Welcome to another Tuesday full of baseball! We get a great day of baseball; unfortunately, not much day baseball happening with only one earlier game today with the Washington National and Philadelphia Phillies playing a doubleheader with the first game starting at 4:05 PM EST. That does mean we get a nice large slate this evening, though, with an 11-game main slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel starting at 7:05 PM EST. Plenty of excitement around the league today, including two top teams facing off with the Houston Astros facing the Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Red Sox trying to follow up yesterday’s walk-off grand slam with another win against the Kansas City Royals today with the return of Trevor Story, and an NL West showdown with the Los Angeles Dodgers facing the Arizona Diamondbacks. Plenty of different ways to build a winning MLB DFS lineup today, whether you are playing gpp tournaments or cash games, so let’s jump 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 8

MLB Weather Updates

Kansas City Royals vs Boston Red Sox: Scattered thunderstorms throughout the day, but it looks like they should clear up before start time. 

DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

Today’s slate is highlighted by Max Scherzer and Framber Valdez on the top end. Both are easy picks today despite their price as you get Mad Max taking on the Oakland Athletics, which should be a great spot for him to dominate, and you have Framber coming off a no-hitter that was also a Maddux so you shouldn’t worry about him having much of a hangover from it. While I am happy to roster either of them, there are some other great pitchers to target today as well, including my two favorites of the day listed down below. On the offensive side, some of my favorite offenses to target today include the Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, and the New York Mets.

Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options for Strikeouts

Max Scherzer vs Oakland Athletics

Framber Valdez vs Baltimore Orioles

Lucas Giolito vs Los Angeles Angels

Mitch Keller vs Atlanta Braves

Best Odds for a Win

Max Scherzer vs Oakland Athletics

Wade Miley vs Colorado Rockies

Kutter Crawford vs Kansas City Royals

Julio Urias vs Arizona Diamondbacks

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Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups

Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners

Logan Gilbert has been giving up too many hits lately but has still been getting positive results. He still holds a solid 3.86 ERA on the season with a 1.07 WHIP. The San Diego Padres are certainly no rollover offense, but I trust Logan Gilbert against just about anyone and am hoping we see him break through the 5-strikeout threshold that he has been stuck at for his last 4 starts while limiting the hits a bit more. The floor is great here with some decent upside making Gilbert a solid pick. 

Kutter Crawford, Boston Red Sox 

Kutter Crawford has been fantastic for the Boston Red Sox. He has settled into being one of their most reliable starters and is starting to show some more strikeout stuff lately. Over his last 4 starts, he has a 2.18 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and 23 strikeouts through 20.2 innings, and that even includes giving up 4 earned runs through 4 innings to the New York Mets while only striking out 2. Facing the Kansas City Royals today will be a fantastic opportunity for him to put together another high strikeout game, and maybe we even see the first double-digit strikeout game out of him today. 

Recommended DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

Boston Red Sox vs Brady Singer

Atlanta Braves vs Mitch Keller

Chicago Cubs vs Carlos Carrasco

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Julio Urias

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Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups

Triston Casas, 1B Boston Red Sox

I took a chance on Triston Casas yesterday as one of my value plays despite being a lefty-lefty matchup. While he didn’t get the results I was hoping for, he still crushed a ball that just happened not to get out, and besides that was mostly not pitched to very much, including an intentional walk at one point.  I am jumping back in on the Casas train today against Brady Singer and hope that the walk-off last night sparks the rest of the Red Sox offense around Casas to help him provide some great value today. 

Gleyber Torres, 2B New York Yankees

August has been off to a roaring start for Gleyber Torres, who has gotten a hit in every game so far, including 4 multi-hit games with 3 hits in two of them. He also has 2 homers, 3 doubles, and a stolen base already this month with the second-best OPS in the league at 1.427, only behind Adolis Garcia. He should have no problem keeping this up today against Touki Toussaint and the Chicago White Sox. 

Francisco Lindor, SS New York Mets

Francisco Lindor is on a great stretch of hitting right now with hits in 9 of his last 10 games, including 5 multi-hit games and 3 homers. He has slashed .432/.512/.757 over that stretch and remains a bright spot on what has been an incredibly disappointing season for the Mets. Getting to face Jameson Taillon today, who has struggled with a 5.36 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, and a 1.44 HR/9, Lindor should be in a great spot to keep crushing the ball and give Met’s fans something to cheer for. 

Mookie Betts, 2B/OF Los Angeles Dodgers

Mookie Betts sure isn’t cheap coming in as one of the most expensive position players on both DraftKings and FanDuel, but Mookie Betts is just better at hitting a baseball than almost everyone. He is only 4 homers shy of setting a career-best number for him and having his best season at the plate since his 2018 MVP campaign. He is on a 14-game hitting streak and has also hit homers in back-to-back games. If you can find a way to afford him in your lineups, you put him in your lineups. 

Player Pool

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