MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Monday, July 8

We have a five-game MLB DFS main slate on Monday, July 8th, headlined by Chris Sale and everyone else on the mound. I say everyone else because Sale is $2,000 more than every other pitcher on the MLB DFS DraftKings slate. There are a lot of good offenses in play, including the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians, and Minnesota Twins.

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 8

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options For Strikeouts

• Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds - 5.5 (-140)
• Ryan Feltner, Colorado Rockies - 5.5 (+120)

Best Odds For A Win

• Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox (-185) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
• Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds (-180) vs. Colorado Rockies
• Chris Paddack, Minnesota Twins (-180) vs. Chicago White Sox 

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

UPDATE - Chris Sale has been pushed back until tomorrow. Bryce Elder is starting for the Atlanta Braves tonight.

Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians

Williams only tossed 74 pitches in his season debut, but you’d have to think if he hadn’t struggled, he would’ve likely thrown more considering his final minor league rehab start he tossed 82. 

Williams faces a Tigers offense that isn’t very good, let’s face facts. They have some nice pieces, but since June 1st they’re 28th in OPS and wOBA and 27th in wRC+. Williams and the Guardians are -142 to win today and he should have plenty of run support from his offense.

Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds

When you look at the Rockies’ offense, this is a VERY exploitable matchup if Abbott can miss bats. On the year, and away from Coors Field, the Rockies have a .634 OPS, which ranks 25th, and a 26% K-rate, which is the third highest. 

Abbott’s strikeouts are way down, but he does have a 10-strikeout game on his ledger this season. He’s been worse overall, but he’s been missing bats at home this year posting a 8.29 K/9 compared to a 6.05 mark on the road.

Yilber Diaz, Arizona Diamondbacks

Making your major league debut against the Braves isn’t always the easiest thing, but let’s dive into the Braves’ offense lately. Over the last two weeks, the Braves are 25th in OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ with a 27.1% K-rate. If you extend that to the beginning of June, they’re still 25th in OPS and wOBA and 24th in wRC+. 

Since May 27th, the first game without Ronald Acuna, they’re right there too. They haven’t been good against righties. Diaz has been a big-time strikeout arm at the minor league level and has even somewhat figured out pitching in the PCL, which is the hardest minor league division to pitch in. I’m interested in Diaz as a punt.

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

• Minnesota Twins - 5.6
• Cincinnati Reds - 5.3
• Atlanta Braves - 4.9
• Cleveland Guardians - 4.7
• Texas Rangers - 4.7

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds

De La Cruz has a lot working for him here. He’s home where he’s posted an .839 OPS and gets to hit from the left side, which is his better split. He faces Ryan Feltner, who can’t get lefties out, and have allowed a .313/.356/.526 split. Feltner has elevated flyball and hard-hit rates against lefties to boot.

Josh Naylor, Cleveland Guardians

Lefties have MASHED Keider Montero this year and Naylor’s been one of the Guardians' most productive hitters against right-handed pitching. He has a .842 OPS, .260 ISO, and .354 wOBA against them. Naylor fits a Guardians stack well, but that’s an expensive stack for sure. You can play him as a one-off, too.

Corey Seager, Texas Rangers

It’s really hard to ignore Corey Seager when he’s THIS scorching hot. He goes on insane runs. He’s hitting .368 over his last 10 games and overall, against righties, he has a .911 OPS, .233 ISO, and a .385 wOBA. Lefties hit nearly .300 against Daniel at the Triple-A level this season.

Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers

Outside of an elevated strikeout rate, Riley Greene has been fantastic against right-handed pitching. Greene has a .533 SLG%, .925 OPS, .246 ISO, and .396 wOBA against righty hurlers this year. Lefties got to Gavin Williams last year and they also gave him issues during his minor league stint this year.

Nathaniel Lowe & Wyatt Langford, Texas Rangers

The Rangers offense has risen over the past couple of weeks and Langford and Lowe are at the forefront of that. Both guys have posted an .870+ OPS over that span while Langford sits right below 1.000. They’re both still extremely cheap and hit in premier spots in the lineup to do serious damage. 

Colt Keith, Detroit Tigers

The price is what piques my interest here. I wrote Gavin Williams up as well, but I’m not afraid to fade him in favor of some Tigers. Specifically, Keith and Riley Greene. Over the last 28 days, a span of 22 games, Keith has hit .310 with a .889 OPS while belting five home runs. 

Since the calendar flipped to July, he’s hit .375 with a 1.200 OPS. Lefties had a .500 SLG% during his minor league rehab stint and lefties are what gave him issues at the major league level last year as they posted a .795 OPS.

Brooks Lee, Minnesota Twins

Brooks Lee has been all that and a bag of chips since being called up and has a matchup against Chris Flexen who struggles against lefties. Lee hit .369 from the left side of the plate with a .980 OPS in the minors this year and is batting .467 during his short time at the major league level too. His price is still silly and he’s a staple for roster builds today, especially for teams spending up on Chris Sale.

UPDATE - With Bryce Elder pitching, I'm interested in Arizona Diamondbacks bats.

• Joc Pederson - .902 OPS, .232 ISO, .389 wOBA
• Christian Walker - .866 OPS, .271 ISO, .368 wOBA
• Alek Thomas - .844 OPS, .333 ISO, .357 wOBA

Player Pool

• DraftKings Player Pool
• FanDuel Player Pool

$ Tier	SP	1B	2B	3B	SS	OF
High		Christian Walker $3,700		José Ramírez $4,300	Elly De La Cruz $4,200	Steven Kwan $3,900
Medium	Andrew Abbott $9,500	Josh Naylor $3,500		Jeimer Candelario $3,000	Corey Seager $3,500	Riley Greene $3,600
	Gavin Williams $7,700	Jose Miranda $3,400		Josh Smith $3,000		Byron Buxton $3,200
		Nathaniel Lowe $3,000				Joc Pederson $3,300
Low			Colt Keith $2,900	Brooks Lee $2,800		Wyatt Langford $2,900
			Willi Castro $2,900			Max Kepler $2,700
			Daniel Schneemann $2,900			Leody Taveras $2,700
			Brendan Rodgers $2,600			Alek Thomas $2,400
			Angel Martínez $2,200

Stacks

Rangers	Nathaniel Lowe	Corey Seager	Josh Smith	Wyatt Langford	Jonah Heim
DraftKings	3700	5000	4000	3900	3300
Fanduel	3000	3500	3000	2900	2700

Twins	Jose Miranda	Carlos Correa	Max Kepler	Brooks Lee	Byron Buxton
DraftKings	4700	5400	4200	3000	4600
Fanduel	3400	3600	2700	2800	3200

Guardians	Angel Martínez	José Ramírez	Daniel Schneemann	Steven Kwan	Josh Naylor
DraftKings	2800	6500	3800	5800	5600
Fanduel	2200	4300	2900	3900	3500

Diamondbacks	Alek Thomas	Joc Pederson	Corbin Carroll	Christian Walker
DraftKings	3100	4700	4800	5200
Fanduel	2400	3300	3200	3700