2018 Top Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters
What to Look For and Who to Pick
If you came across this page while doing research for your Season Long 2018 Fantasy Baseball team, then book mark it to come back to later. This page is designed to give you tips on finding the Top DAILY Fantasy Baseball Hitters on a nightly basis and help you in choosing better hitters for your DFS fantasy lineup.
What is Daily Fantasy Baseball? – Click the link to read up on it.
It’s easy to look at the great MLB players and slot them into a lineup but even the best hitters will have off nights and go 0-4 with a couple of strikeouts. The tips below will help you use tools to help you choose the right hitters for the night and maximize their value to help you take down a big fantasy baseball contest like the ones offered at our affiliate partner site DraftKings.com. They are the largest daily fantasy baseball site and if you haven’t heard about them yet…it’s time to crawl out from under that rock you are living under because they are everywhere!
Here are our strategies to find the Top Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters
Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA)
- We know that hitters with a high batting average are good…but not all hits are the same! A weighted on-base average categorizes each hit in proportion to their actual run value. In other words it takes into account that a homerun (which is technically counted as a hit in regular average calculations) is a lot more valuable than a single. For daily fantasy players knowing the wOBA is a better stat to analyze because you get more points based on the type of hits you get. Using a hitter that has a .250 batting average may still be worthwhile if he is a power hitter that hits a lot of homeruns or doubles.
Lefty/Righty Splits
- Generally a right handed pitcher has an advantage over a right handed hitter and vice versa. Although some hitters have the same average no matter if it’s a lefty or a righty on the mound, some hitters just excel facing one type of pitcher. If you know who the starters are in a given night, look at how the hitters perform based on which side of the mound the pitcher throws from.
Batter vs. Pitcher History
- Some hitters completely own certain pitchers and some pitchers always dominate certain hitters. I’m not a huge fan of this analysis because the sample sizes are too small but some will use the stat anyways.
Type of Ball Park
- We all know that Coors Field is a hitter’s park and that Petco Park is a pitcher friendly park. On average, Coors field gives up 3.9 runs a game more than Petco Park does. If you are going to load up on hitters for your fantasy lineup, look to see what type of park it is and what the average runs per game scored are. It also can be analyzed further such as in the heat of the summer the ball travels further in Arizona and in a Dome stadium Like the Rogers Center in Toronto, the ball travels differently based on whether the roof is open or closed. All these are factors in the type of ball park the players are playing in that day.
Ask the boys in Vegas!
- Las Vegas odds makers do a lot of work for you. They decide which team is favored and how much they are favored by. They also can determine if the game is predicted to be a high scoring game or a pitcher’s duel. You want to load up on hitters? Look at the high Over/Under games first, then look to see what type of pitcher is pitching against your hitters.
Ride the Streaks
- Sometimes stats just go out the window when a player is on a Hot Streak of even a Cold Streak. On a hot streak sometimes hitters see the baseball as big as a beach ball and no matter all the factors above…they are worth taking. Watch also a pitcher on a streak as they could just be mowing hitters down no matter where they are pitching or who they are pitching against. Cold streaks are no different, if you notice a top fantasy hitter is swatting at flies then maybe it’s best to stay away until they finally have a good game. You should still use the proven analysis written above, but finding a hitter that is on a streak is never a bad strategy.
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2018 Top Fantasy Hitters for your Baseball Lineups
The list below are guys that if you can get them into your lineup every night you have a shot at some big fantasy numbers. They have homerun power, drive in ton of runs, score runs, have a good average and can even steal you a base or two. They are almost always going to be a high salary cost at DFS sites so use the tools above when looking at spending that precious salary cap money.
Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - OF)
Numbers were a bit down for Trout last year but he also misses 6 weeks with injuries. He still hits for average, power and can steal a base. The Angels will look as a team to be better in 2018 and Trout will be the leader.
Jose Altuve (Houston Astros - 2B)
So we wrote last year..."Could 2017 be an MVP type season?"...And then he won the MVP. Altuve's numbers are almost identical the last two seasons and this year should be no different. For DFS at DraftKings he's a nice pick for a 2B position.
Giancarlo Stanton (New York Yankees - OF)
Scary! Now a Yankee and already in a power hitting lineup Stanton now steps in with really good hitters around him unlike last year's MVP season. Should almost pencil him in for the home run crown now and he should be a nightly DFS monster...you'll just have to pay up for him.
Mookie Betts (Boston Red sox- OF)
Betts took a bit of a step back last year but still is a 5 tool threat that can have a monster game any night. He still has other good hitters around him and could on any given night put up a monster DFS line.
Trea Turner (Washington Nationals - SS)
Once Turner gets to first base, you can almost pencil him in for a steal. I like guys that steal in my lineups because it means they got me points getting on base and have a good chance of scoring. He has a bit of pop in him but don't count on that. Just make sure he's healthy, a bit bad with injuries.
Paul Goldschmidt (Arizona Diamondbacks - 1B)
Overall his numbers got better from teh year before although he stole a fews less bases. Still a superstar in fantasy baseball and a worthy choice when making up a DraftKings lineup.
Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies - OF)
Obviously playing at Coors Field helps but Blackmon is just plain good! Another 5x5 stud that you can help stack a lineup around and take advantage of the numbers he produces.
