Happy Monday! Today we have an 8-game main slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel that is getting underway at 7:05 PM EST. There are some exciting matchups happening today with some great offenses to target and some solid pitching options to choose from as well. This slate is highlighted on the pitching side by Luis Castillo, Yu Darvish, and Jose Berrios at the top end, with Castillo being my favorite of the high-end pitchers. We have some solid other value options down below, but I am not a fan of the cheaper pitching options today, which means you have some great offensive options to choose from with good matchups. Speaking of offenses, some of my favorite ones to target today include the San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, Cleveland Guardians, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Plenty of different directions to go to build a winning MLB DFS lineup today, so let’s get into some of my favorite value options of the day! 

 

MLB DFS Value Pitchers

Kenta Maeda, Minnesota Twins (DraftKings: $8,600 / FanDuel: $8,400) 

Don’t be fooled by the 5.10 ERA, which is fueled by the 10 runs he gave up to the New York Yankees back in April. If you remove that start, he has a 3.20 ERA and has been pitching great since then. Since the Yankee blowup, he has a 2.73 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP with 36 strikeouts through 26.1 innings. Seattle doesn’t have a very scary offense, and he faced them in his last outing, where he struck out 9 and only gave up 2 runs through 6.1 innings. I expect more of the same this time around.

Logan Allen, Milwaukee Brewers (DraftKings: $8,700 / FanDuel: $9,400) 

This duo of pitchers is a bit higher priced than my usual value options, but I really don’t trust any of the pitchers below Maeda and Allen to feel comfortable endorsing them today. Logan Allen had a fantastic first start back, with the team striking out 8 batters through 5 innings and only giving up 1 hit against the Pittsburgh Pirates. That made it 12.2 innings straight without giving up a run in the majors for him. He gets another easy matchup today against the Kansas City Royals and should have no problem putting together another great outing. 

MLB DFS Value Hitters

Alejandro Kirk, C Toronto Blue Jays (DraftKings: $2,900 / FanDuel: $2,300) 

Alejandro Kirk has had a very disappointing season at the plate after being one of the best-hitting catchers in the league and an all-star last year. In his last 2 starts, though, he has 7 hits and a home run, and we have seen how good of a hitter he has been before, and he is still only 24, so I think we see him bounce back and be a solid contributor for the Blue Jays. With his price dropping so low, I am going to take a chance that this is him taking a step forward and can continue it against Michael Grove today. 

Dominic Smith, 1B Washington Nationals (DraftKings: $2,700 / FanDuel: $2,400) 

Dominic Smith has been locked in at the plate recently. Over his last 10 games, he has slashed .382/.477/.588, and over the last 5 that is all the way up to .529/.529/.588 with multi-hit games in each of his last 4 starts. While those hits have been mostly singles, he is still contributing plenty for the price you can get him. Don’t forget how good of a hitter he was back in 2020 for the New York Mets; it is reasonable that we see him get back to that level at some point. 

CJ Abrams, SS Washington Nationals (DraftKings: $3,700 / FanDuel: $3,000) 

CJ Abrams has been making it into a few of my write-ups lately, but he has deserved it. The former San Diego Padres prospect, that was a centerpiece of that Juan Soto trade, is starting to show his worth as the lead-off hitter for the Nationals. He is still at a 1.027 OPS with 3 homers and 8 stolen bases since moving to the leadoff spot on July 7th. He went 0-5 yesterday but should be able to bounce back today against Karl Kauffmann.

Randal Grichuk, OF Colorado Rockies (DraftKings: $3,600 / FanDuel: $2,800) 

Randal Grichuk is slashing .343/.395/.743 in the month of July with 4 home runs, and a lot of that work has been outside of Coors and even in pitcher-friendly parks (Miami and San Francisco) with only 3 of the 10 games this month being in Colorado. They continue this road stretch today in Washington, and Patrick Corbin has been pitching better recently, but he still gives up a ton of home runs, so I like this spot for Grichuk to keep up his good month of hitting. 

 

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