The following Spotlight Hitters were selected by Awesemo.com writer Jake Hari. For more analysis on the slate, check out Awesemo’s Rankings and Ownership Projections.
Christian Yelich ($4,800 DK/$3,800 FD)
Yelich has consistently made great contact against righty pitchers this year as he’s up to a 93 MPH Average Exit Velocity against them in 2018 with a .376 OBP and 132 wRC+. Opposing pitcher Jake Junis is very giving to lefties with his 5.16 xFIP and almost 39% hard-contact allowed as fly balls have been an issue for him as well. Yelich looks like a fantastic play hitting 2nd in the powerful Brewers lineup tonight.
Leonys Martin ($4,300 DK/$3,000 FD)
Martin looks like a much improved hitter this year against righties, posting a 138 wRC+, .188 ISO, and .361 OBP. Leading off against Frankie Montas, who has had some good batted ball luck against lefties, Martin is in a fantastic spot to hit the ball hard off of Montas in the leadoff spot. He even gets an added bump with some stolen base upside if he can get on, already having swiped 7 bags this year.
Chad Pinder ($3,300 DK/$2,300 FD)
Pinder is a great value tonight against soft-tossing Blaine Hardy, whose fastball barely touches 90 MPH. Pinder definitely has some issues with strikeouts, but Hardy hasn’t shown the ability to miss righty-handed bats, striking the out just over 18% of the time. Batting 2nd, he should get plenty of chances to showcase his power against Hardy, as he ranks first in the entire MLB in hard-hit% against lefties at 64.4% with only 2% soft-contact. With dual-position eligibility on DraftKings, there are many reasons to get Pinder in your lineup if the weather stays calm in Detroit.
