MLB DFS Playbook August 14: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Aug 14, 2023
We have eight games to kick off the week here with some top matchups for the red hot Atlanta Braves offense featuring the MLB home run leader Matt Olson. On the pitching side of things we see Max Scherzer taking the mound for the Rangers as the top priced starter. Be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the daily MLB projections, MLB DFS rostership projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting!
MLB DFS Playbook: August 14
MLB Weather Updates
Potential for some rain between the Pirates and Mets but currently hourly forecasts show most of the precipitation starting after the game finishes up.
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
When it comes to pitching today there are two pretty clear spots that I think we see most of the rostership which will be Max Scherzer at home against the Los Angeles Angels and Miles Mikolas at home against the Oakland Athletics. From there it is all about finding the right game stack that you can afford. Matt Olson and Michael Harris are two of my favorite plays overall on the slate so getting them in builds will be a priority for me today.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
- Max Scherzer vs Los Angeles Angels
- Tyler Glasnow vs San Francisco Giants
- Max Fried vs New York Yankees
- Merrill Kelly vs Colorado Rockies
- Logan Gilbert vs Kansas City Royals
Best Odds for a Win
- Max Scherzer vs Los Angeles Angels
- Tyler Glasnow vs San Francisco Giants
- Logan Gilbert vs Kansas City Royals
- Max Fried vs New York Yankees
- Yu Darvish vs Baltimore Orioles
- See More
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Max Scherzer, Texas Rangers
No question that the Angels lineup is a bit scarier when it comes to home run power since adding CJ Cron, Randall Grichuk and Mike Moustakas to the mix that already included Shohei Ohtani but it is difficult to bet against Scherzer here this evening when he is such a favorite on the sportsbooks to get a win tonight in this matchup. He is coming off his best start as a Ranger which saw him throw seven innings of one-run baseball against the Athletics and figures to be one of the highest rostered starters on the board.
Miles Mikolas, St. Louis Cardinals
When it comes to value on this slate I think we look towards Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas who draws the typically favorable matchup of the Oakland Athletics. Mikolas has looked terrific in his last two outings, averaging seven innings, two earned runs and six strikeouts across the two starts. Assuming the Cardinals offense can put some runs on the board against JP Sears, this is looking like another winnable start for Mikolas.
Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners
Few teams are rolling right now like the Kansas City Royals with guys like Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez really heating up but the Royals are still a team that you shouldn't fear attacking. They have a high strikeout rate against right-handed pitching and Giblert is coming off a 12 strikeout performance in his most recent outing.
Yu Darvish, San Diego Padres
Ok, we just have to put this Pirates start out of our minds because Darvish has been stellar in five of his last six appearances. He just tossed six shutout innings against the Mariners and held a really good Dodgers offense to just two runs over seven innings. Now, the Orioles lineup is coming into this matchup in a bit of a slump but we do know the talent is there with the likes of Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman leading the way but I will bet on current for Darvish in this spot today.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Arizona Diamondbacks vs Chris Flexen
- Atlanta Braves vs Clarke Schmidt
- Texas Rangers vs Patrick Sandoval
- St. Louis Cardinals vs JP Sears
- See More
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Matt Olson, 1B Atlanta Braves
Sure, maybe it's the easy out to just put Matt Olson on the cover of the playbook today but boy is this dude on another level right now. He has six homers over the last 10 games with 15 RBI. He leads the MLB with 43 homers and 107 RBI on the season. Tonight he faces Yankees righty Clarke Schmidt who is allowing a .373 wOBA and a .500 slugging percentage to left-handed hitters this season.
Willson Contreras, C St. Louis Cardinals
We don't often consider a catcher a top play but today I am locked in on Willson Contreras in this matchup against the A's JP Sears. Contreras owns a .374 wOBA, .553 slugging percentage and a .259 ISO against southpaws this season while Sears has allowed 20 of his 25 homers to righties this season.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr., OF Arizona Diamondbacks
The chalk team stack of the day is going to be the Arizona Diamondbacks in Coors Field against Chris Flexen who is starting for the Colorado Rockies. Flexen has made 20 appearances this season, seven starts and over those appearances he has allowed 17 home runs and 49 earned runs over 55.2 innings. Right-handed hitters on the year own a whopping .430 wOBA with a slugging percentage of .607. He is allowing 3.3 HR/9 with a 26.7% HR/FB rate. Gurriel on the season when facing righties owns a .273 ISO with a .333 wOBA. Matchup made in heaven.
Michael Harris, OF Atlanta Braves
I've been yelling at everyone to play Michael Harris for a week now and he hadn't really let us down until this past weekend but I'm willing to continue to ride the wave here as he's still hitting .324 over the last 10 games with two homers and three stolen bases. He hits ninth for the Braves but don't let that scare you because the man on deck goes by the name of Ronald Acuna and teams find themselves pitching more to Harris in an effort to get him out than nibbling the edges and risk walking him so a man will be on base for Acuna to do any kind of damage. As I wrote above, lefties are killing Clarke Schmidt this season so that's even more of a reason to like Harris here this evening.
Tune Into Today's Livestream at 5pm ET For All Updated Analysis & Lineup Q/A
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | IF | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Max Scherzer  $10,500 |  Matt Olson $4,400 |  Ketel Marte $4,000 |  Corey Seager $4,200 | Corbin Carroll $4,300 | |
 Tyler Glasnow $10,700 |  Christian Walker $3,900 | Ozzie Albies $3,900 | Ronald Acuña $4,600 | |||
 Logan Gilbert $10,000 |  Pete Alonso $3,700 | Shohei Ohtani $4,400 | ||||
| Medium |  Yu Darvish $9,700 |  Paul Goldschmidt $3,300 |  Nolan Gorman $3,200 | Nolan Arenado $3,400 | Geraldo Perdomo $3,300 | Juan Soto $3,800 |
| Merrill Kelly $9,300 |  Zack Gelof $3,600 |  Ha-Seong Kim $3,200 |  Bryan Reynolds $3,700 | |||
| Ke'Bryan Hayes $3,300 | Lourdes Gurriel $3,600 | |||||
| Michael Harris $3,200 | ||||||
| Adolis García $3,700 | ||||||
| Low | Miles Mikolas $8,000 | Willson Contreras $2,700 | Jeff McNeil $2,700 | Ezequiel Duran $2,600 | Tommy Edman $2,900 |  Tyler O'Neill $2,500 |
 Buddy Kennedy $2,500 |  Nicky Lopez $2,100 | Jake McCarthy $3,000 | ||||
| Eddie Rosario $2,800 | ||||||
| Cade Marlowe $2,600 |
Stacks
| Diamondbacks | Ketel Marte | Lourdes Gurriel | Corbin Carroll | Christian Walker |
 DraftKings | 5700 | 4500 | 6000 | 5200 |
| Fanduel | 4000 | 3600 | 4300 | 3900 |
| Braves | Eddie Rosario | Matt Olson | Ronald Acuña | Michael Harris |
| DraftKings | 3900 | 6500 | 6700 | 4400 |
| Fanduel | 2800 | 4400 | 4600 | 3200 |
| Cardinals | Tyler O'Neill | Nolan Gorman | Willson Contreras | Nolan Arenado |
| DraftKings | 3700 | 4300 | 3600 | 5600 |
| Fanduel | 2500 | 3200 | 2700 | 3400 |
| Pirates | Jack Suwinski | Bryan Reynolds | Ke'Bryan Hayes | Endy Rodríguez |
| DraftKings | 3300 | 4300 | 3800 | 2700 |
| Fanduel | 3300 | 3700 | 3300 | 2400 |
| Rangers | Adolis García | Corey Seager | Ezequiel Duran | Jonah Heim |
| DraftKings | 5800 | 6300 | 3800 | 3400 |
| Fanduel | 3700 | 4200 | 2600 | 3200 |
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.