MLB DFS Playbook September 18: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Sep 18, 2023
Happy Monday! Officially less than two weeks until the end of the season, and things are getting interesting! The Mariner's postseason hopes are starting to dwindle as they continue to drop games and are looking up at the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers, needing to catch at least one of them to get to October. The NL Wild Card is really interesting as we have the Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks, and San Francisco Giants all in contention fighting for the final two spots. With all that excitement underway, we get a great 8-game main slate today on both DraftKings and FanDuel, getting underway at 7:05 PM EST. Today’s slate is highlighted by an NL East matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves, The Texas Rangers trying to keep their wildcard spot facing the Boston Red Sox, and the Seattle Mariners looking to chase them down getting to face the Oakland Athletics. Lots of exciting baseball and plenty of great players to target to help us build some winning MLB DFS lineups, 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 September 18
MLB Weather Updates
Looks like a clear day all the way across the slate today!
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
We have some great pitching options today. My favorites include my favorite from the top end as well as my favorite from some of the cheaper options, but some honorable mentions that I also like today include Justin Verlander, Michael Wacha, and Jordan Montgomery. On the offensive side, some of my favorite lineups to target include the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, and Chicago White Sox.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Freddy Peralta vs St. Louis Cardinals
Zack Wheeler vs Atlanta Braves
Jordan Montgomery vs Boston Red Sox
Kyle Wright vs Philadelphia Phillies
Bryan Woo vs Oakland Athletics
Best Odds for a Win
Michael Wacha vs Colorado Rockies
Freddy Peralta vs St. Louis Cardinals
Bryan Woo vs Oakland Athletics
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers
Freddy Peralta is the most expensive pitcher on today’s slate, but for good reason. Over his last 12 starts, he has hit double-digit strikeouts 5 times and made it to 9 strikeouts two other times. Over that stretch, he has 103 strikeouts through 70 innings to go along with a 2.70 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP. Over that stretch, only Spencer Strider has more strikeouts with 104, but Peralta comes with a league-leading WHIP and the 6th-best ERA as well. He has arguably been the best pitcher in baseball over the two months or more, so he is well worth the price as the top pitcher.
After a rough outing against the Cincinnati Reds, where he lost his control a bit, hitting 3 batters, walking another 3, and not recording a strikeout, he bounced back in a big way, striking out 8 against the Los Angeles Angels without giving up a run through 5.2 innings with 0 walks or hit batsmen. He now gets to face the Oakland Athletics and has an opportunity for another high-strikeout game while recording a much-needed win for the Seattle Mariners.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
Atlanta Braves vs Zack Wheeler
Milwaukee Brewers vs Adam Wainwright
Chicago White Sox vs Joan Adon
Los Angeles Dodgers vs Eduardo Rodriguez
Texas Rangers vs Kutter Crawford
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Bryce Harper, 1B Philadelphia Phillies
Bryce Harper looks ready for another big performance in October. He has been crushing the ball for quite a while now. Since August 1st, he has slashed .293/.415/.620 with 12 homers. That slash line is incredibly close to what he put up during his last MVP season in 2021, and he should be able to produce some fireworks today against Kyle Wright, who gave up 6 runs through 3 innings in his last outing against the Phillies.
Yoan Moncada, 3B Chicago White Sox
Over his last 20 starts, Yoan Moncada has only been held hitless 3 times. Over that stretch, he has slashed .338/.382/.563 with 4 homers. Considering before that stretch, he slashed .231/.275/.349 with 4 homers through 64 games, that is quite the turnaround. We’ve seen Moncada hit well across full seasons before, so I am going to believe that he will continue more of what he has done recently and not fall back into his struggles from the beginning of the season and last season.
Xander Bogaerts, SS San Diego Padres
Xander Bogaerts is putting together an incredible September of hitting for the Padres. He only has one game without a hit this month and 7 multi-hit efforts, with 4 in his last 5 games. Over this month, he has slashed an amazing .436/.483/.727 with 3 homers, 7 doubles, and 3 steals. While the San Diego Padres season may be lost, Xander Bogaerts is at least giving them something to cheer for as he shows that he can still be worth that big contract they gave him going into this season.
Julio Rodriguez, OF Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are going to need some magic in September to finish this push to get to the postseason, and if it is going to happen, it will most likely be coming from Julio Rodriguez. He has continued to be amazing since his 17 hits in 4 games back in the middle of August. Since then, he has slashed .415/.444/.780 with 11 homers and 8 steals. He has 14 multi-hit games in that 26-game stretch, and I wouldn’t want to bet against him doing something special on any given night right now.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Freddy Peralta  $10,800 |  Bryce Harper $3,700 |  Mookie Betts $4,400 |  Manny Machado $3,500 | Trea Turner $4,100 |  Julio RodrÃguez $4,500 |
 Justin Verlander $10,500 |  Yordan Alvarez $4,100 | |||||
 Juan Soto $3,900 | ||||||
| Medium | Bryan Woo $9,700 |  Spencer Torkelson $3,400 | Bryson Stott $3,100 |  Yoán Moncada $2,900 | Xander Bogaerts $3,000 |  Marcell Ozuna $3,400 |
 Michael Wacha $9,300 | Chas McCormick $3,200 | |||||
 Jordan Montgomery $9,500 | Michael Harris $3,200 | |||||
| Low | José Abreu $2,900 | Brendan Rodgers $2,400 |  Ceddanne Rafaela $2,800 | Jeremy Peña $2,700 | Kerry Carpenter $2,900 | |
| Sal Frelick $3,000 | ||||||
| Matt Vierling $2,900 |
Stacks
| Phillies | Trea Turner | Alec Bohm | Bryson Stott | Bryce Harper |
 DraftKings | 6300 | 4400 | 4600 | 5900 |
| Fanduel | 4100 | 2900 | 3100 | 3700 |
| Braves | Ozzie Albies | Austin Riley | Matt Olson | Ronald Acuña | Michael Harris |
| DraftKings | 6000 | 5800 | 6400 | 6900 | 4600 |
| Fanduel | 3600 | 4000 | 4400 | 5000 | 3200 |
| Brewers | William Contreras | Christian Yelich | Willy Adames | Carlos Santana | Sal Frelick |
| DraftKings | 5100 | 5200 | 4300 | 3900 | 4200 |
| Fanduel | 3200 | 3300 | 3100 | 3000 | 3000 |
| Astros | Chas McCormick | Jose Altuve | Jeremy Peña | Yainer Diaz | Yordan Alvarez |
| DraftKings | 4400 | 6200 | 4400 | 4300 | 6000 |
| Fanduel | 3200 | 4000 | 2700 | 2900 | 4100 |
| Padres | Xander Bogaerts | Juan Soto | Manny Machado | Fernando Tatis | Ha-Seong Kim |
| DraftKings | 4500 | 5500 | 5000 | 5700 | 4800 |
| Fanduel | 3000 | 3900 | 3500 | 3800 | 3200 |
Player News
Daulton Varsho picked up three hits, three RBI and a homer in a win over the Angels on Thursday.
Varsho has only played in seven games this year, but they’ve been seven good ones. He’s homered three times already, and his slugging percentage is a remarkable — and entirely unsustainable — .727 over 22 at-bats. Varsho has been a mediocre offensive player in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, but it’s possible at the age of 28 he’s having a breakout campaign. Far from a guarantee, but possible.
Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in a loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday.
Ward, 31, gave the Angels a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer off Chris Bassitt in the first inning. He’s now gone deep in two of his last three games, and it ‘improves’ his slash to .181/.224/.391. Ward has been one of the most hot/cold players players in the sport over the last few years, so fantasy managers who can afford to make some roster moves may want to look at Ward while the going is good.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. picked up three hits and scored twice in an 8-5 win over the Angels on Thursday.
Guerrero also drew a walk. It gives the first baseman multiple hits in back-to-back games, and it’s the third time in May that he’s reached that mark. That’s helped raise his average from .268 to .295, and the only thing fantasy managers can be disappointed with is his .432 slugging percentage. That number should continue to climb as the season unfolds, but Vladdy Jr. has had some inconsistent seasons when it comes to power production.
Chad Green picked up his first save of 2025 with a scoreless ninth against the Angels on Thursday.
Green got the save after Jeff Hoffman worked in back-to-back games — and struggled — in the first two contests against the Angels. He struck out two and looked the part while needing just nine pitches to get through the inning. Hoffman should remain the closer, but Green is on his tail if the struggles were to continue.
Chris Bassitt allowed five runs — four earned — while working six-plus innings against the Angels on Thursday while picking up a win.
Bassitt allowed three runs over the first two innings on a pair of homers, but settled down over his next four frames. He came out to work the seventh, but ended up being charged for two more runs after leaving the contest. The 36-year-old veteran has forged a 3.35 ERA and outstanding 49/8 K/BB ratio over the first quarter of the season, but this wasn’t him at his best. He’ll get the Rays next week if the rotation order stays the same for Toronto.
José Soriano allowed three runs over five innings while not factoring in the decision Thursday against the Blue Jays.
Soriano left with a 4-3 lead, but it was erased quickly after his departure. The 26-year-old was not exactly dominant in his outing with eight hits allowed and four free passes, but he did strike out six to help balance things out a smidgen. Soriano takes an even ERA of 4.00 into a scheduled start against the Padres in San Diego on Tuesday. There should be better options for that one.