RADIO
Jesse Borek highlights the top FanDuel MLB DFS lineup picks for 8/13/20, and a couple of sleepers to consider while building daily rosters.
Thursday's four-game main slate felt a lot like when you wake up in a hotel that advertised a continental breakfast, but really just had some stale bagels and muffins lying around. Friday, however, provides us a full-brunch bar, omelet station included. We've got a 13 game slate on tap with multiple aces taking the hill, a game in Coors, and some good lineups ready to tee off against weak pitching in good hitters parks.
With so many options to choose from, ownership rates will be spread out, but it will also take a high score to place in any GPPs or tournaments. With big slates like this one, it is recommended to stack multiple hitters from the same team hoping that team goes off and creates a multiplier effect for your lineups. With a full slate to break down, lets cut the chit chat and get to some picks.
In this article, I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 8/13/2020. Be sure to check out all the MLB player news including late scratches, and the projected and confirmed daily MLB lineups for each DFS slate. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for sites like DraftKings, and other sports too.
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FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Aaron Civale - CLE @ DET ($9,600)
With some of the offensive options available, I'm not interested in paying $10k-plus for a pitcher when Civale offers just as much single-game upside as the top-pitching options on the slate. The 25-year-old already has two nine-strikeout games this season and Friday gets to face a Tigers offense that leads the Majors with a 31.2 percent strikeout rate against right-handers. Civale has been great through three starts sporting a 2.84 ERA supported by a 2.33 FIP and a sparkling 23:2 strikeout to walk ratio. He hasn't given up more than three runs in a start and has gone at least six innings in all three of his starts. The Indians are -170 favorites in the game so Civale has a great chance to get points for a win as well.
Frankie Montas - OAK @ SF ($8,800)
Montas is coming off of back-to-back seven-inning starts where he allowed one run total and now gets a park factor shift in his favor pitching in spacious San Francisco. Montas made a huge jump in swinging-strike rate last season putting up a 11.5 percent rate compared to 8.6 percent in 2018. He seems to have carried those gains through his 80-game suspension last season and is still generating plenty of whiffs. The result is a 1.57 ERA with a 1.00 WHIP through 23 innings. The Giants offense is one of seven teams with a sub-.300 team wOBA against right-handed pitching so fire up the ace of the A's heading into a great matchup.
UPDATE: Frankie Montas has been scratched and Jesus Luzardo will start instead.
FanDuel DFS Infielders
Luke Voit - 1B, NYY vs. BOS ($3,100)
The Red Sox have a bullpen day planned the day after their pitching staff was torched for 17 runs by the Rays. Balls should be flying out of Yankee Stadium and Luke Voit is an insane value for the position he is in. Voit has been batting cleanup and should come up multiple times with men on base. He's been swinging a hot stick with six hits and five RBI in his last four games. With Cole on the mound and Boston's bullpen gassed, this game has the potential to get out of hand and Voit is a cheap way to get exposure to the Yankee offense.
Starlin Castro - 2B, WAS @ BAL ($2,700)
Castro has been cold lately, but this pick has as much to do with Tommy Milone as it does Castro. Milone is in a bad spot here as a fly-ball pitcher facing the team that leads baseball in wOBA vs left-handed pitching. Baltimore is an extreme hitters-park, especially for righties, and Milone allowed a whopping 1.93 homers per nine innings last season. Castro, for his part, crushes left-handed pitching putting up a .323 average with a .530 slugging percentage last season vs southpaws. Castro typically bats third for a good Nationals lineup that could be a low-owned stack with the other options available.
Alex Bregman - 3B, HOU vs. SEA ($3,900)
Among the high-priced hitting options, Bregman stands out any time he faces left-handed pitching. Bregman has a .324 career average and a 1.020 career OPS vs left-handed pitching and has good career numbers vs Yusei Kikuchi. Bregman has reached base five times in 11 plate appearances against the Mariner's lefty with three extra-base hits. Bregman is locked in to begin the season with more walks than strikeouts which gives him a safe floor to go into this massive upside in this matchup.
Gleyber Torres - SS, NYY vs. BOS ($2,700)
Torres is off to a miserable start to the season, but this price is too cheap for a player with his talent. As mentioned with Voit, Boston's bullpen is exhausted and the Yankees should be able to cycle through the lineup enough to get Torres a few at-bats with men on base. Torres will have a breakout game eventually and once he does he won't be this cheap again.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Willie Calhoun - OF, TEX @ COL ($3,300)
We couldn't go without getting some exposure to Coors field, right? Texas will be insanely popular facing Rockies-rookie Ryan Castellani. I'll spare Castellani's numbers in Triple-A last season, but let's just say the Vegas oddsmakers are implying the Rangers offense should have a good night. Calhoun is one of the cheapest ways to get exposure to the Rangers lineup. He got off to a slow start and is still hitting just .190, but he's shown signs of life with five hits in his last three games. If he bats third he will be a very chalky play, but even if he's back down in the order I'd still roll with him as the Rangers should turn the lineup over enough to get at least 4 plate-appearances.
Jesse Winker - OF, CIN vs. PIT ($2,600)
Winker didn't homer for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday, but the hottest hitter in baseball collected two more hits and scored a run. Winker now has 15 hits in his last nine games and continues to be one of the best values on FanDuel. Winker is among the league-leaders in xWOBA (.462) and average exit velocity (93.1 MPH) and is in a great spot to hit in hitter-friendly Cincinnati. His ownership may be a little high, but he will provide much-needed salary relief on a slate with some high priced options.
Brandon Nimmo - OF, NYM @ PHI ($3,200)
All Brandon Nimmo has been doing lately is getting on base. He's been on base multiple times in three-straight contests and has established himself as the Mets leadoff hitter. Nimmo is boasting a 20-plus percent walk rate and has already scored 14 runs. The Mets offense has broken out the past two games with 19 combined runs and now they'll get a positive park shift to Philadelphia. The Phillies will be rolling out Vince Velasquez and a handful of relievers from a tired bullpen. Nimmo should bat five times and should be able to score plenty of fantasy points in this matchup.
