MLB DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups & Stacks Today: Wednesday Playbook
Published: Sep 18, 2024
On Wednesday, September 18th, we have a massive 12-game MLB DFS main slate kicking off at 6:35 pm ET. There is a great mixture of aces, back-end starting pitching, and elite offensive options for today's MLB DFS picks.
MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, September 18
We have a lot of really great pitching options as Tarik Skubal, Sonny Gray, Dylan Cease, and Framber Valdez all take the hill for their respective teams tonight.
At the dish, we have numerous bats to spend up on considering we have 24 teams on the main slate. Amongst the best are Juan Soto, Mookie Betts, Aaron Judge, and Bryce Harper.
That said, let's take a look at the MLB DFS projections while we bust into our favorite MLB DFS picks today!
MLB Weather Today, 9/18
There’s an outside chance that this game is delayed due to rain in the area. It almost may play completely dry. Check back later for an update closer to lock.
There is rain in the forecast basically all night, so what the Mets do is the question here. They can play through light rain at the beginning of the night, but if they don’t want to do that a postponement isn’t out of the question.
MLB DFS Optimizer & Lineup Generator Today
This Playbook is your go-to guide for making stellar MLB DFS picks. Check out our expert tips and suggestions, and make sure to look at today’s MLB DFS projections, MLB DFS ownership projections and our exclusive MLB lineups page!
You can seamlessly combine all this info with the MLB DFS Lineup Generator to secure your Core Plays and whip up winning lineups in no time! Here’s a sample lineup for today’s matchups:
MLB DFS Lineup Picks: Starting Pitchers
Top Options For Strikeouts
- Tanner Bibee, Cleveland Guardians - 6.5 (-110)
- Sonny Gray, St. Louis Cardinals - 6.5 (-110)
- Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers - 6.5 (-105)
- Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers - 6.5 (+120)
- Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies - 6.5 (+125)
- Dean Kremer, Baltimore Orioles - 6.5 (+130)
- Spencer Schwellenbach, Atlanta Braves - 5.5 (-140)
Best Odds For A Win
- Spencer Schwellenbach, Atlanta Braves (+125)
- Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies (+125)
- Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers (+130)
MLB DFS Lineups: Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
With the Tigers legitimately contending for the playoffs, Tarik Skubal’s reins have been taken off and he’s a full-go each time he toes the rubber. Skubal has been one of the two best pitchers in baseball and even in a slightly tougher spot than other pitchers, it hasn’t mattered much this year. He’s top five in wins, ERA, strikeouts, and quality starts. Nothing to dislike here.
Sonny Gray, St. Louis Cardinals
This is a dream spot for the Cardinals starting pitcher going up against the Pirates at home. The Pirates are a bottom three offense this year against right-handed pitching and strike out over 23% of the time. Gray has been quite incredible at home compared to his road stats and getting to face a bad offense in his home ballpark is great. He’s the top arm of the slate if you’re worried about Skubal at all.
Spencer Schwellenbach, Atlanta Braves
This is going to be a low-owned spot, but despite the ballpark downgrade, I like Schwellenbach’s upside because of the strikeout stuff. He has a 27% K-rate on the year, and he faces the offense that’s struck out the fourth-most against righties this year. Only twice in his last 10 starts has Schwellenbach had less than six strikeouts and now the team he faces strikes out a lot. GPPs only because the ballpark.
Nestor Cortes, New York Yankees
After an extended concern with his road numbers, Cortes has seemingly figured how to pitch on the road with three straight great outings and now pitches in the best ballpark in major league baseball for pitchers. Seattle’s offense is 26th in OPS against right-handed pitching while having a 26% K-rate, which is fourth in the league. Cortes is cheap for his upside.
Dean Kremer, Baltimore Orioles
The books absolutely love Dean Kremer today and I understand it. The Giants are striking out a LOT right now and righties are dominating them. Kremer’s strikeout prop sitting at 6.5 suggests that to be true and they’re just not a very good offense in general. They rank 26th in OPS against righties while being in the bottom 10 in ISO. Sign me up for Kremer as my SP2 while he’s pitching well and in a great matchup.
Jose Quintana, New York Mets
I like Quintana, but TBD on if we’re going to go here because of the weather. If this is a game that’s going to start and stop a lot, I have no interest in pitching.
MLB DFS Lineup Picks: Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Los Angeles Dodgers - 5
- Baltimore Orioles - 4.9
- Atlanta Braves - 4.8
- St. Louis Cardinals - 4.7
MLB DFS Lineups: Core MLB DFS Hitters
Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez, Tommy Edman, Shohei Ohtani, Miguel Rojas, Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers are arguably the top stack of the day against Ryan Weathers and the Marlins bullpen. The Dodgers rank in the top-five in OPS, wOBA, ISO, and wRC+ against lefties this year. There are a bunch of different directions you could go with your stack, but Teoscar Hernandez, Tommy Edman, and Miguel Rojas are three of my favorites.
Jarren Duran, Boston Red Sox
Lefties have given Ryan Pepiot serious issues lately as they've posted a .246 ISO and .403 wOBA. I know Duran is struggling right now, but he's been dominating against righties posting a .271 ISO and a .390 wOBA on the year. Duran is someone I'd spend money on as a one-off or in a stack.
Jake Burger, Connor Norby, Otto Lopez, Jesus Sanchez, Jonah Bride, Miami Marlins
Power. That's where Landon Knack can't figure it out. Lefties have a .217 ISO and righties have a .257 ISO over the last 90 days. All of the players listed outside of Otto Lopez has posted a .193 ISO or better against right-handed pitchers this season. The funny thing about that is that Otto Lopez might be the hottest hitter of all of them, posting a .359 AVG and 1.071 OPS over his last 10 games.
Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Detroit Tigers
I'm not going full-bore Tigers here, but I like the left-handed bats quite a bit. Despite having a great last outing with a bunch of strikeouts, lefties have given Alec Marsh fits. Over the last 90 days, lefties have posted a .269 ISO and .408 wOBA against Alec Marsh. Kerry Carpenter has smashed righties this year posting a .315 ISO and a .408 wOBA while Riley Greene has posted a .220 ISO and .381 wOBA.
Davis Schneider, Toronto Blue Jays
It's been an up-and-down season for Davis Schneider, but mostly down, until September that is. He's hitting .290 with a .990 OPS, .387 ISO, and .413 wOBA. Schneider has homered three straight games and has had at least one RBI in five straight outings. Cody Bradford has allowed a .233 ISO against righties over the last 90 days.
Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, St. Louis Cardinals
Lefties against Jake Woodford has been the spot to take advantage of. Woodford has been dreadful against lefty bats allowing a .265 ISO and .400 wOBA this season. This entire year, it's .308 ISO and .409 wOBA. Elite numbers. Donovan has a great month of September going as he's hit .340 with a .904 OPS over his last 13 games. It's not just Donovan having a great month, Lars Nootbaar is hitting .333 himself and his OPS is over 1.000.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Tarik Skubal  $11,300 |  Mookie Betts $4,200 |  Gunnar Henderson $4,000 | Shohei Ohtani $4,800 | ||
 Sonny Gray $10,900 |  Aaron Judge $4,900 | |||||
 Juan Soto $4,400 | ||||||
| Medium |  Spencer Schwellenbach $9,400 |  Vladimir Guerrero $3,700 |  Connor Norby $3,200 | Brendan Donovan $3,000 | Tommy Edman $3,200 |  Jarren Duran $3,800 |
| Dean Kremer $9,000 |  Jake Burger $3,100 |  Brandon Lowe $3,200 |  Willy Adames $3,600 | Teoscar Hernández $3,400 | ||
 Nestor Cortes $8,500 | Xavier Edwards $3,100 | Riley Greene $3,300 | ||||
 Julio RodrÃguez $3,200 | ||||||
| Low | Triston Casas $2,700 | Otto Lopez $2,600 | Miguel Rojas $2,700 | Kerry Carpenter $2,900 | ||
| Jonah Bride $2,600 |  Jose Iglesias $2,600 | Bo Bichette $2,600 | Jesús Sánchez $2,900 | |||
| Davis Schneider $2,600 | Lars Nootbaar $2,800 | |||||
| Parker Meadows $2,700 | ||||||
| Jasson DomÃnguez $2,500 |
Stacks
| Dodgers | Mookie Betts | Teoscar Hernández | Will Smith | Tommy Edman | Shohei Ohtani | Miguel Rojas |
 DraftKings | 6000 | 4700 | 4600 | 4000 | 6800 | 3200 |
| Fanduel | 4200 | 3400 | 3100 | 3200 | 4800 | 2700 |
| Marlins | Otto Lopez | Jesús Sánchez | Connor Norby | Jonah Bride | Jake Burger |
| DraftKings | 3600 | 3500 | 4600 | 3400 | 4900 |
| Fanduel | 2600 | 2900 | 3200 | 2600 | 3100 |
| Cardinals | Brendan Donovan | Alec Burleson | Lars Nootbaar |
| DraftKings | 3000 | 3800 | 3200 |
| Fanduel | 3000 | 2900 | 2800 |
| Red Sox | Triston Casas | Masataka Yoshida | Jarren Duran | Rafael Devers |
| DraftKings | 4000 | 3700 | 5800 | 5400 |
| Fanduel | 2700 | 2900 | 3800 | 3800 |
| Tigers | Kerry Carpenter | Parker Meadows | Riley Greene |
| DraftKings | 4300 | 4100 | 4800 |
| Fanduel | 2900 | 2700 | 3300 |
Player News
JP Sears was brilliant in Thursday afternoon’s victory over the White Sox, scattering three hits over six innings of shutout baseball.
The 29-year-old southpaw struck out two and issued a pair of walks in the ballgame. All three of the hits that he allowed in the contest were singles. Only once did the White Sox have a player reach third base against him — on a two-out single by Lenyn Sosa in the sixth inning — but Sears got Michael A. Taylor to pop out to the catcher to end the threat. He generated just one swing and miss on 100 pitches in the ballgame, posting an underwhelming CSW of only 20 percent. He’ll see if he can keep the good times rolling as he carries a 3.13 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and an 18/5 K/BB ratio (23 innings) into Wednesday’s showdown against the Rangers.
Edgar Quero went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his big league debut against the Athletics on Thursday.
The 22-year-old rookie backstop started behind the dish and batted seventh for the White Sox on Thursday afternoon against the Athletics. As a whole, the White Sox couldn’t muster a single run and scratched out just four total hits in the game, so Quero wasn’t the only one at fault. Ultimately, his fantasy utility in deeper leagues will depend on how much playing time he sees for the White Sox.
Davis Martin struggled in a losing effort against the Athletics on Thursday afternoon, surrendering four runs on eight hits over his 5 1/3 innings of work.
The 28-year-old right-hander walked one and struck out three batters in the ballgame. Nearly all of the damage done against him came via the long ball as Lawrence Butler swatted a solo shot in the fifth inning and JJ Bleday added a two-run blast in the sixth inning. Martin got seven swings and misses on 90 pitches on the day while posting a CSW of 27 percent. Now 1-2 on the season, he’ll carry a 4.84 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and a 13/6 K/BB ratio (22 1/3 innings) into Tuesday’s matchup against the Twins in Minneapolis.
Masyn Winn (back) is set to begin a minor league rehab assignment at Triple-A Memphis on Friday.
He’ll play there through the weekend and assuming everything goes well he would then be cleared to rejoin the Cardinals on Tuesday when he’s first eligible. Prior to landing on the injured list, the 23-year-old shortstop had been hitting .222/.314/.289 with one homer and three RBI through his first 13 ballgames.
Grayson Rodriguez (shoulder) was scratched from his scheduled bullpen session on Thursday and will undergo an MRI exam after experiencing soreness in his shoulder.
That’s not what you want to hear. The 25-year-old right-hander had thrown a couple of bullpen sessions as he was working his way back from inflammation in his pitching elbow. This is obviously a major setback, the scale of which won’t fully be understood until the O’s get the results of the MRI exam. At this point, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll pitch in the big leagues at all during the 2025 season.
Jake Fraley connected on a grand slam while going 3-for-5, but the Reds fell to the Mariners on Thursday in extra innings.