MLB DFS Playbook August 13: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Aug 13, 2023
Hello and welcome to the MLB DFS Playbook for August 13! We have a medium sized 8-game slate on both DK and FD on our hands today. We have a 1:35 pm ET start time, so don’t waste time getting 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 13
MLB Weather Updates
None! – Have to love this!
Games that appear to have a decent wind blowing out:
Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (blowing out to LCF)
Games that appear to have a decent wind blowing in:
None.
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
We have a nice medium sized slate on our hands, which provides some chalk, but also still plenty of ways to be unique. I love not having to worry about any weather issues and just freely getting to set lineups. Starting pitching is headlined by Gerrit Cole and the Pittsburgh Pirates come in as the team with the highest implied run total. Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge are the two most expensive hitters at our disposal today and with the Braves not being on this slate, we don’t have to worry about getting Ronald Acuna Jr. or Matt Olson in lineups. Let’s dive in!
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers
Dylan Cease, Chicago White Sox
Best Odds for a Win
Zach Eflin (Tampa Bay Rays -191)
Mitch Keller (Pittsburgh Pirates -159)
Jose Urquidy (Houston Astros -153)
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Cole is the clear play on FD as his price isn’t far from the rest. Things get a little trickier on DK as he is VERY expensive, but it doesn’t come without good reason. He had scored at least 24 dk points in four straight prior to his last outing. He has a 2.75 ERA on the year with a 1.04 WHIP and 160 Ks across 150.1 innings of work. He has been better on the road this year too with a 2.59 ERA and 1.02 WHIP (2.88 and 1.05 at home, respectively).
Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers
Peralta has been going OFF lately with 37.1, 20.7, and 43.2 dk points over his last three starts. He has had two starts with 13 Ks in that span and has had at least 5 Ks in 11 straight outings (also pitching at least 5 innings in all 11). He has a mediocre 4.28 ERA on the year, but a solid 1.19 WHIP and 151 Ks across 122 innings of work. The White Sox lineup is far from a scary one.
Dylan Cease, Chicago White Sox
His last outing was hilarious as he had SEVEN walks, but pitched 5.1 shutout innings with 6 Ks and picked up the win to finish with 23.2 dk points. It’s been a season filled with negative regression for Cease, but he has still been solid in DFS because of his ability to strike people out with 150 Ks across 126.1 innings this season. His ERA at home (3.92) is over a full run less per game than on the road (4.98).
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
5.21 – Pittsburgh Pirates
5.18 – Washington Nationals
4.95 – Houston Astros
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
I like the idea of spending up on pitching today, which works well because I like a lot of the hitters in the mid-tier today anyways.
Jeimer Candelario, 1B/3B, Chicago Cubs
Candelario is hitting .371 with a 1.021 OPS over his last 10 games. He has a home run, a steal, and four doubles in that span. He now has 17 home runs and 7 steals on the year with 122 total R/RBI across 110 games of action. Hyun Jin Ryu is still working his way back, but over a limited sample since the start of 2022, righties have really put a hurting on Ryu.
Zack Gelof, 2B, Oakland Athletics
Gelof is locked-in right now, hitting .306 with a 1.042 OPS over his last 10 games, including three home runs and a stolen base. He now has 6 home runs and 6 stolen bases through his first 24 games in the big leagues. His DFS price is on the rise, as it should be, but he still comes in at the mid-tier range and I like what he is doing right now, especially in a spot against a bad pitcher like Trevor Williams.
Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Pittsburgh Pirates
In yesterday’s value article I wrote “Hayes is scorching right now, scoring 25, 24, 19, and 14 dk points over his last four games. He has three home runs, 10 RBI, and 8 hits in that span. He has been incredible at home this season, hitting .329 with a .914 OPS, compared to hitting just .183 with a .512 OPS on the road.” Well that game got PPD, so there’s not much to change, and I really like him today in this spot against Luke Weaver.
T.J. Friedl, OF, Cincinnati Reds
Friedl also comes into this game hot, hitting .281 with a .980 OPS over his last 10 games. He has three home runs and four steals in that timeframe and he now has 10 home runs and 21 stolen bases on the season. Today, he faces Mitch Keller, who may have started the season off in a great way, but he’s been abysmal lately with a 5.88 ERA and 1.52 WHIP over his last 10 starts.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Gerrit Cole  $10,900 |  Vladimir Guerrero $3,300 |  Nico Hoerner $3,600 |  Elly De La Cruz $3,800 |  Wander Franco $3,800 |  Shohei Ohtani $4,600 |
 Freddy Peralta $10,700 | Christopher Morel $3,500 |  Zack Gelof $3,700 | Dansby Swanson $3,200 | Kyle Tucker $4,100 | ||
| Medium |  Eury Pérez $9,400 |  Joey Meneses $3,000 | Andrés Giménez $2,800 | Jeimer Candelario $3,300 |  Trea Turner $3,000 | Josh Lowe $3,100 |
 Dylan Cease $9,200 |  Brandon Belt $3,000 |  Ke'Bryan Hayes $3,100 | TJ Friedl $3,000 | |||
| Low | Trevor Williams $6,600 | Patrick Wisdom $2,700 | Jake Alu $2,700 |  Nick Madrigal $2,400 |  Nick Allen $2,100 | Will Benson $2,700 |
| Stone Garrett $2,400 |
Stacks
| Pirates | Jack Suwinski | Bryan Reynolds | Ke'Bryan Hayes | Endy Rodríguez |
 DraftKings | 3400 | 4500 | 3700 | 2700 |
| Fanduel | 3400 | 3600 | 3100 | 2400 |
| Reds | Will Benson | Elly De La Cruz | TJ Friedl |
| DraftKings | 3500 | 6200 | 4500 |
| Fanduel | 2700 | 3800 | 3000 |
| Cubs | Nick Madrigal | Patrick Wisdom | Dansby Swanson | Nico Hoerner | Christopher Morel | Jeimer Candelario |
| DraftKings | 2400 | 2900 | 4800 | 5000 | 4500 | 4400 |
| Fanduel | 2400 | 2700 | 3200 | 3600 | 3500 | 3300 |
| Nationals | Lane Thomas | Stone Garrett | Joey Meneses | Keibert Ruiz | Jake Alu |
| DraftKings | 4800 | 2600 | 4100 | 3900 | 3000 |
| Fanduel | 3700 | 2400 | 3000 | 2800 | 2700 |
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.