MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Monday, August 5

We have an 8-game MLB DFS main slate on Monday, August 5th, headlined by the diversity between the elite pitching and hitting options we have. Top-tier pitching options like Tyler Glasnow, Zac Gallen, Logan Webb, and Hunter Brown take the mound and Bobby Witt, Ketel Marte, Shohei Ohtani, and Brent Rooker step into the box with great matchups.

Before you finalize your daily fantasy lineups with help from our MLB DFS picks, it's important to check out today's MLB DFS projections and MLB DFS ownership projections. Take advantage of our MLB Lineups Page to identify players who are in and out of the lineup, along with utilizing our MLB DFS Lineup Generator!

MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, August 5

MLB Weather Today, 8/5

• Minnesota Twins vs. Chicago Cubs

There is a small chance of a delay here, but nothing significant in the forecast worries me. 10 MPH winds are blowing in from left.

• San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals

It will be hot, and the wind is blowing out upwards of 10 MPH. Great for bats.

• Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Cleveland Guardians

There COULD be a delay in this one, but everything would have to go wrong. It looks as if this one should play dry and if there is rain, it's not heavy enough to cause a stoppage. 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options For Strikeouts

• Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles Dodgers - 7.5 (-125)
• Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies - 5.5 (-140)
• Hunter Brown, Houston Astros - 5.5 (+105)

Best Odds For A Win

• Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants (+100)
• Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks (+120)
• Hunter Brown, Houston Astros (+130)
• JP Sears, Oakland Athletics (+135)
• Brady Singer, Kansas City Royals (+135)

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles Dodgers

Although he didn’t look sharp in his first start off of the IL, his second start was much better and a bunch is working in his favor today. First, he gets a struggling Phillies offense. Philly, as potent as they are and have been for most of the year, rank 25th in OPS, 28th in wOBA, and wRC+ against right-handed pitching over the last month. 

They’ve also struck out 24.4% of the time over that span. Glasnow is favored to go over his 7.5 strikeout prop on DK Sportsbook and has a long leash considering he threw 102 pitches his last time out. Glasnow’s been unlucky this year pitching to a 3.5 ERA, but a 2.9 SIERA and 2.7 xFIP.

Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks

On the surface, the Guardians have a lot of lefties and you’d think they’d be better against right-handed pitching, but that hasn’t been the case. Over the last 30 days, Cleveland has been 29th in OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ against right-handed pitchers. 

Gallen invites teams to throw more lefties at home as he’s shut them down to the tune of a .212 AVG and .276 wOBA this season. Gallen has great odds to win this game outright and should continue to pitch well against a lineup struggling to hit righties.

Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants

It was a struggle for Webb until it wasn’t.  He had allowed four earned runs or more in three straight starts and fired a complete game shutout against the Athletics last time out. Washington’s been OK against right-handed pitching over the last month, but the lineup doesn’t have as much thump after a few trade deadline deals they made. Webb is +100 to pick up a win and as long as he keeps the ball on the ground, it’ll be hard for Washington to get much done here.

JP Sears, Oakland Athletics

The White Sox are bad. So bad that they’re probably (definitely) going to go down as the worst team ever. They’ve lost 20 in a row and now have to go hit in a BIG ballpark in Oakland. Sears faces an offense ranking 29th in OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ against lefties over the last 30 days while striking out 29.2% of the time, which is the fifth-highest rate in the league. 

Sears is in the midst of his best form of the year pitching to a 3.31 ERA over his last six starts and that includes a seven-run blowup against Houston. The strikeout rate has been the most impressive thing considering its at 25.2% and he has a K ceiling in this spot.

David Festa, Minnesota Twins

I like Festa for tournaments and also kind of like the Cubs as well, so what wins out? Festa has been quite unlucky at the major league level pitching to a 6.98 ERA but a 3.61 SIERA and 3.87 xFIP. Like he did at the minor league level, David Festa has missed a lot of bats as he’s at 9.78 K/9 and a 24.7% K-rate. 

Also, he’s largely been a ground ball pitcher at every level until now, where he’s been getting far more balls hit in the air. The home runs have been the primary issue, but the Cubs are also a middle-of-the-pack offense in terms of power against righties. They’re 14th in ISO over the last 30 days. There is some wind blowing in here that should help knock the ball down a bit too.

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

• Kansas City Royals - 5.5
• San Francisco Giants - 5.3
• Oakland Athletics - 4.9
• Boston Red Sox - 4.7

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Bobby Witt, Hunter Renfroe & Freddy Fermin, Kansas City Royals

I really like the right-handed bats for the Royals here. Witt's as good a spend-up as it gets. He has an 1.171 OPS over his last month. He's second in OPS to Hunter Renfroe against southpaws over that span along with a team-leading .526 wOBA. 

Fermin is hitting .368 over the last month against left-handed pitching. James Paxton has gotten pretty lucky against right-handed bats despite having pretty bad numbers to begin with. Those numbers could get worse here.

Ketel Marte, Josh Bell, Arizona Diamondbacks

Ketel Marte absolutely owns left-handed pitching. Josh Bell hits for a LOT of power against left-handed pitching. I'm good stacking the Diamondbacks too, but a two-man stack of two guys atop their lineup makes a ton of sense. Bell has been powerful in general lately hitting .300 with seven home runs in 13 games. Marte has a 1.145 OPS over the last month against southpaws and are over 1.000 as well.

Brent Rooker, Oakland Athletics

The Athletics team total is soaring and is now 4.9 as they face Ky Bush making his major league debut. The A's rank first as a team against lefties over the last month. Rooker has posted a .941 OPS, 1.370 OPS, .529 ISO, and .518 wOBA against lefties over the last month. Rooker crushes lefties and this is a great spot.

Royce Lewis, Matt Wallner, Minnesota Twins

You know your team crushes a specific handedness of pitching when you have THREE guys with an OPS north of 1.200 and .490 ISO over a month. That's what Minnesota has against righties in Lewis and Wallner. I know Kyle Hendricks has been worse against lefties, but he's been dreadful since the All-Star break in general pitching to a 7.2 ERA.

Matt Chapman, Tyler Fitzgerald, Mark Canha, San Francisco Giants

All three players listed have an OPS better than .867 against southpaws this year and all three are firmly in play. The Giants make for an interesting stack as Patrick Corbin takes the hill fresh off the grenade he took allowing 10 ER in three innings. Righties are clearly the preferred options here as they're batting .311 with a .370 wOBA. With the wind blowing out, just an extra feather in the old cap for San Fran batters.  

Xavier Edwards, Miami Marlins

Nick Martinez is starting for the Reds today and as a starter this year, he has a 7.36 ERA with a .348 AVG and .388 wOBA. Edwards has been as good as anyone across baseball lately batting .421 over his last 10 games and a .411 against the All-Star break. Edwards has a .411/.486/.518 slash since the break along with a .430 wOBA. 

Miguel Andujar, Lawrence Butler, Daz Cameron, Oakland Athletics

It's impossible not to love Oakland tonight. They've been great against southpaws and outside of Brent Rooker, they've been spearheaded by these three players. Andujar has a .417 AVG, .982 wOBA, and .425 wOBA against southpaws over the last 30 days while Cameron has a 1.188 OPS and Butler's at a 1.643 OPS over that span. The list goes on and Tyler Nevin and Shea Langeliers could've made the cut as well.

Player Pool

• DraftKings Player Pool
• FanDuel Player Pool

$ Tier	SP	1B	2B	3B	SS	OF
High	Tyler Glasnow $10,500		Ketel Marte $3,900	Royce Lewis $4,100	Bobby Witt $4,500	Shohei Ohtani $4,800
				Rafael Devers $4,000	Elly De La Cruz $4,200	Brent Rooker $3,800
Medium	Zac Gallen $9,400	Cody Bellinger $3,200	Jose Altuve $3,600	Matt Chapman $3,400	Tyler Fitzgerald $3,500	Jarren Duran $3,600
	JP Sears $8,600	Salvador Perez $3,100	Willi Castro $3,000	Eugenio Suárez $3,100	Xavier Edwards $3,100	Lawrence Butler $3,000
		Jake Burger $3,000
Low	David Festa $6,700	Mark Canha $2,800	Gavin Lux $2,900	Jonah Bride $2,600	Geraldo Perdomo $2,800	Lourdes Gurriel $2,900
		Josh Bell $2,800	Maikel Franco $0	Tyler Nevin $2,300	Marco Luciano $2,400	Wilyer Abreu $2,900
		Miguel Andujar $2,700				Matt Wallner $2,900
						Max Kepler $2,800
						Hunter Renfroe $2,800
						Trevor Larnach $2,600
						Jerar Encarnación $2,500
						Daz Cameron $2,400

Stacks

Athletics	Lawrence Butler	Daz Cameron	Shea Langeliers	Brent Rooker	Miguel Andujar
DraftKings	3800	2900	4100	5400	3900
Fanduel	3000	2400	2800	3800	2700

Royals	Bobby Witt	Freddy Fermin	Maikel Garcia	Hunter Renfroe	Salvador Perez
DraftKings	6500	3600	4300	3800	5100
Fanduel	4500	2800	2800	2800	3100

Giants	Matt Chapman	Mark Canha	Marco Luciano	Tyler Fitzgerald	Jerar Encarnación
DraftKings	4600	3500	2700	4500	3000
Fanduel	3400	2800	2400	3500	2500

Twins	Royce Lewis	Trevor Larnach	Willi Castro	Matt Wallner	Max Kepler
DraftKings	5300	3600	4400	3700	3900
Fanduel	4100	2600	3000	2900	2800

Diamondbacks	Ketel Marte	Lourdes Gurriel	Eugenio Suárez	Gabriel Moreno	Josh Bell
DraftKings	5800	4300	3900	3500	-
Fanduel	3900	2900	3100	2800	2800