MLB DFS Playbook August 6: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Aug 06, 2023
Welcome to another great Sunday full of baseball! Today’s main slate is 11 games and will be starting at 1:35 PM EST on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Plenty of great matchups taking place today, with the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox facing off fighting for a wild-card spot in the AL East, the Milwaukee Brewers taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates as they try to have been playing leapfrog with the NL Central division lead with the Cincinnati Reds who are facing the Washington Nationals. Today’s featured player was Tyler Glasnow, but he has since been scratched, so Sandy Alcantara becomes my favorite pitcher of the day. Plenty of other solid pitching options across the board as well as plenty of great options on the offensive side. Endless ways to build a winning MLB DFS lineup today, whether you are playing gpp tournaments or cash games, so let’s jump 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 6
MLB Weather Updates
Tampa Bay Rays vs Detroit Tigers: Small amounts of rain throughout the day; not too worried about it being an issue.
Colorado Rockies vs St. Louis Cardinals: Some scattered thunderstorms could possibly cause delays, but not too worried about a postponement.
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
Tyler Glasnow was far and away my favorite pitcher, but with him being scratched the top spot goes to Sandy Alcantara. On top of Sandy, some other pitchers that are worth honorable mentions today include Kyle Bradish, Taijuan Walker, and Johan Oviedo. On the offensive side, some of my favorite lineups to target include the Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, and Tampa Bay Rays.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Tyler Glasnow vs Detroit Tigers
Brandon Woodruff vs Pittsburgh Pirates
Carlos Rodon vs Houston Astros
Best Odds for a Win
Taijuan Walker vs Kansas City Royals
Zack Thompson vs Colorado Rockies
Brandon Woodruff vs Pittsburgh Pirates
Tyler Glasnow vs Detroit Tigers
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins
After what has been a strange season for the reigning NL Cy Young Winner, he has been looking a lot more like his usual self lately. He has thrown 17 innings over his last two starts against the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays while only giving up 1 run. He gets a difficult matchup again today, having to face the Texas Rangers, but I completely trust him to continue to dominate again today and be a workhorse just like we saw for all of 2022.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
Boston Red Sox vs Toronto Blue Jays
Philadelphia Phillies vs Zack Greinke
St. Louis Cardinals vs Austin Gomber
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Joey Meneses, 1B Washington Nationals
Over his last 10 games, Joey Meneses has 4 multi-hit games, 3 homers, and 14 total hits. The 31-year-old has had a pretty mediocre follow-up to what was an awesome breakout last season. He is still hitting .282 on the season, though, and has solid plate skills, so I am not giving up on Meneses still showing more of what he did at the plate last season, and this recent stretch is encouraging, and I would bet on him being able to keep it up today in Cincinnati.
Ozzie Albies, 2B Atlanta Braves
Ozzie Albies is incredible against lefties. This season he has slashed .379/.393/.655 against them, and even against a solid pitcher in Justin Steele today, there is a great chance that Ozzie can put up great numbers against the lefty and follow up his homer from yesterday. The Brave’s offense is incredible, and while Ozzie isn’t cheap, he is one of the best hitting second basemen in the game on one of the best offenses in the game and should be worth the higher price.
Austin Riley, 3B Atlanta Braves
The second Atlanta Brave who is one of my favorite’s today. Austin Riley seems to be hitting a homer almost every other day lately. He has 10 homers over his last 16 games with a 1.325 OPS over that stretch. He also isn’t cheap, but considering the odds of him hitting a home run, he sure seems worth the price to me and a must-add to any Braves stack today.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Sandy Alcantara  $10,000 |  Matt Olson $4,500 | Ozzie Albies $3,700 | Austin Riley $4,000 |  Francisco Lindor $3,800 | Ronald Acuña $4,700 |
 Cody Bellinger $4,200 | ||||||
| Aaron Judge $4,000 | ||||||
| Medium |  Kyle Bradish $9,700 |  Bryce Harper $3,400 |  Nolan Gorman $3,500 |  Jeimer Candelario $3,200 | Trea Turner $3,000 |  Adolis García $3,700 |
 Johan Oviedo $9,000 |  Chas McCormick $3,500 | |||||
 Christian Yelich $3,600 | ||||||
| Low | Taijuan Walker $8,900 |  Joey Meneses $3,000 | Bryson Stott $3,100 | Christian Encarnacion-Strand $2,900 | Jeremy Peña $2,600 |  Randy Arozarena $3,300 |
| TJ Friedl $3,200 | ||||||
 Lourdes Gurriel $3,000 |
Stacks
| Phillies | Nick Castellanos | Trea Turner | Alec Bohm | Bryson Stott | Bryce Harper |
 DraftKings | 4400 | 5100 | 4100 | 4300 | 5400 |
| Fanduel | 3000 | 3000 | 3300 | 3100 | 3400 |
| Astros | Chas McCormick | Jeremy Peña | José Abreu |
| DraftKings | 4300 | 4500 | 3600 |
| Fanduel | 3500 | 2600 | 2800 |
| Reds | Matt McLain | Elly De La Cruz | TJ Friedl | Christian Encarnacion-Strand | Joseph Votto |
| DraftKings | 5900 | 6200 | 4000 | 3200 | 4400 |
| Fanduel | 3900 | 4200 | 3200 | 2900 | 3300 |
| Braves | Sean Murphy | Ozzie Albies | Austin Riley | Matt Olson | Ronald Acuña |
| DraftKings | 5500 | 5600 | 6000 | 6400 | 6600 |
| Fanduel | 3600 | 3700 | 4000 | 4500 | 4700 |
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.