Happy Sunday! Let’s end the weekend strong with some winning MLB DFS lineups! Today we have the classic early Sunday slate with a 9-game main slate starting at 1:05 PM EST on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Today’s slate has some great matchups in store, highlighted by the Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees, which always provides great television regardless of their place in the standings, the Seattle Mariners facing the Houston Astros continuing each continuing their pursuit of the October baseball, and the San Francisco Giants fighting to keep their wild card spot as they face the NL best Atlanta Braves. Plenty of great pitchers and hitters to look at today with endless ways to build a winning lineup whether you are playing gpp tournaments or cash games, so let’s dive into today’s playbook! 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 20

MLB Weather Updates

Everything looks clear today! 

DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

The pitching for today’s slate feels super top-heavy. There are not many pitchers I feel comfortable targeting on the bottom half of the slate; Emerson Hancock is my favorite at the bottom, but with him having to face Houston, I am hesitant to put him in any lineups today. There are some solid options on the top half, even past the super expensive guys. On the offensive side, there are plenty of solid options to target given the rough bottom end of pitchers, with some of my favorites including the Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, New York Mets, and Cincinnati Reds. 

Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options for Strikeouts

Max Scherzer vs Milwaukee Brewers

Hunter Greene vs Toronto Blue Jays

Max Fried vs San Francisco Giants

Hunter Brown vs Seattle Mariners

Best Odds for a Win

Max Fried vs San Francisco Giants

Kyle Hendricks vs Kansas City Royals

Max Scherzer vs Milwaukee Brewers

Hunter Brown vs Seattle Mariners

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Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups

Max Fried, Atlanta Braves

His first start back from the IL was lights out, with him striking out 8 through 5 scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs. His last two starts haven’t been quite as dominant, but he is still ramping up, so I am not reading into them too much, and he has still looked solid in them. He gets to face the San Francisco Giants today and should have no problems showing that he is a true ace and continuing to return to form. 

Clarke Schmidt, New York Yankees

This series has been coming up all Red Sox so far, but I like Clarke Schmidt today. Ignore his last outing against the Atlanta Braves, it's the Atlanta Braves, so I am not at all worried about it. Before that, he struck out 7, only giving up 1 earned run and getting the win against the Chicago White Sox. While there is a decent chance another win may be hard to come by with how poorly the Yankees are playing, I still think Schmidt can provide a decent line today with a fair number of strikeouts and is a great deal for his price. 

Recommended DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

St. Louis Cardinals vs Carlos Carrasco

Chicago Cubs vs Jordan Lyles

Minnesota Twins vs Ryan Borucki

New York Yankees vs Josh Winckowski

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Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups

Spencer Torkelson, 1B Detroit Tigers

All the “Tork Dorks” get excited because Spencer Torkelson is crushing the ball. He has 6 homers over his last 10 games, including two multi-homer games. He has taken a while to really put it together, but I never doubted that he would eventually become a quality major-league hitter. With him beginning to flex this power, he could quickly put himself as one of the better-hitting first basemen in the league. 

Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B Pittsburgh Pirates

Ke'Bryan Hayes, over his last 10 games, has slashed .375/.432/.725, along with 3 homers and 6 multi-hit games. He continues to be absolutely locked in at the plate, and today gets the gift of facing Dallas Keuchel, which should be an easy place for him to continue to hit the ball and hopefully grab either another homer or multi-hit game. 

Bobby Witt Jr., SS Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals offense is good? Alright, maybe not, but they have been hitting great lately, and Bobby Witt Jr. certainly isn’t just good; he is great. He has been unreal in August with a .373/.425/.731 slash line, 6 homers, and 5 steals. He has been one of baseball's best hitters this month, and I don’t expect him to slow down anytime soon.

Julio Rodriguez, OF Seattle Mariners

There is nobody hotter than Julio Rodriguez right now. Over his last 4 games, he has 17 hits, 2 homers, and 5 steals. Yes, you read that right. That is over his last 4 games, not over the last month. He can’t be stopped right now, and I am putting him into any lineup I possibly can for the time being. 

Player Pool

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