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Opponent - CHW (Fulmer) Park - @CLE
FD - 42.23 DK - 27.93
160 down and just two to go. It's been a fun and exciting season of MLB here at DFSR and as we make our way through the final weekend of the regular season, we need to really drill down to who has something to fight for and who is just phoning it in. Despite 100 wins and one hell of a win streak under their belt, the Indians still have something to fight for. They have a one game lead over Houston for the top record in the American League and if they want that home field advantage they will need to pick up these final few W's. As I write this, both teams are winning their respective Friday night games. Cleveland will counter with Corey Kluber tonight as the Indians close out this final series of the year at home against the White Sox. Chicago doesn't really present much of a challenge for the Indians ace, as they rank in the bottom third of baseball with a .315 team wOBA and they strike out at a 22.9% clip, which is eighth most in the game. Sure, Kluber is going to cost you a hefty chunk of change, but what do you expect with a .642 win percentage and 11.87 K/9. With expanded rosters and resting players, there should be plenty of value bats popping up through the day, so the price on CK shouldn't be a dealbreaker when considering the implied safety that comes along with it.
Opponent - PIT (Taillon) Park - @WSH
FD - 46.64 DK - 30.82
Max Scherzer is a little cheaper, and if I had to consider both at these prices in mid July, I would most likely give the edge to Mad Max, but here we are at the final start of the season and the Nationals have little to play for right now. He was pulled after only 87 pitches in his last start against the Mets, though he dominated them through six innings allowing just three hits and one earned run, while striking out ten. He gets another prime matchup tonight against the Pirates. Their .304 team wOBA is the third worst in the game. There's no denying who Scherzer is and what he is capable of doing, but with the uncertainty that comes along with him, he's strictly a GPP play for me unless I hear chatter from the Nats early on that he will be given full run, otherwise, Kluber will be in all of my cash games.
A quick note on the early games. As we have stressed repeatedly pitching can be a bear at this point in the year, and while we were able to come up with some positive things to say about the main slate plays above, there really isn't a whole lot to love about pitching in the early set. I suppose if you were so inclined you could go with Chris Archer against Baltimore, though he has been anything but safe in this last month of the season, allowing an average of four earned runs per game while only making it beyond the fourth inning once in that span. The Yankees need to win out plus some help from Houston against the Red Sox, so if you think Jaime Garcia brings his best stuff to the hill against Toronto, he's in consideration. Speaking of the Astros, as we noted above, they need every win they can get to keep on Cleveland's tail, so Lance McCullers should bring his A game, but nobody on the early fills me with confidence.
Opponent - ATL (Sims) Park - @MIA
FD - 9.63 DK - 7.76
I broke the bank on pitching so I'm going to try and give you as much value as I can with the bats. Particularly behind the plate we always want to look for value and we find an excellent option in the form of J.T. Realmuto. Realmuto tends to find himself in the 5 or 6 hole, which already gives him a boost compared to most of the pack, as most of our catchers find themselves at the bottom of the order. He has also proven to be quite productive down the stretch, finding his way on base in six of his last seven games, with a home run and three doubles, two RBI and six runs scored in that time. He also gets a bit of a boost leaving Marlins Park behind for more hitter friendly SunTrust Park.
Opponent - SD (Chacin) Park - @SF
FD - 10.65 DK - 8.25
For the most part, Im going to just throw in some "consider" plays on the early slate, as with pitching being so sketchy, I don't plan to put a lot of effort into it, but I have to stop for a moment to spotlight Buster Posey. When reviewing the early runs of projections in the system, Posey jumps out as one of the top point per dollar plays at the position, and with good reason. He is just entirely too cheap. Despite the fact that his home run numbers are down for a third straight year, and the lowest since he played only 45 games in 2011, Posey still possesses the best wOBA among qualified catchers not named Sanchez, with the highest average at the position, yet among qualified catchers (of which there are only five) he is priced the cheapest on FanDuel, and the two that are cheaper on DraftKings are listed as out or DTD. Posey is an excellent play against the Padres Chacin.
Opponent - OAK (Gossett) Park - @TEX
FD - 12.85 DK - 9.69
In his first full season, Joey Gallo is making a strong case at one of the toughest positions in the game. When you're competing against names like Votto and Goldschmidt, it takes a special type of player to inject himself into the conversation, and Joey Gallo is doing just that. He leads the position, along with Cody Bellinger with 39 home runs. He possesses a .357 wOBA and a .318 ISO, and doesn't discriminate, hitting both LHP and RHP equally as hard. Gallo is 1 for 4 on Friday following a stretch of 4 out of the last 5 games in which he was hitless, but for the cost of admission, Gallo has what it takes to pay dividends.
Opponent - NYM (Lugo) Park - @PHI
FD - 9.3 DK - 7.07
This is a caveat play, as since the arrival of Rhys Hoskins, Tommy Joseph has spent a significant amount of time on the Philly bench. If he finds his way to the starting line up, and he still does from time to time, the system loves him as a value play with tremendous upside against the Mets Seth Lugo, making his 26th career start. despite the cut into his playing time, ToJo has managed 22 home runs on the season, which is enough to rank him just outside the top 20 first basemen, and has much better reverse splits, hitting right handed pitching with a .311 wOBA. Lugo has done a nice job early in his career of keeping the ball in the yard, but will take a major hit in the park factor traveling from Citi Field to Citizens Bank Park. I prefer Gallo but if you need a few hundred in salary relief, I can see just cause to pivot to Joseph if he is listed in the starting nine.
Opponent - BAL (Castro) Park - @TB
FD - 11.24 DK - 8.32
On the early set of games Lucas Duda comes in at the top of both the raw points and PPD projections, against the Orioles RHP Miguel Castro making his first start following a career of bullpen appearances. Duda carries a .361 wOBA and .303 ISO against RHP this year, and despite the fact that Castro hasn't thrown more than 69 pitches in a game this season, meaning this will likely turn into a bullpen game for the O's, if Duda can log a couple of trips at the plate against him it may be all he needs to pay value particularly on FD where he is just too cheap.
Opponent - OAK (Gossett) Park - @TEX
FD - 10.43 DK - 8.4
We're going to focus a lot on this game, particularly from the Texas side. We already discussed Joey Gallo, next up is Rougned Odor. Odor is currently riding an 0 for 22 stretch at the plate, with just five walks thrown into the mix during that nine game skid, but that has driven his cost all the way down to near minimum pricing, and what better night for Odor to pop out of his slump than against Daniel Gossett. Through 17 starts in his rookie campaign, Gossett has compiled a 5.82 ERA and 4.46 xFIP and most telling is the 20.8% HR/FB rate. All you have to do is get wood on the ball and you can take Gossett to the house, which presents Odor with upside for days.
Opponent - LAA (Nolasco) Park - @LAA
FD - 10.92 DK - 8.32
Robinson Cano has hit some rough patches through this final month of the season, most recently a stretch earlier this week where he was 1 for 16 in games between Cleveland and Oakland, but don't let that fool you, the Mariners second baseman, is closing out the season on a high note with a .326/.383/.500 slash line in September, with four home runs,V9. Al9s thi cu/p>
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