Happy Thursday, and welcome to the MLB DFS Playbook for October 19! We are back to having two games today, with game 3 of the NLCS in Arizona and game 4 of the ALCS. We are at the point of the rotations for both series where we don’t have any aces taking the mound. There is a matchup between Jose Urquidy and Andrew Heaney and Ranger Suarez against Brandon Pfaadt. All four of these guys should have relatively short leashes. With the pitching landscape being a little more difficult, that means there are plenty of places to go on the hitting side, as there should be plenty of offense to go around in both games with no aces to contend with. 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, the new playbook will still be the one-stop shop for building some winning MLB DFS lineups so let’s jump right in! 

 

MLB DFS Playbook October 19

Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers

With today’s pitchers I think the difference in skills between the four isn’t huge I think there is a much better chance of Ranger Suarez and Jose Urquidy going at least 5 innings with some quality stuff where I think both Andrew Heaney and Brandon Pfaadt have bigger blowup potential and a higher chance of being pulled after 3 or so innings even if they’re doing well. 

Ranger Suarez, Philadelphia Phillies

Ranger Suarez certainly gets the easiest offense of the day with them being the least dangerous of the four teams left. He has had two solid outings this postseason both against the Atlanta Braves where he went 3.2 innings giving up only one hit with 4 strikeouts and then another where he made it 5 innings with only giving up 1 run of a solo homer, though that one did only come with 2 strikeouts. He doesn’t have a huge strikeout upside, but I do still think he is the most likely of the 4 pitchers to end up with some solid points. 

Jose Urquidy, Houston Astros

While there is certainly a decent chance that Jose Urquidy also gets a pretty short leash, I am sure if he is pitching well, they will let him keep going for 5-6 innings if possible. He had a decent outing against Minnesota putting up 5.2 innings with 6 strikeouts but did give up 2 runs off two solo shots. The Rangers offense is scary, but they were pretty quiet last night besides Josh Jung, so I think he has a chance to go put out some solid innings.

Recommended DFS Hitters

Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies

I am not going to quit endorsing Bryce Harper all postseason. A quieter game for him in game 2 with only one single and a walk with a run scored, but that still is some production and I have a hard time believing he goes two straight games without a homer right now. The Phillies offense looks unstoppable, and I think heading to Arizona doesn’t slow it down any. 

Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks

Obviously going against my top pitcher pick so you could pivot to Jose Altuve or Bryson Stott at 2B as well as great options, but Ketel Marte has been a hit machine for the Diamondbacks. He has a hit in every game this postseason with multi-hit games in three of the last four. Diamondbacks are up against a wall right now and while they might not be able to keep up with the Phillies offense, I do think they bounce back after being shut out in game 2 (though hopefully they wait until after Ranger Suarez exits before doing their real damage).

Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies

Corey Seager has something going on with his swing right now and is under every fastball. He could fix it and be back to normal even today, but until I see it, I am not paying up for him at shortstop. Trea Turner on the other hand I will gladly pay up for. He has 3 homers in his last four games with 9 total hits (plus 3 walks) and has scored 6 runs. He is completely dialed in at the plate, and I have a hard time seeing him not return huge value again today. 

Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies

Kyle Schwarber is always a bit of a risky pick. The odds of him going 0-4 with a few strikeouts are always pretty high, but when Schwarber is hot, he is one of the best hitters in all of baseball, and he has the best chance to homer besides possibly Yordan Alvarez. He has 3 homers in his last two games, and I am guessing the Phillies leadoff hitter stays hot today. 

Honorable mention: Yordan Alvarez, J.T. Realmuto, Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm