Lineup construction tonight is going to be fun, because on FanDuel, there’s only two pitchers that are at or above $10,000! You’re going to be able to get some reasonably priced arms alongside your favorite sluggers for the day to push into the green! When you need a value bat, or a second arm on DraftKings, I’m your guy for that, because I uncovered some great value plays for Friday’s main slate. Whether you play on Yahoo, FanDuel, DraftKings or all of the above, there’s a value play or two for you! Without further ado, let’s jump in!
All Sites:
Gio Urshela, 3B NYY ($2,800 FD/$3,600 DK/$9 Yahoo) - While Shane McClanahan has displayed some reverse splits, it hasn’t stopped the right-handed Urshela from having his number. Urshela is 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI in his career against McClanahan. Urshela is hitting .304 at Yankee Stadium this season, and overall against southpaws he’s hitting .295 with a .789 OPS. The New York infielder is hitting .333 over the last two weeks with an .826 OPS.
Matt Duffy, 3B CHC ($2,600 FD/$2,100 DK/$15 Yahoo) - St. Louis’ Dakota Hudson is rocking some reverse splits, as righties have been far better against him than lefties. Well, Duffy, a righty, has hit right-handers at a .289 clip this season and he’s seeing the ball extremely well of late, posting a .393 batting average and .914 OPS over his last 28 at-bats. Duffy has a .304 batting average on the road in 2021, and I can’t believe how cheap he is today, especially on DraftKings.
Yahoo:
Anthony Rizzo, 1B NYY ($14) - Lefties have better numbers against Shane McClanahan this season, and Rizzo has been fantastic against southpaws. For the 2021 season as a whole, he’s hitting .327 with a .911 OPS against southpaws, and since joining the Yankees, he’s hit lefties at a .317 clip with a .393 wOBA!
David Peralta, OF ARI ($11) - Peralta is 17-for-40 in his career against Colorado’s Jon Gray, good for a .425 batting average and .429 wOBA! Gray has a 4.59 ERA in 14 road starts this season, and a 4.80 ERA in five starts against Arizona! Peralta hasn’t been the hottest hitter in the planet of late, but he’s hit Colorado pitching at a .339 clip this season and he has a .755 OPS in his home park. Kole Calhoun is another Arizona outfielder to look at in this contest.
DraftKings:
Harrison Bader, OF STL ($3,300) - Bader is one of my favorite plays today. He’s 6-for-9 with a home run in his career against Zach Davies and something about that Chicago blue gets Bader fired up. Why do I say that? Well, through 49 at-bats against the Cubs this season, Bader is hitting .429 with a 1.206 OPS, and he has three home runs, seven RBI, 12 runs scored and three stolen bases against them. Bader is seeing the ball well of late, going 11-for-23 with three home runs over the last week. He’s a must start today on DraftKings at this price point.
Marco Gonzalez, SP SEA ($8,400) - The Angels offense has been putrid over the last month, hitting a measly .222 with a .297 on-base percentage and .284 wOBA. All three of those marks put them in the bottom three in the MLB. NOT BOTTOM-THIRD. BOTTOM THREE. The Seattle southpaw has a 2.84 ERA in two starts against the Angels this season and he’s posted a 3.90 ERA with four wins in his last five outings.
FanDuel:
Javier Báez, SS/2B NYM ($3,300) - Baez has homered against Atlanta’s Huascar Ynoa in his career and since coming to the Mets, he’s hit right-handers at a .321 clip! The free-swinging infielder is hitting .310 with a .740 OPS over the last two weeks, and he has an even 1.000 OPS against Atlanta pitching in 2021.
Nathaniel Lowe, 1B TEX ($2,900) - Lowe is 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBI against Eli Morgan in his career. Love that. Morgan has surrendered an OPS north of .800 and a .342 wOBA to lefties this season, while Lowe has posted a .416 slugging percentage against right-handed pitchers. Lowe has a .911 OPS over the last week and he has a ridiculous 1.372 OPS against Cleveland pitching this season.
Player News
Carlos Narváez went 2-for-4 and clubbed a three-run homer on Sunday night, propelling the Red Sox to an 11-7 victory over the Yankees.
The 26-year-old backstop crushed a 372-foot (101.0 mph EV) three-run shot off of Carlos Rodón in the sixth inning that turned a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 advantage for the Red Sox. Narváez also drew a walk and singled in the ballgame. On the season, he has slashed a respectable .282/.361/.459 with six homers and 22 RBI in his first 191 plate appearances.
Kristian Campbell launched a two-run homer on Sunday night, helping to lead the Red Sox past the Yankees in New York.
The 22-year-old rookie infielder tagged Yankees’ starter Carlos Rodón for a 349-foot (99.0 mph EV) two-run shot in the fifth inning that tied the game at two runs apiece. It was just his second home run since April 29 and first since May 13. Campbell also drew a walk and singled in the ballgame, finishing the night 2-for-3. On the season, he’s now slashing .233/.323/.364 with five long balls, 20 RBI and two stolen bases in 234 plate appearances.
Rafael Devers went 1-for-4 with a solo homer and a pair of runs scored on Sunday night as the Red Sox bested the Yankees in New York.
Devers did his damage in the ninth inning, crushing a leadoff 393-foot (111.2 mph EV) solo shot off of Brent Headrick that extended the Red Sox’ advantage to 10-5. He was also hit by a pitch in the sixth inning and rode home on a three-run shot by Carlos Narvaez. The 28-year-old slugger is now slashing a healthy .283/.407/.522 with 14 homers and 57 RBI on the season.
Aroldis Chapman picked up his easiest save of the season on Sunday, recording the final out against the Yankees to protect a four-run advantage.
That out came after Robert Stock had given up a couple of runs at put another couple of runners on with two outs, putting the tying run in the on-deck circle. That’s when Red Sox’ skipper Alex Cora turned to Chapman to end the threat. The 37-year-old southpaw needed just three pitches to strike out Anthony Volpe to end it. On the season, he sports a brilliant 1.71 ERA to go with a 35/9 K/BB ratio over 26 1/3 innings and 11 saves in his first 12 chances.
Hunter Dobbins picked up his third victory of the season on Sunday evening, limiting the Yankees to three runs on four hits over his five innings of work.
The 25-year-old right-hander surprisingly did not walk or strike out a batter in the ballgame. He served up a mammoth two-run homer to Aaron Judge before he had even recorded an out in the contest, but settled in nicely afterwards and allowed just a solo shot to DJ LeMahieu in the fifth the rest of the way. Dobbins got four whiffs on 64 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 28 percent. Now 3-1 on the season, he’ll tote a 4.20 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and a 37/10 K/BB ratio (49 1/3 innings) into a rematch against the Yankees on Saturday evening at Fenway Park.
Aaron Judge went 3-for-4 and clobbered his 22nd and 23rd home runs of the season on Sunday night, but it wasn’t enough to power the Yankees past the Red Sox.
Judge absolutely demolished a first-pitch fastball from Hunter Dobbins for a 436-foot (108.6 mph EV) opposite-field two-run shot that gave the Yankees an early 2-0 advantage. He also drew a one-out walk in the sixth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jazz Chisholm Jr. Jude also pulverized a 1-2 fastball from Robert Stock for a 398-foot (108.9 mph EV) two-run shot in the ninth inning. The 33-year-old outfielder is having a season for the ages, slashing an utterly ridiculous .396/.493/.771 with 23 homers, 55 RBI and five stolen bases through his first 64 games.