Welcome to our MLB DFS Building Blocks, DraftKings and FanDuel picks for 8/16/22! 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
Pitching is filled with options on this big Tuesday slate, but one guy paces the field in projected ownership and that’s Robbie Ray. I typically have a rule that I simply don’t play Ray when he is chalk, but it’s hard to argue the match-up against this Angels offense. Outside of Shohei Ohtanu, there is nobody to really fear here and if Ray has his stuff working he could be in for a huge night. That being said, he’s listed at $9,500 and someone like Justin Verlander is much safer, even though he costs $1,000 more in salary. We also have a pair of cheap guys in great match-ups — Justin Steele against the Nationals and Zach Plesac against the Tigers. Steele is even less than Plesac, and has actually been a really good pitcher for the Cubs over the second-half of the season. I usually double-spend for pitcher, but I don’t think I can ignore Steele at what is a clear misprice. I will likely be pairing one of Ray or Verlander with Steele and then stuffing in whatever offense I want on Tuesday night.
For tournaments, I think Nestor Cortes is an interesting play, as well as Dylan Cease in a tough match-up against the Astros.
Building Block
Julio Rodriguez
I love this spot for the Seattle Mariners tonight against Jose Suarez, and they will be a staple of my builds on Tuesday. Suarez hasn’t been terrible for the Angels, but I feel like some regression could be headed his way. He has decent strikeout stuff, but really struggles with right-handed batters and the Mariners will be able to throw seven or eight of them at him tonight. Seattle features just a 4.5 team total, but I think there’s a very good chance they can go over this number tonight. Rodriguez sits at the top of the lineup and continues to be one of the most electric players in baseball. He has some of the best numbers in the Mariners lineup against lefties, including a 42% hard-hit rate. He’s my top spend-up in all formats.
Mitch Haniger
I’ll be mini stacking the Mariners tonight, and pairing Haniger with Rodriguez. Haniger is another righty that hits the ball hard against left-handed pitching — sporting a 47% hard-hit rate in the split. His surface numbers don’t look great against lefties, but his .430 expected wOBA is one of the better marks on this team. He’s significantly cheaper than Rodriguez, and can even be used as a one-off at this price. He’s my top value on both sites this evening.
Bold Call
Julio Rodriguez hits a first AB homerun!
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
