Happy Monday! We are down to the final two weeks of the season! It is hard to believe the season is so close to the end, but we still have plenty of excitement yet to come. We will see if the Tigers can make one final push and make the postseason. We also have quite the battle in the NL East as the Mets and Braves fight each other for the final Wild Card spot. 

 

 

 

We have a fun 9-game slate this evening that will be getting started at 7:10 PM ET on DraftKings, and for some reason, on FanDuel, it will be an 8-game slate as they have decided not to include the Houston Astros vs. San Diego Padres game. 

Coors Field is still on the slate today with the Diamondbacks facing the Rockies in Colorado which will be a fun, but expensive, team to have there. We’ve got plenty of great options today, so let’s dive into today’s playbook and all of my favorite MLB DFS picks for the day!

MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, September 16

We have some great pitching options today highlighted by Paul Skenes. Outside my favorites, some honorable mentions for me today include Seth Lugo, Sean Manaea, Max Fried, and Andre Pallante, 

On the offensive side, some of my favorite lineups to target today include the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, and Kansas City Royals.

 

 

 

MLB Weather Today, 9/16

Everything is looking clear for this evening.

MLB DFS Optimizer & Lineup Generator Today

This Playbook is your ultimate resource for crafting amazing MLB DFS picks. Dive into our expert advice and recommendations, and don’t forget to check out today’s MLB DFS projections, MLB DFS ownership projections and our special MLB lineups page! 

You can easily mix all this info with the MLB DFS Lineup Generator, helping you lock in your Core Plays and create winning lineups quickly! Here’s a sample lineup for today’s games:

 

 

 

MLB DFS Lineup Picks: Starting Pitchers

Top Options For Strikeouts

Best Odds For A Win

MLB DFS Lineups: Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

It sure hasn’t looked like Paul Skenes has been limited lately, with 100 and 98 pitches in his last two starts. He is too good not to go after, especially with his price down under $10,000. He has an amazing strikeout upside and a high floor. 

The Cardinals' offense is decent, but as long as it isn’t a top-5 offense, I am not really concerned about Skenes's ability to tear them apart.  

Shota Imanaga, Chicago Cubs

The strikeouts have been a bit up and down for Imanaga, but he has been pitching brilliantly. He has won each of his last four starts, going 7 innings in three of them. The fact that he followed up the 7 innings of the Cubs no-hitter against the Cubs with another quality start and a win against the Dodgers (sure, 3 solo homers hurt him a little) was excellent. 

As much as I have loved the Oakland offense lately, they are still mediocre against lefties. They have a 24.2% strikeout rate against them and are still in the bottom 10 in OPS. I consider Imanaga a very strong 1B with Skenes today. 

Reid Detmers, Los Angeles Angels

I am ready to let Reid Detmers hurt me again. I have been a big believer in this guy for a long time, and so far, it has been a roller coaster ride. His two starts since his return have been excellent. He pitched two straight quality starts against the Dodgers and Twins, totaling 12 innings with 18 strikeouts and a 1.00 WHIP. 

Now he faces the Chicago White Sox, and I will be shocked if his greatness can’t continue against them. We know the downside of Detmers, so obviously, there is always some risk, but against the White Sox, I will happily take the discount on a guy with a ton of talent. 

 

 

 

MLB DFS Lineup Picks: Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

MLB DFS Lineups: Core MLB DFS Hitters

Michael Toglia, 1B Colorado Rockies

The Diamondbacks are very high-priced today but will still command a lot of ownership, leaving the Rockies slightly overlooked. While there are some great first-base options, getting Toglia against Kelly today for under $5,000 feels like a great deal. 

Toglia has legit power, and Kelly has struggled with power against lefties (Toglia is a switch hitter) with a 1.80 HR/9. While the top-end guys are enticing, I will take the discount here for Toglia. 

Michael Massey, 2B Kansas City Royals

Second base is a strange position today. We have consistently loved cheap options in this position, but today, a lot of those normal options have touch spots (Gavin Lux vs. Fried, Colt Keith vs. Lugo, Zack Gelof vs. Imanaga, Brendan Donovan vs. Skenes). I am still unsure if I want to pay the high options today (though Ketel Marte is tempting even at $6,600), so Massey feels like a great middle ground. 

Massey has been solid recently, with an .874 OPS and 2 homers over his last 10 games. Reese Olson is a solid pitcher, but I don’t know if he can hold down the Royals here today and think that Massey will pretty easily provide some good value in this spot. 

Ryan McMahon, 3B Colorado Rockies

I’m not saying that Eugenio Suarez might not be worth $5,300 right now because what he is doing is insane, but that is an insane price jump for a guy who was priced as low as $3,200 earlier this summer. 

Everything I said about Toglia applies to McMahon here. Compared to many of the other options today, he provides pretty good value in Coors against Merrill Kelly. 

Fernando Tatis, San Diego Padres

There are a lot of great outfield options today between the Coors game, Cubs, Phillies, Astros, Brewers, Dodgers, and Tigers. There are endless great options in the outfield, but I am having difficulty passing over Tatis right now. 

He has 4 homers in his last 5 games and is looking like he is back to being his normal super-star self. This stretch of 5 dominant games have also happened in Seattle and San Francisco and now he gets to return home, and I expect this hot streak to continue. 

Tommy Edman, OF Los Angeles Dodgers

You have to be considering Tommy Edman most days right now, but especially against a lefty (even a good one like Max Fried) he seems like a must-start. He still has a 1.290 OPS against lefties this season. He has 5 homers and 5 steals over his first 24 games; that would be a 30-30 pace over just 150 games. 

Max Fried has been pitching great, and I don’t know how much I want to pay for the stars in the Dodgers' lineup today, but regardless, Tommy Edman is going to be in there. 

 

 

 

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