We head into Thursday night with a 6 game slate on tap. There are a couple of top-end arms and a few main bats to focus on. We have Coors in play as well which may lower the amount some of the other strong offenses are rostered. It should be another wild slate like we have seen of late as we get closer to the end of the MLB season.
When looking at the slate the top-priced arm is Shane Bieber and facing the Tigers makes for an absolutely awesome play. There are pivots off Bieber with Aaron Nola and Framber Valdez. When it comes to value arms it is a little more difficult, but we shall find some as the day goes on. With Coors in play, many will flock to the matchup between the Dodgers and Rockies, hopefully lowering the amount the Yankees and Astros are rostered. Overall it is a straight forward night, but make sure to listen to MLB DFS Quick Hits to get all the angles for tonight's slate.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 9/17/2020. The lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for sites like FanDuel, and other sports too. If you have any questions or comments, contact me on Twitter @bdentrek.
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DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Shane Bieber - P, CLE at DET ($10,900)
The front runner for the AL Cy Young award takes the bump tonight and is quite the discount. Sure he is on the road, but he is facing the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers are striking out close to 28% of the time vs RHP with a .165 ISO and a .297 wOBA. Bieber has struck out at least eight in every start this season and in his one appearance vs the Tigers threw seven shutout innings with 11 K's. The Tigers have been pesky this season, but tonight is not the night for the Tigers as Bieber may give up a little, but in the end, will go 6+ with a ton of strikeouts and all the fantasy goodness.
Framber Valdez - P, HOU vs TEX ($9,200)
Framber is coming off his two worst starts of the season, both in LA and that could very well lower his ownership. he has struck out seven or more in three of his last four starts. He has also thrown at least six innings in seven of his last eight starts. He is putting in the innings and racking up the K's to get those fantasy points. Before the last two hiccups, he had six straight starts of 20+ points. He will face the rangers tonight who strikeout close to 25% of the time vs LHP with a .138 ISO and .285 wOBA. In his one appearance vs the Rangers this season he went seven strong innings, allowing three runs and striking out eight for 20.4 DK points. Valdez makes for a strong GPP play tonight with some cash appeal.
Other Options: Seth Lugo (NYM at PHI) $7,100
DraftKings DFS Infielders
Elias Diaz - C, COL at Julio Urias ($2,500)
Diaz could bring some extreme value to the six-game slate tonight. Diaz has played in back-to-back games and will hopefully see more playing time to end the season as he is easily the best hitting catcher the Rockies have on the roster. Diaz hit his first home run of the season on Tuesday and has another interesting matchup vs Urias tonight. In a small sample, he is hitting .267 with a .267 ISO and a .375 wOBA vs LHP and always hit them well in his career. Urias struggled against the Rockies in LA earlier this season allowing four runs in 4.1 innings. On the season RHH is hitting .268 vs Urias with nearly 1 HR/9 and a 40% hard-hit rate. Diaz is basically free in the Coors field, meaning he is all the value tonight.
Luke Voit - 1B, NYY vs Chase Anderson ($4,900)
Voit continued his tear on baseball last night with the 19th home run of the season and now has three home runs in the last two games. He has hit safely in seven of his last nine games for a .316 average with six home runs and a .447 ISO. He faces the righty Anderson tonight and Voit has done serious damage vs RHP, hitting 14 of his 19 home runs vs RHP. He has a .288 average on the season vs RHP with a .346 ISO and a 50.5% hard-hit rate. Anderson has had an up and down season, but he has allowed RHH to hit .276 on the season and a .414 SLG on the season. The Yankees are a big play again today and riding the hot bat of Voit should be high on your list of things to do.
Other Options: Yuli Gurriel (HOU vs TEX) $4,000
Tyler Wade - 2B/SS, NYY vs Chase Anderson ($2,200)
Value is not nearly as strong on tonight's slate so targeting a player like Wade who will be in the lineup for one of the higher team totals on the slate. He has hit safely in three straight games and has scored at least nine DK points in each of the last three games. He allows from some major salary relief and can even be used in a Yankees wrap around stack or a one off. Wade is not a must play but he is one of the better value targets tonight.
Justin Turner - 3B, LAD at Kyle Freeland ($5,000)
Turner retired from the IL a couple days ago and started contributing right away. He had a 13 point three hit game on Tuesday and scored a couple runs on Wednesday. Now he heads to Coors field and faces the lefty Freeland. He has not hit lefties great this season, but he has hit them quite well in his career. Over the previous three seasons, he hit at least .287 with an ISO of .244 and a wOBA of .385 or better. On the season Freeland has allowed RHH to hit .304 in Coors this season and a .438 SLG. Turner is usually over looked when it comes to Dodgers stack, do not be that person tonight.
Other Options: Alex Bregman (HOU vs TEX) $5,100, Gio Urshela (NYY vs TOR) $4,400
Paul DeJong - SS at Steven Brault ($3,900)
It has been a quiet season for DeJong between missing so much time due to the Cardinals COVID situation and just a natural slow start. He is still hitting .296 on the season with some limited power numbers. Over the last five games he has hit safely in four of the games which was good for a .353 average and a .354 wOBA. Again, the power still limited but the fantasy production has been good. He has shown a steady 5+ point fantasy floor with upside most nights. He can be a cheaper piece of your lineup tonight or apart of a super low owned Cardinals stack.
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Clint Frazier - OF, NYY vs Chase Anderson ($4,300)
There will be a couple more Yankees mentioned in the article as they are too cheap for the matchup and their current production. Frazier is the first and he is white hot at the moment. He has hit safely in four straight games including three straight multi-hit games. He has homered in back-to-back games with a .692 ISO and an impressive 22.2% walk rate. He has found plenty of success vs RHP this season with a .311 average and a .284 ISO. Frazier is "Voit Lite" and comes in at a very affordable price tonight.
Aaron Hicks- OF, NYY vs Chase Anderson ($3,600)
Hicks price is just laughable. Like most Yankees, they are actually cheaper tonight, but Hicks is crazy as he is hitting third in the insanely potent Yankees lineup. He has hit safely in seven of his last nine games including three straight games with hits. He has a .259 ISO over that stretch and what may be even better is his plate discipline, walking 26.3% of the time, getting on base for Voit and the other Bronx Bombers. Hicks is insane value tonight, should be in your Yankees stacks and all cash lineups.
Scott Kingery - 2B/OF, PHI vs Seth Lugo ($2,200)
I mentioned Wade as a value earlier, but Kinery may be the better play. Wade is in the potent Yankees lineup, but Kingery has a hit tool we can embrace. He has a tough matchup vs Lugo, but after five or six innings he will get an at bat or two against that wonderful Mets bullpen. He has hit safely in all three games since his return from the IL with an extra-base hit in each game. He has barreled the ball 33.3% of the time with a 66.7% hard-hit rate in that small sample and has scored seven or more DK points in each game. Kingery is a major value tonight if you are looking for the big arms or bats tonight.
DraftKings DFS Stacks
- COORS- some really nice value to go with the studs, both teams in play, A's likely lower owned
- New York Yankees vs Toronto Blue Jays (Chase Anderson, RHP)
- Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers (Jordan Lyles, RHP)
- Sneaky Stack- Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees (Masahiro Tanaka, RHP)
- No Ownership Stack- Pittsburgh Pirates vs St Louis Cardinals (Dakota Hudson, RHP)