MLB DFS Picks: Wednesday, August 29th has a brief two game early slate and then twenty-two teams in action on the main game set for Yahoo, DraftKings, FanDuel and FantasyDraft. Before you lock in your baseball DFS lineups and MLB DFS picks, make sure to check out check out Awesemo’s DFS baseball MLB rankings and projections. Not a member? Sign up HERE and use Promo Code: MLBSTACKS for 50% off any one month subscription.
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Greetings Gamers! We have many different offensive opportunities to target on Wednesday night so let’s get to it!
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Early Slate
New York Yankees at LHP Justus Sheffield – 6.1 implied runs
Youngster Justus Sheffield has shown a modicum of strikeout upside in the minors and he has six in his seven innings this season. It is the seven walks in seven innings so far this season that are the problem. He has bounced around after being drafted by Cleveland, then spending parts of three seasons with the Yankees. Seattle acquired him as part of the James Paxton deal this offseason.
As he is a southpaw, it should be no surprise that we want to focus on the New York batsmen swinging the stick from the left side of the plate. We will not be alone on this two game slate though leaving Aaron Judge or D.J. LeMahieu out of your stack could help provide a little differentiation. Also, keep in mind that Sheffield has gone just four and three innings despite throwing 86 and 75 innings respectively in his first two outings. That means we should see some righties coming in from the bullpen at some point so do not be afraid to look to a lefty or two for another method of differentiation.
Main Slate
Cleveland Indians at RHP Jordan Zimmermann – 5.5 implied runs
First the bad news. RHP Jordan Zimmermann has allowed only a dozen home runs this season in 82 innings. Now for the good news, he has allowed a 6.48ERA, 1.46 WHIP with just 61 strikeouts across those 17 starts. The great news is that since the beginning of last season against 450+ righties and lefties he has allowed a .330+ wOBA and a .212+ ISO to batters from both sides of the plate.
While we know that The Masses will be on switch-hitters Franciso Lindor and Carlos Santana along with lefty Jason Kipnis. We do not need to be shy about targeting recent acquisitions Yasiel Puig, Franmil Reyes and youngster Oscar Mercado who all have power against same-handed hurlers.
Evening Slate
Boston Red Sox at Colorado Rockies – 13.5 implied runs
It looks like the Rockies will send out sacrificial LHP Peter Lambert who has been walloped this season with a 6.40 ERA, 1.61 WHIP over 70.1 innings with just 44 strikeouts and 14 home runs. Righties, lefties, the bat boy… it doesn’t matter. Load up once again with the BoSox.
Colorado will be facing LHP Eduardo Rodriguez who has solid strikeout numbers and underlying metrics this season. Just know that Trevor Story has a .414 ISO at home against lefties since the beginning of last season. Teammate Nolan Arenado is not too far behind at .404 ISO over the same timeframe.
Late Slate
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs RHP Ariel Jurado – 5.7 implied runs
While the Rangers have not officially announced an “opener” as of this article, they have indicated that RHP Ariel Jurado will see the bulk of the innings. This will be the third time he has faced the Halos this season with 12.1 innings, 5.84 ERA,1.30 WHIP with three home runs and ten strikeouts. Over his last 714 batters faced, Jurado is allowing a .370 wOBA to lefties, a .356 wOBA to righties and a .200 ISO to both sides of the plate. Though he does not allow a preponderance of long balls, the 44.0 HH% does not help with the number of baserunners he sees.
Look to the usual Angels with Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Kole Calhoun and whomever else qualifies as an outfielder. On the late slate can also work in Albert Pujols, Andrelton Simmons and even Luis Rengifo despite their collective lack of power.
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Good Luck Gamers! ~ EMac
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