Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Friday, August 8th! 

We have a 10-game main slate in store for us this evening on DraftKings and FanDuel starting at 7:05 PM ET. Today, we have plenty of talent on the diamond and many different ways to build your lineup. Our expert analysis is here to guide you through the top pitchers, value plays, and stackable offenses to target.

Whether chasing big GPP prizes or grinding cash games, we’ve got you covered with insights tailored to today’s matchups. Let’s jump right into the key plays and strategies to dominate the slate!

 

This season's MLB DFS picks and playbook will consist of a pitcher and hitter core players section with written analysis, player pool grid and core stacks section.

The core player section should be used as a starting point for all lineups, you may not be able to use all players in the same lineup, but those players should be the building blocks for you on a given night.

The player pool grid will feature both players from the core player section along with additional plays to help you build a complete lineup. The grid will be broken into top priced players, mid-priced players and value tier players.

The stacks section will bring you are favorite lineups stacks for the day and which players we would look to include in those stacks based on matchups and pricing.

Check out the MLB DFS Show to get an initial outlook on the day's MLB DFS slate to give you a good base for the start of your research each day! 

Make sure you subscribe to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel so you never miss a show! Also, join the Fantasy Alarm Discord to get your DFS lineup questions answered by our MLB DFS team! Plus, as always, be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the Daily MLB Projections, MLB DFS Rostership Projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting.

 

MLB DFS Picks & MLB Playbook

MLB Weather: Friday, 8/8

No weather issues to report today. 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Let's get into today's core pitching plays for our DFS lineups

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers

Skubal is the best pitcher on the planet and absolutely worth spending up for even on a loaded pitching slate. He has posted double-digit strikeouts in four of his last six games, and he gets a matchup with the high-strikeout Angels. The premium price and ownership are of no concern for the top pitcher in the game in a fantastic matchup. 

Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies

This is a great spot against Texas for Cristopher Sanchez, who owns a 25% strikeout rate (5th-highest in MLB) and a significantly below average 78 wRC+ against left-handed pitching this season. Sanchez has put together a Cy Young-caliber season with above average strikeouts and elite groundball and walk rates. He pitches deep into games with incredible efficiency and will occasionally pop for a big strikeout performance. 

Nick Pivetta, San Diego Padres 

Pivetta gets a matchup against his former team in the Red Sox. The Padres righty has not allowed more than two runs in any of his last seven starts, and he recorded at least 17 outs in each of those starts. Against righties this season, Boston has been an average offense (101 wRC+) that strikes out at the 4th-highest rate (23.2%) in baseball. Pivetta has four starts this season where he has recorded at least nine strikeouts. 

Edward Cabrera, Miami Marlins 

Edwarrd Cabrera might be my favorite tournament pitcher on an absolutely loaded pitching slate. It seems much of the field will be paying all the way up for Tarik Skubal and then down to Tanner Bibee or Zac Gallen for SP2. There are a ton of great pitchers in-between, but Cabrera offers incredible upside for his price at much lower projected ownership. His 24.8% strikeout rate stands out at his mid-range price and he has improved his walk rate to a career-best 8.2% this season. This version of the Braves offense (without Ronald Acuna and Austin Riley) is nothing to fear. 

Luis Castillo, Seattle Mariners

There seems to be a theme when hunting for pitching value on this slate. Formerly great pitchers who have taken a step backwards this season in great matchups. Zac Gallen and Tanner Bibee project to be the two most popular options in the tier, but I am not all that comfortable eating that chalk on a massive slate. May I introduce Luis Castillo, who has almost identical context as Gallen and Bibee, but should come with significantly less ownership. The Rays are without Jonathan Aranda and get a massive ballpark downgrade for hitters going out to Seattle. Castillo, Gallen and Bibee all have strikeout rates around 21% with walk rates between 6-8%.   

Tanner Bibee, Cleveland Guardians 

Bibee has taken a step backwards from two consecutive strong seasons, as he has seen his strikeout rate fall all to 21.2% from 26.3% last season. He still has an excellent walk rate and he has improved his groundball rate, so there is still plenty to like. The matchup comes against the White Sox, which sounds great in theory, but the Sox have been red hot since the All-Star break. Their 124 wRC+ since the break ranks 4th-best in all of baseball. The discount from Zac Gallen is enough to where I prefer Bibee slightly, and I am not sold on the White Sox being able to continue their hot hitting.   

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Let's check out today's core plays to build our lineups around.

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Detroit Tigers vs. Kyle Hendricks 

The Tigers struggled coming out of the All-Star break but appear to have their season back on track. They get a date with Kyle Hendricks today, who has a 15.4% strikeout rate and has allowed 1.45 HR/9 this season. Righties have done the majority of the damage against Hendricks this season, but he has plenty of history struggling with LH power as well. 

Spencer Torkelson is the top righty bat, while Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene are the top lefty options. Hendricks' strong control makes him less than ideal for stacking against, but there are plenty of other good options like Colt Keith, Gleyber Torres and Wenceel Perez.  

Nick Kurtz and Athletics vs. Tomoyuki Sugano 

You know who leads MLB in ISO since the All-Star break? It's the Athletics, and they get a matchup with a pitcher that has a 15.5% strikeout rate and has allowed 1.66 HR/9 and an 11.8% barrel rate this season. 

Nick Kurtz might be in the best spot of the slate with his .394 ISO against right-handed pitching. Tyler Soderstrom and Lawrence Butler are lefties with above average power, while Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers are the top righties.  

Ketel Marte and Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Austin Gomber 

The top implied team total of the slate belongs to the Arizona Diamondbacks facing lefty Austin Gomber. The D-backs have traded away a few top hitters and have performed better against righties this season, but this is still a great spot. Gomber has been lit up for a .257 ISO and 13.6% barrel rate in nine starts this season. His average fastball velocity is barely over 89 mph and his strikeout rate is all the way down at 13.4%. 

Ketel Marte has a long track record of success against lefties and has his ISO up to .196 this season after initially struggling against southpaws this season. Corbin Carroll has a .200 ISO against same-handed pitchers. The top value on the slate may just be Tyler Locklear, who was the primary return for Eugenio Suarez. There isn't much of an MLB sample but Locklear hit 19 Triple-A homers this year. Lourdes Gurriel has a lot of success against lefties in his career, as does James McCann. 

Shohei Ohtani and Los Angeles Dodgers Lefties vs. Max Scherzer 

Max Scherzer may have some remaining skills, but he is now 41 years old. Even when he was elite, Scherzer was still a fly-ball pitcher that would occasionally allow lefty home runs, and they have torched him for a .289 ISO this season. 

Shohei Ohtani is the top hitter on the entire slate, as he is on most slates. Freddie Freeman (.199 ISO) and Max Muncy (.256 ISO) are also excellent options if searching for some correlation. Scherzer still has excellent control and above average strikeouts, especially against righties, so the options get pretty thin beyond those three. You can take a flier on Michael Conforto or Dalton Rushing if they crack the lineup. 

San Diego Padres vs. Walker Buehler 

Speaking of formerly elite starting pitchers, Walker Buehler is certainly no longer that. Buehler has seen his strikeout rate fall to 16.6% while his walks have climbed to 10.3%.He has allowed 1.82 HR/9 and a 9.2% barrel rate. Righties have done the majority of the damage against Buehler, but I don't trust his skills against anyone currently. The walks and power allowed by Buehler make him a perfect candidate to stack against. 

Amongst the Padres, newcomer Ramon Laureano actually has the best numbers, as he has smashed righties this season with a .271 ISO. Fernando Tatis, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill all have above average power, even it has not been at quite the same elite levels of last season. Ryan O'Hearn is another power option, while Xander Bogaerts, Luis Arraez and Jake Cronenworth make fine additions to a full stack.     

Rafael Devers and San Francisco Giants vs. Jake Irvin

Jake Irvin is yet another pitcher on this slate that has a very low strikeout rate (15.7%) and allows a ton of power (.203 ISO). Irvin has had a massive lefty power problem in his career, but he is giving up plenty of damage to righties this year as well. 

Rafael Devers has struggled to adjust to his new team so far, but he is still one of the top bats on the slate. Unfortunately, the Giants lack lefty power beyond Devers, but Jung Hoo Lee will flash occasionally. I am looking to righties Matt Chapman and Willy Adames after that, with Dominic Smith and Patrick bailey being in the mix as lefties 

Player Pool

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Stacks

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