Daily fantasy baseball cheat sheet for Friday (2024)

On a slate loaded with both pitching and hitting, our daily cheat sheet helps you find the best combination of values.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to hit me up on Twitter @DerekCarty.

Pitchers

Aces

DraftKings play of the day

Max Scherzer ($13,200 DK; $12,400 FD), Washington Nationals vs. Atlanta Braves: I said it with Chris Sale yesterday, and it's pretty much the same story with Scherzer: When he's pitching, play him. Don't get cute in DraftKings cash games trying to save money, just spend what it takes and make everything else work. On FanDuel, you can consider a fade given the price.

Jacob deGrom ($11,800 DK; $11,000 FD), New York Mets at St. Louis Cardinals: DeGrom is a good GPP pivot today given that most will likely spend on Scherzer or go down to better values. The Cardinals are a below-average offense and deGrom is a great pitcher, which is enough to make him one of the day's better options.

Zack Greinke ($11,200 DK; $9,700 FD), Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Cincinnati Reds: Greinke is in the same boat as deGrom -- too expensive to play in cash games but a fine GPP option at potentially low ownership. Chase Field isn't an ideal pitching location, but the roof will be closed and he'll face a mediocre Reds team.

Midtier pitchers

James Paxton ($8,500 DK; $9,200 FD), Seattle Mariners vs. Oakland Athletics: On FanDuel it's a different story, where you can consider fading Scherzer. Paxton faces a below-average A's offense undergoing a big park shift. Safeco Field is a great spot for pitching and K's, and there's some of the best pitching weather of the day in Seattle. He's my early SP2 favorite on DraftKings as well.

Drew Pomeranz ($8,700 DK; $8,600 FD), Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays: Pom is a great way to save some money in GPPs, getting a big park upgrade going into Tropicana Field to face a strikeout-prone Rays team that struggles against lefties.

Bargain bin pitchers

Sean Manaea ($6,400 DK; $8,600 FD), Oakland A's at Seattle Mariners: Manaea has excellent stuff and gets a nice park upgrade today in terms of strikeouts. With so many other options, I probably won't dip down this low in cash games, but in GPPs he's a great option, especially if Bruce Maxwell is catching.

Also consider: Jordan Montgomery

Hitters

Stack of the day

The Rockies in Coors Field are the top option, but with expensive pitching, they might be tough to afford. The Rangers, Indians and Yankees are excellent stacks as well.

High-priced hitters

Nolan Arenado ($5,200 DK, $4,700 FD), 3B, Colorado Rockies vs. Chicago White Sox (Derek Holland): Facing a left-hander, you'd want your Rockies exposure to come from the right side today, and that makes Arenado the top play overall. He's expensive and not strictly necessary, but he's elite and is worth the price if you can make it work.

Gary Sanchez ($4,700 DK, $3,500 FD), C, New York Yankees vs. Milwaukee Brewers (Junior Guerra): The Yanks face a mediocre National League pitcher (and weak bullpen) coming into the American League and Yankee Stadium. He's tough to fit into a lineup on DraftKings, but you can make Sanchez work on FanDuel if you fade Scherzer.

Paul Goldschmidt ($4,900 DK, $4,200 FD), 1B, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Cincinnati Reds (Tim Adleman): The D-backs are back home in Chase, and they face a weak fly ball pitcher in Adleman. Goldy's pricey, but with a salary under $5,000, it is possible to make him work on DraftKings. David Peralta would be a strong play as well.

Midtier hitters

Trevor Story ($3,900 DK, $3,500 FD), SS, Colorado Rockies vs. Chicago White Sox (Derek Holland): Story has been struggling, but at this price in Coors against a lefty, he'll be awfully hard to fade.

Manny Machado ($3,800 DK, $3,100 FD), 3B, Baltimore Orioles at Minnesota Twins (Felix Jorge): The Orioles are once again too cheap on DraftKings, this time against an underwhelming pitcher in Felix Jorge.

Brian Dozier ($4,100 DK, $3,400 FD), 2B, Minnesota Twins vs. Baltimore Orioles (Kevin Gausman): Gausman has been better of late, and he's always had good stuff, but he also takes a park hit and has extreme reverse platoon splits. If you want to spend up a little at the keystone, Dozier is a good value. Miguel Sano is a good value on FanDuel as well.

Michael Brantley ($3,700 DK, $3,400 FD), OF, Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers (Jordan Zimmermann): Indians bats are underpriced on both sites today, but on DraftKings in particular, against a weak pitcher in Zimmermann.

FanDuel play of the day

Jason Kipnis ($3,600 DK, $2,700 FD), 2B, Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers (Jordan Zimmermann): Kipnis fills a shallow position and is dirt cheap on FanDuel. It's a great home park, it's a weak opposing pitcher, and he'll hold the platoon advantage. Bradley Zimmer and Edwin Encarnacion are good values as well.

Bargain bin hitters

Adam Jones ($3,100 DK, $2,800 FD), OF, Baltimore Orioles at Minnesota Twins (Felix Jorge): Jones' price has gone up just $200 between facing a guy who has pitched like an ace this season on Thursday (Jose Berrios) and an afterthought prospect today. Plus, the Twins' bullpen is terrible.

Clint Frazier ($2,700 DK, $2,200 FD), OF, New York Yankees vs. Milwaukee Brewers (Junior Guerra): I don't expect top prospect Frazier to tear up the majors immediately, but he's a good way to get Yanks exposure at a cheap price on DraftKings while saving up for bigger bats elsewhere.

Shin-Soo Choo ($4,400 DK, $3,100 FD), OF, Texas Rangers vs. Los Angeles Angels (Ricky Nolasco): I love the Rangers today, and leadoff man Choo is a particularly great value on FanDuel. Nolasco is a weak pitcher taking a huge park hit, it's 92 degrees, and the Angels' bullpen is quite bad.