Sunday, Aug. 9 has a variety of start times. FanDuel is going early at 12:35 p.m. EST with eight games. DraftKings is going at 1:05 p.m. EST with eight games. Yahoo and SuperDraft are starting at 1:10 p.m. 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! This slate is a little tricky. FanDuel is starting at 12:35 p.m. EST with eight games. They are skipping the first game of the Atlanta-Philadelphia doubleheader. DraftKings is going at 1:05 p.m. EST for eight games and including that seven-inning first game of the doubleheader. Yahoo and SuperDraft are both starting at 1:10 p.m. EST through the night game but skipping both ends of the twin bill.
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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Main Slate Picks
Boston Red Sox vs. RHP Matt Shoemaker – 5.3 implied runs
Shoemaker got nailed in his last outing by the Braves, who knocked three out of the park and plated six runs. Shoemaker managed just two strikeouts, but he did go 88 pitches, so file that away for future matchups. Since 2016 Shoemaker has managed just 28 starts after being plagued by a variety of maladies. The eight-year veteran is a competent pitcher, he just cannot stay healthy.
Alex Verdugo will likely be at the bottom of the order, but he is cheap across the board. Andrew Benintendi will likely bat leadoff, and he is basically free on Yahoo and FanDuel, while reasonably priced on DraftKings. The core four of Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland all have a .240+ ISO against right-handed hurlers over the last two seasons.
Mid-Afternoon Slate Picks
Minnesota Twins at RHPÂ Brady Singer – 5.1 implied runs
This is a matchup where we will play both sides on the short slate. However, on the main slate it is all about the Twins bats. Singer has been holding his own through his first three career starts. In each he completed five innings and averaged 85 pitches per appearance. The strikeouts have been there with 18 in the 15 innings. The downside is that he has allowed a pair of dingers in each of his last two outings.
He was solid for the University of Florida, and he was a starter for his last two campaigns. Last year he got some seasoning in the minors, and here we are today. He projects as a high-level fourth starter or a fringe third starter in an average rotation. Danny Duffy and Jakob Junis combined for 8.2 innings on Friday and Saturday, so the Royals bullpen has been getting a workout.
The Twins have been a mainstay in this article with their tremendous power bats up and down their lineup. Max Kepler, Nelson Cruz, Miguel Sano and Mitch Garver are the primary targets. We should also look to Eddie Rosario, Jorge Polanco and Luis Arraez who posted a .334 average and .339 on-base percentage his rookie season. Finally, Byron Buxton should be batting ninth and can be used as part of a differentiation wrap-around stack.
Afternoon Slate Picks
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. RHP Kevin Gausman – 5.5 implied runs
It was a tossup here between the Dodgers and the Rockies. However, since the Rockies have had so much ink in this column over the last two weeks, I am going with the Dodgers.
Gausman is not a bad pitcher by any stretch. It is not easy pitching home games in Camden Yards and most road games in the AL East. Since his trade deadline move to Atlanta in the second half of the 2018 season, he has 44 starts between the Braves, Reds and now the Giants. It should be no surprise that the move from the AL to the NL increased his strikeouts from 8.4 to 8.9 per nine innings and lowered his HR/9 by 0.3. Of course we now have the universal designated hitter, and the Dodgers are well positioned to make that work in their favor.
Gausman is relatively splits-neutral, and we can target him from both sides of the plate. This will be the second time he has faced the Dodgers this season. Look to Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, Max Muncy, Justin Turner and Mookie Betts as the top-shelf options. A.J. Pollock, Chris Taylor and Will Smith can be utilized as a bottom-third stack or as one-off differentiation plays.
As always, you can reach out to me in Awesemo.com Premium Slack or on Twitter @EMacDFS if you have any questions.