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Sizeable nine-gamer over on the blue site tonight, and we have our pick of the litter at the pitcher position. Lynn, Wainwright, and Valdez are all in beautiful spots against bottom-of-the-barrel lineups, while there are also a number of cheap options to mix in as tournament plays. Seven of the 18 teams in action currently hold implied totals over five runs, meaning we likely won't have to worry about fighting against chalk as you can make a case for at least a handful of team stacks to deploy tonight. Let's get to it.
I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 8/28/2021. You can see our DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineup pick for the early slate here as well.
Be sure to also 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 check out today's DraftKings MLB DFS lineup picks, and read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports too. Let's get to it!
FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Cash Game / GPP Anchor Play:
Adam Wainwright - STL vs. PIT ($9,900)
You have your choice of stud pitchers in incredible matchups as Lance Lynn is facing the Cubs and Framber Valdez will square off against the Rangers. Wainwright also gets an exploitable matchup in the Pirates, though, and he's the cheapest of the three. He also may have the highest upside on the slate when considering recent form. Waino's resurgence has been a spectacle to watch as he holds a 3.10 ERA (3.84 xERA) and he's averaging 44.7 FD points per game over his last seven starts. Two of his last three starts came against this same hapless Pittsburgh lineup and he absolutely dominated them, going for 58 and 61 FD points with seven and nine punchouts, respectively. He gets them again tonight and they're the same ol' light-hitting Buccos they were previously. Fire up the veteran once again as getting him under $10k is a steal in this spot.
Lance Lynn is my next choice. He hasn't been in top form, but the current iteration of the Cubs' lineup is just abysmal. They currently lead the MLB with a 26.8% K% and a 26.9% K% vs. RHP and have a very low 3.3-run implied total tonight. You can't go really go wrong with Valdez against the Rangers, either.
GPP Alternate Play(s)
David Price - LAD vs. COL ($7,100)
Price is worthy of a few speculative shots at his cheap price tag. He certainly hasn't been terrible this year as he has made 32 apperances (11 starts), holds a 3.82 ERA (3.86 xERA), and has done a great job of limiting hard contact. However, his 19.5% K% is a far cry from his career average of 24.6%, and the Dodgers have severely limited how deep he can go into games coming off his injury. He has gone for at least 50 pitches in each of his last four starts and had 75 pitches in his most recent outing, so there's a chance he's stretched out a little bit tonight. That will certainly play at his price tag and in this great matchup against the Non-Coors version of the Rockies. Away from home, the Rockies hold the lowest AVG, OPS, ISO, and wRC+ in the entire league. They also have the fourth-highest strikeout rate (26.6%) away from their friendly confines.
Others: Lance Lynn (vs. CHC), Framber Valdez (vs. TEX), Adrian Houser (vs. MIN)
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FanDuel DFS Infielders
Yuli Gurriel - 1B, HOU vs. TEX ($3,600)
Gurriel is on a seven-game hitting streak in which he's hitting .414 with four doubles, a homer, four RBI, and eight runs scored. He has also scored double-digit FD points in each of those games (aside from yesterday when he had 9.5 FD points). Allard has been terrible all season (see Alvarez, Yordan) and Gurriel's form makes him very appealing at this price point.
Fernando Tatis Jr. - SS, SDP vs. LAA ($4,500)
You can never really go wrong finding the salary to get to Tatis Jr. on any slate. He's one of the most productive hitters to roster in DFS as he's averaging 15.6 FD points per game with 35 homers and 78 RBI. He also leads the MLB in Hard Hit % (56.5%) and xSLG (.611) and is second in Barrels/PA (12.8%). The matchup isn't elite as Suarez has limited hard contact and holds a 4.06 ERA (3.65 xERA) this season, but the Padres are projecting for five runs tonight and Tatis should remain involved as he has been all season.
Javier Baez - SS/2B, NYM vs. WAS ($3,100)
Baez is in great form as he has three doubles, a homer, two RBI, and four runs scored over his last five games. He's still at a very palatable salary and opposing pitcher Sean Nolin is highly inexperienced at the MLB level. He has made nine starts in his career and holds a 7.28 ERA and 1.90 WHIP. He hasn't shown improvement this season as he's rocking a 9.00 ERA and 2.43 WHIP over seven innings across two starts. Baez and the Mets should have no trouble with him and the Nats' bullpen tonight.
Others: Freddie Freeman (vs. SFG), Cody Bellinger (vs. COL), Max Muncy (vs. COL), Rowdy Tellez (vs. MIN), Joey Wendle (vs. BAL)
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Yordan Alvarez - OF, HOU vs. TEX ($4,300)
Air Yordan has been on an absolute tear recently as he has four homers and two doubles over his lasts seven games. He has games of 21.7, 31.9, and 38.4 FD points over that stretch - those are difference-making outputs. Kolby Allard is allowing a high 1.89 HR/9 (two homers allowed in each of his last three starts) and has had issues with LHH's (7.82 ERA). Alvarez could easily have another monster game here.
Randy Arozarena - OF, TB vs. BAL ($3,400)
You want to play Arozarena when he's facing a lefty. The young slugger holds a .909 OPS and .235 ISO against LHP this season. Means is the ace of the Orioles' staff as he's holding a 3.50 ERA (3.97 xERA) and 1.01 WHIP, but he's allowing a bottom-10th percentile barrel rate (10.6%) and has allowed 23 homers over his 19 starts. He also is much worse against RHH (3.93 ERA with 21 of his 23 homers allowed in the split).
Nelson Cruz - OF, TB vs. BAL ($3,900)
Cruz is a notorious/historic lefty-masher and, like Arozarena, he's in a great spot to produce as a one-off or as part of a stack tonight. His numbers on the Rays haven't quite lived up to what he was doing in the larger sample size with the Twins when he held a 1.010 OPS vs. LHP, but he has still put up the monster outings that we've come to expect from him. He has outputs of 41.9, 28.2, 27.9, and 47.9 FD points in the month of August. He's due for a homer and I bet he hits one off of Means and/or the bottom-five Baltimore bullpen.
Others: Jace Peterson (vs. MIN), Wil Myers (vs. LAA), Max Kepler (vs. MIL), Tyler O'Neill (vs. PIT), Tommy Pham (vs. LAA)
FanDuel DFS Stacks
- HOU vs. Allard
- TB vs. Means
- MIL vs. Barnes
- CWS vs. Mills
- LAD vs. Gray
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