Happy Saturday! Two days!! Just two days of baseball left! With only two days left, we still have eight teams who are fighting for the postseason. Tonight, we have an 11-game main slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel set to start at 7:10 PM EST. There are some exciting matchups on this slate, with the Texas Rangers facing the Seattle Mariners and the Houston Astros going up against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with all three AL West teams still with a chance to win the division and the Diamondbacks fighting to hold their lead of the NL Wild Card. We also have both the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds on this slate, who are both looking up at the NL Wild Card, hoping for a miracle to still get to October. It is going to be an exciting final weekend of baseball, and let’s add to the excitement by building some winning MLB DFS lineups. With that said, let’s jump right 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 September 30

MLB Weather Updates

It looks like we should have a clear day for our final day of Saturday baseball of the season.

DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

We have quite a few Aces taking the mound today, and for me, I am targeting the ones that are still fighting for the postseason between Luis Castillo, Justin Verlander, and Merrill Kelly. Beyond those top guys, there are only a few pitchers I like to target today, as I would rather live with those few aces for the most part today. On the offensive side, some of my favorite offenses to target today include the Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves. For teams that aren’t still fighting for their spot in the postseason, be sure to keep a close eye on lineups as they come out to make sure your guys are still in the starting lineup. 

Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options for Strikeouts

Spencer Strider vs Washington Nationals

Clayton Kershaw vs San Francisco Giants

Luis Castillo vs Texas Rangers

Merrill Kelly vs Houston Astros

Best Odds for a Win

Spencer Strider vs Washington Nationals

Clayton Kershaw vs San Francisco Giants

Michael Wacha vs Chicago White Sox 

Kyle Gibson vs Boston Red Sox

Luis Castillo vs Texas Rangers

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Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups

Luis Castillo, Seattle Mariners

Luis Castillo was my AL Cy Young pick at the beginning of the season, and while it looks like Gerrit Cole has locked that up, Luis Castillo has still had an incredible season and should give us a great final start here, fighting to keep the Mariners season alive. He has 8 strikeouts in each of his last 4 starts, and while the last one came with a few too many runs, giving up 5 against the Houston Astros, I expect him to bounce back and dominate this final game of the season for him in Seattle. 

Connor Phillips, Cincinnati Reds

The St. Louis Cardinals offense has been struggling badly recently, and with the Reds still fighting to keep their season alive, I think we will see a great performance from Connor Phillips here today. He has looked solid in his last two outings, striking out a combined 16 batters through 12 innings with a 3.75 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. He provides great upside today if you want to pivot away from the top arms of the slate. 

Recommended DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

Minnesota Twins vs TBD

Colorado Rockies vs Emilio Pagan

New York Yankees vs Steve Cruz

Atlanta Braves vs Joan Adon

Cincinnati Reds vs Drew Rom

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Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups

Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups

Ryan Jeffers, C Minnesota Twins

Ryan Jeffers has 3 homers in his last 4 games, along with 6 total hits and 4 homers in his last 7 games. He has been locked in as a strong part of this Minnesota offense, and getting to end the season in Colorado, I expect the fireworks to continue with him also only a homer shy of a career-high for him as well. 

Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 1B/3B Cincinnati Reds

Encarnacion-Strand has been blazing hot over his last 10 games, with a homer in 7 of the last 10 games with a .333/.366/.872 slash line over that stretch. He has found himself batting cleanup for the Reds the last few games, and that should continue with him crushing the ball like this as the Reds attempt to pull off a miracle and find themselves still playing in a few days.  

J.P. Crawford, SS Seattle Mariners

J.P. Crawford has been playing hero for the Seattle Mariners. He hit a home run in their final loss against the Astros; the next day, he had a walk-off hit with the Mariners down to their final out of the game, trialing a run, and then he followed it up the next day with a grand slam to propel the Mariners to another win. With another must-win game, I think the J.P. Crawford magic will continue even in the lefty-lefty matchup against Andrew Heaney.

Nolan Jones, OF Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies season may be over, but Nolan Jones probably doesn’t want it to end yet. He has been great for them all season but has been especially awesome during this final stretch. Through his last 12 games, he has slashed .476/.585/.762 with 3 home runs and 6 stolen bases and has definitely increased his fantasy stock for next season quite a bit. 

Player Pool

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Stacks

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