Welcome to David Mendelson’s MLB DFS Quick Hits for FanDuel & Draft Kings Contests for Tuesday, September 8, 2020
I hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend! We come back to a nine-game slate tonight that locks at 7:05 PM EST. There are tons of mediocre pitching on the slate tonight, so bats will be aplenty. In these MLB DFS Quick Hits, you’ll see my:
Pitching Plays – My top two pitching plays of the night. The opposing team’s effectiveness against pitcher’s handiness, K rate, and wRC+ are just a few of the items considered here.
Happy Hitters – One corner infielder, middle infielder, and two outfielders who should be smiling at the end of the night. Hitter’s platoon splits, ISO, and wOBA are just a few of the items considered here.
Let’s Get Weird – I will give one hitter and one pitcher lesser owned that MIGHT have a chance to boom but an equal chance to bust. In other words, a dart throw that could set you apart in MLB DFS GPP’s. Your decision if you want to live dangerously.
Let’s dive right into today.
Top MLB DFS Plays for 9/8
Pitching Plays
- Walker Buehler ($10,200 DK / $10,400 FD) – Pretty chalky but a good play nonetheless if you can afford it. Buehler having gone 5 IP his last time out, should have the reigns taken off for this start and give you utter dominance. The Diamondbacks have one of the worst offenses in baseball and are hitting .200 with a .291 wOBA and 78 wRC+ since the tail end of August. Buehler should dominate in your MLB DFS lineups.
- Mike Clevinger ($9,700 DK / $9,600 FD) – His fastball velocity is down which isn’t good. However, he’s still been able to piece together a pretty good season for everything considered. The Rockies away from Coors is a nice consolation price to playing Buehler on this slate and should get to the Rockies with their horrible .150 ISO and 72 wRC+. Their 25% K rate vs RHP plays here as well as Clevdog should have a day on this MLB DFS slate.
Happy Hitters
- Corner Infield: Brandon Belt ($3,800 DK / $ 3,100 FD) – Going against a guy I’m personally rooting for, Righty Ljay Newsome, Belt should be able to provide value and then some for this matchup. Newsome, who grew up about an hour from me, attacks the zone. He has 62 career walks in 499 2/3 minor league innings. This is great for the red-hot Giants (especially Belt) who has a .600 BA and 438 wRC+ against RHP over the last 14 days, and should continue to capitalize.
- Middle Infield: Jeff McNeil ($3,600 DK / $2,700 FD) – Mr. Consistent was having a down year until recently, where he has begun to heat up. Coming off a HR yesterday, McNeil has a 62% hard-hit rate over the last few games, while hitting for a .412 BA. He’s never been a big power guy, but he does have 7 hits over his last 17 AB’s. In a game against the blow-up known as John Means, McNeil should hop in on that action.
- Outfielder #1: Garrett Hampson ($3,500 DK / $2,800 FD) – The big question with Hampson is always, “Is he in the lineup?” If he is IN the lineup, he’s a great play today. Over the last 14 games, Hampson is slashing a .455/.455/1.273 line with a .818 ISO and 334 wRC+ vs RHP. That’ll work Tex. Hampson can also provide the occasional steal and really help you cash in. Make sure to check your lineups before lock that he plays!
- Outfielder #2: DJ Stewart ($2,000 DK / $2,400 FD) – Who? Yeah, I wasn’t sure who this guy was until about a week ago. Over his last 4 games, Stewart has a .444 avg with 3 HR’s. He also has 3 walks to 4 strikeouts, so he’s seeing the ball well and not striking out too much. Oh, and he’s got an 80% fly-ball rate during that time. In a game against the RHP Wacha, I expect Stewart to be a big part of the Orioles offense.
Let’s Get Weird
- Andrew Heaney ($8,400 DK / $9,200 FD) – Insert pitcher vs Texas offense here. Heaney is making another appearance in this section after his great performance being in this spot last week. Texas has a 64 wRC+ vs LHP over the last 14 games and is hitting .205 as a team. They are also striking out 24% of the time with a .156 ISO. This is an instance of trusting how bad a team is vs how bad a player is. In a slate where he will most likely be ignored, he could be contrarian enough to set you apart in some tournaments.
- Jeimer Candelario ($3,600 DK / $2,700 FD) – This one is definitely a gut call, considering as a team that Detroit is very bad against RHP. Candelario has double-digit fantasy points in 9 of his last 11 games and is coming off of ANOTHER 2 hit game vs the Twins yesterday. This is a team people may fade with the righty Adrian Houser on the mound, but I might pick him, along with a few other Tiger players as a lesser-owned stack.
Make sure to follow me on twitter @DMendy02 and tag me if I helped you win some cash on this MLB DFS slate. Good luck!
Looking for more hot players? Chris Clegg sorts through the latest Statcast data to help put the spotlight on the players to count on in MLB DFS down the stretch.
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