MLB DFS Playbook July 29: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Jul 29, 2023
Happy Saturday! We have a great slate of games lined up for us today. We have a 13-game main slate starting at 7:05 PM EST on both DraftKings and FanDuel, with the Los Angeles Angels vs Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers vs Miami Marlins being the only games not on the slate. There are some exciting matchups happening on this weekend day as we await more trade news. The Boston Red Sox look to continue their 5-game win streak and improve on what is the best record in baseball in July against the San Francisco Giants. The Cincinnati Reds are looking to secure the series win with another win against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The last place New York Yankees look to try and steal one from the division-leading Baltimore Orioles. All these games give us plenty of players to choose from and endless ways to build a winning MLB DFS lineup, whether you are playing in gpp tournaments or cash games. 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 July 29
MLB Weather Updates
New York Yankees vs Baltimore Orioles: Some scattered thunderstorms but should be long gone before game time.
Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals: Some scattered thunderstorms here as well that could potentially cause delays but shouldn’t be anything long.
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
Today’s slate is highlighted by Aaron Nola, Bailey Ober, and James Paxton on the top end, with all three of them fighting to keep their teams in contention through the trade deadline. Plenty of exciting arms to choose from across the board, though with my favorites found down below. On the offensive side, we’ve got some great teams crushing the ball in the summer heat with some of my favorite lineups to target today, including the Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Aaron Nola vs Pittsburgh Pirates
Hunter Brown vs Tampa Bay Rays
Best Odds for a Win
Bryce Elder vs Milwaukee Brewers
Los Angeles Dodgers vs Cincinnati Reds
Bailey Ober vs Kansas City Royals
Aaron Nola vs Pittsburgh Pirates
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
He has a few starts that weren’t quite as dominant recently, but James Paxton has been pitching at ace level most of this season since joining the team. Today he gets to face a bad offense in the San Francisco Giants in one of the best pitcher parks at Oracle Park. You do have to pay up for James Paxton, but this is too good of a spot for me not to bet on him putting up a fantastic outing and being worth the price today.
Bryan Woo had a bit of a rough last two starts against the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays. He gave up 10 earned runs over 9.1 innings, mostly driven by 4 home runs that he gave up. He still had 11 strikeouts over those starts, and I think he will bounce back from that today. Arizona is getting much better but is still a middle-of-the-road offense and one that Woo should be able to handle today.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
Colorado Rockies vs Paul Blackburn
Oakland Athletics vs Christopher Flexen
Atlanta Braves vs Julio Teheran
Los Angeles Dodgers vs Luke Weaver
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
I think Pete Alonso may be back. He has two different multi-homer games over the last 4 games and hopefully, this means the power is finally back for Alonso who has been struggling at the plate since his injury back in June. Facing Patrick Corbin today will be a fantastic chance for him to continue to show his power and maybe we even get another multi-homer game.
Austin Riley, 3B Atlanta Braves
Austin hit another homer last night now giving him 7 homers over his last 9 games. He has a 1.422 OPS over that stretch and is quickly turning around what had been a relatively tame season at the plate so far. The Braves are an incredible offense and with Riley hitting this well in the heart of it, it is difficult not to trust him to produce even at his high price.
Nico Hoerner, 2B/SS Chicago Cubs
Over his last 10 games, Nico Hoerner has 16 hits, including 2 homers along with 4 stolen bases. He 5 multi-hit games with 3 different 3-hit games. The Chicago Cubs are playing some important games right now as the club is right on the edge of being buyers or sellers and I think Nico will continue to be hot at the plate trying to push this team into contention and he also gets a good matchup getting to face veteran Adam Wainwright.
Julio Rodriguez, OF Seattle Mariners
Another young star doing everything he can right now to push his team into contention at the deadline. Julio’s sophomore campaign hasn’t been nearly as electric as his rookie of the year season last year was, but he has turned it up the last couple of games. In his last three games, he has 7 hits with 3 of them being homers and another 3 being doubles. He is one of the best young talents in the game and I don’t see him slowing down from this hot streak yet.
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