-denial about Stras as they've been solid with a couple bordering on lights out. Today he faces a Phillies' team that's struggled for most of the season. He's a huge favorite which means we are all starting to believe too much. And that's when Stras gonna Stras.

Jacob deGrom - FD 11100 DK 11900 StarsDraft
Opponent- Mia (Koehler) R Park- @Nym
You won't have to break the bank on a couple of high upside pitchers today and I think you basically need to roll one of thee two guys (or even both on DraftKings). deGrom and Strasburg are really only the options as far as I'm concerned and the former is a great spot today. The Marlins rank dead last in the league against righty pitching and have been brutal all season long. They have just nothing to offer on the offensive side of the ball, striking out about 20% of the time and basically just stinking*. deGrom has struck out a batter an inning and limited the walks all season long. His floor is very high in the matchup as it's tough to imagine him getting chased early.
*analysis

Catchers

Evan Gattis - FD 3000 DK 3700 StarsDraft 4900
Opponent- Tex (Holland) L Park- @Tex
I associate the Grape with being a lefty killer, but that isn't necessarily the case. Gattis has been an even platoon guy over his career, though he's been above average against both hands. This season he's run very bad against lefties which has brought down his overall numbers. He has a .230 BABIP in that split which is well below his career average. Martin Perez is a guy I'll get to later in the picks, but just know that the Astros are in a good spot today against the lefty. Gattis, hitting around the middle of the order in the catcher spot is one of the better plays on the day especially considering you don't need to break the bank on pitching. Editor's note: It's Derek Holland on the mound today, not Perez. Slight downgrade to Astros' guys, but not a ton. 

Consider Victor Martinez on FanDuel where he's still coming too cheap
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First base

Prince Fielder - FD 2600 DK 4000 StarsDraft 5000
Opponent- Hou (Mchugh) R Park- @Tex
Collin McHugh is an above average pitcher but the price on Prince is much too low on FanDuel. He's had a rough second half of the season with a lower BABIP and a greatly reduced ISO. But his batted ball profile is very much in line with his season averages and a lower Hr/FB rate is crushing his upside. This is all to say you are getting a deal on Fielder thanks to some run bad. He's coming cheap in a hitter's park against a decent, but not great pitcher. The FanDuel price is a time to buy for sure.

Joe Mauer - FD 2400 DK 3600 StarsDraft 4500
Opponent- Det (Simon) R Park- @Min
He isn't going to win you a tournament with his upside. Because he doesn't have much upside. That being said, he's a higher floor guy thanks to a decent walk rate against righties and a solid slot in the batting order. Mauer is who he is at this point, and that is no longer a superstar talent. But at close-to-punt prices against a garbage-y Alfredo Simon, he offers some salary relief at an otherwise thin position on this slate.

Second base

Robinson Cano - FD 3100 DK 3700 StarsDraft 5200
Opponent- LAA (Tropeano) R Park- @Sea
Written about him a fair amount in the short term since the price is once again dropping to silly prices. Look, he's had an up and down year. But trying to play streaks with a player is a fool's errand as we simply can't know (outside of some possible injury concerns) when a player is "broken" or just running bad. Because DFS sites tend to price a player on recent performance and ownership, when a guy like Cano runs bad and no one plays him, the price drops. That's what is happening here and he's a great cash game play on every site. Nick Tropeano has fine enough peripherals, but isn't a guy we need to avoid by any means. Play Cano in that middle of that order and look for him to recreate the beast mode he went into earlier in the season after running bad.

Jason Kipnis - FD 2900 DK 4400 StarsDraft 5000
Opponent- KC (Medlen) R Park- @Cle
Brian Dozier - FD 3000 DK 4400 StarsDraft 5200
Opponent- Det (Simon) R Park- @Min
I'm grouping these two guys together because I see them as interchangeable from a points per dollar standpoint. They are both in good matchups, hit at (or near) the top of the order and are putting together solid seasons. Neither seem likely to totally crush you in these matchups and are coming at cheaper prices. Second base is pretty deep today so I can see getting pieces of all three of these guys into your lineups.

Shortstop

Carlos Correa - FD 3600 DK 5000 StarsDraft 4700
Opponent- Tex (Holland) L Park- @Tex
Because you don't need to spend exorbitant sums on pitching today, you'll be able to pay some midrange prices on a variety of players. Correa represents that on FanDuel today. The price on DraftKings is still up in the stratosphere (though not necessarily out of play), but on FD he's a value play and then some. Dude's killed lefty pitching in his rookie season with a .960 OPS and 160 wRC+. Today he's facing a lefty who strikes out less than six batters per nine and has a low 4's xFIP. The latter isn't terrible, but the former is. Correa is the top option on FanDuel and is a guy to work to afford on DraftKings. Editor's note: It's Derek Holland on the mound today, not Perez. Slight downgrade to Astros' guys, but not a ton. 

Jhonny Peralta - FD 2200 DK 3600 StarsDraft 4500
Opponent- Mil (Pena) R Park- @Mil
Sigh. Another day of Jhonny Peralta. If you found out at the end of the season that we were getting a kickback from Peralta's management team about giving him mentions in articles, would you believe us? Seems plausible based on how much we've written about the dude in the short term. It isn't the case, but it's starting to feel like it. I've expounded on this ad nauseum, so I'm going to just sum it up by saying: he's a punt play hitting in the middle of the order against a weaker arm. And he plays shortstop.

Third base

Matt Carpenter - FD 3300 DK 4700 StarsDraft 4900
Opponent- Mil (Pena) R Park- @Mil
Ariel Pena has a small major league sample size, but it's chalked full of walks. And his minor league numbers don't point to a dude with pinpoint control either. That's bad news against a guy like Carpenter who's put up a 13% walk rate against righties this season. Carpenter's a super patient hitter at the top of the lineup and is coming at a nice price on FanDuel today. The ballpark caters to power all around and this is a good spot for the Cardinals in general. He's a little pricey on DraftKings, but there are other cheaper options over there.

Trevor Plouffe - FD 2400 DK 4100 StarsDraft 4700
Opponent- Det (Simon) R Park- @Min
Plouffe is an unsexy pick, both from a fantasy standpoint and from a real life standpoint as frankly I just don't find him all that attractive. But he can get the job done in this spot. Alfredo Simon is a no-K, high walk pitcher with an xFIP in the upper 4's. He's bad, plain and simple. Plouffe is just about league average against righties over the last couple of seasons which is good enough in this matchup. Simon is that bad of a pitcher and Plouffe's price is right enough.

Outfield

George Springer - FD 3600 DK 4500 StarsDraft 5300
Opponent- Tex (Holland) L Park- @Tex
If you haven't been able to tell already, I'm very interested in stacking some Astros today. They are playing in the right kind of park that caters to righty power. They're facing a low-K lefty (though dude does induce groundballs). Springer, like Correa above, has owned lefties this season with a .925 OPS and 157 wRC+. He also offers the speed upside that can really send the points into the stratosphere. From the lead off slot he makes a great cash game play and has the upper ceiling numbers for tournaments as well. Editor's note: It's Derek Holland on the mound today, not Perez. Slight downgrade to Astros' guys, but not a ton. 

Josh Reddick - FD 2400 DK 3800 StarsDraft 4400
Opponent- CWS (Samardzija) R Park- @cws
Reddick is a guy I write up a great deal when the spot is right. This is one of those spots. For a lower-priced player, he's hammered righty pitching this season with an .828 OPS and 130 wRC+ which back up some of his career numbers in this split. He's striking out less than 10% of the time in this platoon and that bodes well against a guy like Jeff Samardzija who's been pedestrian on the year striking out less than seven batters per nine with an xFIP in the low 4's. The ballpark also plays a major factor here as it's one of the best power parks in baseball. I love this play today and will have him all over the place.

Adam Jones - FD 3000 DK 4300 StarsDraft 5400
Opponent- Bos (Kelly) R Park- @Bal
Another price play against an average pitcher. Jones never met a walk he wanted to take, but he's a reverse splits guy for his career (going the opposite direction this season) who's handled righties to the tune of a 113 wRC+ and .800 OPS. Neither of those numbers jump off the page, but they're fine enough for mid tier prices against an mediocre arm. Camden Yards is a good hitter's park and Jones plays well enough in cash games considering the cost of pitching on the day.

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