MLB DFS Playbook August 30: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Aug 30, 2023
Welcome to Wednesday and another MLB DFS Playbook! We’ve got a ton of early games today, leaving us with a smaller 6-game main slate this evening on both DraftKings and FanDuel, getting underway at 6:40 PM EST. Even with a small slate, we still have some exciting games here today, highlighted by the final two games of the evening definitely being the ones with the most interest, with the Atlanta Braves playing in Coors facing the Colorado Rockies and then an NL West showdown between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers. With most of the best pitchers of the day having earlier games, it leaves some tough choices to make for this evening’s slate, but there are still plenty of different ways to build a winning lineup whether you are playing cash games or gpp tournaments, 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 30
MLB Weather Updates
Everything is looking clear for this evening’s slate.
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
Pitching gets ugly really fast in this slate. I am definitely willing to pay up for pitching today because of that, even if that means having to forgo some of the Atlanta Braves hitters in Coors that are so enticing. Outside of the Atlanta Braves, there are still plenty of other lineups to target today, with some of my favorites including the Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the New York Mets.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Jesus Luzardo vs Tampa Bay Rays
Ryan Pepiot vs Arizona Diamondbacks
Best Odds for a Win
Darius Vines vs Colorado Rockies
Ryan Pepoit vs Arizona Diamondbacks
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
As the only true Ace on the slate, Gerrit Cole is too good to pass up. He just struck out 11 against the Tampa Bay Rays, only giving up 1 run through 7.2 innings, so imagine what he might be able to do against the Detroit Tigers today. While you could turn to Zach Eflin and Jesus Luzardo as other solid options at the top, I am willing to pay the extra to get to Gerrit Cole for this slate.
Ryan Pepiot, Los Angeles Dodgers
If you aren’t going with any of the top 3 pitching options, then I am turning to Ryan Pepiot, as I really don’t trust any of the pitchers after Pepiot. Through his first two games as a follower, Pepiot has struck out 11 through 9 innings and only given up 1 earned run in each start. While he had decent matchups for those first two outings, I trust him to have a solid outing today against the Arizona Diamondbacks in his first true start of the season.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
Atlanta Braves vs Kyle Freeland
Colorado Rockies vs Darius Vines
Los Angeles Dodgers vs Brandon Pfaadt
Kansas City Royals vs Andre Jackson
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Nathaniel Lowe, 1B Texas Rangers
While the Texas Rangers have been struggling a bit lately, they still have one of the best offenses in all of baseball, and Nathaniel Lowe continues to be great in the heart of it. He is currently on an 11-game hitting streak with a .341/.442/.500 slash line. Facing Denyi Reyes and the New York Mets today, the Rangers should score a bunch of runs, and Lowe can easily be a great piece in any lineup at first base.
Isaac Paredes, 2B/3B Tampa Bay Rays
Isaac Paredes' great season continues. He has already set career highs in basically every statistic (even stolen bases with 1!). He has 4 homers over his last 8 games, as well as 3 multi-hit games. While he faces one of the better pitchers on the slate in Jesus Luzardo, I still trust Paredes to deliver today at this price and continue to add to his career-best season.
Anthony Volpe, SS New York Yankees
While it hasn’t been the greatest rookie season for Anthony Volpe, he is still just a homer shy of posting a 20-20 season, which is no easy feat. He has hit homers in two of his last three games and can hopefully add another to get him to 20 on the year. While the batting average has been the real struggle for Volpe with some positive BABIP regression and continuing to improve his plate skills, Volpe could still develop into quite the fantasy asset, and I, at the very least, trust him to keep the good hitting he has done the last few days today against Joseph Wentz.
Marcell Ozuna, OF Atlanta Braves
Marcell Ozuna is red-hot at the plate right now. He has 15 hits over his last 8 games with 6 homers and 3 doubles, adding 11 runs and 13 RBIs. He was locked in before getting to Coors and then has continued it in Colorado with 4 hits in the first two games, with a homer yesterday. I expect him to keep it up today against Kyle Freeland in the Brave's final game in Coors.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Gerrit Cole  $11,100 |  Freddie Freeman $4,100 |  Ozzie Albies $3,800 | Austin Riley $4,200 |  Corey Seager $4,000 | Mookie Betts $4,500 |
 Zach Eflin $10,000 | Aaron Judge $4,300 | |||||
 Corbin Carroll $4,000 | ||||||
| Medium |  Ryan Pepiot $8,500 |  Nathaniel Lowe $3,300 |  Gleyber Torres $3,000 |  Isaac Paredes $3,300 |  Ezequiel Tovar $3,400 | Marcell Ozuna $3,700 |
 Jesús Luzardo $9,600 |  Nolan Jones $3,500 | |||||
| Charlie Blackmon $3,400 | ||||||
| Low | Michael Toglia $2,800 |  Jeff McNeil $2,800 |  Ke'Bryan Hayes $3,100 | Anthony Volpe $2,600 | James Outman $2,800 | |
 Connor Joe $2,400 | ||||||
 Robbie Grossman $2,500 |
Stacks
| Yankees | Gleyber Torres | Kyle Higashioka | Aaron Judge | Giancarlo Stanton | DJ LeMahieu |
 DraftKings | 4400 | 2700 | 6600 | 4800 | 3900 |
| Fanduel | 3000 | 2100 | 4300 | 2900 | 2600 |
| Rangers | Nathaniel Lowe | Adolis García | Mitch Garver | Marcus Semien | Corey Seager |
| DraftKings | 4600 | 5600 | 3800 | 6100 | 6700 |
| Fanduel | 3300 | 3700 | 3000 | 3600 | 4000 |
| Pirates | Connor Joe | Andrew McCutchen | Bryan Reynolds | Ke'Bryan Hayes | Endy Rodríguez |
| DraftKings | 3300 | 4100 | 4900 | 4300 | 3200 |
| Fanduel | 2400 | 2900 | 3500 | 3100 | 2400 |
| Rockies | Ryan McMahon | Elias Díaz | Charlie Blackmon | Ezequiel Tovar | Nolan Jones |
| DraftKings | 4600 | 4100 | 4400 | 4500 | 4500 |
| Fanduel | 3700 | 3200 | 3400 | 3400 | 3500 |
| Braves | Sean Murphy | Ozzie Albies | Austin Riley | Marcell Ozuna | Matt Olson |
| DraftKings | 5800 | 5900 | 6300 | 5200 | 6800 |
| Fanduel | 4100 | 3800 | 4200 | 3700 | 4800 |
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.