Monday, Aug. 31, wraps up the month with a two-game early slate followed by a seven-game main slate at 7:05 p.m. EST for DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and SuperDraft. Before you lock in your MLB DFS lineups and MLB DFS picks, make sure to check out check out Awesemo’s DFS baseball MLB rankings and projections.
For the Sunday MLB DFS Live Before Lock Show click HERE.
Early-Slate Picks
Toronto Blue Jays vs. LHP Keegan Akin – TBD implied runs
The Orioles are going to give rookie Akin his first start after dealing fellow southpaw Tommy Milone to Atlanta. Akin was a second-round selection in the 2016 draft after spending three years as a starter for Western Michigan in the MAC. Across 376.0 MiLB innings he compiled a 9.9 K/9, including 10.5 last season for AAA-Norfolk. The downside is that he also had a 4.9 BB/9 in his last 24 minor league starts.
Toronto should be very right-handed at the top of their order with the exception of likely leadoff man Cavan Biggio. Catcher Danny Jansen is a fine punt option on DraftKings $3,300 and Yahoo $8 where we are required to roster a backstop. For the main draw, look to the heart of the order with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Randal Grichuk, Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Related MLB Content
- Learn MLB DFS: DraftKings + FanDuel Primer
- Top MLB DFS Stacks, Quick Hits
- Top Stack Tool (PREMIUM)
- Awesemo’s Top Pitcher Tool (PREMIUM)
- The MLB Strategy Show Live Before Lock
Main-Slate Picks
Washington Nationals at RHP Spencer Howard – 4.8 implied runs
Check out Terry “TMcB” McBride’s thoughts on the Red Sox and Brewers as stacking options here. Digging a little deeper we can look to the Nationals who will be facing Phillies prospect Spencer Howard. The youngster was drafted in the second round of the 2017 draft out of Cal-Poly, and he is still very raw. They 23-year old has not pitched above double-a, but he did have a nasty 12.0 K/9 across 211.1 MiLB innings. The strikeouts have stayed with 11 in his 11.2 innings over three starts, the four home runs is alarming. The Philadelphia bullpen got quite a workout yesterday with six relievers combining for 119 pitches and 6.2 innings against Atlanta.
Trea Turner is phenomenal against same-handed hurlers with a .220 ISO over his last 600 plate appearances. Juan Soto is even better with a .307 ISO and a 161 wRC+ in his last 500 plate appearances in lefty/righty matchups. Eric Thames finally broke out of his slump with a home run as the cleanup hitter yesterday, and he is cheap across the board. Asdrubal Cabrera continues to be overlooked by the masses and we can use the switch-hitter as leverage.
Late-Slate Picks
Chicago White Sox at LHP Rich Hill – 4.6 implied runs
This will be the fourth start of the season for 40-year old Rich Hill, who continues to skate on thin ice. Every start is an adventure against opposite-handed batsmen who have a 45.2% hard hit rate over their last 634 plate appearances versus the veteran. The White Sox have one of the deepest lineups in the league. Their projected hitters have a combined .250 ISO since the beginning of last season with only Adam Engel and rookie Nick Madrigal coming in under .200 ISO.
The fun/tricky part about rolling with Chicago is that the various Yahoo, FanDuel and DraftKings roster requirements will allow us to only use two of Yasmani Grandal, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Abreu in the same lineup. That trio along with Tim Anderson and Eloy Jimenez should be the core of our player pool and they provide a nice counter-move against the Coors Field crowd.
As always, you can reach out to me in Awesemo.com Premium Slack or on Twitter @EMacDFS if you have any questions or want to discuss anything MLB DFS related.
Follow us on all of our social channels! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for more great Awesemo content.
Looking for more MLB DFS picks content? We’ve got loads of articles, data, cheatsheets and more on the Awesemo MLB home page, just click HERE.
