Happy Wednesday! We are officially less than a week away from the trade deadline, and while Los Angeles Angels fans are holding their breath waiting to find out if Ohtani is on the move, we are focused on the baseball happening today. Plenty of day games taking place today, but we are dialing in on the games happening this evening with a 5-game main slate starting at 7:05 PM EST on DraftKings and a 6-game main slate on FanDuel starting at 6:40 PM EST with it also including the Los Angeles Angels vs Detroit Tigers game. Today’s pitching is highlighted by Spencer Strider on the top end as by far the most expensive player as usual; accompanying him on the top end of pitching are Framber Valdez and Marcus Stroman. While the price for Strider is outrageous, I always consider rostering him because of the sheer dominance he can show on the mound. Don’t worry, though; I’ve got some great value pitching options to either pair with Strider or pivot away from him today. On the offensive side, some of the best offenses to target include the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, and Houston Astros. With only 5 (or 6) games to choose from, it can be difficult to find the right players to build the perfect lineup, so let’s jump into some of my favorite value options of the day! 

 

MLB DFS Value Pitchers

Carlos Rodon, New York Yankees (DraftKings: $9,000 / FanDuel: $7,600) 

He hasn’t been anything special in his first 3 starts, with only 11 strikeouts through 14.2 innings and giving up 4 homers and 12 total runs, giving him a 7.36 ERA. Being his first starts of the year, I am not too worried. If he had these three starts in spring training or even to start the season in April, it probably wouldn’t push us off him, so we shouldn’t let it now. He is still ramping up, and Rodon is an ace, so I am going to bet that he can take a big step forward today and give us a great start.

Jose Quintana, New York Mets (DraftKings: $5,700 / FanDuel: $7,200) 

We have another late starter here in Jose Quintana on the other side of the Subway Series. Jose Quintana only has one start on the season, and he looked solid with only 2 earned runs through 5 innings and striking out 3. He put up over 165 innings last year with a 2.93 ERA, and while he probably won’t be quite that good this year, I still think he can be a solid pitcher for the Mets, and for this low price, I am happy to jump on him today. The only problem with pairing up these value pitchers is you can only get one win, but it is still a viable option, or you could pair one with a top-tier pitcher like Strider, as I mentioned before. 

MLB DFS Value Hitters

Wilmer Flores, 1B San Francisco Giants (DraftKings: $3,500 / FanDuel: $3,100) 

Wilmer Flores is arguably having his best offensive season yet, slashing .292/.355/.534 on the season with 13 homers, just 6 short of his career-high that he set last year. He has ramped it up even more over the last month with a .397/.455/.741 slash line in July with 5 homers (granted 3 of those came on the same day in Cincy). With a .910 OPS against lefties, he should be set up great to have another big game today against Hogan Harris. 

Nico Hoerner, 2B/SS Chicago Cubs (DraftKings: $4,700 / FanDuel: $3,500) 

Nico Hoerner continues to be a great power/speed threat, though with much more emphasis on speed. Over his last 10 games, he has 2 homers and 4 steals, and in his last 3 games has 7 hits, 4 steals, a homer, and two doubles. He has already set a career-high in steals this season with 24 bags and is only 3 homers short of his career high. Lance Lynn has been incredibly inconsistent, and I don’t trust him at all today against the Cubs and think Hoerner could easily give us another multi-hit game today. 

Dansby Swanson, SS Chicago Cubs (DraftKings: $4,100 / FanDuel: $3,000) 

I’m taking another Cub against Lance Lynn today in Dansby Swanson. He hit two homers yesterday in the first game of the series against the White Sox. He has 7 hits in his first 3 games since coming back from the IL, and he also has 5 multi-hit games over his last 6 games. He is looking completely locked in since his return to the lineup, and I wouldn’t bet against him right now. 

Chas McCormick, OF Houston Astros (DraftKings: $4,100 / FanDuel: $3,700) 

Chas McCormick continues to be red-hot through July with a .355/.466/.742 slash line this month with 5 home runs and 3 stolen bases. He had a big 6 rbi night on Monday, including a home run, and followed it up with an RBI double yesterday after a stretch of being a bit quieter in the series against the Oakland Athletics. Andrew Heaney continues to struggle with giving up home runs and hasn’t been getting many strikeouts lately either, so I think McCormick will easily have another big game today to keep up this solid series against the Texas Rangers.

 

Dominate your MLB DFS contests this week with our DFS Playbook, Podcasts, Lineup Generator, Player Projections, & Draft Percentage Forecaster.