MLB DFS Playbook August 24: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Aug 24, 2023
Welcome to Thursday! Yesterday was a tough day for Angels fans with Mike Trout going straight back to the IL a day after his return and Shohei Ohtani tearing his UCL and being shut down from pitching for at least the rest of this year as they lost both games of a doubleheader against the Reds falling even further out of reach of any postseason hopes. Angels fans may not be ready to move on yet, but we are going to move forward into today’s great slate of games! We have some day baseball day to enjoy and get yourself ready for this evening’s 5-game main slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel that will be getting underway at 7:05 PM EST. Some great matchups in today’s slate include an AL East duel between the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles, who are both eyeing October, and a matchup of NL postseason hopefuls with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds facing off. With a small slate of games, choosing the right plays can be extra tricky, but there are still plenty of ways to build a winning lineup whether you are playing GPP tournaments or cash games, so let’s dive into today’s playbook! 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 Playbook August 24
MLB Weather Updates
Toronto Blue Jays vs Baltimore Orioles: Some scattered rain throughout the evening, but doesn’t look too bad.
Chicago Cubs vs Pittsburgh Pirates: There are scattered thunderstorms this evening to keep an eye on. I’m not worried about it right now, but check in on it as game time approaches.
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
A small slate always makes things difficult. On the pitching end, I am going to be paying up for pitching. The only pitcher I would consider outside of the top 4 of Pablo Lopez, Justin Steele, Merrill Kelly, and Jose Berrios (my two favorites of this quad are written up below) is Brandon Williamson, but even he is pretty risky and not someone I trust as one of my favorite pitchers today, but I would consider as a value play. On the offensive side, your choices get limited quickly with only 10 teams to choose from (8 or 9 if you are avoiding your pitchers) but some of my favorite offenses today to target include the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, and Toronto Blue Jays. The Oakland Athletics have some players worth looking at as well with a good matchup, but I can’t bring myself to label them as a “favorite.”
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Justin Steele vs Pittsburgh Pirates
Jose Berrios vs Baltimore Orioles
Andrew Heaney vs Minnesota Twins
Best Odds for a Win
Justin Steele vs Pittsburgh Pirates
Merrill Kelly vs Cincinnati Reds
Jesse Scholtens vs Oakland Athletics
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Justin Steele has been giving up too many hits lately. He has a 1.41 WHIP through his last 8 starts. Despite that, he only has a 3.47 ERA through that stretch, along with 51 strikeouts in 46.2 innings, and he has also won 5 of those 8 games and gone at least 6 innings in all but one in which he went 5.1 against the Atlanta Braves. Against the Pittsburgh Pirates today, he may be able to suppress the hits a bit more, and I will be surprised if we don’t get at least 7 strikeouts from him yet again.
Pablo Lopez has one of the tougher matchups today, having to face the Texas Rangers, but the other two top starters today, Merrill Kelly and Jose Berrios, also have tough matchups against the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles, respectively. I think Berrios is a step up from the others, though, and the only true “Ace” on this slate. He hasn’t given up a run in his last 3 starts and has 7 or 8 strikeouts in each game as well. Even against Texas, I expect more of the same today.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
Chicago White Sox vs Ken Waldichuk
Arizona Diamondbacks vs Brandon Williamson
Minnesota Twins vs Andrew Heaney
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Ryan Mountcastle, 1B, Baltimore Orioles
Jose Berrios has been pitching great lately, but the Baltimore Orioles will be a tough challenge for him. Ryan Mountcastle has been a consistent hitter for the Orioles most of the season and continues to hit well lately with a .317/.348/.463 slash line over his last 10 games with 2 homers. That’s obviously nothing extraordinary, but it's still solid. I like him to continue to produce today.
Zack Gelof, 2B, Oakland Athletics
Zack Gelof should be giving the Oakland Athletics a lot of hope in a season that hasn’t had much of that. Through his first 34 games, he has slashed .295/.363/.598, along with 9 homers and 8 steals, which would pace to well over a 30-30 season over a full season. Getting to face Jesse Scholtens and the Chicago White Sox today, I think Zack Gelof will continue to impress us and is well worth his price, even on a team like Oakland.
Bo Bichette, SS, Toronto Blue Jays
Bo Bichette has had a bit of an up-and-down season, but for the most part, he has been a fantastic hitter and still one of the best-hitting shortstops in the league. He is on a 10-game hitting streak right now (a continuation from before his stint on the IL), over which he has slashed .422/.435/.667, and Kyle Gibson shouldn’t stand in his way to continue his streak and be a real contributor to DFS lineups today.
Seiya Suzuki, OF, Chicago Cubs
Seiya Suzuki hasn’t really been the offensive force we thought he could be, but I’m not giving up hope on him being a real fantasy asset eventually. He has looked solid at the plate recently with hits in 11 of his last 12 games with an OPS of .997 over that stretch and 3 homers. He gets a great matchup today getting to face Andre Jackson and the Pittsburgh Pirates, and I am going to bet he gets at least a multi-hit game today, if not a home run.
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