MLB DFS Playbook August 20: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Aug 20, 2023
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
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
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
Minnesota Twins vs Ryan Borucki
New York Yankees vs Josh Winckowski
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
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Max Fried  $9,800 |  Matt Olson $4,400 |  Jose Altuve $4,200 | Austin Riley $4,000 |  Bobby Witt $4,100 |  Julio Rodríguez $4,100 |
 Max Scherzer $10,900 | Cody Bellinger $4,100 | |||||
| Hunter Brown $9,700 | Aaron Judge $4,200 | |||||
| Medium | Clarke Schmidt $7,500 |  Spencer Torkelson $3,000 |  Nico Hoerner $3,600 |  Royce Lewis $3,300 | Carlos Correa $3,000 |  Brandon Nimmo $3,100 |
 Kyle Hendricks $8,500 |  TJ Friedl $3,100 | |||||
| Marcell Ozuna $3,000 | ||||||
| Low | Emerson Hancock $6,900 | Christian Encarnacion-Strand $2,800 | Jorge Polanco $3,100 |  Ke'Bryan Hayes $3,000 | Noelvi Marte $2,400 |  Teoscar Hernández $2,700 |
| Tommy Edman $2,900 | ||||||
 Ezequiel Duran $2,800 |
Stacks
| Braves | Sean Murphy | Eddie Rosario | Austin Riley | Marcell Ozuna | Matt Olson |
 DraftKings | 5400 | 4000 | 5900 | 4500 | 6500 |
| Fanduel | 3900 | 2800 | 4000 | 3000 | 4400 |
| Reds | Spencer Steer | Noelvi Marte | Christian Encarnacion-Strand |
| DraftKings | 5200 | 2500 | 3500 |
| Fanduel | 3100 | 2400 | 2800 |
| Cardinals | Tommy Edman | Paul Goldschmidt | Alec Burleson | Willson Contreras | Nolan Arenado |
| DraftKings | 4300 | 5700 | 3000 | 4000 | 5600 |
| Fanduel | 2900 | 3600 | 2300 | 2800 | 3400 |
| Cubs | Nico Hoerner | Cody Bellinger | Ian Happ |
| DraftKings | 5400 | 5800 | 4300 |
| Fanduel | 3600 | 4100 | 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.