Daily Fantasy Baseball 2015: MLB DraftKings Strategy, Primer for August 30 – Bleacher Report

Does anyone else feel like this was the fantasy football draft weekend of the summer? I’m in three leagues, and all three of my drafts were this weekend.

What’s the deal? Football is still 11 days away. I don’t want to have to shift my focus from baseball to football yet. Hopefully you don’t either. Let’s jump right into today’s baseball primer. 

Nathan Eovaldi ($7,400) at Braves

Check out Eovaldi’s 10-game log on DraftKings. The Yankees righty is nothing if not consistent. He’s scored in double digits in each of his past 10 starts. And despite back-to-back outings in which Eovaldi has posted 26 or more fantasy points, he’s not that expensive. 

Oh yeah, today Eovaldi gets the combusting Braves away from the bandbox in the Bronx. Since the All-Star break, Atlanta’s been the worst offensive club in the league. They’re dead last in wRC+, runs and team offensive WAR according to Fangraphs. 

Eovaldi will also benefit from not pitching against a designated hitter. If he can avoid injury in his third, fourth and fifth at-bats of the season, he should have a big fantasy night. 

Stephen Strasburg ($10,000) vs. Marlins

Make no mistake, Strasburg is in the middle of his worst season in the bigs by far. But in the past month-and-a-half, he’s returned to form. On DraftKings, Strasburg has scored 20 or more fantasy points in four straight games and averaged 26 fantasy points over his last seven starts. It’s been more than three months since Strasburg allowed more than two runs in a game. 

Like Eovaldi, Strasburg has a terrific matchup. What is it with humid southern NL East cities? According to Fangraphs, the Marlins are the second-most incompetent team (behind the aforementioned Braves) at the dish since the All-Star break. They’ve hit only 21 home runs since the Midsummer Classic. Twenty-one! That’s roughly one jack every two games. Look for Strasburg to go seven or more innings in the nation’s capital today.

Other good options: Charlie Morton ($7,200) vs. Rockies, Josh Tomlin ($5,600) vs. Angels, John Lamb ($5,300) at Brewers 

Stack the ‘Stros

Sadly, the Blue Jays just passed the Astros in total team home runs. Houston led the league for the first four months of the season, but the sluggers up north finally caught them. In fact, Houston’s offense has been struggling lately. They’ve dropped to ninth in the league in wRC+, according to Fangraphs. 

However, they should tee off today against Ervin Santana in Minneapolis. Per DraftKings, Santana has been horrible recently. He’s posted a negative fantasy total in four of his past six outings. He’s allowed more than five runs per start and walked 15 batters in that same six-game stretch. 

If you stack the top of the Astros lineup and they strike with one big inning, you’re in good shape to cash in for any tournament. The way Santana is chucking, Houston is liable to put up multiple crooked-numbered innings at Target Field.