MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Tuesday, July 23rd
![MLB DFS Playbook July 23 Chris Sale Atlanta Braves](https://d29m18w01sxjzp.cloudfront.net/thumbnails/source/fatest/MLB_DFS_Playbook_July_23_Chris_Sale_Atlanta_Braves-1000x600.jpg)
Published: Jul 23, 2024
Happy Tuesday! We have a great day of baseball in store for us. It is Paul Skenes day, and he will look to follow up his last start, where he threw 7 no-hit innings with 11 strikeouts before starting the all-star game. While Skenes isn’t on the main slate today, there is still no shortage of aces taking the mound, which should make for an exciting slate, so let’s keep this week going strong today with some more winning MLB DFS lineups!
We have an 11-game main slate this evening that will be getting underway at 7:05 PM ET on both DraftKings and FanDuel. This slate does include Coors once again, with the Red Sox vs. Rockies series continuing there and plenty of other great players to choose from to build some winning lineups around today, so let’s jump right into today’s playbook and my favorite MLB DFS picks for the day!
MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, July 23
MLB Weather Today, 7/23
There are some thunderstorms this afternoon, but they should clear out before game time. The worst we are looking at should be a slightly delayed start.
A few thunderstorms scattered through the area, but they don’t look like they will affect the game as of right now.
MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
The top-end pitching today is absolutely stacked. Chris Sale, Logan Gilbert, Garrett Crochet, Zack Wheeler, and Luis Gil are all so good that they are worth considering today, but you’ll have to pay for it. I am likely paying for it today because it gets ugly quickly after those five. I have one cheaper option in my favorites that you could pair with your favorite of the top five; if not, I would likely just pay up for pitching today and take two of the top five. The only other pitchers I could see giving consideration for today are Jose Berrios, Landon Knack, and Jon Gray.
On the offensive side, obviously the Coors game has to have some consideration. I think you can go to both sides, with both the Rockies and Red Sox having some good players to target. Outside of Coors, some of my favorite lineups to target today include the Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options For Strikeouts
- Chris Sale vs. Cincinnati Reds
- Garrett Crochet vs. Texas Rangers
- Zack Wheeler vs. Minnesota Twins
- Luis Gil vs. New York Mets
- Logan Gilbert vs. Los Angeles Angels
Best Odds For A Win
- Zack Wheeler vs. Minnesota Twins
- Chris Sale vs. Cincinnati Reds
- Logan Gilbert vs. Los Angeles Angels
- Albert Suarez vs. Miami Marlins
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves
Chris Sale is putting together his best season since 2018. He has been absurdly good, and he is worth paying this huge price tag for right now. He is coming off an outing with only 4 strikeouts, but that was against the Padres, who are one of the hardest teams to strike out. Before that outing, he had a stretch of 12 starts where he averaged over 8.5 strikeouts per start.
The Cincinnati Reds are not a great team against lefties and have an over 23% strikeout rate against them since June. At least 8 strikeouts feel almost guaranteed tonight, with the potential for even more.
Garrett Crochet, Chicago White Sox
Garrett Crochet leads the entire league in strikeout minus walk rate at 29.8% (Chris Sale is third at 26.9%). To put into perspective how insane that is, there are only 7 qualified starters with a strikeout rate higher than 29.8%. You shouldn’t worry too much about his last two starts; there should be no reason he isn’t back to throwing at least 5+ innings today.
The Texas Rangers are also a below-average team against lefties and are in the bottom 10 in strikeout rate against lefties at 22.6%. Arguments can be made for any of the top five starters today, but Sale and Crochet are easily my favorites on this slate.
Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels
You know we love to attack the Seattle Mariners because they strike out so much. They have by far the highest strikeout rate in the league against right-handers, at 28.7%. It helps when the pitcher has already shown strikeout upside, which Soriano has with 6 or more strikeouts in 6 starts this season.
He only struck out 5 in his last outing against the Mariners, but he also struggled with command, with a season-high 4 walks. Despite that, he still made it through 6 innings, only giving up 1 run, getting both a quality start and the win. If he can command a bit better today, we could easily see him get 6+ strikeouts again, although the win potential is hurt a little with him facing Logan Gilbert.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Boston Red Sox vs. Ty Blach
- Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Alec Marsh
- New York Yankees vs. Jose Quintana
- Atlanta Braves vs. Nick Martinez
Core MLB DFS Hitters
*Note: Will Be Updated As Official Starting Lineups Are Released
Vladimir Guerrero, 1B/3B Toronto Blue Jays
Vladimir Guerrero is crushing the ball right now with 8 hits in his last 4 games, including 3 homers and 2 doubles. After his slow start to the season, he still has a .292/.362/.473 slash line, which is his best since his monstrous 2021 season.
He faces Tyler Alexander today, a lefty who gets crushed by right-handers. Righties have a .848 OPS against him this season, which is pretty much in line with the career mark for him of .823. This should be a great matchup for Vlad to keep this hot stretch going.
Gavin Lux, 2B Los Angeles Dodgers
I was big on Gavin Lux to start the season as someone who I believed would be a great bat for the Dodgers; so far, it has not worked out that way. It looks like things might be turning around, though, with homers in back-to-back games and 5 total hits, although he did go hitless yesterday, but I think this is a better matchup for him today.
I like the Dodgers as a whole against Jordan Hicks today, but it is going to be difficult to afford a lot of their bats, but I am happy to turn to a bat I do believe in that is starting to heat up that you can get for a very good price.
Bobby Witt, SS Kansas City Royals
Bobby Witt could be $7,000, and I would still consider trying to fit him in my lineup. He is on another level right now, and if I can only get one top-priced hitter today (which is possible with how much I will be spending on pitching), it is going to be Bobby Witt
Over the last 4 games, he has 12 hits with 3 hits in all 4 games, including 2 homers, a triple, and 2 doubles (he fell a single short of the cycle last night). The Royals will be facing Jordan Montgomery in his return, who has struggled so far this season, and I don’t trust him to shut down this hot Royals team right now.
Lawrence Butler, OF Oakland Athletics
Lawrence Butler’s price has climbed a ton recently, with him all the way up to $3,700, up from the $2,500 he was before the all-star break, but that isn’t enough of a price jump with what he is doing right now.
The Athletics offense has been producing recently, and I think they will keep it up today against Jake Bloss. You can consider stacking a few Athletics bats today, but even if you aren’t, Lawrence Butler should probably be in your lineup.
Player Pool
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