Spotlight Hitters & Stacks for MLB DFS Lineups | Friday, August 14 | DraftKings, FanDuel & Yahoo

Friday, Aug. 14, kicks off the weekend with a robust 13-game “main” slate. 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.


Don’t forget to check out the loads of free content on our Fantasy Football home page, including more fantasy football breakouts, Sign up for just $29.95 (includes a $35 credit at FFPC for new users). Sign up HERE!


For the Friday MLB DFS Strategy Show click here


Greetings, Gamers! We are blessed with a 13-game slate that has aces, gas cans and, of course, Coors Field!

Similar to last year, I will be providing a review of one stack for each of the day’s slates. Some of these short-slate options will be good for the full-game set, others will be more contrarian and better suited for the mini-game sets.


Sign up for SuperDraft today using promo code “awesemo10” and it’s $10 FREE on your first deposit of $10 or more and $20 total FREE on your first deposit of $100 or more. Download in the App Store or play at superdraft.io.


MLB DFS Main-Slate Picks

New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox Bullpen – TBD implied runs

It looks like the Red Sox will be going with a mix-and-matchup bullpen approach in Game 1 of this weekend’s series in the Bronx. RHPs Ryan Brasier and Colten Brewer are expected to be the first two pitchers. It will be a shock if they combine for more than 75 pitches and four innings. Six BoSox relievers went on Friday night in the 17-run drubbing at the hands of the Rays. My guess is RHP Robert Stocks would be the other main option.

Aaron Judge got the day off Wednesday with lower-body soreness, so he has now had two days to rest. If he’s in the lineup, he will be our first priority. Differentiation plays will be Mike Tauchman and Mike Ford if they are in the lineup. Giovanny Urshela and Gary Sanchez do not have many DFS fans when they are in the bottom third of the lineup, so they are fine options. The most popular Yankees in addition to Judge will be Luke Voit, Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres and D.J. LeMahieu.

MLB DFS Evening-Slate Picks

Minnesota Twins vs. RHP Jakob Junis – 5.2 implied runs

We saw this matchup just six days ago as the Twins got to RHP Jakob Junis for two home runs in a 3-2 victory. Since the beginning of the 2018 season, Junis has allowed 65 home runs, which is the fifth-most homers surrendered in the league during that time frame. Lefties have posted a 1.35 HR/9 with a .174 ISO while same-handed hitters have compiled a 1.89 HR/9 with a .210 ISO. It should be noted that Junis is not a horrible pitcher, he just allows a lot of home runs.

Last year, the Twinkies set a record with 307 home runs. Look to righties Nelson Cruz .250 ISO, Miguel Sano .268 ISO and if he is behind the dish, Mitch Garver .236 ISO. The preferred hitters with the traditional platoon advantage are Max Kepler .242 ISO and Eddie Rosario .241 ISO. For differentiation, Jorge Polanco and Luis Arraez both get on base around 37% of the time against righties. Finally, for the coup de grâce, Byron Buxton has massive power and is actually making contact this season. Plus those home runs from the bottom of the lineup still count just the same as those from the heart of the order.

MLB DFS Late-Slate Picks

Oakland Atheltics at RHP Johnny Cueto – 4.7 implied runs

The Giants have only played six games at home this season. Tomorrow, it is going to be almost 80 degrees at first pitch, which is about 15 degrees warmer than what we saw in the last home stand. Why does this all matter? Well, those six games had an averaged run total of 12.7, which is eye-popping to say the least.

This will be the fifth start of the season for RHP Johnny Cueto. He has scuffled his way to a 5.40 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP on 82 pitches per appearance. This offseason, the bullpens in Oracle Park were moved away from territory into center field to facilitate a change in terrace seating. This effectively brought in the fences six to nine feet and shortened “Triples Alley” as well.

Here are the 2020 Oracle Park dimensions (courtesy of BallParkDigest):

Left-Field Foul Pole: Stays at 339 feet
Left-Center Field: 399 feet (down from 404 feet)
Center Field: 391 feet (down from 399 feet)
Right-Center Field (Triples Alley): 415 feet (down from 421 feet)
Right-Field Corner: Stays at 309 feet

Look, it was just a six-game sample size, but some increase in offense was the desired result of the change. Keep in mind that this park has been the best pitchers park FOR YEARS, but wouldn’t it be just a little fun to be in on any potential changes before The Masses?

This will be just the 18th start for Cueto in the last two-plus seasons. The strikeout upside left long ago and he is, at best, an innings-eater. Our first choice should be Matt Olson for the platoon advantage, but do not sleep on the light-tower power of the A’s right-handed hitters. For the time being, Ramon Laureano is appealing his six-game suspension and, if he is active, he can be combined with Olson, Matt Chapman, Khris Davis and Mark Canha for what will likely be a VERY contrarian stack.

UPDATE: Ramon Laureano has decided to begin serving his suspension, Robbie Grossman and/or Stephen Piscotty will likely be in the lineup now and most everyone will get a little bump in the batting order. Grossman is a fine salary saver and Piscotty is a solid play against both righties and lefties.

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.


Related MLB DFS Content

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].

Stokastic +

Premium Data and Tools
PREMIUM TOOLS
Lineup Generator
Stokastic Sims MLB
PREMIUM DATA
Projections
Top Stack %s
MLB Data Central
FREE DATA
SoRare MLB Rankings
DraftKings Night Owl
FANTASY CRUNCHER (ADD-ON)
MLB Lineup Study
COMMUNITY
MLB Discord Server
PREMIUM DATA
Projections
Ownership Projections
PREMIUM TOOLS
Fantasy Cruncher (ADD-ON)
NHL Lineup Study
COMMUNITY
NHL Discord Server
PREMIUM TOOLS
Lineup Generator
Stokastic Sims PGA
PREMIUM DATA
Ownership Projections
Top Golfers Tool
PGA Tournament Models
FANTASY CRUNCHER (ADD-ON)
PGA Lineup Study
COMMUNITY
PGA Discord Server
Ownership Projections
Top Drivers Tool
NASCAR Discord Server
NASCAR Fantasy Cruncher
USFL Projections
USFL Discord Server
Ownership Projections
Top Fighters Tool
MMA Discord Server
MMA Fantasy Cruncher
NFL Betting Tools
Stokastic Discord Server
Best Ball
Best Ball Rankings
Best Ball Stat Projections
Stokastic Discord Server
Season Long Fantasy (Coming Soon)

DFS Winners from the Stokastic Community

Subscribe to the Stokastic newsletter

DFS advice, exciting promos, and the best bets straight to your inbox

Stokastic.com - Daily Fantasy Sports and Sports Betting Data, Tools, & Analytics

Please play responsibly. Only customers 21 and over are permitted to play. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.