MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Wednesday, July 31
Published: Jul 31, 2024
We have a 7-game MLB DFS early slate on Wednesday, July 31 and following the MLB Trade Deadline it should be a fun slate to break down especially with top arms such as Chris Sale and Taj Bradley on the mound here today as well as the red-hot Jazz Chisholm who will look to continue his torrid pace since joining the New York Yankees.
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MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, July 31
MLB Weather Today, 7/31
East Coast Games
- Just a blanket statement here for the games in the East Coast with Blue Jays/Orioles, Yankees/Phillies, Twins/Mets as there is potential for rain. Nothing that is expected to cause a postponement of these games but if the rain hits the stadium there is a chance for a delay.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options For Strikeouts
Best Odds For A Win
- Taj Bradley vs. Miami Marlins
- Chris Sale vs. Milwaukee Brewers
- Brady Singer vs. Chicago White Sox
- Grayson Rodriguez vs. Toronto Blue Jays
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays
Since his June 1st blowup against the Baltimore Orioles, Bradley has made nine starts and in those nine starts he has a 0.82 ERA and a 2.48 FIP while racking up 65 strikeouts over 55.0 innings.
Today he draws a start against a Miami Marlins team that essentially flipped their major league roster during the trade deadline and while this same Marlins team was able to put up runs on Jeffrey Springs and the Rays bullpen, I doubt they find the same success against a guy who has been one of the top overall pitchers in baseball for the last two months.
Brady Singer, Kansas City Royals
We've gone back and forth with Brady Singer for a few years now, touted as one of the Royals top pitching prospects he has been marred with inconsistencies but he has finally stabilized and has become the front end starter the Royals had been hoping for.
Today he faces a White Sox team that he has dominated this season, allowing just three runs over 18.1 innings with 16 strikeouts.
This is the same White Sox team that traded away Eloy Jimenez, Paul Dejong and Tommy Pham during the trade deadline.
At his price point, Singer is one of my favorite overall pitchers on the slate.
Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves
Yes, Sale is the most expensive pitcher and that is really the only reason I have him third here today when it comes to my core starters.
He is an absolute strikeout machine and the Braves offense is starting to pick it up a bit against right-handed pitching which will help his win equity in this matchup against the Brewers.
With Sale, it just all depends on what you can afford in your lineup if you slot him in but I'm comfortable using him in all lineups.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Tampa Bay Rays vs. Roddery Munoz
- Baltimore Orioles vs. Paolo Espino
- Philadelphia Phillies vs. Nestor Cortes
- Kansas City Royals vs. Drew Thorpe
- Texas Rangers vs. Michael McGreevy
Core MLB DFS Hitters
Shortstop Position
Here is the deal, the shortstop position is as elite as it comes today when it comes to spending up. Whether you decide between Bobby Witt, Gunnar Henderson or Corey Seager here today will just depend on what type of lineup stack you are building. I'm actually grateful that Trea Turner is not in the Phillies lineup today because that would have made the decision all that much more difficult.
Anthony Santander, OF Baltimore Orioles
The man just will not stop hitting home runs, he now has five over the last 10 games and 31 on the season. He homered yesterday while driving in two more RBI to give him 72 on the season.
The Orioles lineup is loaded and he is consistently in a spot to drive in runs and today they face Blue Jays righty Paolo Espino who, against right-handed hitters, has never allowed fewer than 2.1 HR/9 to right-handed hitters dating back to his days with the Washington Nationals.
Brandon Lowe, 2B Tampa Bay Rays
We've been going at Munoz all season long with left-handed power hitters as the Marlins righty is allowing a .695 slugging percentage with a .449 wOBA and 4.2 HR/9 to lefties this season.
Enter Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe who is hitting .324 with an OPS of 1.160 over the last 10 games with three homers and eight RBI.
I'm loving the Rays lefty bats here today.
Edmundo Sosa, 3B Philadelphia Phillies
The Yankees are sending Nestor Cortes to the mound here today and he has been historically bad in road starts dating back to the past few seasons so why not pick on him with some cheap Phillies here today.
We start with Edmundo Sosa who is hitting .304 with a .253 ISO against southpaws this season.
We get him hitting sixth today as well, a great spot to drive in runs for this Phillies lineup here today.
Austin Hays, OF Philadelphia Phillies
My favorite value play on the board today is Austin Hays. He homered yesterday for the Phillies and has historically hit left-handed pitching well with this season being no different as he owns a .313 average with a .368 wOBA and a .164 ISO.
Hays is also hitting second today in the Phillies lineup, an excellent spot for him to be a core play here today.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Taj Bradley  $10,800 |  Bryce Harper $4,300 |  Jazz Chisholm $3,500 |  Bobby Witt $4,400 | Aaron Judge $5,000 | |
 Chris Sale $11,500 |  Vladimir Guerrero $3,700 |  Royce Lewis $3,500 |  Gunnar Henderson $4,200 | Kyle Schwarber $3,900 | ||
 Corey Seager $3,500 | Anthony Santander $4,000 | |||||
| Medium |  Brady Singer $9,400 | Ryan Mountcastle $3,100 | Marcus Semien $3,400 | Jordan Westburg $3,300 |  Xavier Edwards $3,100 |  Brandon Nimmo $3,400 |
 Freddy Peralta $9,600 | Ryan O'Hearn $3,100 | Brandon Lowe $3,000 | Alec Bohm $3,200 | Byron Buxton $3,200 | ||
 Nathaniel Lowe $3,000 | Nick Castellanos $3,000 | |||||
| Salvador Perez $3,000 | Colton Cowser $3,000 | |||||
| Low | Cristopher Sánchez $8,500 | Vinnie Pasquantino $2,900 | Jeff McNeil $2,900 | Josh Jung $2,900 |  Masyn Winn $2,800 | George Springer $2,900 |
| Edmundo Sosa $2,800 | Richie Palacios $2,800 | Ernie Clement $2,400 | Austin Hays $2,500 | |||
| Michael Massey $2,600 | Paul DeJong $2,700 | Wyatt Langford $2,800 | ||||
| Jackson Holliday $2,000 | Cedric Mullins $2,700 | |||||
| Hunter Renfroe $2,700 | ||||||
| MJ Melendez $2,600 |
Player News
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that Zach Eflin (lat) is likely to return and start Sunday against the Angels
It was assumed that Eflin would be back this weekend, but now we have a concrete date. The 31-year-old may not be at full strength after throwing fewer than 60 pitches in his rehab start, but the Orioles feel confident enough to have the right-hander back on the bump for the series finale against the Angels.
Riley Greene is not in the lineup for the first game of a doubleheader against the Rockies on Thursday.
Greene will get a break and likely return to the lineup for the second game of the twin-billing. Zach McKinstry will get the start in left field while Greene rests.
Yu Darvish (elbow) is facing live hitters on Thursday.
Darvish has been throwing bullpen sessions and traveled to the team’s complex in Arizona to face live hitters on Thursday. It will be his first time facing live batters since a spring training appearance on March 13th. He will likely need a few sessions like this before the Padres can map out a rehab appearance timeline for him.
Adael Amador is starting at second base and batting ninth for the Rockies on Thursday.
Amador has now started three of the last four games at second base for the Rockies. He’s gone just 7-for-43 this season with 15 strikeouts in 16 games. He’s just 22 years old, so there is plenty of time for him to adjust to the MLB level, but he doesn’t need to be on redraft radars right now.
Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting second for the Orioles on Thursday against the Twins.
With Cedric Mullins sitting out on Thursday, Gunnar Henderson will bat lead off, and Holliday will jump up from sixth in the order to second. Holliday is riding a hot streak right now, and the Orioles are taking advantage. This is likely just a one-game sample with no Mullins or Adley Rutschman in the lineup, but Rutschman has been struggling, so perhaps it could become a more permanent spot in the lineup for Holliday moving forward.
Endy Rodriguez (finger) had his splint removed this week.
Rodriguez suffered a lacerated right index finger on April 14th. Now that he is out of his splint, he “is playing catch and doing a slightly modified swing.” Once he can progress to taking full swings, we’ll have a better sense of the timeline for his return.