Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for Playoffs FanDuel and DraftKings 10/9/15

This one feels like an actual real slate of baseball. And while it's tougher sledding because the pitchers are actually all decent (as are the teams), there is at least enough of a player pool to work with.

Also, on a slate this short, writing any picks at all is basically giving you access to our projection system. That won't be the case for all of the nights of the playoffs, but it's true tonight. We do offer access to our NFL and NBA projection systems as well, though, so you should go get a trial for those as well! Sign up now and get a free 3 day trial to our lineup construction tool for FanDuel, DraftKings and Starsdraft.

Note: You're going to see a lot of hitters who we are recommending against the same pitchers. Obviously, if you're trying to win a big tournament, you probably shouldn't play hitters against the same pitchers. You might need to take less orthodox guys in those cases. Still, though, these are the best value plays that we can come up with for tonight.

Pitchers

Clayton Kershaw - FD 12700 DK 15000
Opponent - NYM (deGrom) R Park- @Lad
Ever heard of him? Look, I'm not telling you anything new with throwing out a rec on Clayton. He's amazing and I don't need to go off quoting some highfalutin (or lowfalutin) stats to prove the point. His numbers are sick and that's not in question. All you're trying to figure out here is whether it's worth it to pay for him. And on this slate I think you can. The Mets, for all of their Miracle-ness, still struck out 23% of the time against lefties this season even for a team in the middle of the pack against lefties. At this point in the season you aren't targeting bottom-feeding squads. Take it where you can get it, and Kershaw is in a great spot. He's a much better deal on FD where you can fit him. On DK you need to pair him with a cheap guy, which I don't hate on this slate.

Marcus Stroman - FD 8300 DK 8600
Opponent- Tex (Hamels) L Park- @Tor
Choosing a second arm on this slate isn't the easiest. While Kershaw is the clear favorite, after him it gets a little less clear. You can take the highest ML favorite on the slate in Stroman while still getting him at a much cheaper number. The Rangers aren't pushovers by any means, and the ballpark is terrible, but he's coming so cheap with nice peripherals that taking a shot on the guy could let you load up on some bats.

Catchers

Russell Martin - FD 3200 DK 3800
Opponent- Tex (Hamels) L Park- @Tor
While our system would much prefer you play Yasmani Grandal at his price point, it's awfully tough to trust those second half numbers and there's also a good chance it's A.J. Ellis behind the dish. Martin is in a fine enough situation all things considered. The ballpark is the best on the slate for power to righties and he's a significantly better bat in the lefty platoon. Dude's been a .937 OPS guy in this split this season and that's a career trend. I like his DK price a little bit more than the FanDuel tag. Catcher is a tough one on this slate.

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First base

Adrian Gonzalez - FD 3000 DK 3500
Opponent- NYM (DeGrom) R Park- @Lad
Gonzalez is coming off a great season against righties in which he put up an .850 OPS and a 133 wRC+ in that split. Of course, the first half of the season was much better than the second half, but we'll take what we can get at these prices. On slates like this it's tough to maneuver around the quality pitchers and still get the money in good. On FanDuel he's the seventh most expensive first basemen. That alone is almost good enough to recommend him. That he actually has success in this split is just gravy even with the tough matchup.

Second base

Chase Utley - FD 2700 DK 2800
Opponent- NYM (DeGrom) R Park- @Lad
If he's hitting leadoff against deGrom then I play him without hesitation at these prices. Unless you are stacking teams on this slate and hedging across (not a terrible strategy IMO) then getting Utley at crazy cheap prices at the top of the order is insane value. That being said, if he's dropped in the order (or not playing at all) then I'd consider Roughned Odor even at the bottom of the lineup.

Shortstop

Jhonny Peralta - FD 2600 DK 3200
Opponent- CHC (Lester) L Park- @Stl
Yes! I'm so freaking glad he's in the playoffs and here's to a long Cardinals' run just so we can keep our in-season love for Jhonny going well into the playoffs. His price sat in the basement for the majority of the post All-Star Break timeline because of some general bad luck. He is still a middle of the order shortstop who's hit lefties better for his career. I mean he is higher up than Tulo at this point from a points per dollar standpoint and a guy who definitely helps you fit Kershaw.

Third base

Justin Turner - FD 3200 DK 3400
Opponent- NYM (DeGrom) R Park- @Lad
Look, at this point you understand that avoiding all of the good pitchers simply isn't possible. Can't be done. Turner is one of those reverse platoon splits gods who feasts on righty pitching. His career .800 OPS in the split and particular damage done this season is testament to him getting the job done against righties. Yes, I know it's deGrom. Nothing to be done there, but Turner hitting in the middle of the order is a great value all around as long as the lineup placement holds.

Outfield

Dexter Fowler - FD 2800 DK 4300
Kyle Schwarber - FD 3400 DK 3900
Opponent- STL (Lackey) R Park- @Stl
Opponent- STL (Lackey) R Park- @Stl
Seems very obvious at least on the FanDuel price point. Has nothing to do with his amazing their amazing games on Wednesday against Cole. Our system has no idea about those results. It's nice to know they can do it of course, but from a strictly statistical standpoint, these are great plays on FD and I suspect they're two of the higher owned players on the slate. Fowler's a significantly better hitter against lefties for his career, but in this instance we are taking batting order and price as the determinants. Schwarber has been great since getting called up and is coming especially cheap on DK.

Ben Zobrist - FD 3200 DK 3900
Opponent- Hou (Kazmir) L Park- @KC
Dude is so much better for his career, and the short term, against lefty pitching that you need to take him into consideration against almost anyone at this price on this kind of slate. Zobrist's put up a .926 OPS and 156 wRC+ this season in the lefty split and that follows a career trend as a lefty killer. He makes a great cash game play on both sites, especially on DraftKings.

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