Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Tuesday, August 26th! 

Let’s start the week on the right foot with some winning lineups today. We have a 12-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: Tuesday, 8/26

Detroit Tigers @ Athletics

Hottest temperature of the slate and there are 10 MPH winds blowing out as well.

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

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

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Hunter Brown, Houston Astros

To be fair to the Rockies, they've been better against righties since the All-Star break but that doesn't mean they've been all year long. That being said, whenever they've been away from Coors Field they've been lost. They have a .576 OPS against righties since the break, which is tied for last in the game. The Rockies strike out over 24% of the time against righties, too, which presents Brown a massive ceiling. He's going to be one of the highest rostered – if not THE highest – pitcher of the day.

Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres

Look, the Mariners lineup definitely has elite name value and right in the middle of it, they have a guy with 50 homers before the end of August. That's scary. But if you look at the numbers since the All-Star break, things don't look great as they rank 25th in OPS and wOBA, and 19th in wRC+. They also have a 24.2% K-rate, which is the fourth-highest mark in baseball. Cease has been incredibly unlucky this year and despite that, he still has such a high ceiling. He has a 30.1% K-rate and a 4.71 ERA but a 3.52 xERA.

Matthew Boyd, Chicago Cubs

The spot for Matthew Boyd just couldn't be better. The Giants have been dreadful against left-handed pitching for some time now. Since the All-Star break, they have a .595 OPS which is 29th in OPS, while also ranking 29th in wOBA, and 27th in wRC+. They also happen to strike out 23.2% of the time. The strikeouts haven't been there every time out for Boyd as he's dipped below 8 K/9, but he's pitched to a 2.61 ERA on the year. Coming back to the strikeouts, Boyd has had at least 8 Ks five times this season, so there is a ceiling there and this could be the spot we get it in.

Chris Bassitt, Toronto Blue Jays

We just need Chris Bassitt to keep the ball in the yard against lefties. That's the biggest issue here. That being said, the Twins are a bottom-10 offense against right-handed pitching since August started. Since that span, they've also struck out 24.6% of the time, which is the fourth-highest mark in baseball. Bassitt's a very solid pitcher that's sitting nearly at a strikeout per inning and his xFIP and SIERA hover right around 3.8.

Yusei Kikuchi, Los Angeles Angels

What's crazy is that Texas is improving against lefties as an offense and yet, they still rank 20th in OPS, ISO and wRC+ since the All-Star break. The strike out nearly 23% of the time against southpaws over that span. They run into Yusei Kikuchi today and Kikuchi has a very high ceiling. He's been over 9 K/9 and has a 23.6% K-rate. His ERA sits at 3.42 this year, he just needs to control the baseball a bit more because his walks are way up this year.

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

The Reds offense has simply hit the skids all across the board. They're 28th in OPS, 30th in ISO, 27th in wOBA, and 29th in wRC+ against southpaws since the All-Star break. They also have struck out 23% of the time over that span too. Since the All-Star break, Kershaw has been great, pitching to a 2.76 ERA and in August, it's at 1.90. The lack of strikeouts are really the only downside here.

 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

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

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Back to the Tigers we go!

Just because they didn't come through on Monday doesn't mean we're not going back to them on Tuesday. Osvaldo Bido is going to start this game and it's uncertain that he'll pitch much more than that, but the Athletics have a BAD bullpen. They rank 28th in ERA and 27th in xFIP, suggesting they haven't been unlucky at all.

The Athletics probably can't have Bido throw too many innings here because he's simply not a good pitcher. Lefties have a .243 ISO and a .375 wOBA while righties have a .212 ISO and a .383 wOBA. 

Here are some Tigers numbers against righties;

Houston is a Problem for Tanner Gordon

It's a small sample, but believe it or not, Tanner Gordon has actually been worse away from Coors Field than he has at Coors Field this season.

Gordon has a 13.14 ERA on the road and opponents are slashing .419/.446/.645 against him. He's also been worse against righties this year, which the Astros have plenty of. Righties have a .385/.417/.571 slash this year and lefties aren't bad either hitting .287 with a .345 wOBA.

Four of the five first projected batters for the Astros are on the right side of the plate and the one lefty is the return or Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez was 5-for-11 on his rehab start. Jeremy Pena, Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, and Christian Walker and the four I was referring to. I would throw Jesus Sanchez into the stack as well with how good he's been and potentially could be against righties, posting a .175 ISO, .227 xISO, .337 wOBA, and .360 xwOBA.

Yankees Keep Homering?

Although MacKenzie Gore hasn't allowed too many home runs this year, he does have a career-high 41.6% FB rate this season. That's not going to fly in Yankee Stadium against the team that has more home runs than anyone else in baseball. The home runs HAVE been up since the All-Star break, however, as he's allowed 2.25 HR/9 and he's pitched to a 7.88 ERA

Nobody in baseball has been better against lefties than the Yankees. They're first in OPS, wOBA, wRC+, and second in ISO.

Here are some of the Yankees numbers against left-handed hurlers..

Angels in the Outfield (and Infield)

Things have gone the complete wrong way for Patrick Corbin this season. The spider bite powers clearly wore off. Since the All-Star break he's pitched to a 6.07 ERA and his opponents are hitting .308 against him. In August alone his ERA is 11.48. The Angels specialty is hitting home runs and that's how you win tournaments.

Righties have hit Corbin hard allowing a .177 ISO, .184 xISO, .349 wOBA, and a .348 xwOBA. Here are the top righties to target for Angels;

  • Zach Neto - .253 ISO, .328 xISO, .309 wOBA, .391 xwOBA
  • Taylor Ward - .326 ISO, .296 xISO, .395 wOBA, .383 xwOBA
  • Jo Adell - .325 ISO, .275 xISO, .388 wOBA, .382 xwOBA
  • Logan O'Hoppe - .213 ISO, .323 xISO, .351 wOBA, .390 xwOBA
  • Mike Trout - .127 ISO, .153 xISO, .280 wOBA, .298 xwOBA

Brewers in Good Spot

This is a tough spot for Brandon Pfaadt with how good the Brewers have been since the All-Star break. They rank 4th or better in OPS, wOBA, ISO, and wRC+ against righties.

Pfaadt has actually struggled against both splits this year. Righties are batting .286 with a .343 wOBA, .193 ISO, and .232 xISO while lefties are at .270, .197 ISO, .224 xISO, and .342 wOBA. 

From the left side, Christian Yelich, Brice Turang, Isaac Collins, and Sal Frelick stand out. From the right side, William Contreras, Andruw Monasterio, and Caleb Durbin from the right side.

White Sox Keep on Keepin On

In past years, Michael Lorenzen has struggled with only righties but he's struggled against both splits this season. Righties are still better against him posting a .220 xISO, .204 xISO, .347 wOBA, .334 xwOBA while lefties are at .167 ISO, .169 xISO, .324 wOBA, and a .330 xwOBA.

Top One Off's

Player Pool

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Stacks

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