Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, StarsDraft and DraftPot 9/16/15

The MLB season rolls on in daily fantasy (and in real life I suppose), it's a grind but we love it. Baseball is the season that just keeps on giving and we've got a bunch of picks for your Wednesday games.

If you want the rest? Go ahead and get access to the exclusive projection system that produces these picks. Sign up now and get a free 3 day trial to our lineup construction tool for FanDuel, DraftKings and Victiv.

Pitchers

David Price - FD 11900 DK 12500 StarsDraft
Opponent- Atl (Miller) r Park- @Atl
Here's your high-priced safe option for your 50/50's and double-ups. And to be quite honest, its not really close. Price has great numbers on the year, including an xFIP of 3.28 that puts him in the top ten among starting pitchers. Mix in an above average K/9 rate you've really got something. But the real value of this pick comes from the matchup against the Braves, who rank 27th in the league in wOBA and dead last in OPS against southpaws. Don't hesitate to roster Price because I fully expect him to be the top scoring pitcher of the evening.

Alex Wood - FD 7900 DK 6600 StarsDraft
Opponent- Col (de la Rosa) L Park- @Lad
And here's your risky tournament play that could end up winning you quite a bit of cash. Wood has been strictly average this year, and none of his numbers really impress me (or anyone for that matter). So why do I recommend him? For the matchup of course, as the Rockies have been terrible against lefties this year. They rank 26th in OPS and 27th in wOBA against southpaw pitching, and those numbers include the boost they get from playing most of their games in a hitters paradise. It comes with quite a bit of risk involved, but picking Alex Wood gives you upside and enough flexibility to roster the big bats needed to do well in the big tourneys.

Catchers

I recommend going cheap at the catcher position today, so I'm starting off with Molina as my safe pick for this evening. Yadi has certainly struggled in the power department this year, but he's got a nearly 0.300 BA and an OPS over 0.700 on the year against right-handed pitching. Not numbers that win you a batting title or anything, but they're solid enough when they're matched up against Wily Peralta. Prelate has one of the lowest K/9 rates in the business, and Molina doesn't strikeout much. I expect Molina to pick up a couple of hits tonight, and if the rest of the Cardinals offense is clicking, he could have an exceptional night.

John Jaso - FD 2200 DK 2900 StarsDraft 3800
Opponent- NYY (Severino) R Park- @TB
Another low priced option that carries more risk (and more upside) is John Jaso. The guy has an OPS over 0.800 and a wOBA of 0.348 against righties this year and normally hits cleanup, which is incredible for a player priced this low. As we saw in his last start, Luis Severino might not be all he's been pumped up to be, allowing 6 runs in just 2.1 innings. Mix in the power friendly confines of Yankee Stadium and Jaso could have a big night. I like him in tournaments and 50/50's just the same.

DraftPot has a $100K Guaranteed contest for NFL's Week 2. Sign up and deposit with the promo code "DFSR" to get 100% matching bonus up to $1000. Plus, first time depositors get a free entry to this contest. Click the banner below.

[table id=187 /]

First base

Jose Abreu - FD 4300 DK 4800 StarsDraft 5700
Opponent- Oak (Chavez) R Park- @Cws
Abreu has been pretty hot over the past week or so, and I don't see him slowing down tonight against Cody Martin. Martin is rocking a less than impressive 4.02 xFIP on the season, and combined with his 6.57 ERA means he's both bad and a little unlucky. That bodes well for Abreu who's been a reverse platoon guy this year with 25 HR's and a wOBA of 0.386 against righties. I like the floor and there's a lot of upside here, so grab Abreu if you can afford him.

Brandon Belt - FD 3200 DK 4300 StarsDraft 4800
Opponent- Cin (Lorenzen) R Park- @SF
Coming in a little cheaper is Brandon Belt, who has been more than solid this year against right-handed pitching. He's got an OPS in the mid 0.800's, and ISO over .200 and an above average wOBA. This is good and all, but his matchup against Michael Lorenzen is what makes this matchup special. In just 42 innings of work this year against lefty hitters, Lorenz has allowed an unthinkable .335/.441/.596 split and is issuing nearly as many walks as strikeouts. Bare is certainly the safer pick, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not strongly considering playing Belt in all my games tonight.

Second base

Brian Dozier - FD 3000 DK 4300 StarsDraft 5200
Opponent- Det (Norris) L Park- @Min
I'm not sure why his price has fallen this low, but while he's down here you'd be crazy not to pick up Dozier. Not only do you get a guy who gets on base at a solid rate, but he's got the power that is fairly rare at 2B, as evidenced by his 34 doubles and 27 HR's. Dozier has been marginally better across his career against lefties, and to be perfectly honest Daniel Norris has no business being in the big leagues at this point. I like Dozier for safety and upside, so he's my top choice for the night at 2B.

Anthony Rendon - FD 3400 DK 4000 StarsDraft 5400
Opponent- Phi (Morgan) L Park- @Phi
Rendon is a solid upside play tonight at 2B if you can afford to roster him. He's been significantly better against lefties this year and across his career, so he's got the right platoon split for this matchup. But again the real upside comes from the matchup, and Adam Morgan is about as good a matchup as it gets. He's got a K/9 ratio around 5, which is not surprisingly about where his xFIP number is at. If you want to get away from Dozier and his predictable high ownership, Rendon is a great choice with plenty of upside.

Shortstop

This position is exactly the same as last night (and no I'm not being lazy, both guys just have even better matchups). Here's what Doug so eloquently wrote last night:

Carlos Correa - FD 3700 DK 5100 StarsDraft 4800
Opponent- Tex (Perez) 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.

Jhonny Peralta - FD 2200 DK 3500 StarsDraft 4500
Opponent- Mil (Peralta) 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

David Wright - FD 3500 DK 4400 StarsDraft 4900
Opponent- Mia (Conley) L Park- @Nym
I know its a small sample size, but this guy has an OPS of over 1.100 this year against lefties, and its clearly not a fluke given his career OPS is 1.000. It's hard not to pick a guy putting up these numbers even against a good pitcher. Adam Conley is certainly not that, given that his xFIP is in the mid 4's, and his K/9 ratio is below average. This has all the makings of a huge game for Wright, and I don't want you to miss out. Play him if you have the salary, and if you don't, make room (it'll be worth it).

Trevor Plouffe - FD 2900 DK 4100 StarsDraft 4700
Opponent- Det (Norris) L Park- @Min
Another repeat performer, Plouffe has made a living crushing left-handed pitching to the tune of a 0.816 OPS and 0.354 wOBA for his career. I've already discussed Norris's lack of credentials so I won't bore you with that again. Grab Plouffe if you really can't pay up for Wright and are looking for some serious upside from the 3B position.

Outfield

Mike Trout - FD 3900 DK 4500 StarsDraft 5200
Opponent- Sea (Iwakuma) R Park- @Sea
It's almost disrespectful that his price has fallen this low, but I guess that's what an extended slump can do to anyone, including the reigning MVP. I won't bore you with the normal Trout fan club speech, because at this point you know what he's capable of. Iwakuma doesn't scare me even a little bit when it comes to facing Trout, even with a pitchers ballpark. This price point is just too low to pass up on, so grab him at these record low prices before his price jumps back up (which it inevitably will).

George Springer - FD 3400 DK 4500 StarsDraft 5200
Opponent- Tex (Perez) L Park- @Tex
Another guy from last night, who's got an even better matchup than the night before. Here's what Doug had to say about him last night, and it holds true tonight.
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.

Jason Heyward - FD 3200 DK 3500 StarsDraft 5000
Opponent- Mil (Peralta) R Park- @Mil
I personally have been playing Hayward quite a bit the past couple of gams, and he's paid off in 3 of his past 6 games, particularly last night where he put up a whopping 14.75 on Fanduel. I like his matchup tonight even more than last night, so I'm gonna keep rolling with him. Wily Peralta has been particularly awful against left-handed hitters this year, and I think Heyward's combination of speed and recent power resurgence will carry him to a more than solid score. Not to mention the price point is pretty low for a guy who's really starting to show flashes of the big time hitter everyone expected him to be.

Josh Reddick - FD 2400 DK 4300 StarsDraft 4400
Opponent- CWS (Johnson) R Park- @cws
I swear I'm actually putting some thought into these picks, it's just the same guys have great matchup's. I'm not saying Reddick is gonna do better than last night, but he's up against a worse pitcher in the same park. So again, I'm turning it over to Doug and his words of wisdom from last night.
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.

Juan Lagares - FD 2200 DK 2900 StarsDraft 3700
Opponent- Mia (Conley) L Park- @Nym
Here's your deep discount value play of the evening in the form of little known Juan Lagares. Overall, his numbers aren't very impressive, but he shines against lefties with an OPS 0f 0.805 and a wOBA of 0.348. These numbers are great given his low price tag, and his matchup with Adam Conley only makes this matchup sweeter. The Mets offense has been on fire as of late, and if that keeps up Lagares will have plenty of run scoring and RBI opportunities that could really add to his already solid PPD upside.

And infinity cheap guys - for those, grab a free three day trial of our projection system. Good luck out there!

Want a free three day trial to the projection system that informs these picks every night?

And you're in luck! We're offering a copy of our free MLB and NFL eBooks while the seasons overlap - get a copy below!