DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday, 8/10/22

This has been a fun week of baseball. It feels like every game is getting more critical by the day, and it was fun staying up late and watching the west coast games last night. I also watched the Coors Field shootout, with those two teams combining for 21 runs. It's hot in Denver right now, and that ballpark will play like a little league field for the remainder of the season. It'll surely be featured heavily in this article, so let's find some pitchers to pair with those Coors Field bats.

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Pitchers

Brandon Woodruff FD - P 11000 DK - SP 9600
Opponent - TB (Jeffrey Springs) Park - MIL
FD - 38.4 DK - 20.75

Many people get scared to use a pitcher against Tampa Bay, but this lineup has been struggling ever since Wander Franco went down. The Rays rank 24th in wOBA, 25th in xwOBA, 23rd in runs scored, and 27th in K rate. That makes them one of the best matchups in the sport, and it's no surprise when looking at the personnel. That's bad news against a stud like Woodruff, generating 2.90 ERA and 1.03 WHIP since 2020, striking out 406 batters across those 338 innings. He's been rolling recently, too, registering a 2.28 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 10.7 K/9 rate across his last nine starts. One of those was against this terrible Tampa offense, striking out 10 batters across five one-run innings.

Taijuan Walker FD - P 8400 DK - SP 8400
Opponent - CIN (T.J. Zeuch) Park - NYM
FD - 39.23 DK - 20.26

Walker had one of the worst starts of his career in his most recent outing, but this dude was unstoppable before that. In fact, Taijuan tallied 2.53 ERA and 1.10 WHIP across his previous 15 starts. That's a large sample size of mowing down bats, and that should be easy to do against Cincy. The Reds rank 22nd in OBP, 26th in wOBA, and 25th in OPS and K rate. That's scary since they get to hit in Great American Smallpark, and they surely won't see an uptick in a pitcher's park like Citi Field. Walker had his second-best start of the season against this team, dropping 46 FanDuel points on July 4.

Sandy Alcantara (FD $11200 DK $10300) has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season and is a good pivot if you want to pay up to use him.

Catcher/First Base

Paul Goldschmidt FD - 1B 4500 DK - 1B 6200
Opponent - COL (Kyle Freeland) Park - COL
FD - 15.93 DK - 12.08

Let's kick off our Coors Field stack with the two powerful first basemen. Goldschmidt has been one of the best players in baseball this season, totaling a .332 AVG, .415 OBP, .614 SLG, and 1.029 OPS. That has him as the frontrunner for NL MVP, with Paul providing a .429 OBP and 1.132 OPS since May 4. That's scary for these Rockies pitchers in Coors Field, with Goldshmidt generating a .418 OBP and 1.022 OPS at Coors throughout his career. Getting to face a lefty is the icing on the cake, though, because Goldy has a .547 OBP, .847 SLG, and 1.394 OPS with the patio advantage in his favor this season. Freeland is a fantastic matchup too, and we'll dive into that later on!

C.J. Cron FD - 1B 4100 DK - 1B 4700
Opponent - STL (José Quintana) Park - COL
FD - 14.4 DK - 10.83

Cron has been a stud ever since he put on a Rockies uniform, and he's truly taken advantage of Coors Field. Since 2020, Cron has collected a .276 AVG, .354 OBP, .524 SLG and .878 OPS. His numbers are even more absurd, posting a .384 OBP and 1.001 OPS at home in that same span. He's also got the platoon advantage against Jose Quintana, who's got a 4.59 ERA and 1.40 WHIP since 2019. That has the Rocks as one of the highest-projected lineups on this slate, and we love that he's entering this matchup with an extra-base hit in three straight games.

Alejandro Kirk (FD $2800 DK $4400) is the safest option at catcher, batting third in this dominant Blue Jays lineup.

Second Base

Brendan Rodgers FD - 2B 3500 DK - 2B 4800
Opponent - STL (José Quintana) Park - COL
FD - 10.21 DK - 7.83

If it weren't for a nightmarish April, we'd be talking about how Rodgers is amid a breakout season. The young second basemen racked up four hits on Tuesday, giving him a .315 AVG, .359 OBP, .482 SLG, and .842 OPS since May 1. That's 85 games of raking, and we love that he has the platoon advantage in Coors Field. Brendan has a .360 OBP, .511 SLG, and .911 OPS against lefties since 2020 while producing a .372 OBP, .515 SLG, and .887 OPS at home this year. Jose Quintana isn't a problematic matchup either, with the Rocks projected for six runs in this spot.

Ketel Marte FD - 2B 3300 DK - 2B 5000
Opponent - PIT (Mitch Keller) Park - ARI
FD - 10.6 DK - 8.12

Marte's career has been rotting away in Arizona, but this guy continues to post monster numbers year after year. Since 2019, Marte has maintained a .304 AVG, .367 OBP, .520 SLG, and .887 OPS. Those absurd averages are across nearly 1,500 plate appearances, and it's hard to understand why he's not one of the most expensive second basemen on every slate. The recent form makes it even more baffling, with Ketel collecting a .372 OBP and .864 OPS across his last 54 games. A matchup with Mitch Keller is marvelous, too, with the Pirates pitcher providing a 5.32 ERA and 1.61 WHIP across 277 career innings.

Shortstop

Bo Bichette FD - SS 3500 DK - SS 4500
Opponent - BAL (Dean Kremer) Park - BAL
FD - 12.19 DK - 9.39

Bichette has been one of the best shortstops since his call-up, and he's finally starting to get hot. The slugging shortstop had two dingers on Tuesday, totaling a .370 AVG, .815 SLG, and 1.185 OPS across his last six games. This is one of the best stat-stuffers in our sport, too, collecting 181 runs, 57 doubles, 44 homers, 32 steals, and 162 RBI since the start of last season. Not many players can say they have numbers like those, but it's far from surprising since he hits in one of the scariest lineups in baseball. Dean Kremer is someone he can exploit, too, with Kremer compiling a 22.85 ERA and 3.46 WHIP in his final two starts of last season against this bludgeoning Blue Jays lineup.

Paul DeJong FD - SS 2800 DK - SS 3400
Opponent - COL (Kyle Freeland) Park - COL
FD - 13.08 DK - 9.86

DeJong has been at Triple-A for most of the season, but that work against crappy pitching has clearly got him right. The St. Louis shortstop has four homers and 12 RBI across his last nine games, accruing a .389 OBP, .786 SLG, and 1.175 OPS in that span. That's the stud we saw at times in the past, and it has him hitting in the heart of this order. We love that since the Cards are the highest-projected lineup on the slate, and we obviously don't mind that he has the platoon advantage against a lefty with a 4.56 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. Not to mention, DeJong's OPS is .200 points higher against lefties this year.

Third Base

Nolan Arenado FD - 3B 4300 DK - 3B 5200
Opponent - COL (Kyle Freeland) Park - COL
FD - 14.99 DK - 11.35

What if I told you that one of the greatest Rockies of all time gets a revenge game against his former team? That is a good start, but he also gets the platoon advantage against a subpar southpaw while hitting in the best ballpark in baseball. We've already discussed how bad Freeland has been this season, but it looks even better with Arenado accruing a .646 SLG and .984 OPS against left-handers this year. He was a 1.000 OPS in his days at Coors Field, and it's scary how hot he's been. The perennial All-Star has a .368 AVG, .450 OBP, .716 SLG, and 1.166 OPS over his last 26 games.

José Ramírez FD - 3B 4000 DK - 3B 5800
Opponent - DET (Drew Hutchison) Park - DET
FD - 13.77 DK - 10.41

Ramirez is amid another MVP season, and we have to love him against a gas can like Hutchinson. The Tigers righty has a 4.37 ERA and 1.44 WHIP this year while posting a 4.91 ERA and 1.41 WHIP throughout his career. That's rough against Ramirez, with Jose posting a .591 SLG and .958 OPS against righties this year. He's also got almost all of his steals against them, and he's one of the few hitters who can provide a dinger and a steal. Facing a horrible pitcher like Hutchinson has Cleveland projected for 4.5 runs, and we have to expect Ramirez to do most of that damage. We love his BvP numbers, too, amassing a .455 AVG, .909 SLG, and 1.336 OPS in 11 at-bats against Hutch.

Outfield

Yordan Alvarez FD - OF 4300 DK - OF 5900
Opponent - TEX (Glenn Otto) Park - HOU
FD - 11.15 DK - 8.36

It's crazy how dominant this dude is at the plate. In three years at this level, Alvarez has accumulated a .293 AVG, .381 OBP, .594 SLG, and .975 OPS. That's amazing since he's amid his best year, totaling a .407 OBP, .638 SLG, and 1.045 OPS. His recent form is even more ridiculous, generating a 1.094 OPS since the end of April. His splits are sensational, too, slugging a .422 OBP, .687 SLG, and 1.109 OPS against right-handers this year. Glenn Otto is an outstanding matchup as well, providing a 5.31 ERA and 1.41 WHIP.

Shohei Ohtani FD - OF 4000 DK - 1B/OF 6100
Opponent - OAK (Paul Blackburn) Park - OAK
FD - 13.48 DK - 10.1

Ohtani is the best baseball player in our sport, and we'll use him as a hitter here. The two-way superstar has 70 homers and 37 steals since the start of last season, generating a .361 OBP, .550 SLG, and .911 OPS in that span. That makes him one of the best hitters in the game, especially since he has a .351 OBP, .603 SLG, and .955 OPS across his last 17 games. Ohtani has also been much better against righties, and we're thrilled that he faces a pitcher with a 7.94 ERA and 1.59 WHIP across his last eight starts. Ohtani has obliterated Blackburn throughout their careers, compiling a .500 AVG, .556 OBP, 1.000 SLG, and 1.556 OPS in nine at-bats against him.

Tyler O'Neill FD - OF 3500 DK - OF 4800
Opponent - COL (Kyle Freeland) Park - COL
FD - 15.88 DK - 12

O'Neill has had a rough season, but this guy is too talented to be this cheap in a matchup like this. He's another Cardinals righty that gets the platoon advantage against Freeland, with Tyler totaling a .360 OBP and .860 OPS against ledt-handers throughout his career. We're talking about a guy who had 34 homers, 15 steals, and a .894 OPS in a breakout 2021 campaign, and we believe that guy will show up for the remainder of the season. Batting in the heart of an order projected for a slate-high six runs also makes him an immense value.