We have loaded 11-game slates on DraftKings and FanDuel tonight as baseball barrels towards September. You know me, I'll be watching college football, but I'm not too busy to put some money in some baseball tournaments. There's still money to be made here as well!
We have plenty of interesting pitching prospects on this slate, though none of them are really "aces." Who are the best options out there? Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Thankfully, the weather looks good across all of baseball. We are getting to another part of the season where rain can be an issue again.
As always, this article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Saturday's main slate locks at 7:05 pm EST on 8/27/2022. 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!
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DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Merrill Kelly at CWS ($9,100 DK, $9,000 FD)
Castillo got roughed up by the A's in his last start and Woodruff has really struggled against the Cubs this year for some reason. I'm going to hitch my wagon to Kelly, who has a 2.49 ERA on the road this year and hasn't given up more than three runs in a game since June 24.
This is more based on the consistency of Kelly than the opponent. We have seen Kelly post at least five strikeouts in every game since the break, but that could be a chore against the White Sox. On FanDuel I could see using Darvish or Castillo for the K upside, but the Royals and Guardians don't strike out a ton either.
Drew Smyly at MIL ($7,900 DK, $8,300 FD)
With all due disrespect to the Pirates, the Brewers have been one of the worst-hitting teams on planet Earth this month. The Brew Crew is hitting a putrid .176 in the last two weeks and .199 overall in August. They still get a few homers here and there, but they have struck out at a staggering 29.1% this month.
Meanwhile, Smyly has been reborn on the North Side. He has only allowed three runs in 24 innings so far in August with 23 strikeouts in that span. Smyly isn't usually a high-strikeout guy, but he has been recently and the Brewers should swing right into that. I never would have guessed that I would be using Smyly in DFS in 2022, but here we are.
Also consider: Yu Darvish, Luis Castillo, Eduardo Rodriguez
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Paul Goldschmidt - 1B, STL vs. Charlie Morton ($6,500 DK, $4,500 FD)
Goldschmidt continues to knock the cover off the ball. He has nine homers, 27 RBI, and 21 runs scored in August alone. He has a pedestrian average against Morton in his career, but Goldy is hitting a robust .406 against curveballs this season. He is seeing everything well right now and Morton is prone to the occasional blow-up. He has allowed at least five runs in three of his last seven starts.
Jose Ramirez - 3B, CLE at Luis Castillo ($6,000 DK, $4,200 FD)
Ramirez has four hits in 12 tries against Castillo. He has 14 total bases on those four hits (two triples, two homers). Castillo is wrecking pitching lately anyway. He has three homers and six RBI this week. Seeing his old friend Castillo, whom he feasted off of in the battle for Ohio interleague series, should keep the hot streak going for Jose.
Vaughn Grissom - 2B, ATL at Jordan Montgomery ($2,700 DK, $3,300 FD)
Montgomery has allowed just one run in four starts as a Cardinal, so I'm not going after him by any means. However, Grissom continues to put up big numbers and is basically free (at least on DK...it's a bit tougher sell on FD). Grissom is hitting .367 with three homers, 10 RBI, and a pair of steals in just 16 games (not to mention 22 hits and 14 runs scored). At this price, I'll be happy if Grissom gets 5-10 points. He does that nearly every game.
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Aaron Judge - OF, NYY at Adam Oller ($6,300 DK, $5,000 FD)
Judge is on one of those heater thingies again. He has three homers in his last four games with seven RBI and three runs scored. He even swiped a base! Oller hasn't been very good in any major league park, but he is inexplicably bad in his cavernous home stadium. Oller has allowed seven homers in just 28 innings at the Coliseum. That's one every four innings. All rise!
Mitch Haniger - OF, SEA vs. Zach Plesac ($4,100 DK, $3,700 FD)
It has been a hell of a week for Haniger. He is hitting .300 with three homers, seven RBI, and three runs scored. Four of those five games were at home, so it hasn't been favorable road parks either. Plesac's numbers aren't all that bad, but one look at his Statcast page tells you that there's a lot of luck involved. Regression is likely coming for Plesac and Haniger hits all of his offerings well. I expect Haniger to stay hot tonight.
Corey Dickerson vs. Charlie Morton ($2,300 DK, $2,400 FD)
Another Cardinals reclamation project has turned into another Cardinals success story. Dickerson has caught fire over the last week, hitting .571 with three RBI and four runs scored. He is now hitting .278 with four homers on the season. He's a nice way to cram two good pitchers into your lineup. The fact that he is 8-for-18 with a pair of homers in his career against Charlie Morton is just more gasoline for the man on fire.
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
Here are my top stacks for tonight (in the order in which I like them):
New York Yankees - I highlighted the struggles of Adam Oller at home already. The Bombers have Judge on a heater and Giancarlo Stanton has three RBI in two games since his return from the IL. This offense is showing signs of life after a slow first half of August. Smacking around a guy like Oller could really get them going.
San Diego Padres - The Padres offense is finally starting to get going again. It seemed like the Fernando Tatis Jr. news took some wind out of their sails and the struggles of Juan Soto didn't help. Four games against his former team woke Soto up and a trip to Kansas City can't hurt. Daniel Lynch's ERA is 1.28 runs higher at home than on the road and he has allowed 11 runs in his last four starts (including a fluke five shutout innings against the Dodgers). The Padres should feast on some KC barbecue tonight.
Detroit Tigers - Yes, the Tigers are bad, but I will guarantee you Dallas Keuchel is worse. Besides, Detroit is hitting 46 points higher against lefties on the season. Even though they still aren't hitting for much power, the Tigers are hitting a respectable .241 over the last two weeks and have cut down on the strikeouts. Javier Baez has pounded lefties this year and let's not forget that Keuchel has an 8.53 ERA on the season and has been cut not once but twice already in 2022. If he gets smacked by the Tigers in his return to the majors, it may happen a third time.
Honorable mention: Seattle Mariners
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.