MLB DFS Playbook August 22: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Aug 22, 2023
We have 12 games on tonight's MLB DFS main slate with some interesting pitching matchups and great spots for offenses to put up some nice run totals. 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 22
MLB Weather Updates
No weather issues for tonight's slate!
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
If you watched the MLB DFS show from this morning then you know we don't really love the top ending pitching which means we live in the mid and value tiers which opens up the money to pay up for multiple top price hitters. This is the way I'm looking to go today.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
- Lucas Giolito vs Cincinnati Reds
- Blake Snell vs Miami Marlins
- Zac Gallen vs Texas Rangers
- Justin Verlander vs Boston Red Sox
- Grayson Rodriguez vs Toronto Blue Jays
Best Odds for a Win
- Bobby Miller vs Cleveland Guardians
- Blake Snell vs Miami Marlins
- Johan Oviedo vs St. Louis Cardinals
- Bryce Elder vs New York Mets
- Justin Verlander vs Boston Red Sox
- See More
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Bobby Miller, Los Angeles Dodgers
This one here is all about win equity for me. The Dodgers are one of the biggest favorites on the board at -198 and in conjunction we see Miller with the best “win odds” at +125. The Guardians offense has been abysmal of late and while they still don't strike out, they also aren't scoring. If Miller can give us the six innings with limited damage and a handful of strikeouts like we've gotten out of his last two starts then I'm more than happy with the prospects of 20-to-25 fantasy points.
Grayson Rodriguez, Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore is a -118 home favorite tonight as they run up against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays offense can certainly be a bit scary, especially since they just got back Bo Bichette but over the last few starts we've begun to see the breakout of Grayson Rodriguez who was ranked among the top pitching prospects in all of baseball heading into this season. Over his last four starts Rodriguez has a 2.16 ERA while limiting opponents to a .207 wOBA and a .167 batting average. The Blue Jays haven't hit righties all that well this season and over the past two weeks they rank just 22nd in wOBA, 26th in ISO and 25th in batting average.
Yusei Kikuchi, Toronto Blue Jays
If you aren't playing Rodriguez today then take a look at his opponent. Kikuchi may have the best current form of any starter on the slate, having allowed no more than one earned run in any of his last seven starts. The Orioles have some guys in their lineup that smoke left-handed pitching but we did just see this matchup back on August 2nd and Kikuchi locked them down for six innings, allowing one run while striking out three.
Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners
Woo is being activated from the injured list today and will draw the Chicago White Sox whom we just witness get handled by Luis Castillo last night. Woo hit the injured list with a forearm injury but the team did not require him to go on a rehab stint and he was throwing pretty early in the process after being shutdown which should be an encouraging sign when it comes to what we may be able to expect from Woo tonight when it comes to hit pitch count but he wasn't often extended past 90 pitches anyhow and was able to be a solid DFS play.
Johan Oviedo, Pittsburgh Pirates
Oviedo was nails for a stretch of starts between mid-July and early August but he has been roughed up over his last two starts. The trust in Oviedo is likely not going to be there for many DFS players tonight but Vegas gives him the third best odds at getting the win tonight at +135. The Cardinals offense obviously has some scary hitters in their lineup but lefties were the ones that had really been doing the damage against Oviedo this season. The Cards lineup doesn't really have the impact bats from the left side. He's a low rostered dart for me today.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Atlanta Braves vs Tylor Megill
- Pittsburgh Pirates vs Adam Wainwright
- Los Angeles Dodgers vs Noah Syndergaard
- New York Mets vs Bryce Elder
- Seattle Mariners vs Mike Clevinger
- See More
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
Witt is hitting .409 with five home runs and three stolen bases over the last 10 games. Today he gets a matchup against southpaw Hogan Harris. Witt owns a .365 wOBA with a .214 ISO against left-handed pitching this season. Righties have a .352 wOBA with a .492 slugging percentage off Harris this season.
Royce Lewis, 3B Minnesota Twins
It's a limited sample size but Lewis is hitting .345 with a .378 wOBA against left-handed pitching this season. We are liking this Twins tonight in their matchup against Brewers lefty Wade Miley and Lewis will fit a lot of those stacks at his price tag.
Julio Rodriguez, OF Seattle Mariners
Back in the lineup after an off day where he watched his team score 14 runs. Rodriguez is hitting .462 with an OPS of 1.222 over the last 10 games where he's hit thre homers, driven in 17 RBI and stolen six bases. He draws Mike Clevinger in tonight's matchup.
Marcell Ozuna, OF Atlanta Braves
Ozuna saw his 17-game hit streak come to an end on Sunday but he wasted no time picking it back up on Monday against the Mets as he went 2-for-4 with two home runs. Ozuna is hitting .405 with an OPS of 1.260 over the last 10 games.
Eddie Rosario, OF Atlanta Braves
Keeping it right here with Atlanta seeing as they have the highest team projected run today this evening. Rosario is also firing on all cylinders, hitting .417 with three homers and 13 RBI over the last 10 games. Taylor Megill is in for a tough outing.
Ji Hwan Bae, 2B/OF Pittsburgh Pirates
Love the value here with Bae who has put forth double-digit fantasy points in two of the three games since his return. Bae had 20 stolen bases before his injury but has yet to swipe a bag since his return. Vegas likes the Pirates offense tonight against Adam Wainwright and Bae should be hitting towards the top of the team's lineup this evening.
Tune Into Today's Livestream at 5pm ET For All Updated Analysis & Lineup Q/A
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Blake Snell  $10,300 |  Matt Olson $4,300 | Mookie Betts $4,500 |  Rafael Devers $3,800 |  Bobby Witt $4,300 | Ronald Acuña $4,800 |
| Freddie Freeman $4,300 |  Zack Gelof $4,000 |  Manny Machado $3,500 | Shohei Ohtani $4,600 | |||
 Julio Rodríguez $4,500 | ||||||
 Kyle Tucker $4,000 | ||||||
| Medium |  Yusei Kikuchi $9,800 |  Ha-Seong Kim $3,100 |  Ke'Bryan Hayes $3,000 |  Carlos Correa $3,000 |  Christian Yelich $3,900 | |
| Bobby Miller $9,000 | Jorge Polanco $3,000 | Royce Lewis $2,900 | Marcell Ozuna $3,000 | |||
| Michael Harris $3,000 | ||||||
| Low | Bryan Woo $7,900 |  Carlos Santana $2,900 | Ji Hwan Bae $2,800 | Maikel Garcia $2,700 |  Willy Adames $2,700 | Eddie Rosario $2,800 |
 Grayson Rodriguez $8,200 |  Joey Meneses $2,800 |  Pablo Reyes $2,300 |  Mike Moustakas $2,600 | Elvis Andrus $2,600 | Eloy Jiménez $2,900 | |
| Ty France $2,800 |  Masyn Winn $2,300 | James Outman $2,900 | ||||
| Teoscar Hernández $2,700 | ||||||
| Stone Garrett $2,600 |
Stacks
| Braves | Eddie Rosario | Marcell Ozuna | Matt Olson | Ronald Acuña |
 DraftKings | 4000 | 4500 | 6300 | 6700 |
| Fanduel | 2800 | 3000 | 4300 | 4800 |
| Dodgers | Mookie Betts | David Peralta | James Outman | Freddie Freeman |
| DraftKings | 6400 | 2900 | 3400 | 6100 |
| Fanduel | 4500 | 2600 | 2900 | 4300 |
| Pirates | Jack Suwinski | Ji Hwan Bae | Bryan Reynolds | Ke'Bryan Hayes |
| DraftKings | 3400 | 2700 | 4800 | 4400 |
| Fanduel | 3000 | 2800 | 3600 | 3000 |
| Twins | Ryan Jeffers | Royce Lewis | Jorge Polanco | Carlos Correa |
| DraftKings | 3300 | 3800 | 4900 | 4600 |
| Fanduel | 2900 | 2900 | 3000 | 3000 |
| Mariners | Ty France | Teoscar Hernández | Cal Raleigh | Julio Rodríguez |
| DraftKings | 3500 | 3800 | 4300 | 5500 |
| Fanduel | 2800 | 2700 | 2900 | 4500 |
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.