Welcome to our MLB DFS Building Blocks, DraftKings and FanDuel picks for 7/11/22! In this article, I’ll break down by top overall plays for today’s main slate. Last year was an extremely big year for the Karma team in MLB, and we are looking to continue that success in 2022. I will be providing Core Plays for every main slate (and day baseball) this season — you can gain access to that as well as our premium discord here. Let’s get to the plays…
Above is an example of the Core Plays given out to Subscribers on Friday May 13th
Pitcher
Pitcher is pretty straightforward for me on Monday night. We have multiple aces and then a clear option that’s underpriced. Starting at the top, we have Max Scherzer against the Braves and Aaron Nola against the Blue Jays. We also have Max Fried against the Mets, but he is a good ways behind the safety of Max/Nola. Nola is definitely one of the best pitchers in baseball and can be used in all formats tonight, but it’s clear to me that Scherzer is the top-overall option. He matches up with the Braves, whose lineup owns a 24% strikeout rate against right-handed pitching. Max struggles with left-handed power, and outside of Matt Olson there really is nobody for him to fear from that side of the plate. He has an elite history against this lineup, and is my number one on Monday. Nola can be paired with him on DraftKings, and Fried can be used as a tournament pivot.
As for the too cheap option, we have Brayan Bello against the Tampa Bay Rays again. His first start wasn’t great, but this is a buy that was striking out almost 35% of batters faced at Triple A. Tampa Bay is a high strikeout lineup, especially with Wander Franco out of the lineup. He also gets a nice boost, with this game taking place in pitcher-friendly Tropicana Field. I just can’t ignore this price tag, and he is viable in all formats on DraftKings.
Building Blocks
Marcus Semien
Semien has not been what the Rangers envisioned this season, but he is one of my favorite plays on Monday. They match up with Adrian Martinez tonight, who has been horrible in his starts for the A’s. Martinez is striking out under 17% of batters this season, and has been brutalized by right-handed hitters. Despite the slow start to the year, Semien still has one of the best batted ball profiles on the Rangers vs righties. Martinez also throws his sinker over 60% of the time — a pitch Semien owns a .428 wOBA and .288 ISO against. He can be used in stacks or as one-off on Monday night.
MJ Melendez
I wrote Melendez up for Jock MKT today as well, and I think this is a great spot for him. Alex Faedo has been horrible against left-handed hitters this season, and he has no strikeout ability either. Melendez has cooled off recently, but still owns the highest expected wOBA on the entire team. More importantly, he is the best fastball hitter on the Royals which will be important against Faedo. He throws his heater almost 60% of the time vs lefties. I think Melendez is the top value play on DraftKings tonight.
Bold Call
Kansas City scores 7+ runs!
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
