Friday, Aug. 21, we have robust 12 game”main” slate beginning at a 7:05pm ET on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and SuperDraft. 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.
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Greetings, Gamers! We are getting a healthy dozen games on Friday. The Mets had a positive Covid-19 test and their weekend series with the Yankees has been postponed.
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.
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MLB DFS Early-Slate Picks
Tampa Bay Devil Rays vs. RHP Matt Shoemaker – 4.8 implied runs
Across four starts spanning 20.2 innings The Cobbler has been nailed for half a dozen home runs. On a positive note, rarely healthy RHP Matt Shoemaker is making his fifth start which ties last season and is just two shy of 2018. In his last 154 righty/lefty matchups, Shoemaker has allowed a 1.49 HR/9 while same-handed hitters have tagged him for a 1.25 HR/9 rate in 167 plate appearances. A whopping 48% of batted balls have been classified as hard hit in this time frame. On the season Tampa Bay has the sixth most efficient offense against right-handed pitching with a 113 wRC+ and they have an above average .186 ISO.
The trio to target will be Austin Meadows, Brandon Lowe and Ji-Man Choi on the early two-game slate. Hunter Renfroe and Mike Zunio are the differentiation plays and both do have boom/bust upside.
MLB DFS Main-Slate Picks
Cleveland Indians vs. RHP Michael Fulmer– 5.1 implied runs
While he is listed as the opener, please note that RHPÂ Michael Fulmer has allowed five home runs in three appearances spanning 8.1 innings. Since the beginning of the 2018 season, Fulmer has allowed a 1.87 HR/9 rate to lefties along with a .235 ISO while walking 9.5% of the batters faced. He has actually been decent against same-handed hitters with a 1.13 HR/9 and a 7.0 BB%, but he still allows them to get on base at a rate of 1.40 per inning pitched.
On Thursday the bullpen had to come in and pick up six innings after Spencer Turnbull managed to last only 60 pitches. Since they used Tyler Alexander who followed Fulmer in his last start, it remains to be seen who will be the next man up. The best guess is RHP Rony Garcia for about 40 pitches. After that it will time for Ron Gardenhire to mix and match.
Heading into Thursday night Cleveland is 10-3 in their last 13 games with a surging offense. Their top four batters are quite versatile as each is a capable switch-hitter. DraftKings and Yahoo have them appropriately priced for the quality of Friday’s matchup. Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana, Jose Ramirez and Cesar Hernandez would be my preferred order of priority. Franmil Reyes is a fine addition in any lineup with his light tower power against both lefties and righties.
Related MLB DFS Content
- Spotlight Hitters
- MLB Cram Session Part 1
- MLB Cram Session Part 2
- MLB Cram Session Part 3
- Top MLB DFS Stacks, Quick Hits
- The MLB Strategy Show Live Before Lock
MLB DFS Late-Slate Picks
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at RHP Mike Fiers – 5.0 implied runs
Since the beginning of 2018, RHP Mike Fiers has allowed the third most home runs with 69 roundtrippers. A generous 39 have been to same-handed hitters at a 1.84 HR/9 rate. Lefties have accounted for 30 with a 1.41 HR/9 rate. Albert Pujols got the night off on Thursday and his next home run will give him a tie with Willie Mays for 659 career dingers. Even setting the narrative aside, this is a good spot for Pujols.
Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon are the other obvious plays. Brian Goodwin does have a little pop and he is a nice differentiation play on the late slate. Rookie and discount dandy Joe Adell is still searching for his extra base hit. Both Tommy LaStella 180 wRC+ and David Fletcher 128 wRC+ have actually been producing at an elite level this season and they are great fillers. It also helps that they are not household names and gamers tend to shy away from them.
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.
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