We are back here for another week of fantasy baseball and what better way to kick it off than with some MLB DFS lineups?! From a scheduling perspective, we are in luck with a 10-game MLB DFS main slate in front of us on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo Fantasy. While there certainly are some strong pitchers taking the mound, there is also value to be found both on the hill and at the plate for our MLB daily fantasy contests. That is a good thing as we look to build some balanced daily fantasy baseball lineups. It is important to keep an eye on the latest MLB news, confirmed MLB lineups, and MLB weather report updates as part of your process. Plus, check out all of the MLB DFS lineup tools we have to offer, including the MLB daily projections. Now, let us jump into some MLB DFS top picks in the value range for tonight's action!

 

 

MLB DFS Value Pitchers

Joe Ryan (MIN); DraftKings - $7,300; FanDuel - $9,000; Yahoo - $38

Admittedly, Ryan has not been consistently good lately alternating good starts with bad ones. At the very least, if he follows that pattern tonight, we are in luck. The overall body of work for the Minnesota Twins right-hander has been strong this season with a 3.95 ERA (3.49 xERA), 1.13 WHIP, and 93 strikeouts in 95.2 innings to go along with eight victories. It is a favorable matchup tonight against the Royals for Ryan as they are below average offensively with a wRC+ of 95. While Ryan’s groundball rate of just 27.6% is a little troubling, it has not slowed him down to this point. The 8.9% barrel-rate shows that opposing hitters are not squaring him up too much either. 

Marcus Stroman (CHC); DraftKings - $7,200; FanDuel - $8,400; Yahoo - $41

For most of this season, Washington has been a team to be targeted from a pitching perspective and that has only been heightened as of late. Maybe we should watch ourselves, though, as Stroman did face the Nationals in his last start and allowed four runs against. On an overall basis, Stroman has a solid 4.20 ERA this season but he gets all the way down to a 3.31 xFIP. We should see about a strikeout an inning from the Chicago Cubs right-hander tonight as he looks to re-capture his 0.89 ERA from July. 

MLB DFS Value Hitters

Ryan McKenna, OF (BAL); DraftKings - $2,000; FanDuel - $2,100; Yahoo - $7

After a slow start to his major league career, it appears that McKenna is picking up some speed with a .280 batting average in July and now a .313 mark in his first games of August. There is a clear advantage for the rookie outfielder against southpaws, .293 compared to .236 along with both of his home runs – and that will only serve to benefit Mckenna tonight against Yusei Kikuchi. The Baltimore Orioles outfielder does have a solid 9.5% barrel rate and it helps that Kikuchi clearly struggles against right-handed batters as they hit .263 against him this season along with 16 home runs. 

Jose Miranda, 1B/3B (MIN); DraftKings $3,500; FanDuel - $2,900; Yahoo - $17

Playing DFS requires you to have a short memory. Whatever you might think about Kansas City Royals starter Kris Bubic from a streaming perspective in seasonal fantasy baseball has to be tabled – at least slightly here. If we are just going to look strictly at tonight, Miranda is the cleanup hitter for Minnesota with the platoon advantage for a team that is expected to score close to five runs. Plus, his price is simply way too cheap. At this point, Miranda has more than recovered from a rough start to his career and he is hitting .333 in the second half of the season with three home runs and 15 RBI in 19 games; 11 home runs and 47 RBI total in 262 at-bats. In about half of the number of at-bats, Miranda has more home runs (six) against left-handers and Bubic has simply struggled overall with a 5.02 ERA. 

Nathaniel Lowe, 1B (TEX); DraftKings – $2,900; FanDuel - $2,900; Yahoo - $16

I think a am sensing a theme here with another cheap cleanup hitter for a team expected to do well offensively tonight. Lowe also has the platoon advantage against a young pitcher whom we have questions about. Albeit small, the Texas Rangers first baseman is in the midst of a five-game hitting streak with two hits in each of his last two games. While nothing that Lowe does truly jumps off the page, it is hard to argue with the overall body of work we see – .287 batting average with 16 home runs, 49 RBI, and 51 runs scored. 

J.D. Davis, 3B (SF); DraftKings - $2,800; FanDuel - $2,600; Yahoo - $12

Here is one more option following the same criteria as above. I try not to recycle content, but Davis is simply too cheap tonight as regular playing time and at-bats following his trade from the New York Mets appear to look good on him now that he's in San Francisco. It is not coming as a complete surprise as Davis just passed the 10-month mark in recovery from last year’s hand injury. This is when it was expected he would truly hit his stride and find his groove once again now fully healthy. In 28 at-bats this month, Davis is hitting .286 with three home runs and the long ball is what we are after once again tonight. With career-highs across the board in barrel rate (14.2%), hard-hit rate (56%), and average exit velocity (92.7 miles per hour), success should not be a complete surprise for the Giants infielder.

 

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