MLB DFS Playbook July 16: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Jul 16, 2023
Welcome to another Sunday full of baseball! Today we are starting off nice and early, so make sure to get your lineups put together in time, as we have a 10-game main slate starting at 1:35 PM EST on DraftKings. On FanDuel, you get a bonus game, also getting the New York Yankees and Colorado Rockies for their series finale at Coors Field, making it an 11-game slate. Lots of other good matchups among the 10 games, including the Los Angeles Dodgers trying to complete the sweep of the New York Mets, the San Diego Padres trying to bounce back against the Philadelphia Phillies after losing both games of the doubleheader yesterday, and the Tampa Bay Rays trying to complete the sweep of the Kansas City Royals after their double win yesterday as well. Plenty of great players to target and make a winning lineup for today, whether you are playing cash games or gpp tournaments, 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 July 16
MLB Weather Updates
San Diego Padres vs Philadelphia Phillies: Some scattered thunderstorms, but hopefully is mostly cleared up before game time.
Miami Marlins vs Baltimore Orioles: Same as Padres vs Phillies game
Los Angeles Dodgers vs New York Mets: This game has scattered thunderstorms for much more of the day, so I am a bit worried about what will happen. Keep a close eye on this one and consider avoiding it.
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
Today’s slate is highlighted by Zach Eflin, Zack Wheeler, Justin Steele, and Max Scherzer as the top-priced arms of the day, plus Gerrit Cole on FanDuel. While I like any of them as options for today’s slate, Zack Wheeler is my favorite of the group, and there are some other cheaper options I like as well that you could pivot to or pair with the arms on the top end that are highlighted down below. On the offensive side, some of my favorite lineups to target today include the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Guardians, Baltimore Orioles, and the Toronto Blue Jays.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Max Scherzer vs Los Angeles Dodgers
Zack Wheeler vs San Diego Padres
Zach Eflin vs Kansas City Royals
Best Odds for a Win
Gerrit Cole vs Colorado Rockies (FanDuel only)
Zach Eflin vs Kansas City Royals
Jack Flaherty vs Washington Nationals
Kolby Allard vs Chicago White Sox
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Kyle Bradish, Baltimore Orioles
Kyle Bradish continues to go out and deliver consistent great innings for the Baltimore Orioles. Over his last 4 starts, he has 27 strikeouts through 24 innings to go along with a 1.88 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He should have no problem continuing this solid pitching today against the Miami Marlins and hopefully putting together another 7+ strikeout game along with continuing to limit the hits and runs.
Jack Flaherty, St. Louis Cardinals
Jack Flaherty has been very up and down this season, with 9 starts of 2 runs or less, including his recent back-to-back scoreless outings. He has also had 4 starts of 5 earned runs or more including the 10 earned run disaster against the Los Angeles Angels back in May. He has looked solid in his last two outings against the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins going 12.2 innings with 9 strikeouts and 0 earned runs. Hopefully, he can manage to get a reasonable strikeout rate today, along with a good outing against the Washington Nationals.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
New York Yankees vs Chase Anderson (FanDuel only)
Cincinnati Reds vs Adrian Houser
Tampa Bay Rays vs Jordan Lyles
Colorado Rockies vs Gerrit Cole (FanDuel only)
Toronto Blue Jays vs Tommy Henry
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Luke Raley, 1B/OF Tampa Bay Rays
Over his last 10 starts, Luke Raley has slashed a very solid .324/.405/.649 along with 3 home runs and 2 stolen bases. He has jumped out of the all-star break continuing to hit well with multiple hits in his first two games against the Kansas City Royals, and I expect more hits to follow today getting to face the struggling Brady Singer.
Ketel Marte, 2B Arizona Diamondbacks
Ketel Marte had a fantastic June where he slashed .315/.442/.598 and hit 7 home runs. He has slowed down a bit as of late but has a good matchup today to continue the solid hitting he has had for most of the summer. He has a .900 OPS against lefties this season and should have no problem getting to the Toronto Blue Jays lefty Yusei Kikuchi today.
Nolan Arenado, 3B St. Louis Cardinals
Nolan Arenado cruised into the All-Star break having a 4-game stretch where he had 8 hits including 3 homers and 3 doubles right before going into the all-star game. He hasn’t continued the quality hitting since then getting another 2 hits and a homer last night against the Washington Nationals. Josiah Gray was just an all-star, but I don’t trust him to win this matchup and think there is a decent chance Arenado puts another one into the stands this afternoon.
Bryce Harper, OF Philadelphia Phillies
Bryce Harper ended his home run draught yesterday hitting his first homer since May 25th. I am sure playing every day post-TJ surgery can’t be easy, and I am guessing getting the all-star break did wonders for him continuing to get healthy. He has still been a great hitter for the Phillies and if the power starts to return Bryce Harper will quickly be one of the best hitters in the league again.
Player Pool
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