MLB DFS Playbook August 10: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Aug 10, 2023
Hello and welcome to the MLB DFS Playbook for August 10! We have a tiny 4-game slate on both DK and FD on our hands today. We have a 6:40 pm ET start time, so you have plenty of time to get those lineups made! Make sure to check out all of our amazing MLB DFS tools as they are always worth going through before building your lineups as are the Vegas Odds. However, as I am sure you have figured out by now, the new playbook will be a one-stop shop that includes everything from easy-to-read player write-ups and suggestions to MLB Weather Reports to lineup construction tips to our best value plays for DraftKings and FanDuel. You will be given core plays around which to build your lineups, DFS stacks to consider for GPP tournaments and key statistics to help you in your DFS research. Let’s dive in!
MLB DFS Playbook August 10
MLB Weather Updates
Washington Nationals vs. Philadelphia Phillies (possible rain)
Kansas City Royals vs. Boston Red Sox (possible rain)
Games that appear to have a decent wind blowing out:
None.
Games that appear to have a decent wind blowing in:
None.
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
This slate is WEAK. We only have 4 games and two of them have weather concerns. A mess. Of course too, those two games feature two of the only decent looking pitching options on the slate. Yeeesh. On the flip side, there’s a good bit offensive options for such a small slate, but this slate is going to be won (or lost) based on pitching.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies
Best Odds for a Win
Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers -352)
James Paxton (Boston Red Sox -266)
Aaron Nola (Philadelphia Phillies -252)
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
I am simply not spending down today. The options after the top three pitchers are awful. A bunch of bad pitchers who are facing top offenses… no thanks.
Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies
Nola has struggled over his last two starts, but we are dealing with a thin slate tonight and he’s one of the better options tonight. Nola has been far better at home this year with a 3.75 ERA and 1.01 WHIP, compared to 5.15 and 1.23 on the road, respectively. The Nationals offense is far from a powerhouse, especially after trading away Jaimer Candelario.
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Kershaw makes his return to action tonight and he is in a good spot against the Rockies tonight. The problem is that there has been no word on his pitch count tonight and I would not expect a full workload. However, if he can give us 80 pitches and 5 innings, he could still be one of the top plays on this slate. The Dodgers are the biggest favorites on the slate and Kershaw has been fantastic this season with a 2.55 ERA, 10-4 record, 1.05 WHIP, and 105 Ks across 95.1 innings.
Paxton has cooled off after having a crazy good stretch earlier in the year, but he’s still been good overall. He enters this game with a 3.60 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 84 Ks across 75 innings. He takes on a lousy Royals offense and is one of the biggest favorites on the slate. He has a 3.00 ERA at home this year, compared to 4.07 on the road. Based on his price, I expect Paxton to be the most popular pitcher used on this slate.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
5.80 – Boston Red Sox
5.04 – Philadelphia Phillies
5.01 – Kansas City Royals
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Freddie Freeman, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers are the top stack tonight and Freeman is the focal point of it. He has been incredible lately, hitting .524 (yes you read that right) over his last 10 games with two home runs and FOUR steals. He is now hitting .344 with 23 home runs and 16 steals on the year as he is making NL MVP a very interesting two-man race.
Curtis Mead, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays
Mead hasn’t done much of anything through his first four games, but he is a nice prospect and nearly the minimum price and facing a bad pitcher in Matthew Liberatore. I will take my chances on him in this righty/lefty matchup as a salary-saving option. We are going to need cheap play likes Mead today if we are spending up on pitchers and using guys like Freeman and/or Betts.
Weston Wilson, 3B/SS, Philadelphia Phillies
Speaking of salary-saving plays, we have Wilson at the minimum price playing his second game for the Phils. He came out with a bang in his debut, going 1-3 with a home run, two walks, three runs, and a stolen base to finish with 27 dk points. He had 25 home runs and 23 steals across 100 games at AAA this year, so there is some intrigue here with his power/speed upside. It doesn’t hurt that he is facing Patrick Corbin tonight either.
James Outman, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
Another day, another day of me touting Outman as one of my top plays. He should not be this cheap. He is hitting .345 with a 1.030 OPS over his last 10 games. He has 13 home runs and 14 steals on the year. He has had no issue hitting lefties this season either. Ty Blach has a 4.85 ERA and 1.58 WHIP through 26 innings this year and the Dodgers should only make that worse.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Clayton Kershaw  $10,700 | Freddie Freeman $4,500 | Mookie Betts $4,400 |  Nolan Arenado $3,300 |  Wander Franco $3,600 |  Randy Arozarena $3,400 |
 Aaron Nola $10,000 | ||||||
| Medium |  James Paxton $9,700 | Alec Bohm $3,200 | Trevor Story $3,300 |  Isaac Paredes $3,100 | Trea Turner $2,900 | Nick Castellanos $3,100 |
| Bryce Harper $3,400 |  Jose Siri $3,000 | |||||
| Low | Zack Littell $7,200 |  Dominic Smith $2,500 |  Luis Urías $2,200 | Curtis Mead $2,100 |  Amed Rosario $2,800 | James Outman $2,900 |
| Weston Wilson $2,000 |  MJ Melendez $2,700 |
Stacks
| Dodgers | Mookie Betts | James Outman | Will Smith | Amed Rosario | Freddie Freeman |
 DraftKings | 6400 | 3300 | 5500 | 4100 | 6200 |
| Fanduel | 4400 | 2900 | 3500 | 2800 | 4500 |
| Rays | Wander Franco | Jose Siri | Curtis Mead | Randy Arozarena | Isaac Paredes |
| DraftKings | 5900 | 3800 | 2100 | 5400 | 4000 |
| Fanduel | 3600 | 3000 | 2100 | 3400 | 3100 |
| Phillies | Nick Castellanos | Trea Turner | Alec Bohm | J.T. Realmuto | Bryce Harper | Weston Wilson |
| DraftKings | 4600 | 5100 | 4400 | 4900 | 5600 | 2000 |
| Fanduel | 3100 | 2900 | 3200 | 2900 | 3400 | 2000 |
| Red Sox | Luis Urías | Connor Wong | Trevor Story |
| DraftKings | 3100 | 2700 | 5000 |
| Fanduel | 2200 | 2400 | 3300 |
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.