MLB DFS Playbook August 26: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Aug 26, 2023
Welcome to Saturday’s MLB DFS Playbook! Yesterday couldn’t have been better for the Seattle Mariners as they launched themselves into first place, securing the win against the Kansas City Royals while the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers both lost. They will look to keep up that momentum with another win this afternoon, but we are focused on the games happening a few hours later with an 8-game main slate starting at 7:05 PM EST on both DraftKings and FanDuel. This slate does include the Texas Rangers game as they look to bounce back against the Minnesota Twins today, as well as a great NL matchup with Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks facing off with both teams fighting to make the postseason. It should be a great day of baseball, and we will be looking to build some more winning MLB DFS lineups, 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 26
MLB Weather Updates
Looks like we will get a clear day today across the board!
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
Today’s slate may not be as stacked with starting pitching as yesterday’s, but we still have some great pitchers to choose from. Outside of my favorites, the top-end pitchers Max Scherzer, Zack Wheeler, and Freddy Peralta are all viable options, with Zack Wheeler being my favorite of the trio. On the cheaper end, I would also consider JP Sears and Chase Silseth as good value options. On the offensive side, some of my favorite offenses to target include the Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers (yes, even against Joe Ryan), Milwaukee Brewers, and (surprising, but it worked out the last time I endorsed them) the Oakland Athletics.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Max Scherzer vs Minnesota Twins
Freddy Peralta vs San Diego Padres
Zack Wheeler vs St. Louis Cardinals
Kyle Bradish vs Colorado Rockies
Best Odds for a Win
Kyle Bradish vs Colorado Rockies
Zack Wheeler vs St. Louis Cardinals
Zach Davies vs Cincinnati Reds
Javier Assad vs Pittsburgh Pirates
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Kyle Bradish, Baltimore Orioles
Kyle Bradish continues to dominate for the Baltimore Orioles. He has a 1.08 ERA in his last 3 starts with 20 strikeouts in 16.2 innings, including 8 strikeouts through 6 shutout innings in his last outing against the Oakland Athletics. He gets to face the Colorado Rockies outside of Coors today, and I expect a similar outing to what we just saw against the Athletics. He should put up plenty of strikeouts and should be easily in line to grab the win today.
Since getting turned into a starter, he has made 4 starts in which he has posted a 2.86 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. The strikeouts haven’t been great, with no more than 4 in a start so far, but there is a decent chance he finally gets above that today, getting to face the Pittsburgh Pirates. Either way, he should provide some solid innings with a great chance at a win coming in at a super low price today if you want to pivot away from the high-end pitching options.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
Los Angeles Angels vs Chase Silseth
Chicago Cubs vs Colin Selby – Osvaldo Bido
Philadelphia Phillies vs Dakota Hudson
Arizona Diamondbacks vs Brett Kennedy
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Bryce Harper, 1B Philadelphia Phillies
The power looks to be completely back for Bryce Harper. After only 7 homers through the season so far, he has gone and mashed 5 of them over the last 8 games. Over that stretch, he also has 6 multi-hit games and has slashed .467/.579/1.067 with 11 runs and 9 RBIs. He sure looks back to being the Bryce Harper that won the NL MVP just two years ago. I’m willing to pay the high price for this version of Bryce Harper.
Gunnar Henderson, 3B/SS Baltimore Orioles
Gunnar Henderson is making a push for some AL Rookie of the Year votes. He is now on a 10-game hitting streak over which he has slashed .395/.413/.744 and had another 2 hits with a homer yesterday. I fully expect Gunnar Henderson and the Baltimore Orioles to keep things rolling today against Chris Flexen and the Colorado Rockies.
Willy Adames, SS Milwaukee Brewers
It hasn’t been a great year for Willy Adames at the plate currently, with a career-low in AVG, OBP, and SLG. He is picking up some steam recently, though, with 12 hits in his last 6 games, including 3 homers. Hopefully, he can keep this up and continue to show the power today against Pedro Avila, and Adames is someone who has historically hit better against right-handed pitching than left-handed.
Brent Rooker, OF Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics offense has been surprisingly decent recently, and Brent Rooker has been a big part of that. Over his last 10 games, he has slashed .333/.366/.615 with 3 homers, 8 runs, and 6 RBIs. Those 8 runs and 6 RBIs may not feel wildly impressive, but on this Oakland team, they are. I really don’t trust Touki Toussaint or the Chicago White Sox right now, so I think this Oakland offense can produce again and provide some solid value.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | RP | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Zack Wheeler  $10,800 | Bryce Harper $3,800 |  Zack Gelof $4,000 |  Gunnar Henderson $3,500 |  Corey Seager $4,500 |  Corbin Carroll $3,800 | |
 Max Scherzer $11,000 | Kyle Schwarber $3,800 | ||||||
 Freddy Peralta $10,600 |  Shohei Ohtani $4,400 | ||||||
| Kyle Bradish $10,300 | |||||||
| Medium |  Javier Assad $7,500 |  Chase Silseth $7,700 |  Nathaniel Lowe $3,400 |  Jeff McNeil $2,900 | Alec Bohm $3,000 |  Willy Adames $2,900 |  Spencer Steer $3,100 |
| JP Sears $7,400 | Ian Happ $3,200 | ||||||
| Anthony Santander $3,300 | |||||||
| Low | Ryan Noda $2,800 |  Elvis Andrus $2,600 | Noelvi Marte $2,400 |  Aledmys Díaz $2,300 | Tony Kemp $2,600 | ||
| Brent Rooker $2,900 | |||||||
| Austin Hays $2,700 |
Stacks
| Orioles | Austin Hays | Gunnar Henderson | Ryan O'Hearn | Anthony Santander | Adley Rutschman |
 DraftKings | 3800 | 5200 | 3200 | 4000 | 5400 |
| Fanduel | 2700 | 3500 | 2700 | 3300 | 3000 |
| Athletics | Ryan Noda | Zack Gelof | Brent Rooker |
| DraftKings | 3200 | 5700 | 4100 |
| Fanduel | 2800 | 4000 | 2900 |
| Rangers | Nathaniel Lowe | Marcus Semien | Corey Seager |
| DraftKings | 4600 | 6100 | 6600 |
| Fanduel | 3400 | 3700 | 4500 |
| Phillies | Nick Castellanos | Trea Turner | Bryson Stott | Kyle Schwarber | Bryce Harper |
| DraftKings | 4800 | 5300 | 4300 | 5500 | 6000 |
| Fanduel | 3300 | 3200 | 3100 | 3800 | 3800 |
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.