Mets and Phillies lead the DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Friday 8/26/22

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Pitchers

Chris Bassitt FD 10400 DK 9900
Opponent - COL (Chad Kuhl) Park - COL
FD - 44.23 DK - 24.31

The Mets are whopping -331 favorites against the lowly Rockies here on Friday and Bassitt rings in as one of the best cash game options on the slate. The Rockies don’t strike out a ton, but away from home this season they have the second-least runs in the league and just don’t have much pop in in the lineup at all. Bassitt is putting down right around a batter per inning on the season, keeps the walks mostly in check and averages more than six innings per start. That all lines up as a pretty safe play here.

Gerrit Cole FD 11000 DK 10700
Opponent - OAK (JP Sears) Park - OAK
FD - 45.16 DK - 25.64

I get that four of his last six starts have been pretty rough but Cole still rates out as one of the best pitchers in the game. The A’s have the second-worst team OPS in the league this season and strike out more than 23% of the time. Cole’s 2.81 xFIP is about 0.6 runs behind the 3.41 ERA and he still strikes out more than 11 batters per nine. Some might be down on Cole a bit here, but I’m not and think he’s actually a bargain on DraftKings.

Consider Bailey Falter (FD $6200 DK $6700) coming cheap as a big favorite here on Friday.

Catcher/First Base

Rhys Hoskins FD 3400 DK 4700
Opponent - PIT (Bryse Wilson) Park - PIT
FD - 14.06 DK - 10.43

J.T. Realmuto FD 3700 DK 5700
Opponent - PIT (Bryse Wilson) Park - PIT
FD - 12.84 DK - 9.79

The Phillies have one of the highest team run lines on the day facing off against Bryse Wilson and the Pirates. Hoskins and Realmuto should hit second and fourth respectively and both are coming moderately priced on FanDuel especially. Realmuto is a bit steep on DraftKings but that’s because of the the positional scarcity. Hoskins has 28 home runs on the season and though, for his career, he’s been much better against lefties, the .822 OPS against righties still plays.

Meanwhile, Realmuto now has the OPS up and over .800 and for a catcher (or really anyone) offers a higher fantasy floor with the 14 home runs and 15 stolen bases. Again, he’s expensive but he’s been a platoon neutral hitter throughout his career and has been nearly identical in each side of his split.

Second Base

Brandon Lowe FD 2400 DK 4500
Opponent - BOS (Michael Wacha) Park - BOS
FD - 11.25 DK - 8.4

Lowe is coming so, so cheap on FanDuel now at $2400 that you are almost forced to play him there considering he’s hitting second in the Rays’ lineup. The 39 home runs last season are starting to look like an outlier seeing as how he has only eight in 249 plate appearances this season and injuries have gotten in his way. He still walks 10% of the time and the OPS is respectable if not amazing. This is mostly a price play on FD more than anything else.

On DraftKings, I think you probably want to either pay all the way up for someone like Jose Altuve (FD $3800 DK $5400) against Kyle Bradish, or just punt the position with someone like César Hernández (FD $2400 DK $2800) or Willi Castro (FD $2700 DK $2000).

Shortstop

Francisco Lindor FD 3600 DK 5600
Opponent - COL (Chad Kuhl) Park - COL
FD - 12.55 DK - 9.52

The Mets are another team on this slate with one of the highest run lines as they face off against Chad Kuhl and the Rockies. The latter strikes out just 6.64 batters per nine on the season and has a 4.99 xFIP with a 5.16 ERA. He stinks. Lindor meanwhile has a .799 OPS with 21 home runs and 14 stolen bases returning to some of the fantasy form we saw a few years ago with Cleveland. It’s not all the way there, but neither is the price on FanDuel. It’s a little closer on DraftKings, but the Mets are almost in too good of a spot to worry about it.

CJ Abrams FD 2100 DK 2100
Opponent - CIN (Mike Minor) Park - CIN
FD - 7.68 DK - 5.96

If you want to punt the position, you can think about it with a guy like Abrams. The Nationals actually are favorites on Friday which seems like a miracle and their 4.6 implies runs is really high for them. Abrams isn’t much of a hitter, but should be in the sixth spot in the lineup and is coming basically at the minimums on both sites. This is strictly if you want to save all the money here and pay up everywhere else.

Third Base

Alec Bohm FD 3300 DK 4300
Opponent - PIT (Bryse Wilson) Park - PIT
FD - 9.91 DK - 7.61

Bohm is going to hit lower in the Phillies’ order but the 5.8 implied team runs make them the best-projected offense on the slate. Bohm strikes out less than 20% of the time on the season and does has 10 home runs. The power isn’t prolific but he does have the OPS over .700. I wish this was against a lefty, but beggars can’t be choosers at a very weak 3B position on this slate.

Mike Moustakas FD 2500 DK 2000
Opponent - WSH (Cade Cavalli) Park - WSH
FD - 9.5 DK - 7.15

Though Moustakas has had a very rough season at the plate, you can consider punting with him here seeing as how he’s coming at the bare minimum on DraftKings and cheap on FanDuel as well. He should hit cleanup for the Reds against Cade Cavalli. Again, the stats for this dude look gross on the season, but we are going here if looking to just punt it and move on.

Consider Brett Baty (FD $2400 DK $2400) hitting in the Mets’ lineup.

Outfield

Bryce Harper FD 4000 DK 5700
Opponent - PIT (Bryse Wilson) Park - PIT
FD - 14.96 DK - 11.12

Kyle Schwarber FD 3300 DK 5800
Opponent - PIT (Bryse Wilson) Park - PIT
FD - 15.04 DK - 11.14

Harper is returning from injury for the Phillies and though it’s weird to play a guy who’s this expensive as he reenters the lineup from an IL stint, this is still Bryce Harper we are talking about. He has a .986 OPS on the season, putting up MVP-like numbers before the injury. In just 275 plate appearances he had 15 home runs and nine stolen bases, striking out less than 19% of the time. I have no problem playing him out of the gate here.

Meanwhile, Schwarber should be hitting in the leadoff slot and though he’s expensive this is just the kind of matchup that plays well for his skillset. K’s are his big issue, but that’s not a problem at all against a guy like Wilson who has a 15% K rate on the season. Schwarber has 35 home runs on the season and is on his way to a career power mark. He’s coming too cheap on FanDuel and makes for an easy call there.

Brandon Nimmo FD 2700 DK 4700
Opponent - COL (Chad Kuhl) Park - COL
FD - 12.49 DK - 9.43

Nimmo is another guy coming too cheap on FanDuel here and will hit leadoff for the Mets against Kuhl. The former gets on base 36% of the time this season and has shown at least a little pop with 11 home runs. He’s tough to strike out at just 17% and makes for a safer cash play because of the patience at the plate.

Consider Alex Call (FD $2200 DK $2000) who is coming at the minimums and projects to hit leadoff against Mike Minor.

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