MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers & Top Stacks for Friday, August 20

Friday, Aug. 20, brings some gigantic tournaments across the DFS sites. We have aces and also-rans taking the mound which should keep us on our toes. Let’s get into the top MLB DFS picks for pitchers and stacks for Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel daily fantasy baseball lineups.

MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers and Top Stacks, Friday, Aug. 20

Yahoo Stack of the Day: Cleveland Indians vs. RHP Jaime Barria — 5.0 implied runs

Every time Jaime Barria takes the mound, it is an adventure. With his high walk rate while striking out a batter every other inning, we need to consider the Cleveland power bats in Friday’s tournaments on Yahoo. Jose Ramirez is coming at a premium with his $23 salary, though the switch-hitter has earned every penny with his production this season. Even better is the otherworldly .300 ISO in lefty/righty matchups over his last 473 plate appearances.

Next up is Franmil Reyes ($13), who is a bargain when considering over his last 400 same-handed matchups he has a .352 wOBA and .248 ISO. Amed Rosario ($16) is far from a household name, but he does have some pop in his bat, and he is a threat to steal a base as well. Beyond this trio, we can look to Wilson Ramos ($8) if he is behind the plate to knock out our catcher requirement.

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Evening Slate

Milwaukee Brewers vs. LHP Patrick Corbin — 5.3 implied runs

Though it has not been officially announced at the time this article was submitted, Patrick Corbin is the projected starter for Washington. This season has been a disaster for Corbin, who has seemingly fallen apart. This year he has a 6.04 ERA, which is two runs higher than his career mark and it is on track to be the worst single season ERA in the history of the Nationals for any pitcher with at least 20 starts. Corbin’s strikeout rate is half of what it was in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons, and he is also allowing a career worst  in most of the power categories as well. Even if Corbin does not take the mound on Friday, whomever does will not be dramatically better.

Willy Adames has been crushing the ball since joining the Brewers and he is the priority target. Leaving Christian Yelich off our rosters actually is a good way to differentiate Brewers stacks. Yelich has been nearly as bad at the plate as Corbin has been on the mound, which is crazy considering he was the 2018 National League MVP and a two-time Batting Champion. Eduardo Escobar was an underrated deadline acquisition, and his switch-hitting skills keep him on top of the platoon advantage all game.

If it does end up being Corbin or another southpaw on the mound, then Avisail Garcia and Manny Pina are firmly in the mix. Should it be a right-handed hurler instead, then Kolten Wong and Luis Urias, who is solid in same-handed matchups, is the preferred pair. Milwaukee can be a primary stack on both the main and evening slates with their tremendous upside.

Late Slate

San Diego Padres vs. LHP Matt Moore — 5.3 implied runs

This is the 10th MLB campaign for journeyman Matt Moore, who is pitching for his fifth different franchise in the last five seasons. Moore tends to live on the edge as a flyball pitcher and results can vary dramatically with the right wind, temperature and, of course, stadium configuration since all warning-track flyballs are not created equal. With nearly two home runs allowed per nine innings this season, the Padres look to be a nice mini-stack on the main slate or using their power bats as one-offs for differentiation.

Fernando Tatis Jr. is leading off and now playing in the outfield in an effort to keep his shoulder injury from flaring up yet again. Wil Myers has been inconsistent this season, however, over the last two years he has nearly a .250 ISO in righty/lefty matchups. Manny Machado and Tommy Pham are the other intriguing right-handed batters. Moore does a reasonable job of limiting baserunners and most of his home runs happen with one or no baserunners. This tends to prevent multiple big innings or full-on meltdowns keeping San Diego out of primary stack consideration.

Spotlight Pitchers

Top MLB DFS Picks Target: RHP Walker Buehler vs. New York Metropolitans  — 3.3 implied runs

  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $61 | FanDuel $11,600 | DraftKings $10,500

Walker Buehler is on the short list for the National League Cy Young Award. Currently, he leads the league with a 2.09 ERA, while he is fourth with a 0.91 WHIP. Over his last seven starts, he has allowed just six earned runs and he has a league leading 21 quality starts in his 24 appearances. While the Mets are not a pushover, they are not particularly daunting either for a pitcher of Walker’s caliber. This is a rematch from last Saturday where Buehler held New York to a single run on a Michael Conforto solo shot in the fourth inning. While that is no guarantee of performance tonight, Buehler is the clear top-shelf option.

Secondary MLB DFS Picks Target: Lance McCullers vs. Seattle Mariners — 3.4 implied runs

  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $47 | FanDuel $8,500 | DraftKings $9,500

Lance McCullers is at an appropriate salary on DraftKings, however, there is room for upside on Yahoo and on FanDuel he is quite intriguing at only $8,500. McCullers has a unique blend of strikeouts while also having an elite groundball rate. Seattle has been on a magical run winning eight of its last 10 games and staying in playoff contention. This is a mirage however as they also have a negative-42 run differential while being 10 games over .500. This is mostly due to timely hitting and a 25-14 record in one-run games. Seattle has a 25.3% strikeout rate against right-handed pitching, which is the third-highest in the league. They are middle of the pack from a power and run scoring perspective and there are a lot of holes in their batting order.

Wild Card MLB DFS Picks Target: LHP Chris Sale vs. Texas Rangers — 3.2 implied runs

  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $53 | FanDuel $10,700 | DraftKings $9,700

The main question is how many pitches will Chris Sale throw on Friday. In his debut last week he logged 89 against Baltimore while allowing just two runs on a pair of solo shots. That also matched his 89 pitches in his final rehabilitation start. We know that the Rangers are one of the first teams we should look to target against every time they are on the docket. Sale is not at a particularly forgiving salary and he really needs to flirt with double-digit strikeouts while also securing the win. Boston is over 3-to-1 favorites to garner the victory and we know there are available strikeouts in the anemic Rangers lineup.

Final Thoughts for the Friday, Aug. 20 MLB DFS Picks Slate

Friday should make for an entertaining tournament environment. There are a handful of top pitching options for those searching for safety. There also are quite a few starters who are going to seem like they are auditioning to pitch in the 2022 Home Run Derby. As always, keep an eye on the weather closer to lock to see if there are any risky precipitation situations.

Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].

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