MLB DFS Playbook September 22: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Sep 22, 2023
We’ve made it to Friday! It is the second to last Friday before the end of the season, so let’s take advantage and build some winning MLB DFS lineups today! There are some great matchups happening today with the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers facing off as they are currently tied a half-game back of the Houston Astros and the Toronto Blue Jays and will be starting the first of what will be 7 games against each other over their last 10 to end the season. We also have some other teams to watch today as they fight for the postseason, including the Arizona Diamondbacks taking on the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros getting to face the Kansas City Royals. Today we have an 11-game main slate starting at 7:05 PM EST on both DraftKings and FanDuel. There are 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 22
MLB Weather Updates
Atlanta Braves vs Washington Nationals: Some heavy rains are headed to D.C., but they aren’t supposed to hit until super late tonight, so they won’t be an issue unless things change drastically as the day progresses. I wouldn’t worry about it.
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
I would be willing to pay up for Pablo Lopez today as the best pitcher on the slate, but I personally like some of the cheaper options that have great upside today a bit better. I would avoid Framber Valdez, as the Kansas City Royals are good against lefties, and Morton is a bit too volatile for me to trust, even against the Washington Nationals. On the offensive side, some of my favorite lineups to target today include the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, and Minnesota Twins.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Pablo Lopez vs Los Angeles Angels
Charlie Morton vs Washington Nationals
Chris Sale vs Chicago White Sox
Sawyer Gipson-Long vs Oakland Athletics
Best Odds for a Win
Pablo Lopez vs Los Angeles Angels
Charlie Morton vs Washington Nationals
Framber Valdez vs Kansas City Royals
Chris Sale vs Chicago White Sox
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals
The Houston Astros are always a tough matchup. Cole Ragans is facing them for the second straight outing, and the last outing was not great but not terrible; he gave up 5 earned runs through 6 innings but still struck out 7. He has now had 10 starts and has a 2.28 ERA with a 1.03 WHIP, along with 76 strikeouts in 59.1 innings, so I trust him to continue to pitch well and hopefully shut down the Astros this time around.
Sawyer Gipson-Long, Detroit Tigers
Sawyer Gipson-Long was incredible in his last outings, striking out 11 batters while only giving up 1 run off two hits through 5 innings against the Los Angeles Angels. That is now 16 strikeouts through his first 10 innings, with only giving up 3 earned runs. He now gets to face the Oakland Athletics, and I expect this hot start to continue even if we don’t get 11 strikeouts again.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
Atlanta Braves vs Patrick Corbin
Boston Red Sox vs Touki Toussaint
Philadelphia Phillies vs Tylor Megill
Los Angeles Dodgers vs Sean Manaea
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Joey Meneses, 1B Washington Nationals
With a lot of the top first-base options slumping a bit right now, I like the value that Joey Meneses gives at the position. He hasn’t had the power we hoped he would have this season, currently matching his total through 56 games last season with 13 homers in 146 games this season, but he does have 2 homers in his last 3 games and has slashed .333/.359/.556 over his last 10 games.
Ozzie Albies, 2B Atlanta Braves
Ozzie Albies is on a tear right now. Over his last 8 games, he has 16 hits including 3 homers and 5 doubles, with a .432/.450/.811 slash line. He had 4 last night, along with a homer, a double, a stolen base, 2 runs, and 4 RBIs. While he might not put up that kind of ridiculous line again today, I expect him to do some damage against Patrick Corbin and the Washington Nationals.
Xander Bogaerts, SS San Diego Padres
Xander Bogaerts remains red hot this month. He had another 3 hits last night, giving him 6 straight multi-hit games and 7 of his last 8. He leads the entire majors in AVG, OBP, and SLG over September with a .471/.514/.809 slash line. Yes, that is a better slugging than even Matt Olson, who has hit 10 homers this month. He is still reasonably priced compared to the other star shortstops, and I don’t see him slowing down anytime soon.
Corbin Carroll, OF Arizona Diamondbacks
Corbin Carroll isn’t just going to win the NL Rookie of the Year; he is putting up one of the best rookie seasons of all time. He had another 4 hits, a homer, and 2 steals last night. Now with 25 homers and 50 steals on the season, he has been magical, and the Diamondbacks need him to remain magical as they make the final push to make it to October, I will be surprised if he doesn’t deliver for them.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Pablo López  $11,000 |  Matt Olson $4,400 | Ozzie Albies $3,800 | Austin Riley $3,900 |  Corey Seager $4,300 |  Corbin Carroll $4,000 |
 Julio RodrÃguez $4,400 | ||||||
 J.D. Martinez $3,700 | ||||||
| Medium |  Cole Ragans $9,000 |  Nathaniel Lowe $3,100 |  Gleyber Torres $3,200 | Josh Jung $3,300 |  Xander Bogaerts $3,300 | Marcell Ozuna $3,300 |
| Sawyer Gipson-Long $8,300 |  Tommy Pham $3,200 | |||||
| Brandon Nimmo $3,100 | ||||||
| Low | Joey Meneses $2,700 |  Trevor Story $2,600 | Eugenio Suárez $2,900 | Eguy Rosario $2,800 |  Max Kepler $2,900 | |
| Randal Grichuk $2,900 | ||||||
 Mike Yastrzemski $2,900 |
Stacks
| Diamondbacks | Ketel Marte | Corbin Carroll | Tommy Pham |
 DraftKings | 4700 | 5600 | 3700 |
| Fanduel | 3700 | 4000 | 3200 |
| Braves | Ozzie Albies | Austin Riley | Marcell Ozuna | Matt Olson | Ronald Acuña |
| DraftKings | 5800 | 5600 | 4600 | 6400 | 6800 |
| Fanduel | 3800 | 3900 | 3300 | 4400 | 5000 |
| Mariners | Eugenio Suárez | J.P. Crawford | Cal Raleigh | Jarred Kelenic | Julio RodrÃguez |
| DraftKings | 4200 | 4300 | 4600 | 3800 | 6200 |
| Fanduel | 2900 | 3100 | 3100 | 2900 | 4400 |
| Rangers | Nathaniel Lowe | Adolis GarcÃa | Josh Jung | Marcus Semien | Corey Seager |
| DraftKings | 4500 | 5300 | 4600 | 5900 | 6300 |
| Fanduel | 3100 | 3600 | 3300 | 3600 | 4300 |
| Padres | Xander Bogaerts | Juan Soto | Manny Machado | Fernando Tatis | Ha-Seong Kim |
| DraftKings | 4800 | 5700 | 5300 | 6100 | 5000 |
| Fanduel | 3300 | 4200 | 3400 | 4000 | 3200 |