MLB DFS Value Vault July 5: Darick Hall faces Paolo Espino
It’s another Tuesday chock full of MLB action for us tonight and three sites are uniform with a 12 game MLB DFS slate to work with on July 5th. While on the surface that means we have a plethora of options, finding pitching will be difficult (and risky) and there are also few games with legitimate weather risk. Following along with the latest MLB weather, MLB lineups, and MLB news is very critical tonight. Now, let’s highlight some MLB DFS value options to target for DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo! Fantasy!
DFS Value Pitchers
Yusei Kikuchi (TOR); DraftKings - $7,800; FanDuel - $7,900; Yahoo - $36
Oakland’s offense is always going to be one to target from a pitching perspective, and getting them at home makes it that much more appealing. The southpaw is coming off his best start of the season with six innings of one run ball against Tampa Bay in which he picked up his third victory of the season while striking out eight batters and generating seven outs on the ground. Walks have been the biggest problem for Kikuchi this season, 5.17 per nine innings, right alongside the long ball with 2.01 per nine innings. We get the strikeout upside, over 10 per innings, but facing Oakland also works here as they have hit the second fewest home runs in the league so far this year with less than one per game as well as a wRC+ of just 77 for the worst mark in the league.
Cal Quantrill (CLE); DraftKings - $8,300; FanDuel - $8,200; Yahoo - $37
Let’s stick with a theme here in targeting weak hitting opponents as the Tigers have hit just 47 home runs on the season and their wRC+ is barely better than Oakland’s checking in at 78. With a 3.72 ERA on the season, Quantrill has generally been a pretty solid option even if we have to get past the lack of upside given by the 5.66 strikeouts per nine innings, he has generated so far this season. Opposing hitters have a modest 7.4% barrel-rate against Quantrill along with a hard-hit rate of 36.7% and the right-hander should be able to keep the success going tonight.
DFS Value Hitters
Darick Hall, 1B (PHI); DraftKings - $2,700; FanDuel - $2,900; Yahoo - $15
Hall has emerged on the scene in his five games with Philadelphia since being promoted from the minor leagues with hits in three of them which includes three home runs. While his opponent tonight, Paolo Espino, has had success so far this year, he isn’t too imposing and Hall has a good chance to go deep tonight. In 72 games prior to his promotion, Hall went deep 20 times while driving in 67 runs and posting a .280 ISO, and it’s hard to ignore him at tonight’s price with Philadelphia expected to score over five runs as a team.
Eddie Rosario, OF (ATL); DraftKings - $3,500; FanDuel - $2,000; Yahoo - $11
Given Rosario was just activated off the Injured List with an eye injury, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the outfielder struggled earlier this season. Rosario hit .273 in eight minor leagues games as part of his rehab stint prior to returning, and it is very curious at FD let his price drop all the down to the minimum. I keep waiting for Andre Pallante to struggle, he does have a 4.10 FIP and doesn’t strike any one out, and Rosario is not a minimum priced player.
Jake Meyers, OF (HOU); DraftKings - $2,100; FanDuel - $2,900; Yahoo - $10
Getting a very affordable piece of Houston tonight against Zack Greinke certainly is appealing as the Astros are expected to break the five-run mark tonight. After going hitless in his debut, Meyers has hits in six of his first nine games to begin the season and is hitting a solid .273 with six RBI and four runs scored. Based on Houston’s lineup, Meyers generally comes up with guys on base and he has shown the ability to produce.
Jake Lamb, 3B/1B/OF (LAD); DraftKings - $2,200; FanDuel - $2,000; Yahoo - $9
Lamb checks a lot of boxes for us tonight. We don’t have to worry about weather, he faces a struggling pitcher in Germán Márquez, has the platoon advantage, bats in a strong lineup, has the potential to go deep, and is close to minimum price. As an added bonus, you can fit Lamb into your lineup at multiple positions depending on the site so you get some flexibility as well. Lamb has a hit in each of his last three games and for his career hits .253 against right-handed pitching with 77 home runs compared to .171 and 14 home runs against southpaws. Marquez has allowed 1.61 home runs per nine innings so far this year so a Dodgers’ stack could be one of many directions to go in tonight.
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