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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 8/18/20. Brian Entrekin's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
We head into Tuesday night with a nice 11 game slate on tap. There is a nice mix of pitching and bats to attack tonight. It has been hot on the west coast, so do not forget to focus on some of those big offenses. There are some nice "free square" values as well to help pay up for the big bats like Fernando Tatis J.R., Juan Soto, and all your Dodgers.
When looking at the slate there are a few main targets on the mound. At the top, you have Yu Darvish, Carlos Carrasco and Kenta Maeda. All three in strong spots and all cash viable. After the top targets it is all about finding the mid-tier and punt targets on the mound.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 8/18/2020. The lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for sites like FanDuel, and other sports too. If you have any questions or comments, contact me on Twitter @bdentrek.
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DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Carlos Carrasco - P, CLE at PIT ($9,900)
Most will pay up more for Darvish or pay down to Maeda and Luis Castillo, all good choices, but Carrasco is my guy. He has gone six innings in three of four starts. He has struck out at least five in each of his four starts. Even when his control is off, he is getting strikeouts which is huge for DK. He has a strong floor in a matchup vs the Pirates where the Indians are -210 road favorites and the Pirates have a 2.5 team total. The biggest kicker may be the fact the Pirates are one of the worst teams in baseball this season vs RHP. They are hitting .189 with a .117 ISO and a 24.5% strikeout rate. Get that win and quality start from Carrasco tonight.
Dylan Cease - P, CWS vs DET ($8,500)
.There was a lot of hype on Cease entering 2020 and rightfully so as his stuff is electric, it was always a matter of control. Well, it appears Cease is figuring that out as he zero or one walk in three of his four starts. He is striking out around five per outing and is now going six innings. He has a strong matchup vs the Tigers tonight who is hitting .209 vs RHP this season while striking out 29.9% of the time!!!!! Cease has put up 17.9 or more DK points in three straight starts and is a nice SP2 tonight.
Other Options: Yu Darvish (CHC vs STL) $10,500, Kenta Maeda (MIN vs MIL) $9,700, David Peterson (NYM at MIA) $7,600, Zach Eflin (PHI @ BOS) $6,900
DraftKings DFS Infielders
Eric Thames - 1B, WAS at Josh Tomlin ($3,800)
There are much safer plays at first base and some are listed below. Thames is strictly a GPP play tonight vs Ynoa and Tomlin. Thames has never been a major batting average target, it's all about the power and that is what he does vs RHP. Last season he did hit .254 vs RHP but mashed them with an ISO of .275, wOBA of .362, and an SLG of .529. If you are feeling frisky or stacking some Nats, do not forget Thames in your GPP builds.
Other Options: Dominic Smith (NYM at MIA) $4,300), Freddie Freeman (ATL vs WAS) $5,500, Jose Abreu (CWS vs DET) $4,500
Cavan Biggio - 2B/OF, TOR at Wade LeBlanc ($5,200)
The Jays are a strong strong stack tonight and Biggio needs to be apart of that stack. Biggio has hit safely in four straight games and six of his last seven. He has scored 16 or more DK points in four of his last seven and will be low owned vs the lefty LeBlanc tonight. Biggio has been a bit above league average in his lefty matchups, but LeBlanc has struggled vs LHH. Last season lefties hit .276 with a .369 wOBA vs LeBlanc. Plus, once LeBlanc is chased from the game Biggio gets to face that Orioles pen.
Other Options: Brandon Lowe (TB at NYY) $4,900, Robinson Cano (NYM at MIA) $4,500, Luis Garcia (WAS at ATL) $2,300
Alec Bohm - 3B, PHI at Zack Godley ($3,000)
The Phillies called up their stud prospect Bohm over the weekend and he has not disappointed. He has hit safely in three of his first four games while also driving in and scoring runs. He always hit the ball extremely hard in the minors, including 36% last season, has come out scorching with a 66% hard-hit rate, and 16.7% barrel rate. Last year RHH had a .344 wOBA vs Godley. Bohm is a very nice piece of salary relief tonight.
Other Options: Yoan Moncada (CWS at DET) $4,700, Renato Nunez (BAL vs TOR) $4,100, Asdrubal Cabrera (WAS at ATL) $4,100
Tim Anderson - SS, CWS vs Tarik Skubal ($4,700)
STACK THE WHITE SOX!!!! Anderson needs to be apart of that stack. He homered twice on Monday and has another great matchup tonight. He faces the lefty Skubal, who is making his MLB debut, but should only throw 50 pitches or so. After the White Sox chase Skubal it's all about that bad Tigers bullpen. Since Anderson has returned from the IL he is hitting .348 with three home runs and nine or more points in four of six games.
Other Options: Corey Seager (LAD vs SEA) $5,000, Jonathan Villar (MIA vs NYM) $4,300
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Mookie Betts - OF, LAD vs Marco Gonzales ($6,100)
Yes, I know, Mookie is very expensive. Well, sometimes in life it is worth paying for something so great. Betts has hit safely in eight of his last nine games with six home runs, 11 runs scored and 14 RBI. Basically he is stuffing the stat sheet from every angle you can think of. Marco does have reverse splits and hopefully, that lowers ownership on Betts who should crush tonight. If you want a different elite target and save a little then it is all about Soto and Harper.
Randal Grichuk - OF, TOR at Wade LeBlanc ($3,900)
Grichuk is tearing the cover off the ball this season. Usually, a batting average liability is not so much the case this season as he is hitting .327. It took a little while to get the power going but has now homered in three of the last four games. He is barreling the ball 10.8% of the time right now with a 40.5% hard-hit rate. He gets to face a very hittable lefty tonight and that is a recipe for success for Grichuk and the Jays.
Jesse Winker - OF, CIN at Brad Keller ($3,800)
Welcome back Reds and welcome back Winker. Last time we saw Winker he double donged and was all over our values article. There was more, he was straight raking. Over his previous eight games, he had hits in seven of eight, and all seven were multi-hit games. He hit .625 over that stretch with six home runs. He faces Keller tonight, who has looked better this season, but last season allowed lefties to hit .251 with a .370 SLG. Enjoy the Winker value again tonight.
Other Options: Juan Soto (WAS at ATL) $5,900, Bryce Harper (PHI at BOS) $5,500, Teoscar Hernandez (TOR at BAL) $4,700, Eloy Jimenez (CWS vs DET) $4,500, Brandon Nimmo (NYM at MIA) $3,900, Nick Markakis (ATL vs WAS) $3,700, Alex Verdugo (BOS vs PHI) $3,400
DraftKings DFS Stacks
- Chicago White Sox vs Detroit Tigers (Tarik Skubal, LHP)
- Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles (Wade LeBlanc, LHP)
- New York Mets at Miami Marlins (Humberto Mejia, RHP)
- Sneaky Stack - Baltimore Orioles vs Toronto Blue Jays (Nate Pearson, RHP)
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