MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Monday, July 29
Published: Jul 29, 2024
We have a 9-game MLB DFS main slate on Monday, July 29th, headlined by the diversity between the elite pitching and hitting options we have. Top tier pitching options like Paul Skenes, Logan Gilbert, and Nathan Eovaldi take the hill while Bobby Witt, Elly De La Cruz, Ketel Marte, and Royce Lewis 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, July 29
MLB Weather Today, 7/29
SECOND UPDATE - This game is once again in scary territory. There is a definite chance that there is enough rain to postpone the game. Very risky, MME players only.
We may see a delay here, but it’s not overly concerning in the long term.
There is a potential late start here, but nothing that will impact this game long-term.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options For Strikeouts
- Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates - 7.5 (+125)
- Nick Pivetta, Boston Red Sox - 6.5 (-150)
- Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners - 5.5 (-140)
- Alec Marsh, Kansas City Royals - 5.5 (+115)
- Colin Rea, Milwaukee Brewers - 5.5 (+125)
Best Odds For A Win
- Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers (+115)
- Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates (+125)
- Alec Marsh, Kansas City Royals (+140)
- Jordan Montgomery, Arizona Diamondbacks (+155)
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
As good as advertised is an understatement. This is obviously a tough spot as the Astros are a great offense, but Skenes hasn’t had any issues to date. In July, the Astros are 18th in OPS and wOBA and 19th in wRC+ against right-handed pitching. Skenes has a 34% K-rate this year and has as much upside as anyone else on the slate.
Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers
This is somewhat of a tough spot as the St. Louis Cardinals are a top-10 offense in July against right-handed pitching, but Eovaldi has been quite good in July. He’s coming off a 10 K game and has a bunch of strikeouts in July. Eovaldi has the best odds on the slate to pick up a win despite being on the road today. This, like many other pitching plays on the slate, is risky.
Nick Pivetta, Boston Red Sox
There are two sides to this coin. Nick Pivetta has an incredibly high ceiling and a negative fantasy point floor. The undeniable part of this play is that the strikeout is alive and well here. Pivetta has six or more strikeouts in four straight starts, three of them being eight-plus. Seattle’s offense is VERY volatile, but they’ve been QUITE good against righties on the road this month. They’re top three in OPS, ISO, wOBA, and wRC+ in that situation and now get to face Pivetta in Fenway.
Colin Rea, Milwaukee Brewers
Despite the fact Rea hasn’t completed six innings in any of his past three starts, he’s -130 on DK Sportsbook to complete six innings. It’s a great spot for him considering how poorly the Braves have been against right-handed pitching. In July, the Braves are 23rd in OPS, 26th in wOBA, and 27th in wRC+ against righties. Also, over that span, the Braves have a 26.2% K-rate and Rea has 15 punch outs in his last two outings and has seven-plus in three of five.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Kansas City Royals - 5.2
- Arizona Diamondbacks - 5.1
- Cincinnati Reds - 4.6
- Chicago Cubs - 4.6
Core MLB DFS Hitters
Bobby Witt, Kansas City Royals
The Royals face off against Chris Flexen and the White Sox today and have the highest implied runs total on the main slate. Witt has been as good as anyone in baseball lately and has a 1.200 OPS over the last 30 days against right-handed pitching. Although lefties have given Flexen fits, righties have actually gotten pretty unlucky and there is going to be positive regression there.
Ketel Marte & Lourdes Gurriel, Arizona Diamondbacks
It's hard to ignore how good Arizona looks tonight. Marte and Gurriel especially with how good they've been against southpaws this season. Marte has a .350 AVG and 1.100 OPS this year against lefties and Gurriel is hitting .330 with an .861 OPS. Righty power has given Mitchell Parker the most issues out of anything this year posting 1.5 HR/9, 40% FB rate, and 37% hard-hit rate.
Royce Lewis, Minnesota Twins
All Lewis needed was two rehab games before being activated for the Twins and it took him not time to get back on track as he homered in his second game back. It's obviously a limited sample, but Lewis has insane numbers against southpaws this year hitting .429 with a 1.300 OPS.
Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh Pirates
Power has given Jake Bloss absolute FITS early on in his major league career. Through three starts he's at 3.86 HR/9 and a 52.5% FB rate. Cruz has flashed a LOT of power against righties this year and has been great overall this month. He's hit 12 of 17 homers off righties this year with a .224 ISO. In July, Cruz has hit .306 with a .988 OPS, .319 ISO, and .410 wOBA.
Lane Thomas & Juan Yepez, Washington Nationals
Far and above the rest are Thomas and Yepez when it comes to production against left-handed pitching. Over the past month, albeit a small sample, Yepez is hitting .412 with an OPS north of 1.000 and Thomas is hitting .333 with an .878 OPS. Righties have taken Jordan Montgomery's lunch money all year long.
Cal Raleigh, Victor Robles & Jorge Polanco, Seattle Mariners
This is my wild card team of the day considering they're on the road. On the road, they're lethal. Here are the three mentioned players numbers against righties on the road over the last month:
- Cal Raleigh: .720 SLG%, 1.113 OPS, .400 ISO
- Victor Robles: .500 AVG, .833 SLG%, 1.360 OPS, .577 wOBA
- Jorge Polanco: .304 AVG, .950 OPS, .261 ISO, .407 wOBA
Jeff McNeil, New York Mets
One of the Mets best hitters over the past month has been McNeil and it's in a category that's a little unexpected; the power department. During the last 30 days, he has a .552 SLG% and .293 ISO against right-handed pitching, which is second and first on the team respectively.
MJ Melendez, Kansas City Royals
It's a smaller sample because he spent time on the injured list during this span, but Melendez was really crushing right-handed pitching and gets an elite matchup against Chris Flexen. Lefties have a 50.7% FB rate and hit 2.36 HR/9 against Flexen this year, which is REALLY hard to ignore.
Core Players Added
- Alec Marsh, Kansas City Royals
- Michael Massey, Kansas City Royals
- Gabriel Moreno & Christian Walker, Arizona Diamondbacks
- Rowdy Tellez, Pittsburgh Pirates
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Paul Skenes  $11,500 |  Ketel Marte $3,800 |  Bobby Witt $4,300 | |||
 Nathan Eovaldi $10,400 |  Francisco Lindor $4,100 | |||||
 Elly De La Cruz $4,200 | ||||||
| Medium |  Nick Pivetta $9,400 |  Christian Walker $3,600 | Marcus Semien $3,400 |  Royce Lewis $3,500 | Oneil Cruz $3,300 |  Luis Robert $3,300 |
| Alec Marsh $8,200 |  Juan Yepez $3,300 | Eugenio Suárez $3,100 | Byron Buxton $3,200 | |||
 Ian Happ $3,200 | ||||||
 Lane Thomas $3,200 | ||||||
| Lourdes Gurriel $3,000 | ||||||
 Randy Arozarena $3,200 | ||||||
| Bryan Reynolds $3,500 | ||||||
| Low |  Grant Holmes $5,500 | Carlos Santana $2,900 | Jeff McNeil $2,800 | Ildemaro Vargas $2,300 | Paul DeJong $2,600 | Victor Robles $2,700 |
| Vinnie Pasquantino $2,900 | Jorge Polanco $2,600 | MJ Melendez $2,600 | ||||
| Michael Busch $2,700 | Michael Massey $2,600 |  Manuel Margot $2,400 | ||||
| Rowdy Tellez $2,900 | Ji Hwan Bae $2,300 | |||||
 Harold Ramírez $2,200 |
Stacks
| Diamondbacks | Ketel Marte | Lourdes Gurriel | Eugenio Suárez | Gabriel Moreno | Christian Walker |
 DraftKings | 5600 | 4200 | 3600 | 3400 | 5300 |
| Fanduel | 3800 | 3000 | 3100 | 2800 | 3600 |
| Royals | Vinnie Pasquantino | Bobby Witt | MJ Melendez | Salvador Perez | Michael Massey |
| DraftKings | 4700 | 6400 | 3000 | 4900 | 4000 |
| Fanduel | 2900 | 4300 | 2600 | 3000 | 2600 |
| Mariners | Jorge Polanco | Randy Arozarena | Jason Vosler | Cal Raleigh | Victor Robles |
| DraftKings | 3400 | 4800 | 2800 | 4500 | 3100 |
| Fanduel | 2600 | 3200 | 2000 | 2900 | 2700 |
| Nationals | Lane Thomas | Harold Ramírez | Juan Yepez |
| DraftKings | 5000 | 3000 | 3400 |
| Fanduel | 3200 | 2200 | 3300 |
| Pirates | Rowdy Tellez | Joshua Palacios | Bryan Reynolds | Oneil Cruz |
| DraftKings | 3100 | 3300 | 5200 | 5100 |
| Fanduel | 2900 | 2400 | 3500 | 3300 |
Player News
MacKenzie Gore struck out seven and walked one while scattering six hits and allowing just one run over six innings in an 8-2 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday.
Gore closed out his first half in style with an easy win here. Alec Burleson smacked a run-scoring single against him in the first inning, then Gore retired nine of the next 10 batters he faced and only let two more Cardinals reach second base for the rest of his outing. Oddly enough, Gore was more efficient than usual and was pulled after these six innings at 89 pitches. He allowed just three hard-hit balls and forced just nine swings-and-misses, which is very low for him. The Cardinals just simply could not square him up and Gore will head into the break with a 3.02 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 110 1/3 innings.
James Wood went 1-for-4 with a solo home run on Wednesday against the Cardinals.
Wood’s power is truly prodigious. This home run gave him 24 on the season, fifth most in the National League. It was also his 11th home run that traveled at least 420 feet, tying Eugenio Suárez for third-most in baseball. On top of that, he had another ball in play this game that he hit 113.6 mph. That tied him with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for third-most batted balls hit 113 mph or harder this season. The best part? Wood is doing all this as a 22-year-old in his first full major league season. Next week’s Home Run Derby and All-Star Game could help him get the national recognition he deserves as one of the brightest young stars in the game.
Masyn Winn went 3-for-4 with a double and a RBI on Wednesday against the Nationals.
Winn’s Cardinals could not get anything going against MacKenzie Gore in this one. He had a late single to score a run against reliever Cole Henry in what was otherwise a lackluster game for their lineup. His double earlier in the game was more of a cue shot that he only hit 56.5 mph off the bat. It was also just his third extra-base hit over the last two weeks as he’s been trapped in a bit of a power outage.
Andre Pallante allowed eight hits and seven runs with one walk and two strikeouts over six innings in a loss to the Nationals on Wednesday.
Pallante got off to a bad start here when Nathaniel Lowe took him deep for a three-run home run in the first inning. He threw him one of the fattest hanging curveballs a pitcher could ever throw and Lowe smoked it. Then, he gave up three more in the fourth and another in the fifth. This was only the second time since May 10th where Pallante let in more than three runs despite never being a guy that forces many swings-and-misses.
Mets RHP prospect Nolan McLean recorded 10 strikeouts over six shutout innings on Wednesday for Triple-A Syracuse.
McLean has strung together back-to-back double-digit strikeout performances, has piling up 20 strikeouts over 11 innings during that span. The 23-year-old righty has been one of the fastest rising pitching prospects in the fantasy landscape this season with a stellar 2.17 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 95/38 K/BB ratio across 87 innings (16 appearances, 14 starts) between Triple-A Syracuse and Double-A Binghamton. There’s a chance he gets a look later this season with the Mets, but their rotation mix remains extremely crowded.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered twice and drove in four runs Wednesday in the Yankees’ 9-6 victory over the Mariners.
We’re not going to credit the outburst tonight to Chisholm being pleased about getting his old position back, but there is no doubt he’s happy about it. He’s up to 17 homers in just 61 games this season. He’s only seven off his career high of 24 in 147 games from last year.