Tuesday, Aug. 31, provides a robust 13-game main slate with several aces taking the mound. 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, Tuesday, Aug. 31
Yahoo Stack of the Day: Toronto Blue Jays vs. LHP Keegan Akin — 6.3 implied runs
Baltimore is so desperate for starting pitching, it pulled Keegan Akin back into a starter role after he was banished to the bullpen. On the season Akin has a 1-8 record, a 7.23 ERA, 1.70 WHIP and an abysmal 1.65 home runs per nine innings. His luck has been so bad that the Orioles have won only two of the 19 games he has appeared in this year.
George Springer ($27) was back in the mix on Monday, going 1-for-2 with a walk, two runs scored and a steal. This season he has demolished opposite-handed pitching, with a .415 wOBA, .280 ISO and a 13.1% walk rate in 61 at-bats. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is on an eight-game hitting streak, and he hit a pair of home runs on Monday while raising his batting average to .313.
Marcus Semien ($23) has a .352 wOBA and .267 ISO over his last 210 plate appearances in righty/lefty matchups. Teoscar Hernandez ($21) is another key member of the Blue Jays lineup, and he seems to only get recognition from the Yahoo salary algorithm. Three of the top five Blue Jays hitters are above $20, and the other two are not far behind, which should keep their popularity in check despite the cherry matchup.
Randal Grichuk ($12) is the lone cheapie, though he may be far enough down in the order that most gamers skip over him. Bo Bichette ($18) and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. ($17) round out the other desired options. The Orioles’ bullpen has been carrying quite a load this season due to the weak rotation, and they are a pretty patchwork crew themselves.
Evening Slate
Chicago White Sox vs. RHP Bryse Wilson —5.9 implied runs
Bryse Wilson has been solid in his four starts since being acquired by the Pirates. He was never quite able to crack the rotation in Atlanta, though he had a key postseason start against the Dodgers last year. All told, he has made 26 appearances, including 18 starts, with a 5.06 ERA, 1.57 WHIP and a mediocre 6.96 strikeouts per nine innings.
The White Sox now have Yasmani Grandal back, and they are one of the deepest offenses in the league. There is a gauntlet of righties in front of Grandal — Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert and Jose Abreu — and all have a ISOs over .200 in same-handed matchups over the last two seasons. Switch-hitters Yoan Moncada and Cesar Hernandez are far from easy outs, and Andrew Vaughn provides salary cap relief near the bottom of the order. Chicago figures to be popular tonight, but gamers can mix and match with this lineup in a variety of ways to keep rosters somewhat unique, even in the large-field tournaments.
Late Slate
Houston Astros at LHP Yusei Kikuchi — 4.4 implied runs
It has been a rough 10-game stretch for Yusei Kikuchi, who has tallied 51 innings and posted a 6.00 ERA, 1.61 WHIP and 2.1 home runs per nine innings. Houston once again has the best offense in the league against southpaws, so it should be a popular option on all slates in all formats tonight.
Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Yuli Gurriel lead the way in this matchup against Kikuchi. Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker are tremendous in lefty/lefty matchups. Aledmys Diaz, Jake Meyers and Martin Maldonado are the trio to target at the bottom of the order for differentiation. Three- or four-man stacks are the way to go, as Kikuchi is not a complete disaster on the mound.
Spotlight Pitchers
Top MLB DFS Picks Target: RHP Lucas Giolito vs. Pittsburgh Pirates — 3.3 implied runs
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $53 | FanDuel $10,200 | DraftKings $8,800
After a rough first month of the season and a slight hiccup in June, Lucas Giolito has been a reliable MLB DFS option. In his last 10 starts, spanning 60.1 innings, he has allowed just seven home runs on his way to a 3.43 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and just over a strikeout per inning. On Tuesday he has a phenomenal matchup against the Pirates, who have an 81 wRC+ against right-handed pitchers for the second-worst mark in the league. They also have the second-lowest power metrics and strike out 23.4% of the time. Even though they will have the benefit of the designated hitter, this is a prime team to target with Giolito.
Secondary MLB DFS Picks Target: LHP Blake Snell at Arizona Diamondbacks — 3.8 implied runs
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $44 | FanDuel $9,400 | DraftKings $7,700
The only concern with Blake Snell is that he is coming off a 122-pitch outing against the Dodgers. Fortunately, that was last Wednesday, so he has had an extra day of rest. Even excluding that game in his four other August appearances, Snell averaged 101.5 pitches. In these five games he had a 2.12 ERA, 0.977 WHIP and an amazing 13.3 strikeouts per nine innings. Two of these starts were against today’s opponent, and across 12 innings he held the Diamondbacks to two runs and struck out 19. The Chase Field roof is slated to be closed, which gives a boost to pitchers.
Wild Card MLB DFS Picks Target: LHP Austin Gomber at Texas Rangers — 4.1 implied runs
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $34 | FanDuel $8,200 | DraftKings $8,200
Yahoo is offering the best salary for Austin Gomber in his matchup against the Rangers, and the roof in Arlington is slated to be closed tonight. Gomber has been a tomato can on the road, yet he is posting a 2.09 ERA in Coors Field that is a fraction of his 6.08 ERA away from Colorado.
Tonight Gomber is going against the Rangers, whose 78 wRC+ is the worst mark in the league. Though they only strikeout 21.3% of the time, they have a .122 ISO that is 20 points worse than the Pirates and Marlins. Gomber has talent and is a decent strikeout artist, so gamers need to trust the matchup for this recommendation to bear fruit.
Final Thoughts for the Tuesday, Aug. 31 MLB DFS Picks Slate
Similar to Monday, the schedule is well dispersed, which should allow for larger tournaments on the late slate. While there are quite a few top pitchers going tonight, most are in tricky matchups, which should make for some interesting decisions.
