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DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 9/5/20
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These last few slates have been absolutely nuts. We have tons of doubleheaders and every team in action, making it hard to figure out exactly who will play. The good news is that we're trying to make it simple, recommending players from the slate beginning at 7ET. There are actually 14 games in this slate, so, we obviously have some great pitchers to pick from!
Pitchers
Gerrit Cole FD - P 10600 DK - SP 10300
Opponent - BAL (Keegan Akin) Park - BAL
FD - 46.8 DK - 26.82
Anytime Gerrit Cole toes the rubber, he's one of the best options for DFS. The reason for that is because he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball, amassing a 2.81 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 36 percent K rate since 2018. That absurd strikeout ability makes him an absolute gem for DFS purposes, especially against an offense like the Orioles. While Baltimore sits in the middle of the pack in most offensive statistics this season, they have an ugly lineup and sat bottom-five in runs scored, OPS and K rate last season. That's certainly evident in Cole's last two starts against the O's collecting 21 strikeouts across 13.2 innings of action while posting a WHIP below 1.00. In addition, Cole is a -250 favorite in this game.
Lucas Giolito FD - P 10400 DK - SP 10500
Opponent - KC (Kris Bubic) Park - KC
FD - 39.18 DK - 21.14
Giolito had the best pitching performance of the season last week and has truly developed into one of the best arms in the game. Since the end of July last season, Giolito has a WHIP below 1.00 and a K rate north of 30 percent. He's been absolutely cruising recently too, pitching to a 0.86 ERA, 0.48 WHIP and 14.6 K/9 rate over his last three starts. Not to mention, he faced Kansas City six times last season, recording five quality starts while striking out 51 batters across 37 innings of action. That's why he and the White Sox enter this matchup as a -230 favorite.
If you're looking for a cheaper option, consider Justus Sheffield against Texas.
Catcher/First Base
Luke Voit FD - 1B 3900 DK - 1B 4500
Opponent - BAL (Keegan Akin) Park - BAL
FD - 12.06 DK - 9.05
The Bronx Bombers have been struggling mightily recently but it's certainly no fault of Voit's. The big first baseman is now hitting .293 through 32 games played, en route to a .664 SLG and 1.023 OPS. Those studly averages aren't really far off of his career numbers, owning a .894 OPS. All of that makes this price tag hard to understand and we love that he gets the platoon advantage against Keegan Akin, who has one Major League start.
José Abreu FD - 1B 3800 DK - 1B 5400
Opponent - KC (Kris Bubic) Park - KC
FD - 13.55 DK - 10.3
Edwin Encarnación FD - 1B 2900 DK - 1B 4200
Opponent - KC (Kris Bubic) Park - KC
FD - 13.89 DK - 10.3
Chicago bats are going to be a major theme in this article and I truly believe that they could be staring at double-digit runs here. The reason for that is because they have a million of potent bats, with almost all of them hitting from the right side. That's terrible news for a lefty like Kris Bubic and we'll discuss him more later.
As for these two guys, they're both elite plays. Abreu has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball this season, owning a .400 OBP, .871 SLG and 1.319 OPS over his current 17-game hitting streak. That doesn't even take into consideration that he has a .387 OBP, .567 SLG and .954 OPS against southpaws since 2018. E5 has been struggling with his bat but .498 career SLG is hard to overlook. For his career, Encarnacion has a .375 OBP and .872 OPS with the platoon advantage in his favor as well, if you needed any more incentive.
The White Sox are our favorite stack of the day and that makes Yasmani Grandal a great option at catcher too.
Second Base
DJ LeMahieu FD - 2B 3800 DK - 2B/3B 5200
Opponent - BAL (Keegan Akin) Park - BAL
FD - 13.64 DK - 10.54
LeMahiey found his way into our article on Friday and it's clear that he's one of the only good options at the weakest position in baseball. Since joining the Yankees last season, DJ is accruing a .335 AVG and .905 OPS. That has Rockies fans praying he was still in Colorado and it's telling that NY bats him atop their potent lineup. We love that even more when you consider that he gets to face an unknown lefty here, with DJ posting an OPS north of 1.000 against southpaws since putting on the pinstripes.
Mike Moustakas FD - 2B 2600 DK - 2B 4800
Opponent - PIT (Trevor Williams) Park - PIT
FD - 12.41 DK - 9.34
I've said this a lot but Moose is a cheat code at second base. There's simply not many great pure hitters in baseball that you get to use at second base and Moustakas is just that. While his numbers have been slow to come around this season, we're still talking about a guy who has at least 28 homers and 85 RBI in three-straight seasons, posting a .490 SLG in that span. That looks even better when you consider that Moose has a career OPS north of .800 against righties which is also bad news for Trevor Williams' 5.50 ERA and 1.54 WHIP.
Shortstop
Tim Anderson FD - SS 3600 DK - SS 5600
Opponent - KC (Kris Bubic) Park - KC
FD - 14.41 DK - 11.22
Splits are always a major theme in this article and there may be no better splits in baseball than the ones Anderson possesses. So far this season, the speedy shortstop has a .486 AVG, .537 OBP, 1.162 SLG and 1.699 OPS. Players would kill to have that SLG as their OPS and it's truly amazing how dominant he's been with the platoon advantage in his favor. He's yet another Chicago player who's rolling too, totaling a 1.087 OPS since the opening week.
Trea Turner FD - SS 4100 DK - SS 5500
Opponent - ATL (Max Fried) Park - ATL
FD - 0 DK - 0
There aren't many players as hot as Anderson right now but Turner might be one of them. In fact, TT is hitting .448 over his last 23 games, en route to a .792 SLG and 1.287 OPS. Those are absurd numbers from a guy who can lead the league in steals as well, making him an asset for DFS purposes with his speed-power combo. While Max Fried has been a breakout player for the Braves, we still like that Turner gets to see that ball from a lefty. Turner's got a .305 AVG and .373 OBP against southpaws since 2018.
Third Base
Eduardo Escobar FD - 3B 2800 DK - 3B 3800
Opponent - SF (Trevor Cahill) Park - SF
FD - 9.92 DK - 7.54
We've gotten some high-priced players in there at other positions, so, let's find some value at third base. Escobar is just that, providing a .485 SLG and .809 OPS since 2018. That's all you can hope for from such a cheap player, particularly one in the heart of a lineup. Facing off against Trevor Cahill only adds to EE's value, with the right-hander pitching to a 4.75 ERA and 1.39 WHIP since 2017.
Jeff McNeil FD - 3B 2600 DK - 2B/OF 3700
Opponent - PHI (Spencer Howard) Park - NYM
FD - 0 DK - 0
McNeil was in this article on Friday and he's going to remain in my articles until he gets the price tag he deserves. In nearly 1,000 at-bats in the Majors, McNeil has a .317 AVG, .380 OBP, .496 SLG and .876 OPS. That means both of these price tags should be $1,000 more and it's hard to understand what they're thinking. What looks even better is the fact that he gets to face a rookie righty, with McNeil amassing a .384 OBP, .518 SLG and .903 OPS against them for his career.
Outfield
Eloy Jiménez FD - OF 3400 DK - OF 4800
Opponent - KC (Kris Bubic) Park - KC
FD - 14.67 DK - 11.16
Luis Robert FD - OF 3600 DK - OF 4700
Opponent - KC (Kris Bubic) Park - KC
FD - 12.69 DK - 9.79
We foreshadowed why we want to stack against Kris Bubic, so, let's go ahead and get into it here. We're talking about a guy who's 0-4 this season, posting a 5.46 ERA and 1.61 WHIP. That is pretty bad but it looks even worse when you consider that this kid never pitched above A-Ball before this season. Yes, A-Ball! That's called throwing someone into the fire and it's scary to think what that ERA could get to after this terrible matchup.
Now that we have that out of the way, let's kick things off with Jimenez. The powerful outfielder now has a .524 SLG and .840 OPS for his career. He also gets to bat from the right side which is exactly where Robert hits from too. Robert is yet another huge prospect for this organization and he's scorching right now along with the rest of these bats. Over his last 18 games played, LR has nine homers and 21 RBI, on his way to a 1.078 OPS. It's unclear which of these guys you should use but it's safe to say that you need some Sox in your lineup.
Jesse Winker FD - OF 2900 DK - OF 4300
Opponent - PIT (Trevor Williams) Park - PIT
FD - 12.21 DK - 9.29
Shogo Akiyama FD - OF 2300 DK - OF 2000
Opponent - PIT (Trevor Williams) Park - PIT
FD - 10.29 DK - 7.92
Let's get another stack in there. What we're going to do is abuse Trevor Williams because he's not a very good pitcher. A 5.50 ERA this season is obviously not pretty but it looks even worse when you see his 5.38 ERA and .41 WHIP last year. All of that doesn't even take into consideration his 18 percent career K rate and 4.72 career xFIP. That means he shouldn't be pitching for anyone and it's a guy that we're going to want to exploit for the remainder of the season.
Winker is definitely the premier choice among the Reds and it's hard to understand why he's below $3K on FanDuel. This is a dude who has a 1.076 OPS for the season and has traditionally killed right-handed pitching. In fact, he's got an OPS north of .900 against righties since 2018. As for Akiyama, he also has the platoon advantage in his favor. While he's been struggling mightily with the bat, word is that he killed righties in Japan last season and could be a nice value at a minimum price.
