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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel and DraftKings on September 4th, 2022. Thunder Dan's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
A week from now the NFL will kick off and we will see our beloved MLB DFS contests shrink in size and payouts. But have no fear, die-hard MLB fans and DFS junkies - I will be covering baseball all the way to the World Series and our team of MLB writers will keep cranking out high-quality DFS content for you throughout September and the playoffs.
We have a pretty big Sunday afternoon slate today with a 10-gamer that starts a bit earlier than usual at 12:10 today, so make sure you're not slacking off and forget to get those lineups ready in time! Yesterday went pretty well for me and some other RotoBallers as I saw some nice screenshots in Discord. The Dodgers came through big as did the Orioles. Cease nearly threw a no-no and I'm glad I clicked on him a few times. Tommy Edman was solid as Mookie Betts smashed. So let's see if we can nail some good picks again today, shall we?
As always, this article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Sunday's main slate locks at 12:10 EST on 9/4/2022. The lineup picks will range from some elite high-priced players to mid-priced options and value plays. I'll give you a few of my top pitching options and then some infielders, outfielders, and teams to stack! You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports here. It's also essential to monitor injury news and today's MLB starting lineups. Now that we got all of that out of the way, it's onto the picks!
DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Max Fried vs. MIA ($10,500 DK, $10,300 FD)
The pitching on this slate is absolutely disgusting. Seeing Max Fried over 10k isn't something we are used to, but relative to the field he's worth every penny, especially against Miami - a team we constantly target with left-handers. Paying up for Fried makes a ton of sense to me. He's coming off a mediocre outing against the Rockies but has been the definition of consistency pretty much all season long. I expect him to pitch well today and he's going to have a considerably higher floor than every other pitcher here with his ability to eat innings and keep the ball on the ground, but I think his ceiling is there too, as this Miami team strikes out a ton against lefties.
Pablo Lopez @ ATL ($8,200 DK, $9,900 FD)
Pablo is a pure GPP play for me and mainly on DraftKings where we are getting a much better price (he's only $400 less than Fried on FanDuel). But yeah, $8200 on DK is a bit disrespectful for what Pablo has been able to do this year. There is strikeout upside here against Atlanta, we saw Cabrera pitch well against them yesterday and pile up some Ks. But there is a ton of risk involved as well, since the Braves can put a hurting on even good pitchers, too. I'd rather pair Fried with this next guy in cash games, but playing both pitchers from the same game in tournaments is always one way to make your lineup unique.
Max Castillo @ DET ($5,900 DK, $5,500 FD)
I don't think we really know how good Castillo can be as a starter and we don't have much of a sample size to go off either. But his overall numbers are solid and he was able to finish five innings against Tampa Bay in a spot start a few weeks ago, so I think he's finally stretched out and ready for an audition as a starter going forward. He has a solid 23% strikeout rate to go along with an excellent 56% groundball rate and he doesn't walk guys either (6% BB%). This is the perfect team for Castillo to break out against as the Tigers have been abysmal against RHP pretty much all season. At his price, he makes for the perfect SP2 punt.
Also consider - George Kirby vs. CLE, Nick Lodolo vs. COL
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Nate Lowe - 1B, TEX vs. Josh Winckowski ($3,900 DK, $3,800 FD)
I'm not sure what Lowe needs to do in order to get DraftKings to raise his price as he's still under 4k there despite the awesome run he's been on. Over the last 30 days, he's putting up a .437 wOBA and .279 ISO against RHP, and today he gets Winckowski on the mound who has been pretty terrible for Boston, especially recently. Winky (can I just call him that, it's easier) isn't striking anyone out (13% K%) and is allowing a .369 wOBA and .226 ISO to lefties this year. He's given up six earned runs in each of his last two starts. I think a Texas stack is very much in play here with Lowe and Corey Seager being the first two clicks you make when building that one.
Adley Rutschman - C, BAL vs. Adrian Martinez ($5,600 DK, $2,800 FD)
I have to go back to Baltimore today as they are getting a great matchup against a young pitcher who just got called back up from Triple-A. Martinez is a heavy sinker pitcher and he has got a lot of groundballs against righties (56%) but he's definitely not against lefties (26%). The Baltimore lefties look great here, especially their superstar rookie catcher Rutcshman who launched another home run last night. Take advantage of his silly FanDuel price and play him there on a site where NO ONE PLAYS CATCHERS! I played Will Smith last night on FD at 11% ownership despite the fact that the Dodgers were in a smash spot and he was only 2900, too. Get Adley in all your Baltimore stacks today, even if it means paying top dollar for him on DraftKings too.
Eduardo Escobar - 3B, NYM vs. Erick Fedde ($3,600 DK, $2,400 FD)
Don't look now, but Eddy E (I am all about nicknames today) has homered in back-to-back games. He has more power against lefties and took Corbin deep last night, but he has 7 HR as an LHH and RHH this year. Perhaps I am just chasing here, but Escobar seems to be seeing it well lately. He's 5-14 over his last five games and at this price, he gives us some cheap exposure to the Mets team total. Fedde is a very hittable pitcher and we know the Nats bullpen is one of the worst units in baseball.
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Gavin Sheets - OF, CHW vs. Dylan Bundy ($2,600 DK, $3,300 FD)
Sheets has cooled down a bit of late, but I'm all over him today in this spot against Dylan Bundy. I'm not sure how Bundy has been able to dance out of danger so often because his stuff just isn't that good anymore. He's throwing his fastball in the low 90's (sometimes even around 88-89) and he's relying entirely too much on his slider, throwing it 42% of the time to righties, and his changeup (38% of the time to lefties). This White Sox offense has woken up a bit here in this series, though they did get six of those runs last night off position player Nick Gordon in relief in the blowout.
Either way, Sheets is far too cheap for a hitter of his caliber. He should draw a lineup spot somewhere in the top half tonight and with Bundy rarely lasting longer than five innings, we should see the White Sox hitters get more at-bats against the struggling Twins' bullpen, too.
Aaron Judge - OF, NYY vs. Ryan Yarbrough ($6,500 DK, $4,800 FD)
It's kind of like picking the low-hanging fruit when you endorse Aaron Judge in an MLB DFS article, but sometimes you have to do it anyways. I'll be honest, I haven't been playing him every day like I was earlier in the season when he was on an incredible tear. I think I will fire him up here, though, as he's going to get the lefty Yarbrough at some point in this game even if Yarbs comes in as the long reliever. Judge is on a mission to hit 60+ bombs this year and I think he has a great chance at going yard in this spot. Being able to fit him into builds can be challenging at his price, but I'll definitely get him in there at least for some tournament lineups even if I can't fit him into my cash build.
Lars Nootbaar - OF, STL vs. Marcus Stroman ($3,100 DK, $3,400 FD)
Here's another really dumb price on DK. How is Lars still only $3100? The dude has put together just an incredible second half and has been an absolute cheat code in DFS. He's leading off for a powerful Cardinals offense and putting up stats every freaking night. He's not just getting on base and scoring runs, he's flashing power too, with three home runs in his last six games and a .262 ISO against RHP this year in 197 plate appearances. If you are a cash game player, you've probably already been penciling in the Noot every day, but if you haven't been - today's a good day to start!
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
Here are my top stacks for tonight (in the order in which I like them)
- Baltimore Orioles (4.8 implied run total) vs. Adrian Martinez (4.65 xFIP)
- Chicago White Sox (4.5 implied run total) vs. Dylan Bundy (5.14 xFIP)
- Texas Rangers (4.6 implied run total) vs. Josh Winckowski (5.33 xFIP)
I hope I gave you a head start on your research today and I wish you the best of luck! If you ever have questions about DFS or fantasy baseball, my DMs are always open and I appreciate you taking the time to read my picks today.
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