Tuesday, July 13, brings the MLB All-Star Game, and there will be some hardcore MLB DFS gamers looking for a little action based on tonight’s exhibition. Let’s look at some of the basic rules, DraftKings and FanDuel strategies and MLB DFS picks for this unique event.
MLB DFS Picks: 2021 All-Star Game
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The Best Starting Pitchers to Play
Generally, the pitchers in this exhibition are going to work for just one inning. This makes sense when accounting for the 12 pitchers on both teams. Additionally, if the “home” team is winning heading into the bottom of the ninth, the “visiting” team will only end up pitching eight innings.
Typically there will be no real indicators to look to when trying to determine if a pitcher may go more than one inning. In theory the starter likely has the best chance, particularly if they have an effective and efficient first inning. However, they will also be facing a lineup with the best hitters in MLB, which will not make things easy.
The All-Star Game was not held last year. Back in 2019 18 pitchers combined for 17 innings, and none pitched more than one inning. The 2018 game went into extra innings and was won by the American League, who plated three in the top of the 10th, while the National League was able to counter with only one, succumbing 8-6. Even with 20 innings accounted for, only starter Max Scherzer (two innings, 32 pitches), Blake Snell (1.2, 39), Charlie Morton (two, 40) and Ross Stripling (1.2, 39) pitched more than three outs.
The 2017 game also went 10 innings, with the American League winning 2-1. Once again only starter Chris Sale (two, 28) and Carlos Martinez (2.0, 34) accounted for more than three outs. In 2016 19 pitchers accounted for 17 innings, with starter Johnny Cueto (1.2, 32) and Jose Fernandez (1.1, 26) getting a second inning of work. The takeaway here is that a best-case scenario for any pitcher would be a clean inning with three strikeouts. They will be facing the cream of the crop from the opposing league, which is going to make this a daunting task.
Top MLB DFS Picks: Pitchers
Max Scherzer, Trevor Rogers, Zack Wheeler, Lance Lynn, Carlos Rodon and Kyle Gibson.
Catch Dave Loughran and Adam Scherer for their breakdown of the 2021 MLB All-Star Game in our MLB DFS Strategy Show. The fellas will be giving their favorite MLB DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel, as well as some of tonight’s best MLB Vegas odds and betting picks.
How to Select Hitters
Across the last four All-Star Games, no hitter has had more than three at-bats. While there will be pitchers who end up not playing for various reasons, managers typically try to give every position player the opportunity to at least take the field and hopefully (though not always) get one at-bat.
Things tend to be measured via innings and not actual plate appearances, though most starters will play three or four innings and nearly always get two opportunities to hit. In the last four games, there have been several times where a reserve has seen more at-bats than the starters because they were in the game when there were more baserunners in the later innings. Looking back at the last decade of All-Star Games , only Mike Trout, who led off for the American League in 2015, had more than three plate appearances — and he received four.
Lastly, in a fun twist, Shohei Ohtani will be the starting pitcher as well as the designated hitter in tonight’s game. Though most DFS sites have classified him as a hitter-only for their games, MLB made the decision to tweak the DH rule for this exhibition event and allow him to continue to bat even after he is replaced as a pitcher, and the American League also will be able to replace him in the DH slot once he exits the game. Under official rules, that would not be feasible.
Top MLB DFS Picks: Hitters
Shohei Ohtani, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Aaron Judge, Fernando Tatis Jr., Nicholas Castellanos and Freddie Freeman
Final MLB DFS Thoughts for the 2021 MLB All-Star Game
Keep in mind that tonight it mostly a ceremonial celebration of the current group of top players in the game. There will be silliness, unexpected action and some players not leaving the bench. Focusing on the starters is the savvy move, but all it takes is one swing of the bat for a reserve player making their way into the optimal lineup.
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