MLB DFS Playbook July 28: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel

Hello and welcome to the MLB DFS Playbook for July 28! We have a monster 14-game slate on both DK and FD on our hands today. We have a 7:05 pm ET start time, so you have plenty of time to get those lineups made! Make sure to check out all of our amazing MLB DFS tools as they are always worth going through before building your lineups as are the Vegas Odds. However, as I am sure you have figured out by now, the new playbook will be a one-stop shop that includes everything from easy-to-read player write-ups and suggestions to MLB Weather Reports to lineup construction tips to our best value plays for DraftKings and FanDuel. You will be given core plays around which to build your lineups, DFS stacks to consider for GPP tournaments and key statistics to help you in your DFS research. Let’s dive in! 

MLB DFS Playbook July 28

MLB Weather Updates

Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees (possible rain delay, but supposed to clear up later)

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (possible rain, looks like the riskiest game)

Cleveland Guardians vs. Chicago White Sox (possible rain)

Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets (possible rain)

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Atlanta Braves (possible rain)

Oakland Athletics vs. Colorado Rockies (possible rain)

Games that appear to have a decent wind blowing out:

Kansas City Royals vs. Minnesota Twins (hot, humid, and a strong wind blowing out to LCF)

Games that appear to have a decent wind blowing in:

None.

DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

This slate is a lot to unpack. For starters, we have 14-games to look at, but with multiple weather concerns, which makes it a bit less fun. We also have Coors Field on the slate with two bad offenses and two bad pitching staffs, so that could be an interesting game/series. We also have aces galore pitching today with Gerrit Cole, Kevin Gausman, Shane McClanahan, Zack Wheeler, and more taking the mound for their teams. Let’s dive in! 

Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options for Strikeouts

Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees

Kevin Gausman, Toronto Blue Jays

Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies

Best Odds for a Win

Bobby Miller (Los Angeles Dodgers -232)

Kevin Gausman (Toronto Blue Jays -206)

Max Scherzer (New York Mets -190)

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Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups

Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees

Cole is the AL Cy Young front-runner right now and he is having another fantastic season with a 2.78 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 144 Ks across 129.1 innings. He has scored at least 20.9 dk points in three straight and has scored over 30 in two of his past six. The Orioles aren’t the easiest matchup in the world, but they’re far from the hardest and I like Cole to continue his dominance today. 

Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies

I’ve said this plenty, but Wheeler has pitched much better than his ERA and WHIP indicate, but he still has to deal with the Phillies terrible defense, and that has to be accepted. He is coming off back-to-back 20+ point games though and has at least 6 Ks in five straight. He has a 3.72 ERA on the road with a 199.5 dk ppg average, compared to 4.03 and 18.0 at home, respectively. The Pirates are a good matchup. 

Grayson Rodriguez, Baltimore Orioles

If wanting to go cheaper, I am willing to take a shot on Rodriguez here. He is coming off one of his best games of the season as he scored 17.8 dk points by pitching 5.2 innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts against the Rays. He has racked up at least 6 Ks in seven of his 12 outings this season. The Yankees are expected to get Aaron Judge back today, which doesn’t bode the greatest for GRod, but there isn’t great upside guys at this price outside of him. 

Recommended DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

5.50 – Colorado Rockies

5.50 – Oakland Athletics

5.48 – Atlanta Braves

5.44 – Cleveland Guardians

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Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups

Mark Vientos, 1B, New York Mets

Vientos has looked a bit better at the dish since rejoining the Mets, going 5-14 (.357) with a double and a RBI over five games (three starts). Tonight, he faces a lefty in MacKenzie Gore, who has been completely unpredictable lately; he has given up at least 5 runs in four of his past 10 starts, but also has five games in that span with 1 run or less. Vientos is a solid cheap power upside GPP play if you think we get the clunker version of Gore tonight. 

Dylan Moore, 2B/OF, Seattle Mariners

 If you look at Moore’s season line of a .186 average, you’d say “why would I ever play this dude,” but he has been really good the past few days. He has scored 21, 12, 2, and 35 dk points over his last four games with three home runs, a steal, six RBI, and four runs scored. He is offering both speed and power upside right now at a near minimum price and is getting to face a low-tier pitcher in Tommy Henry. I’ll take my chances on him staying hot. 

Marco Luciano, SS, San Francisco Giants

I always like taking a chance on top prospects when they get recalled and have cheap DFS price tags, because the upside is far superior to most guys in this price range. He was slashing .292/.370/.625 across 27 plate appearances at AAA since being promoted from AA earlier this month. Kutter Crawford is a very mid pitcher with a 4.04 ERA this season and he has been worse lately, with a 4.57 ERA over his last 10 games. 

Christian Yelich, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

Yelich is on fire right now, hitting .390 with a 1.164 OPS over his last 10 games to go along with three home runs and a stolen base. He has 15 home runs and 22 steals on the year, while hitting .293, giving him plenty of upside in a variety of ways. He will be facing Yonny Chirinos making his Braves debut in a good hitting environment in Atlanta and I like his chances to stay hot and continue to produce. 

Eloy Jimenez, OF, Chicago White Sox

Eloy is also swinging it incredibly well right now, hitting .371 with a .964 OPS over his last 10 games. He has a .285 average on the year with 13 home runs and 79 total R/RBI across 69 games of action. He has double-digit fantasy points five of his past seven games. He is facing a bullpen game by the Guardians tonight, and I don’t see any reason for him to not stay hot and have himself a nice night at the dish. 

Player Pool

• DraftKings
• FanDuel

$ Tier	SP	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	OF
High	Gerrit Cole $11,000	Will Smith $3,700	Matt Olson $4,200	Mookie Betts $4,300	José Ramírez $4,100	Francisco Lindor $3,800	Ronald Acuña $4,600
	Zack Wheeler $10,600		Pete Alonso $3,900		Nolan Arenado $3,800		Christian Yelich $3,700
Medium	Shane McClanahan $9,900	Elias Díaz $3,200	Nathaniel Lowe $3,500	Ha-Seong Kim $3,200	Zack Gelof $3,400	Trea Turner $3,100	Bryce Harper $3,300
		Shea Langeliers $3,100	Triston Casas $3,100				Eloy Jiménez $3,300
Low	Bobby Miller $8,700	Bo Naylor $2,600	Michael Toglia $2,800	Andrés Giménez $2,800	Andruw Monasterio $2,600	Tim Anderson $2,700	Sal Frelick $2,900
	Grayson Rodriguez $7,700			Dylan Moore $2,800	Mark Vientos $2,300	Marco Luciano $2,400	James Outman $2,900

Stacks

Brewers	Christian Yelich	Andruw Monasterio	Sal Frelick
DraftKings	5400	2700	3400
Fanduel	3700	2600	2900

Mets	Mark Vientos	Francisco Lindor	Pete Alonso
DraftKings	2500	4800	4900
Fanduel	2300	3800	3900

Guardians	Andrés Giménez	José Ramírez	Bo Naylor
DraftKings	4000	5800	2800
Fanduel	2800	4100	2600

Rockies	Ryan McMahon	Elias Díaz	Ezequiel Tovar
DraftKings	4400	4500	4200
Fanduel	3700	3200	3300