Daily Fantasy Baseball 2015: Best DraftKings MLB Pitcher Picks for July 1 – Bleacher Report

Draftkings.com is offering up two MLB slates today. A four-game daytime slate and an 11-game night slate. Zero of the 30 starting pitchers cost more than $11,000, and just one (Nick Martinez) is sub-$5,000. So it’s a day to find value in the plethora of mid-level guys. 

Hopefully the six guys I’ve selected provide a good jumping-off point.

 

Taijuan Walker ($9,200) at San Diego

Walker is a big boy. According to baseball-reference.com, the 22-year-old from Shreveport, Louisiana stands 6’4″ and weighs 235. Per brooksbaseball.com, Walker throws quite hard. The big righty throws three pitches (fastball, cutter and splitter) at or above 90 miles per hour. 

That high average pitch speed has helped him strike out 8.8 batters for every nine innings he throws. Not too bad for a kid. In fact, according to draftkings.com, Walker has fanned at least six opposing hitters in each of his past six starts. 

That streak should continue tonight as he travels to Petco Park to face a Padres lineup that ranks third in the majors in strikeouts with 664.

 

Jesse Hahn ($7,900) vs. Colorado

Though the Rockies currently rank third or better in team slugging and batting average, they struggle mightily while on the road. According to fangraphs.com‘s team stats, Colorado ranks 22nd in batting average and the team has struck out the seventh-most of any road team.

Jesse Hahn hasn’t been the most consistent pitcher this season, but he’s usually a nice start at home. So far this season, according to baseball-reference.com, Hahn is 2-3 with a 3.25 ERA and 34 strikeouts in his nine home starts.

According to numberFire.com, a fantasy sports website that projects player value through a complex yet reliable algorithm, Jesse Hahn should score the sixth-most fantasy points of all tonight’s starting pitchers. He’s the ninth-most expensive. 

 

Chris Heston ($6,500) at Miami

If Heston throws his second no-hitter on the road against a National League East opponent tonight, his fantasy owners will be celebrating nearly as hard as the Giants’ owners. 

And though that almost certainly will not happen, Heston is still a quality start with high upside in Miami tonight. Per draftkings.com, this is the cheapest the Giants rookie has cost since he ballooned up to $7,400 after the no-hitter on June 9.

He’s also pitching in a tough hitter’s park against a Marlins team that ranks fourth-to-last in WRC+. 

And the Marlins are without stud power hitter Giancarlo Stanton. Heston should feast on this lineup.

 

Aaron Harang ($6,300) vs. Milwaukee

Despite his 4-10 record, Harang is having a nice year in Philadelphia. Despite a spell of rough outings (five straight starts allowing four or more runs), Harang has some value tonight.

He’ll be taking the hill at home against a Milwaukee team that ranks dead last in team on base percentage. If Harang can continue the league-wide trend of not allowing too many Brewer baserunners, he should go deep into the game and pile up a solid amount of strikeouts. 

 

Trevor May ($5,600) at Cincinnati 

 

Alfredo Simon ($5,600) vs. Pittsburgh

NumberFire.com ranks May and Simon as their two “most valuable” pitchers of the day. That does not mean they’re expected to score the most fantasy points, just that they have the best chance of outperforming their projected value relative to their individual costs. 

May has to throw in a historically tough pitcher’s park, but, per fangraphs.com, the Reds rank just 17th in team on-base percentage and runs scored. Plus May will get to throw to Johnny Cueto instead of a designated hitter.

Simon will be at home in Detroit, so the designated hitter rule doesn’t offer him any benefits.

But despite one terrible outing in Yankee Stadium when Simon gave up seven earned in less than three innings, he’s been a monster. His price is far too low for someone who averaged 18.9 fantasy points per game over his last five home starts.