MLB DFS Value Vault July 8: Jake Meyers On a Hitting Streak
Tonight’s MLB DFS slate is consistent across the board as DraftKings, Yahoo Fantasy, and FanDuel will use 14-game slates starting at 7:05 pm ET. This slate offers plenty of value options at the plate today for daily fantasy baseball lineups. Houston Astros outfielder Jake Meyers headlines the list as an MLB DFS top play for Friday, July 8th. Outside of the value hitters listed below, there are plenty more options for MLB daily fantasy lineups that I’m sure will be in the playbook and/or discussed in the MLB DFS Discord channel. On the pitching end, I don’t overly love the super cheap options but there are some strong values in the mid-tier. Another positive is that it appears that we have no serious MLB weather report concerns to worry about, but still keep up with our MLB weather center leading up to first pitch when building MLB DFS lineups. Don’t forget to check out MLB team implied runs totals using our MLB Vegas Odds link. Plus, use the MLB daily projections, the confirmed MLB lineups page, and the MLB DFS lineup generator. Now, let’s dive into our MLB DFS top picks today!
MLB DFS Pitchers
Jon Gray, Texas Rangers (DraftKings - $8000)
Gray has been locked in lately as he has scored at least 16.6 DK points in five straight games and north of 27 points in three of those outings. Despite a very rough start to the year, Gray now has his ERA down to 3.96 and he has 83 strikeouts across 77.1 innings of work. He has only made three starts at home (somehow, compared to 11 on the road), but he’s averaged 24.6 DK points per game in those three home starts. The Twins aren’t a great matchup but also not a bad one either, ranking 11th in runs per game and 19th in strikeout rate. That makes Minnesota a slightly below-average matchup for Gray tonight.
Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox (DraftKings - $7800 / FanDuel - $8800 / Yahoo - $38)
Giolito has scored 17.3 and 26.5 DK points over his last two games as he appears to finally be back to form. The strikeout rate is still strong this season as he has 89 punch-outs across 75.1 innings of work. You can’t get much of a better matchup than the Tigers either, as they rank 29th in runs per game and have the 8th-highest strikeout rate in baseball.
MLB DFS Hitters
Jake Meyers, Houston Astros (DraftKings - $2000 / FanDuel - $3000 / Yahoo - $13)
Why is Meyers the minimum price on DraftKings? I really don’t understand, but I digress. He is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak and slashing .360/.370/.640 in that span with a home run, two doubles, and nine RBI. The Astros outfielder has also moved into a more prominent spot in the Astros lineup as he was batting 5th in yesterday’s contest. Blackburn has been awful at home this year, surprisingly given his home ballpark, with a 5.87 ERA and 1.40 WHIP across six starts in Oakland.
Sam Haggerty, Seattle Mariners (DraftKings - $2000 / FanDuel - $2100 / Yahoo - $10)
Haggerty had a monster performance in his last game, going 3-for-4 with a home run and a stolen base. He is hitting .303 with three steals through 20 games this season. The power was a rare sighting for Haggerty, but the speed is legit and that offers upside at this price. He is more of a GPP play, though, and probably my least-confident pick in here today.
Michael Stefanic, Los Angeles Angels (DraftKings - $2100 / FanDuel - $2100 / Yahoo - $7)
Stefanic is off to a nice start as he is 4-for-11 (.364) with a double and two runs scored through his first four games. The Angels' rookie was hitting .320 at AAA prior to his call-up and while he doesn’t offer anything in the power department (he only had one home run), he seems like a pretty good bet for a handful of points. At this cheap price, there’s nothing wrong with that. I would view Stefanic as more of a cash-game punt than a tournament winner.
Keston Hiura, Milwaukee Brewers (DraftKings - $2700 / FanDuel - $2700 / Yahoo - $13)
Hiura bashed a home run in his last game and he is very locked in at the dish right now with four double-digit DK point games in his last five games. He is averaging 9.3 DK ppg over his last 10 games, slashing .258/.378/.581 in that span with three home runs, two steals, and nine runs scored. Hiura is a big-time reverse splits guy too, slashing a robust .293/.414/.690 against righties with seven home runs and two doubles this year – compared to .148/.258/.204 against lefties with one home run and zero doubles (58 at-bats against righties, 54 against lefties).
Tim Anderson, Chicago White Sox (Yahoo - $12)
Throwing in kind of a bonus play today with TA, who is super cheap on Yahoo for whatever reason. Anderson always crushes lefties and this year has very much been more of the same as he is slashing .432/.432/.649 against southpaws through 37 PA. Tarik Skubal has really been struggling lately, so there really just isn’t any reason to not like Anderson today.
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Player News
Pirates recalled RHP Isaac Mattson from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Mattson returns to the majors with the Pirates moving on from lefty reliever Joey Wentz ahead of Saturday’s game against the Phillies. The 29-year-old righty has made three appearances this season for Pittsburgh. He’ll operate in middle relief moving forward.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 3-for-5 with a homer and a game-winning double in the 10th as the Reds downed the Diamondbacks 4-3 in Friday’s suspended game.
Encarnacion-Strand’s homer came in the sixth inning last night, tying the game at three before play was halted. After play resumed today, the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the 10th, when CES’s liner to center plated the automatic runner. It’s a great first game back for Encarnacion-Strand, who missed seven weeks with back inflammation. He’s not promised regular playing time, but he should get if he hits, and he offers significant mixed-league upside.
Alek Thomas went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts Friday against the Reds.
He also took a bad route on a tough liner from Christian Encarnacion-Strand that turned into a game-winning double in the 10th inning after play resumed Saturday. Thomas got off to a quick start this year to separate himself from Jake McCarthy in center field, but he’s down to .255/.298/.367 now. His 42/6 K/BB in 169 PA is particularly ugly. It still wouldn’t make much sense to switch him with McCarthy, since he is the better all-around player. Still, he needs to pick it up some.
Pirates selected the contract of C Brett Sullivan from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Sullivan heads to Pittsburgh as extra catching depth in the wake of Endy RodrÃguez hitting the injured list with elbow discomfort. The 31-year-old backup was acquired from San Diego in a small trade back in April. He’s gotten into 40 games over the last two years with the Padres.
Pirates placed C/1B Endy RodrÃguez on the 10-day injured list with right elbow discomfort.
RodrÃguez head back to the shelf after being removed from Friday’s game against the Phillies with right elbow discomfort. The 25-year-old former top prospect is hitting just .173 with zero homers through 18 games this season in the big leagues.
Pirates designated LHP Joey Wentz for assignment.
Wentz has been removed from Pittsburgh’s relief mix after recording an underwhelming 4.15 ERA across 26 innings (19 appearances). The 27-year-old former prospect has been a serviceable middle reliever, but he simply doesn’t miss enough bats to guarantee a more permanent spot. There might be some interest on waivers given his pedigree, but the results haven’t been there the past few years in the big leagues.