Joel Bartilotta 
Welcome to Friday’s edition of Aces and Bases, where I’ll be going through the top MLB DFS Aces and Stacks on DraftKings and Fanduel.
It’s Friday and we have a massive 12-game slate of MLB DFS! On the hill tonight is Shohei Ohtani against a weak Royals team. Anytime that he’s on the hill makes for a fun night of baseball. With pitching tonight after Ohtani, we have a bunch of mid-level arms. We also have some bats in solid spots.
Let’s dig and make some money!
MLB DFS Aces – Main
Shohei Ohtani vs. Kansas City Royals
Shohei Ohtani will be the chalk pitcher of the night. He gets a glorious matchup vs. an awful lineup in the Kansas City Royals. The Royals so far in 2023 have been downright bad vs. righties. They have a 25% k rate vs. them and an OPS under .600. That OPS is just brutal!
Ohtani has been pitching lights out, as usual. Over the first month of the season, he’s thrown to a .86 ERA and has a K rate approaching 33%. This is a matchup that he should be able to breeze through tonight.
Jon Gray vs. Oakland Athletics
I’ve been a huge supporter of Jon Gray since he came up with the Rockies. He’s shown flashes of brilliance at times and flashes of being a gas can at times. Tonight he should be more of the brilliance than the gas can as he gets a fabulous matchup vs. the lowly Oakland Athletics.
]Gray should be coming into this one fresh as he left his last start early thanks to a comebacker. He’s pitched decently so far this season with an ERA in the low 3’s. His k rate is nothing special, but he should have some upside tonight vs. an A’s lineup that does strike out a decent amount vs. righties.
Zac Gallen vs. San Diego Padres
This pick comes with a certain level of risk. The Padres are a tough lineup. Now that they have Tatis back, they’re even tougher. That said, they’ve looked beatable and inconsistent on many occasions so far this season. We also have a pitcher in Zac Gallen who has looked dominant in his last couple of outings.
He’s had 18 K’s over his last 2 outings and hasn’t allowed an ER. The Padres have a 26% K rate vs. righties this season, meaning Gallen has some strikeout upside tonight. He comes with risk, but I really like this spot for Gallen tonight.
MLB DFS Stacks – Main
Texas Rangers vs. JP Sears
The Rangers have one of the better matchups of all the teams tonight. JP Sears is coming off a quality start vs. the Mets, but in that start, he surrendered 2 homers in 6 innings of work. That makes it 5 on the season in just 15 innings of work. Sears’ flyball rate so far this season is pushing 61%. When you put that many balls in the air, you are asking for trouble. Righties have been doing the bulk of the damage vs. Sears so far. They have a massive .409 ISO vs. him.
Knowing that I’m starting off my stack with Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia, and Josh Jung. Semien is playing great right now with a 10 wRC over the last week. He’s had 11 hits in his last 23 AB and has combined to either drive in or score 21 runs. He’s been the heart and soul of their offense while Seager has been out.
Jung is sporting an 8 game hitting streak right now and there’s no reason to think that Sears will slow him down. At $3.9k he’s no longer the value play he was, but he’s still someone that should make an impact in this game. He won’t have the platoon advantage but don’t sleep on Nate Lowe. He was dominant vs. lefties this year and will be under-owned due to the L/L matchup.
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Nick PIvetta
Nick Pivetta is coming off an awful start vs. the Angels. In that start, he gave up 6 ER in 4 innings of work. Overall, he hasn’t been awful, but he’s been giving up a ton of hard contact this season. Hitters have a nearly 37% hard-hit rate vs. him and he’s also given up 8 barrels in his 14 innings of work. That’s not a good ratio to have. Against a solid Brewers lineup tonight, he’s going to have his hands full. We want to load up on lefties here. Lefties have a .333 ISO vs. him this year. That said, righties have also been hitting him hard so we won’t want to shy away from them.
I’m loading up on the 2 guys in the middle of this lineup, Rowdy Tellez and Willy Adames. Tellez has a .314 ISO vs. righties so far this year and a .388 wOBA. He also has a 50% flyball rate which really lines up well with Pivetta and his 53% flyball rate. Flyball hitter vs. flyball pitcher should be a fun thing to watch.
Adames also has great numbers vs. righties this season. His ISO is up to .263 and his wOBA at .379. With PIvetta mostly throwing fastballs, William Contreras also profiles well here. He has a nearly .400 wOBA vs. righty fastballs over the last few years. Other guys I like here are going to be Christian Yelich, Jesse Winker, and Brian Anderson.
New York Yankees vs. Yusei Kikuchi
Yusei Kikuchi is coming off a dominant start vs. the Tampa Bay Rays. I just don’t trust him enough to think he can do it 2 times in a row. The start before that was brutal for him as he allowed 6 ER against the Angels. I think we get more along the lines of the 6 than we do the start he had vs. the Rays. He’s someone that gives up a ton of hard contact. His hard-hit so far this year is nearly 42%. Against a really good Yankees that, they should be able to fully take advantage of that.
The main bats I’m looking at here are going to be Aaron Judge, Anthony Volpe, and Anthony Rizzo. Judge, while he hasn’t done anything vs. lefties this season, has a long history of smashing them. Last season he had a wOBA over .400 vs. them. Against righties, Kikuchi mostly throws his fastball and a slider. Judge has historically hit lefty sliders hard when he makes contact. Over the last several seasons, he has .462 ISO vs. them. He’s my home run call of the night on a warm night on the east coast.
With Rizzo, I never shy away from L/L matchups with him. He’s historically done well against southpaws. Other bats I like are Gleyber Torres, DJ. LeMahieu, and Oswaldo Cabrera.
MLB DFS Summary
I know I omitted Aaron Nola from my aces and it’s for good reason. He just hasn’t looked sharp yet this season. The Phillies have been a mess and I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Rockies put up a big number vs. him tonight.
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Good luck and hope to see you in the green.
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