MLB DFS: Sunday, August 18th provides a nine game “main” slate on DraftKings, FanDuel and FantasyDraft, however if you are looking for the teams playing in Texas and Coors Field on your “main” slate then head over to Yahoo. Before you lock in your fantasy baseball lineups and MLB picks, make sure to check out Awesemo’s MLB rankings and projections. Not a member? Sign up HERE and use Promo Code: MLBSTACKS for 50% off any one month subscription.
Click here for today’s Spotlight Hitters and Stacks article
I wanted to put a different spin on Spotlight Pitchers, so I’m giving everyone a peek behind the curtain on how I look at them. Below you’ll find three tables, one each for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo, with the pitcher pool for today’s slate. In the table, you’ll find the pitcher’s name, salary, my projection and my percentage likelihood that they hit a particular target score.
This is the information that helps me make my decisions for which pitchers to roster. Using my projected stat line for a pitcher, I can estimate their chances of scoring 45+ FD points or 30+ DK points. These targets ignore the points acquired for getting the win, as I use the Vegas odds to set those scores for my pitchers.
Since I am a strict MME player in baseball, these are the thresholds I’ve determined I want on a day-to-day basis to try and win a tournament. Because of the difference in roster construction between the sites, I end up with a concentrated pool on FanDuel and a more spread out pool on DraftKings.
FanDuel MLB
[table id=1177 /]
DraftKings MLB
[table id=1178 /]
Yahoo MLB
[table id=1201 /]
Matthew Boyd
Boyd is back after back to back rough outings, but I’m hoping the third time is the charm. He’s been priced down across all three sites relative to the rest of the pitcher pool which makes him my number one arm of the day. He’s struggled a bit with right handed power this year, but he’s still striking out 30% of batters. The Rays active roster has the sixth highest strikeout rate in the league against lefties. They haven’t been hitting for a ton of power, and their wRC+ is below average. I’m hoping his ownership takes a hit because of the recent results, but he’ll be my top guy regardless.
Jack Flaherty
Speaking of pitchers that are underpriced relative to the rest of the slate, we have Flaherty. Against righties, the Reds have an above average strikeout rate and a below average wRC+. That’s certainly a positive. Cincinnati also has the lowest implied total on the slate. While Flaherty does see more success in striking out righties, he’s still an above average strikeout guy to lefties. Other than the park, all signs point to Flaherty as my Boyd backup plan.
Other Options
Ummmm. The SP2 options are rough. Kikuchi? Sparkman?!? Fedde? Honestly, there isn’t a single appealing arm below Trevor Richards at $7000 on DK. I can’t really advocate for paying down at SP2 today. There are enough games on the main slate where finding value bats shouldn’t keep you from the more expensive stacks. I’ll be paying down for hitting, mostly due to lack of options.
