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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 8/21/21. Mike Marteny's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
It's another weird MLB Saturday with the early slate heavier than the late. We have guys that will get you covered on the early slates here at Rotoballer. Mine will concentrate on the five-game "main" slate tonight. Yes, DK chopped off the Reds because those jerks start 25 minutes earlier. They have some nerve, I tell you!
We could see a stray shower in the Baltimore area, but it shouldn't be enough to wash the game out. It's going to be warm and humid in both Baltimore and Boston. It's going to be oppressively humid in St. Louis, so there is a place to look as an alternate to Coors. That said, it's even harder to fade Coors when there's a 14 mph wind out to center field. We know where a bulk of the ownership will be on this slate.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 8/21/2021. The lineup will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. You can also check out today's FanDuel MLB DFS lineup picks and read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports too. It’s also important to monitor injury news and today's MLB starting lineups. If you have any questions or comments, contact me on Twitter.
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DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Aaron Nola - PHI at SD ($9,900)
Nola is a really strange case in 2021. All of his metrics are as good or better than the rest of his career numbers, yet the 4.48 ERA and 7-7 record point to a guy that's struggling. He's really not. Nola has been incredibly unlucky in many of his starts this year. The strikeout upside is the best of any pitcher on the slate and his mound opponent, Joe Musgrove, just got bludgeoned by Arizona in his last start. Nola is at the very least worth a look on this slate of lackluster pitching options.
J.A. Happ - STL vs. PIT ($7,600)
You may think I'm nuts, but Happ has found the Fountain Of Youth in St. Louis. Minnesota was a bad fit for him in so many ways, and his atrocious 6.77 ERA highlights that. Happ is 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA in three starts with the Cardinals. Yeah, Pittsburgh and KC are two of the worst offenses in the league, but Happ held the Braves to two runs in five innings in his Cardinals debut. Happ picked up 23.7 DraftKings points in Pittsburgh 11 days ago. If he can do that again at this price, we're ahead of the game.
Other Options: Eduardo Rodriguez ($9,500), Drew Smyly ($8,200), Kyle Freeland ($5,700)
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DraftKings DFS Infielders
Carson Kelly - C, ARI at COL ($4,600)
I'm going to start this off by saying that I don't hate using Kyle Freeland tonight. This is a small slate, so unconventional pairings, such as running a batter against your pitcher, could give you the separation you need in a large field GPP. Kelly has homered twice off of Freeland – both at Coors Field – in his nine at-bats against him. Pickings are fairly slim at catcher, so this is one of the spots to either completely punt or pay up. Going in between likely wont help much of anything.
Paul Goldschmidt - 1B, STL vs. PIT ($4,600)
Unless you're going to chase after Freeland with cheap righties, this is another spot to pay up. However, you don't need to pay up that far. Goldy is hitting .342 since July 1 with seven homers, 27 RBI, and 25 runs scored. He has even stolen three bases! He no longer possesses the massive power that made him a MVP candidate in Arizona, but he's still going to hit and drive in runs. Add in a weak lefty on the mound with a terrible bullpen behind him to already great hitting weather, and we could see a nice return without paying too much for Coors bats.
Josh Rojas - 2B/OF, ARI at COL ($5,200)
This isn't necessarily attacking Freeland. This is going after that awful bullpen. Rojas it hitting an impossible .536 in current eight-game hitting streak. No, that's not a typo. Rojas only has one homer in that span, but he has driven in seven runs. With the wind blowing out in Coors tonight, I see no reason why the hot streak wont continue.
Ke'Bryan Hayes - 3B, PIT at STL ($4,300)
The move to St. Louis has been a great thing for 38-year-old J.A. Happ. He is 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA in three starts with the Redbirds after going 5-6 with a 6.77 ERA in 19 (horrible) starts for Minnesota. I'm not going after Happ here. He did a bang-up job against Pittsburgh 11 days ago. That said, 3B is a rough position tonight, so I'm taking a solid hitting with the platoon advantage in a great hitting environment and hoping for the best.
Paul DeJong - SS, STL vs. PIT ($3,500)
The hot streak is over for DeJong, but he is still getting on base. Yeah, big deal. DFS players are the biggest "what have you done for me lately" brats on the planet. The good news for DeJong is that he played the Pirates last week and hit two homers in the three game series while driving in five runs. He also walked three times. That's some points, folks. This is recent enough to run DeJong out there with the weather tonight in St. Louis.
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Kyle Schwarber - OF, BOS vs. TEX ($4,500)
Jordan Lyles is not a good pitcher. His ERA is far on the wrong side of 6 and he got whipped by the Red Sox in his one start against them this year. The issue is that Boston bats are expensive. Like more expensive than Coors expensive. Schwarber is a way to get a reasonably priced bat (batting cleanup in a potent lineup, no less) to afford pitching tonight. Schwarber has reached base in every game with his new team and hit his first homer with Boston last night. We're catching him at the right time.
Tyler O'Neill - OF, STL vs. PIT ($3,500)
O'Neill is struggling a bit at the plate lately, but he's still hitting cleanup for the Cardinals and launched a 450-foot homer off of Milwaukee ace Brandon Woodruff on Thursday. The power is still there for O'Neill. That was his third homer in the last six games. OF is the place to save some cash tonight. Fortunately, there are a lot of good bats that aren't priced at a premium.
Lars Nootbaar - OF, STL vs. PIT ($2,200)
If you look hard enough, you can always find a place where DraftKings dropped the ball when it comes to pricing. Tonight, as with the last couple of nights, it has been with Nootbaar. Nootbaar has five hits in the last three games with a homer and a pair of RBI. Hey, stop complaining! You get him for $200 over minimum! That's still a hell of a return!
DraftKings DFS Stacks
- St. Louis Cardinals vs. Dillon Peters
- Boston Red Sox vs. Jordan Lyles
- Atlanta Braves vs. Matt Harvey
- Sneaky Stack: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Joe Musgrove
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