Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Friday, August 1st! 

Let’s start the week on the right foot with some winning lineups today. We have a 11-game main slate in store for us this evening on DraftKings and FanDuel starting at 7:07 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, 8/1

 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

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

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Carlos Rodon, New York Yankees

Miami has not been a good offense against left-handed pitching this year and have to take on Carlos Rodon, one of the best lefties in the game. Miami is 26th in OPS, 25th in wOBA, 23rd in wRC+, and 30th in ISO. Rodon has a 147 Ks in 130 IP this year and has a massive fantasy ceiling. Six times this year he's put up at least 30 DKP.

Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins

Although there's not a lot of win equity here now that the Twins traded their whole team away, Joe Ryan is a really good pitcher and the Guardians are not a good offense. They rank 26th in wRC+, OPS, and wOBA against right-handed pitching. Ryan has a 28.9% K-rate this year and has a 2.82 ERA this season.

David Peterson, New York Mets

One of the best spots of the day is David Peterson against the Giants. The Giants have been horrible against lefties this year. They rank 29th in OPS and wOBA, and 26th in wRC+. They also strike out 25.6% of the time. Peterson is a quality start machine and is the perfect FanDuel pitcher. His price on DraftKings is fantastic, too.

Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians

I mean, what's not to like Gavin Williams in this spot? The Twins traded away Harrison Bader and Willi Castro while Byron Buxton is on the IL. It's been a inconsistent season for Williams, but he's been so much better lately notching quality starts in three of four outings. The Twins this season are already a bottom-10 offense against right-handed pitching.

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

Sunday was an insane day for the Rays. They lost THREE players on the same day to injury (Jonathan Aranda, Yandy Diaz, and Chandler Simpson) and than traded away Jose Caballero and Curtis Mead. This lineup already struggles with left-handed pitching as they rank 22nd in OPS with a .655 team mark. They also strike out 23.5% of the time against southpaws, so there's a ceiling. The ballpark is obviously a little concerning in the middle of the summer.

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

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

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Coors Field, Pirates & Rockies

We're going to look at the Pirates first as they square up against Antonio Senzatela. Senzatela has been quite awful all year long. My ONLY issue is how expensive the Pirates are despite how bad they've been this year.

It starts with Oneil Cruz and some other Pirates options include Spencer Horwitz, Bryan Reynolds, Andrew McCutchen, and Liover Peguero.

Now, onto the Rockies..

Andrew Heaney has been incredibly inconsistent this year and the numbers are starting to look good for both splits.

Lefties have a .301 ISO, .280 xISO, .387 wOBA & .406 xwOBA. Righties have a .250 BABIP, .187 ISO, .175 xISO, .316 wOBA, and a .343 xwOBA.

Ezequiel Tovar has a .167 ISO, .257 xISO, .330 wOBA, .447 xwOBA. Hunter Goodman has a .272 ISO, .252 xISO, .343 wOBA. Jordan Beck sits at a .270 ISO, .262 xISO, and a .404 wOBA. Brenton Doyle has been good against lefties like he was last year posting a .181 ISO, .189 xISO, .389 wOBA, and .370 xwOBA.

Sutter Health Park

This park presents opportunity for a LOT of runs. Not only that, but the Diamondbacks have been been the best teams against southpaws. It's obviously not the same team as it was earlier in the year, but Ketel Marte, Lourdes Gurriel, Corbin Carroll, and Geraldo Perdomo are all still there. Tyler Locklear should be in the lineup for the Diamondbacks, too, as Arizona said he's going to be their every day first baseman moving forward. 

Righties have given Anthony DeSclafani issues this year posting a .291 ISO and a .341 wOBA. Lefties haven't had success, but a .217 BABIP suggest best luck is coming. This is why I'm a big fan of the Athletics today.

Because righties have given him the most fits, Brent Rooker is the top option of the stack. He has a .218 ISO, .249 xISO, .352 wOBA, and .373 xwOBA. Shea Langeliers is right behind him with a .239 ISO, and near min-salary Darrell Hernaiz looks good too. Oh yeah, that guy Nick Kurtz from the left side with the .400 ISO is pretty good. Lawrence Butler and Tyler Soderstrom tie the stack together perfectly.

White Sox in the City of Angels

Tyler Anderson was really luck when the season started and now that luck has run out. He's been bad against both splits;

vs. LH - .320 BABIP, .288 ISO, .260 xISO, .403 wOBA, .374 xwOBA

vs. RH - .258 BABIP, .170 ISO, .196 xISO, .310 wOBA, .325 xwOBA

The White Sox have been legit against left-handed pitching lately. They're third in OPS against LHP since July 1st. They're 1st in ISO. They're 2nd in wRC+.

The White Sox have five batters in their lineup with a .180 ISO or greater: Luis Robert, Colson Montgomery, Miguel Vargas, Andrew Benintendi, and Michael A. Taylor. They also have Edgar Quero who's posted a .422 wOBA against southpaws. Chase Meidroth is cheap and will lead off too.

Mariners Revamped Lineup

The Mariners lineup looks quite good with the latest additions of Josh Naylor and Cal Raleigh. Jack Leiter has had quite good luck on his side this season but righties have crushed him.

Look at all the actual and expected numbers for both splits this year;

vs. LH - .217 BABIP, .136 ISO, .201 xISO, .268 wOBA, .327 xwOBA

vs. RH - .295 BABIP, .146 ISO, .197 xISO, .333 wOBA, .366 xwOBA

The top-five in the Mariners lineup is impossible to ignore now that they've shifted Randy Arozarena into the leadoff spot. Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, Josh Naylor, and Eugenio Suarez round out that top five. Also, I'd remiss to mention how good Jorge Polanco has been against RHP this year posting a .230 ISO, .213 xISO, .343 wOBA, and a .370 xwOBA, Dominic Canzone with his .225 ISO, .250 xISO, .375 wOBA, and .374 xwOBA, and Cole Young is coming off his best game as a pro.

Yankees Lefties

The Marlins are sending Janson Junk to the mound tonight and although he's been pretty good, he's struggled against lefties and the Yankees have many of them. Lefties have a .305 AVG and a .438 SLG% against Junk this year.

They're projected to have seven lefties in the lineup tonight and they're all pretty damn good against righties this year;

Dodgers in Tampa

I think Shane Baz is a good pitcher, but he has been anything but that when he's pitched at home this year. Baz has a 2.97 ERA on the road but it's 6.33 at home. Righties at home have a .523 SLG% and a .376 wOBA while lefties haven't had as much success, but he has allowed 1.4 HR/9 and a 46% FB rate.

We'll start with the Dodgers righties because that's how good that split has been for them. Numbers vs. RHP;

  • Will Smith; .215 ISO, .229 xISO, .419 wOBA, .392 xwOBA, 10 HR
  • Teoscar Hernandez; .170 ISO, .199 xISO, .296 wOBA, .328 xwOBA, 10 HR
  • Mookie Betts; .112 ISO, .138 xISO, .287 wOBA, .314 xwOBA
  • Andy Pages; .216 ISO, .191 xISO, .347 wOBA, .332 xwOBA, 16 HR

Now the lefties;

Player Pool

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Stacks

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