Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Thursday, August 21st! 

Welcome to Thursday! We have an early slate today with a 6-game main slate taking place at 1:10 PM ET on both DraftKings and FanDuel (The FanDuel slate is slightly different, but you can play the all-day slate or their main slate). An early slate means you don’t have as much time to research and plan for your lineups, but have no fear, we have done it for you! 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.
 

No MLB DFS Livestream today with the earlier slate, but we will be back next week to break down the slate, give you last-minute advice, and answer any questions before locking in those lineups!

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: Thursday, 8/21

The weather looks to be clear all around for today.

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

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

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Shota Imanaga, Chicago Cubs

I know the Brewers have been unstoppable lately, but Imanaga has finally found the strikeouts again and has been rolling. He has 30 strikeouts in 25 innings over his last 4 starts. He also has three straight quality starts, going 6.1, 6.2, and 7 innings in those three starts, giving up only 5 total runs. He is the top-priced pitcher today, but it isn’t a super high price, and I am willing to pay it for Imanaga today. 

Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres

I am guessing a lot of people are going to be afraid to go back to Dylan Cease today after getting roughed up by the Dodgers in his last outing, but I am not worried. He struggled with his command (a common problem for Cease) and walked 6 batters, leading to him only making it 3.1 innings with 2 strikeouts. The Giants are a much easier offense to face, and I think he can bounce back. We could see him get to the strikeout numbers we saw in the previous three games, which were 9, 9, and 7.

MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals

MacKenzie Gore had an absolute nightmare run through the end of July and early August but he has bounced back beautifully in his last two starts. Back-to-back 6 inning starts with a combined 17 strikeouts while only giving up 2 earned runs off of 7 hits, which included a 6-inning shutout outing with 10 strikeouts against the Giants. I trust that he has found things again, and when Gore is pitching well, he is one of the best strikeout arms in the game. 

Jack Perkins, Athletics

My first three pitcher recommendations are the three most expensive, and that is for a reason. I don’t trust this pitching slate much once it gets past those top 3 guys, but I do think that Jack Perkings provides a solid option on the cheaper end. He won each of his last two games with a quality start against the Orioles, going 6 innings with 5 strikeouts while giving up 3 runs, and then went another 5 innings with 7 strikeouts against the Angels. I like the whiffs we saw out of him in his last start against the Angels, and I think he has a chance to keep getting them today against the Twins, which should make him a great buy at his price today. 

 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

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

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Kansas City Royals

Patrick Corbin has not been the worst pitcher in baseball this year, a title he held pretty firmly for a while there. However, he is still a pitcher I am willing to stack against, and he has had some more hiccups recently. I am specifically targeting the right-handed bats in the Kansas City lineup: Bobby Witt, Maikel Garcia, Salvador Perez, Jonathan India, and, though he is a lefty, you could consider throwing Vinnie Pasquantino in there as well.  

The Athletics

Jose Urena is not as good as even his 4.06 ERA suggests. He doesn’t strike hardly anybody out and has had a homer problem this year. His last game was his first one this season where he went over 4 innings as well, and we know that the Twins have unloaded their pen and can get beat up once they have to turn there. This leads me to loving to stack the Athletics today, with my favorites being the top guys of Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, Brent Rooker, Lawrence Butler, and Tyler Soderstrom. I think it doesn’t hurt if you want to stack any of the cheaper Athletic bats in there as well. 

Corey Seager, Texas Rangers

Corey Seager was in my Tuesday lineup, where I talked about how he is far too cheap right now, and he homered. His price has only gone up $200, and my sentiment stays the same. He gets a matchup against Michael Lorenzen today, which is an easier matchup for him than the Seth Lugo one from the other day, so I am going to continue to run with Seager here. I don’t love stacking the rest of the Rangers quite as much, but unless you are playing Bobby Witt with a Royals stack, I think Seager should be your shortstop. 

 

 

 

Player Pool

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Stacks

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