Stan Son dives into Saturday’s nine-game MLB early slate on DraftKings to find undervalued players to put in your DFS lineups.
There are nine MLB games on the main DraftKings DFS slate for Saturday, with the first starting at 7:05 p.m. EST. Here are three value picks for the slate. This article is written before the actual lineups come out, so keep track of updates throughout the day.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $100K Bat Flip [$25K to 1st]
SP Andre Pallante, St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants, $5,600
Pallante isn’t very good, as he’s sporting a 5.38 ERA through 144 innings. The strikeout rate is only 16% and the hard-hit rate is 40.4%. The walk rate is high at 8.2% as well. That said, the FIP is lower at 4.69, as the strand rate is only 64.5%.
The main allure of Pallante is that he’s cheap and there’s a good chance he goes at least five innings, something he’s done in each of the last four starts. The matchup isn’t bad as San Francisco is 18th in ISO and 15th in wOBA.
Pallante has put up double-digit FPTS 15 times this season, with four of those outings over 20 FPTS.
SP J.T. Ginn, Athletics at Los Angeles Angels, $5,800
Through 71.1 innings, Ginn is posting an impressive 26.4% strikeout rate and 11.5% swinging strike rate. Unfortunately, the barrel rate is 11.1% while the hard-hit rate is 46.7%, which has contributed to 16 home runs. The ERA is 5.17 while the FIP is 4.92.
This is all about the matchup. While the Angels have power, ranking ninth in ISO against right-handed pitching, Los Angeles strikes out at the highest rate and Ginn can miss bats.
This is a high-risk, high-reward play, but the cost is low.
Ginn has posted double-digit FPTS in 10 starts, with three of those games over 20 FPTS.
SP Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Boston Red Sox, $6,500
Pfaadt isn’t having an impressive season. Last season, the strikeout rate was 24.3% with a 4.71 ERA and 3.61 FIP. Through 147 innings this season, the strikeout rate is only 18.8% while the ERA is 5.33. The FIP is lower at 4.32, though. The BABIP is elevated at .325 and the strand rate is 68%. The average exit velocity is 90.7 mph, barrel rate is 11.4% and the hard-hit rate is 44.9%.
As ugly as those numbers are, there is a beam of optimism, as Pfaadt has been much better at home than on the road. The FIP is only 2.79 at home, the K-BB% is 2.4 percentage points higher and the HR/9 is only 0.35 compared to 2.43 on the road. This game is at home.
Boston is seventh in ISO and eighth in wOBA on offense, but the Red Sox are fifth in strikeout rate against right-handed pitching.
Pfaadt has put up double-digit FPTS 17 times, with six of those contests over 20 FPTS.