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Welcome to another year of the DFS Army MLB Full Count! You have to start your research somewhere, and oftentimes going game by game and breaking down every matchup and its key players is the first step in our process. My name is Mike aka @MadnessDFS on Twitter, make sure to give me a follow as I’ll occasionally make updates to the advice in the article out on Twitter as well as inside our coaching forums. With that said, let’s get it started!
Full Slate Breakdown Picks for MLB DFS 8/29:
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Main MLB Slate Player Projections and Stacks:
St. Louis Cardinals (-215) @ Cincinnati Reds (+184)
Implied Run Totals:
Rundown:
We’ll kick this slate off with an earlier start than usual for a main slate, but Cincy is known for these odd start times. Miles Mikolas will get the start for the Cardinals and gets a really nice matchup with this Reds below-average lineup. He’s coming off of a rough start against the Cubs last time out but still a guy I like a good deal as an SP2 on this slate due to his ability to avoid the big inning. I will say, he’s much better at home with a 2.46 ERA and .84 WHIP compared to his road 4.21 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. Chase Anderson will get the start for the Reds after recently joining the team. He hasn’t pitched in the big leagues this season but has a combined 6.99 ERA over his past two seasons with Philly and Toronto, so the Cardinals will look great here.
STL 5-star plays: Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado
4-star plays: Lars Nootbar, Tyler O’Neill, Nolan Gorman, Tommy Edman
GPP Note: The Cardinals look like a great stacking option to lead off the slate.
CIN 5-star plays: None
4-star plays: Jake Fraley, Jonathan India
GPP Note: I’ll probably have more interest in Mikolas than anything from the Reds.
Los Angeles Dodgers (-240) @ Miami Marlins (+195)
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Rundown:
The Dodgers will send Tony Gonsolin to the mound in a great matchup with the Marlins in a pitcher’s park here. Gonsolin may be in the lead as NL Cy Young at the moment with the way he’s been pitching. He has a 23.7% strikeout rate on the season to go with a 2.10 ERA, he’ll be an elite option on this slate in all formats. Pablo Lopez will get the start for the Marlins in a really tough spot against this Dodgers lineup and probably won’t be a guy I get too much of in this price range. I’d rather just pivot to Miles Mikolas in that first game instead of picking on the Dodgers.
LAD 5-star plays: Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts
4-star plays: Trea Turner, Max Muncy
GPP Note: Lopez is a good enough pitcher where I don’t feel the need to spend up on these Dodger bats, but they’re still firmly in play.
MIA 5-star plays: None
4-star plays: None
GPP Note: Love Gonsolin here.
Chicago Cubs (+200) @ Toronto Blue Jays (-240)
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Rundown:
Javier Assad will get the start for the Cubbies in a really tough matchup in a hitter’s park against a high-powered Jays offense. Assad was fine in his MLB debut last week against the Cardinals but did struggle with control a bit. He hasn’t been a big strikeout guy in the minors either, so just not a guy I’ll get to on this slate. Jose Berrios will start for the Jays and has bounced back nicely over his last two games with at least 34 FanDuel points in both of them to accompany a quality start in each. I like Berrios more on DraftKings where you can make him your SP2 instead of him being your lone pitcher.
CHC 5-star plays: None
4-star plays: Willson Contreras, Seiya Suzuki
GPP Note: I probably don’t want to stack the Cubs, but I think a mini-stack is in play.
TOR 5-star plays: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer
4-star plays: Alejandro Kirk, Bo Bichette, Matt Chapman, Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
GPP Note: The Jays look great here against Assad.
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Boston Red Sox (+115) @ Minnesota Twins (-130)
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Rundown:
Boston will send Brayan Bello to the mound in a tougher matchup with this Twins team, although they’re still missing Byron Buxton which helps. Bello had his best start as a big leaguer last time out but is still rocking a 7.36 ERA and isn’t getting over 70 pitches in any of his starts. I will likely make him prove it to me in at least one more start before I trust going back to him but he is a top prospect in that Boston organization. The Twins will start Dylan Bundy in a tough matchup as well against the Red Sox who may be getting Trevor Story back in the middle of that lineup after returning from IL on Saturday. I don’t see a reason to force Bundy here, he has just a 17% strikeout rate and doesn’t give you the upside to outweigh the risk that comes with him.
BOS 5-star plays: Rafael Devers
4-star plays: JD Martinez, Trevor Story, Alex Verdugo, Tommy Pham
GPP Note: I like Boston here but I think they’ll be more of a mini-stack team for me.
MIN 5-star plays: Carlos Correa, Jose Miranda
4-star plays: Luis Arraez, Max Kepler
GPP Note: Similar to the Red Sox, they’ll be a mini-stack team for me.
Pittsburgh Pirates (-) @ Milwaukee Brewers (-)
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Rundown:
The Pirates are heading into Milwaukee to open up a series with the Brewers here and are sending Robert Stephenson to the mound. He seems like he’ll be more of an opener with Jared Eickhoff to follow him, regardless, neither of these guys are in play against a Brewers team that has scored 16 runs over their last two games. Speaking of the Brewers, they’ll send Corbin Burnes to the mound in an elite bounce-back spot against the Pirates after struggling with the Dodgers last time out. I’m going to look over that start against the Dodgers, well… because it was the Dodgers. This Pirates team is striking out at a 25.5% rate on the season combined with Burnes’ 31.4% strikeout rate.
PIT 5-star plays: None
4-star plays: None
GPP Note: Burnes may be my favorite pitching option on the slate.
MIL 5-star plays: Christian Yelich, Willy Adames
4-star plays: Rowdy Tellez, Hunter Renfroe, Garrett Mitchell
GPP Note: The Brewers look great again here and I’ll ride the heater they’re on over the last couple of games.
New York Yankees (-180) @ Los Angeles Angels (+150)
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Rundown:
The Yankees will send Frankie Montas to the mound in a nice matchup with this Angels team. Montas has struggled as a part of the Yankees so far but bounced back nicely last time out against the Mets and I think he has a chance to continue that here. I love the price tag on him, especially on DraftKings where we can use him as an SP2. He has a 23.9% strikeout rate as well which gives him some upside that we may not see from other guys in this price range. The Angels will send Jose Suarez to the mound and likely won’t be a guy I get to against this Yankees team that is full of lefty-mashers up and down their lineup.
NYY 5-star plays: Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo
4-star plays: Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson, DJ LeMahieu
GPP Note: The only thing I don’t like for the Yankees stack is the ballpark.
LAA 5-star plays: Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani
4-star plays: David Fletcher
GPP Note: I think I’ll have more Montas than anything from the Angels, but Trout and Ohtani are a big hurdle for him to get over in this lineup.
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Philadelphia Phillies (-189) @ Arizona Diamondbacks (+158)
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Rundown:
Ranger Suarez will start for Philly here as they head into Arizona to take on a streaky Dbacks lineup. Suarez has been pretty solid as of late with at least 18.8 DraftKings points in three of his last five games, but I just don’t like the price tag on him here. I’d rather go down to guys like Montas and Mikolas personally. Madison Bumgarner will start for the Dbacks and at this point in his career… he’s pretty washed up in my opinion. He’s been held under 10 DraftKings points in four of his last five games making the Phillies stack look great AGAIN here. ***Side note, I’m really excited to see Corbin Carroll make his debut in this Dbacks lineup, he’s a top 3 prospect in baseball at min price… he’s a great value option if he cracks the lineup. He was hitting .303 with 23 homers and 31 stolen bases in the minors this season.***
PHI 5-star plays: Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper
4-star plays: Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm, JT Realmuto
GPP Note: It’s hard not to like the Phillies again here.
ARI 5-star plays: Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte
4-star plays: Christian Walker, Stone Garrett
GPP Note: I think you can make a case for the Dbacks as a mini-stack team that provides some value.
San Diego Padres (+118) @ San Francisco Giants (-136)
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Rundown:
We’ll round out the slate with Mike Clevinger getting the start for the Padres in a nice matchup against this struggling Giants offense. Clevinger has struggled in his own right however being held to less than 30 FanDuel poitns in four straight games and less than 10 FanDuel points in two of them. I’ll probably make him prove it to me before I go back to him, especially on a slate where we can afford to be picky at pitcher. The Giants will start Carlos Rodon who has at least 52 FanDuel points in back-to-back games and has a 32.1% strikeout rate on the season. I think I’d prefer Gonsolin and Burnes over him strictly due to the matchup, but he’s firmly in play here.
SDP 5-star plays: None
4-star plays: Juan Soto, Manny Machado, Brandon Drury
GPP Note: I don’t want to stack against Rodon.
SFG 5-star plays: None
4-star plays: Brandon Crawford, Joc Pederson
GPP Note: I just don’t like this lineup very much.