DraftKings and Yahoo feature six games starting at 7:05 pm ET on Wednesday's MLB DFS main slate, while FanDuel will cover eight games starting at 6:40 p.m. ET. This is one of the biggest pitching slates of the season so far, as the elite arms of Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer, Shohei Ohtani, Lucas Giolito, and Kevin Gausman all will take the mound. We also have the smoking hot bats of Aaron Judge and Mike Trout, so finding the right value sleepers will be as important as ever.
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Today's MLB DFS Playbook: Lineup picks, tips for Wednesday
SP Shohei Ohtani, Angels (@ Rangers). Ohtani will be at a pitcher-friendly park tonight and facing a Rangers offense that is striking out 21.7 percent of the time and has a .308 wOBA against RHP. He has three wins over his past five starts with an 11.9 K/9 rate and can easily be an SP2 pairing with Gerrit Cole or Max Scherzer.
SP Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays (vs. Mariners). Gausman is not cheap on DK but is more reasonable on FD, as he is in a great spot against the Mariners. We saw what Jose Berrios did to them last night, and he does not have the strikeout ability that Gausman has. The M's are striking out against RHP at a 22.4-percent clip, and they have a .139 ISO against them. Gausman has one of the best swinging-strike rates in the game and just a 0.5 BB/9 rate. He can be electric, and if he has his A+ stuff, the talent is there to nuke the slate. You want to pay up for pitching tonight.
C Willson Contreras, Cubs (vs. Pirates). Contreras will be facing spot-starter Will Crowe. The Cubs catcher has the highest floor and ceiling at catcher and has no problem with the reverse split -- .185 ISO/.331 wOBA with 47-percent hard-contact rate.
1B Gavin Sheets, White Sox (@ Royals). Sheets is one of those hitters who seems to get a big hit when you need it. Tonight he gets the LvR advantage against Zack Greinke. With three home runs in his past six games, Sheets also will face a Royals bullpen that is ranked 25th against lefty bats
2B DJ LeMahieu, Yankees (@ Orioles). We will be looking at a lot of Yankees tonight as they face RHP Jordan Lyles. LeMahieu is the table setter of the potent New York offense and hits .292 on the reverse split. Add in a 6-for-19 (.316) BVP, and you have a top play at second base.
3B Matt Chapman, Blue Jays (vs. Mariners). Chapman has a long history of facing Marco Gonzales, and I bet he wishes he could see the southpaw every day. He is 13-for-33 (.394) lifetime against him, and the matchup doesn't come at a better time for the struggling veteran, as he's hitting just .170 over the past month. Chapman is a solid GPP play and piece of a Jays' stack tonight.
SS Andrew Velazquez, Angels (@ Rangers). If you use two high-priced pitchers, you have to find value elsewhere. Velazquez usually won't hurt you and is now the everyday shortstop. He leads the team with six steals and is batting 8-for-23 with a home run, a couple of doubles, two steals, and four runs over his past seven games.
OF Joey Gallo, Yankees (@ Orioles). You can't deny the spot Gallo is in tonight. As much as DFS players have a love/hate relationship with the Yankees slugger, he is in a big power spot with the LvR advantage against Jordan Lyles and the Orioles 'pen. His splits over the past 150 games are 30 HRs with a .287 ISO/.360wOBA, which means there's a good chance of a home run tonight in Baltimore.
MORE PICKS: SP Lucas Giolito, White Sox (@ Royals); C Alejandro Kirk, Blue Jays (vs. Mariners); 1B Jared Walsh, Angels (@ Rangers); 2B Adam Frazier, Blue Jays (vs. Mariners); 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes, Pirates (at Cubs); SS Bo Bichette, Blue Jays (vs. Mariners); OF Rafael Ortega, Cubs (vs. Pirates)
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