Welcome folks! Today will be a bit different with a small slate and NFL with starting. I will break down each game for Fanduel and Draftkings tonight!
In case you all didn’t know, my name is Matt, mdellagnese14 on twitter. I am currently a student at Springfield College with a love and passion for sports, mainly baseball.
I was brought to the DFS Army to write pitching articles for all members of the DFSArmy! If you are not a member, join the DFSArmy and use promo code “DFSMATT” to get 10% off your subscription!
I am mostly a Fanduel player, so the content in my articles will be for geared mainly towards Fanduel. However, I will include pricing from all both sites (Fanduel and Draftkings) Some plays may be better off for the two pitcher sites and I will mention that when needed about a pitcher.
Pitching is one of the most, if not the most important position in your MLB lineups and selecting the right one will help you tremendously. Go check out the MLB Pitching Strategy article to get my thought process on picking these pitchers each slate!
NOTE: most of the stats I used are from a 14-game sample to the handiness of pitchers. If I reference season numbers, I will mention that!
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If you find yourself thinking, “what do some of these stats mean?” Check out my new definitions article HERE. I explain what each stat I use mean, and reasons why I use those stats in my articles!
BULLPEN REPORTS
will be added later or into slack!
**Note, the rankings are all the way at the end of this article, don’t forget to scroll ALL the way to the end!**
Main Slate
A little change for tonight’s article! Since there are only 6 games, I will be going game by game giving the who I like for pitchers and what bats I like! Enjoy! Play light and gear more towards tournaments tonight! Save those bankrolls for week 2 of NFL!
Oakland A’s (-177) @ Baltimore Orioles O/U: 9.5
Brett Anderson (L) vs Dylan Bundy (R)
Pitching
No interest in these two guys for me tonight. Anderson is coming off the DL and Bundy has been pretty bad most of this season. Load up on some bats here tonight.
Bats
A’s: After a good start to the season, Bundy just hasn’t been able to find it back. He struggles to both sides of the plate, so for Oakland, I want the hot hitters right now. My stacks of Oakland will start with Matt Olson. He’s been on some kind of tear lately and ripped a home run last night. Khris Davis is always in play as he has the chance to pop off at any time. I see him hitting a home run tonight against Bundy who has a 22% HR/FB rate against RHH this season. Don’t forget about Matt Chapman he has been so consistent all season. Stephen Piscotty is a guy who I think is a little pricey, but he’s been very good lately with a .483 wOBA over his last week and .278 ISO. Since these guys are expensive, and the whole lineup is in play, Nick Martini or Dustin Fowler (if either start) are good values at min price on fanduel. DraftKings they are not as much value, and over there I’d recommend Martini over Fowler for $600 less. Don’t forget about Jonathan Lucroy, he’s cheap and has been warming up lately, good low owned guy who can pop for a sneaky HR.
Orioles: Anderson is coming off the DL to make this start tonight, and normally I’m not a big fan of them but tonight they have some viable options. I wouldn’t go crazy stacking them up, but I like the idea of using a couple as one-offs. Jonathan Villar is the first one. He’s been really hot of late besides last game. He comes into this game with a .521 wOBA in his last 7 days. DK loves to price him up there, so he’s not really in play for me there, but he’s a decent play on fanduel at just 3.3k. Adam Jones has been hitting the ball well lately and can hit lefties. He’s a decent price on both sites too and I doubt people will use a lot of him. Joey Rickard always has the ability to pop off out of nowhere and is very good value on fanduel tonight.
Miami Marlins @ New York Mets (-161) O/U: 8
Jeff Brigham (R) vs Jason Vargas (R)
Pitching
NOTE THIS GAME IS ONLY ON THE FANDUEL SLATE. DO NOT PLAY ANYONE ON DRAFTKINGS BECAUSE THEY WILL ALL RECEIVE ZERO’S!!!
I dont think we need to use pitchers from this game. Brigham is a rookie and got beat up in his MLB debut. Vargas is a terrible pitcher and allows a ton of hits to both sides of the plate. He’s a bit better at home, but still not very good. That being said, he did pop off for a 52 fanduel point game a few starts ago at home. If you’re throwing darts at a pitcher in this game, it’s Vargas, but I don’t recommend it.
Bats
Marlins: Vargas, like I said is not a good pitcher. He’s actually pretty terrible. He’s allowed over a .350 wOBA to both sides of the plate and rarely strikes anyone out. We are not sure the lineup they will roll out in the 2nd game of this DH, but I like the righties the most. THe only trustworthy ones for MIA are Realmuto, Castro, and Brian Anderson. Honestly, those are the only 3 I’m really interested in for Miami. Even though Vargas is bad, they are still the Marlins and are hard to trust. You can always look at Brinson for some power too.
Mets: Brigham was getting a ton of flyballs in AAA this season and not many grounders. He struggled with his command in his first start and he could be in trouble tonight. The Mets are never a team that we love to use bats from, but I like the idea of using their lefties. Mainly Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, and Dominic Smith. These guys all have some power and Nimmo/Conforto have SB upside too. Smith is dirt cheap on FD and a tad expensive on FD. Don’t forget about Jay Bruce if he plays in game two. He’s been hot of late and loves right-handed pitching.
Toronto Blue Jays @ Boston Red Sox (-250) O/U: 9
Sam Gaviglio (R) vs Eduardo Rodriguez (L)
Pitching
Eduardo Rodriguez: He’s the pitcher I want in this game. It’s really him or Kershaw tonight for pitching. Since coming back from the DL, he’s had one good and one bad start. He has a 26% strikeout rate this season and has shown us upside this year. We can’t trust him for cash games (you shouldnt be playing cash games now anyways), but he’s a great tournament play. The Blue Jays have history with him (119 at-bats). They are hitting just .227 with a 24.3% strikeout rate. He’s going to be chalky, but there are not many pitching options tonight.
Bats
Blue Jays: Not going to go crazy with the Jays bats tonight. E-Rod I see going out here and doing what Price did last night. There are a few guys that I would be interested in as one-offs and those guys are; Randal Grichuk, Kendrys Morales, Teoscar Hernandez, Kevin Pillar.
Red Sox: They are hot as heck right now, but Gav has a way to limit hard contact especially against the Red Sox. In two starts against them, he hasn’t allowed more than 26% hard contact. For Boston, a stack is firmly in play though. Guys like J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts, and Xander Bogaerts are the main guys. But don’t forget about Jackie Bradley or Brock Holt. Both of these guys will hit in the bottom of the order, and Bradley is still cheap on FD. THey are expensive on DK across the board though. It does seem like Benintendi is being overlooked lately, he has been cold, but still can pop off in that lineup.
Los Angeles Dodgers (-183) @ St. Louis Cardinals O/U: 7.5
Clayton Kershaw (L) vs Austin Gomber (L)
Pitching
Clayton Kershaw: Duh, he’s the chalk on the slate tonight and there are really only 2 options that I like anyways. Eat chalk with pitching and differentiate with the bats tonight. He is good for points every time he takes the mound and can pop off for 50+ at any start. STL has a 26% strikeout rate to LHP in the last month and Kershaw has the ability to rack up strikeouts. I don’t need to say much about him. He’s chalk, eat it tonight and move on.
Austin Gomber: The kid has looked good since being called up to the Bigs. He’s my sneaky play of the night at pitching. People will be all over the Dodgers bats tonight against a rookie lefty. He has a low strikeout rate but the Dodgers do have a 25% strikeout rate to LHP over the last month and they did have a time where they really struggled against lefties. Gomber does give up a ton of hits, so he’s not in play on DK for me, but he hasnt allowed more than 3 ER since the beginning of August and has rolled off 3 straight quality starts. Sneaky tournament play tonight.
Bats
Cardinals: I don’t love picking on Kershaw and any play for the Cards is a mere one-off you think can hit a home run. Ozuna, Molina, Carpenter would be my top 3 one-offs. But I don’t think any will make any of my lineups tonight.
Dodgers: Like I said, Gomber has been really good lately. He’s actually struggled more against lefties than righties this season. Now, Machado, Turner, and Puig are all in play as power threats and Machado/Turner can get a ton of hits too. Just because a LvL matchup, don’t forget power bat of Joc Pederson, Cody Bellinger, or Max Muncy. Another expensive stack tonight, but I wouldn’t really stack them too much as I do think Gomber is a good young pitcher.
Minnesota Twins @ Kansas City Royals O/U: 9.5 (PICK EM GAME)
Stephen Gonsalves (L) vs Heath Fillmyer (R)
Pitching
Nope, move on. These two pitchers just started against each other and both got tossed around. Love a GAME STACK in this one as I expect both offenses to surge.
Bats
Twins: Honestly, love this whole game and I think both lineups are firmly in play to stack up. Find different ways to stack up this lineup. I would start with Mauer, Rosario, Kepler. But don’t forget about Polanco, Grossman, or Adrianza. Stack them up as many ways as you can tonight.
Royals: Same as I said above. Both teams are firmly in play for stacks. Both pitchers are bad and will likely get rocked again. Merrifield is an amazing play leading off, then I really like using Mondesi who has been really good of late. Alex Gordon has found new life and round the stacks out with Hunter Dozier and Sal Perez. If you want to be sneaky, Bonifacio can be sneaky from the bottom of the order.
Seattle Mariners @ Los Angeles Angels (-106) O/U: 9
Mike Leake (R) vs Odrisamer Despaigne (R)
Pitching
Mike Leake: Don’t love him, but don’t 100% hate him. He has been pretty solid lately goign deep into games. He gives up a ton of hits but normally can limit the runs given up. Not a big strikeout guy, but can still score 25+ fanduel points. Big tournament play when playing multiple lineups tonight.
Bats
Mariners: Despaigne is not a great pitcher and we are looking at a bullpen game for the Angels. I’m actually digging a 9-1-2-3 stack for Seattle tonight. Dee Gordon hasn’t been good, but he still has amazing speed and wrap that with Haniger, Segura, and Cano. If Segura is out again, just use Cruz in that stack. Mike Zunino isn’t good for much, but he still has very good power and can smack home runs. Don’t forget about Seager who has been heating up lately with a .369 wOBA in the last week.
Angels: Leake can tend to struggle but he does get a ton of groundballs. The Angels are normally a frustrating team to stack because it seems like it’s 1-2 guys that really do the damage in their games. Two guys, who are the hottest hitters for the Angels right now are Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani both of which I love tonight and they grade out very high. This bullpen game can be tricky, but these two crush both sides of pitching. The other guy I’m looking at for the Angels is Andrelton Simmons. He’s one of those guys who gets on base and scores runs. He has a .413 wOBA of late and is right up there with Trout and Ohtani for getting on base in the last 2 weeks.
MAIN SLATE RANKINGS Pitchers!
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- Clayton Kershaw
- Eduardo Rodriguez
- Austin Gomber
- Mike Leake
Offense Rankings!
- Boston Red Sox
- Los Angeles Angels Mini stack (Trout, Ohtani, Simmons)
- Oakland A’s
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Twins/Royals game stack (love this to be a little sneaky!)
- New York Mets
- Baltimore Orioles (one-offs)
Good Luck Everyone!