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It's Friday, and we've got a full slate of games with all teams active for the first time in weeks. That means there are a ton of ways in which you can build your slate, so have fun messing around with different combinations, especially ones that allow you to roster a few of the high-upside arms throwing tonight. As always, be sure to double-check the weather and starting lineups before finalizing your roster.
While I won't directly be breaking down the best stacks, it's good practice, especially in GPP contests, to stack 3-4 bats from a team that you feel most confident in since you're trying to build a lineup that can outscore thousands of people if said offense has a great night. It's obviously riskier to put all your eggs in one basket, but that's why it's a strong strategy for GPP games and not as necessary for cash games.
In this article, I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 8/7/2020. The lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for sites like FanDuel and other sports too. If you have any questions or comments, contact me on Twitter @SamskiNYC.
DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Trevor Bauer - SP, CIN @ MIL ($10,600)
Coming into the season, we viewed the Brewers as a potentially dangerous offense that you didn't want to target pitchers against. That hasn't quite played out, and the offense got even thinner when Lorenzo Cain opted out and Ryan Braun went on the IL. Coming into today's action, the Brewers are third-worst in the league with a 27.1 K%, they have only 8 HRs as a team, and are hitting just .220. This is a team you want to attack, and Bauer is not a bad option to do it. The talented right-hander has been sharp in his first two starts, compiling a 0.68 ERA and 20:3 K:BB through 13.1 innings. The Brewers are a relatively patient team (top 10 in BB%), so he can't dance around the zone too much, but I think he attacks this weakened lineup and puts up some strong DraftKings numbers.
Matthew Boyd - SP, DET @ PIT ($8,900)
I know, we don't want to do this. Boyd has a 7.20 ERA and 1.70 WHIP through two starts. It's gross. However, Pittsburgh's .191 team batting average, .255 on-base percentage, and 24.3 K% might be even worse. It's the easily stoppable force versus the very movable object. I'm going to side with Boyd here. He has 8:2 K:BB ratio in his ten innings, with six strikeouts coming in his last outing against the Royals, so he's still shown the ability to miss bats. With the Pirates having the second-worst SLG% in the league, I don't see them being an offense that really makes him pay if he misses his spot a few times, so this may be the perfect start for Boyd to get back on track.
Yusei Kikuchi - SP, SEA vs COL ($5,000)
I'm only going to briefly mention Kikuchi here since he's covered more extensively in our DFS values piece, and Frank Ammirante had a great tweet about him here. You should really consider playing him tonight, especially at his depressed price.
DraftKings DFS Infielders
Shohei Ohtani - 1B/OF, LAA @ TEX ($4,700)
Shohei Ohtani may not be pitching anymore, but people seem to forget that he's still an elite hitter. His power was on display last night, going 1-3 with a HR and 2 R, but Texas' stadium has played a little more pitcher-friendly with the new roof. However, I'm not scared about Jordan Lyles, who walked five guys in four innings in his first real start of the season last time out in San Francisco, while giving up four runs and striking out only one batter (yet he's still over 2K more than Kikuchi). I think the Angels will be on base often and Ohtani will have a chance to drive in more than a few runs.
Max Muncy- 1B/2B, LAD vs SF ($5,300)
You're going to have to pay up for Muncy, but it might be worth it tonight. He's quieted a little since his hot start, but he's still seeing the ball well, as evidenced by his 14.3 BB%, and is barreling the ball at a high rate. Jeff Samardzija has been bad for the Giants through two games, giving up 11 hits, 10 earned runs, and 3 HR in 9.2 innings. I expect the Dodgers to get to him early and often, and they're probably the best bet to lead the slate in home runs as a team tonight, so I want pieces of this lineup, especially the left-handed ones.
Corey Seager - SS, LAD vs SF ($4,500)
With all of the above info on Samardzija taken into account, Seagar also makes for a really good play. He's crushing the ball with a .347 average, 3 HR, and 7 RBI hitting in the middle of the Dodgers' lineup. As another left-handed bat in a potentially high-scoring showdown against The Shark, I'm liking Seager a lot at his price.
Brian Anderson - 3B/OF, MIA @ NYM ($4,400)
Break up Miami! The 6-1 Marlins will travel to face Michael Wacha, who is coming off being pummeled by the Braves. He's given up 12 hits and 2 HR in 9 innings, and I think the Marlins' offense is legitimately pesky. At the center of it is Anderson, who is hitting .304 with 2 HR and 8 RBI through seven games, including a three-game stretch where he's gone 4-for-10 with 5 RBI. Getting some exposure to the Marlins lineup today is a good idea.
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Mike Trout - OF, LAA @ TEX ($5,900)
He's Mike Trout, so you know how good he is, but this is just a heads up that you should really try to play him tonight. He's got a strong match-up against Jordan Lyles and has been mashing since he became a dad. In the three games after his paternity leave, Trout has gone 4-for-12 with 3 HR, 5 RBI, and 17.7 DraftKings points per game. It would not surprise me if he was the highest-scoring bat on the slate again, and he has the type of floor I'm looking for if I'm paying up this high.
Nick Castellanos - OF, CIN @ MIL ($4,500)
Why is Castellanos priced this low? The man is hitting .333 with 6 HR (second in the league), 13 RBI (fourth in the league), and a 1.212 OPS. Now he gets to face Eric Lauer in a solid hitter's park. I know Lauer was sharp in his first action of the year, but Castellanos hit .370 off of left-handed pitching last year with a 1.138 OPS and .343 ISO. I'm riding the hot bat in this one.
Joc Pederson - OF, LAD vs SF ($4,100)
You get the point already about the Dodgers, but Pederson is also coming off of a game in which he went 2-3 with 2 HR, 5 RBI, and 3 R. Bats don't get much hotter than that, so run the streaking bat out against a mediocre pitcher who has been giving up a fair amount of home runs early in the season.
J.D. Davis - OF, NYM vs MIA ($3,800)
The Mets are banged up right now, but they will head home tonight to take on a Marlins team throwing a bullpen game. The Marlins have been a great story so far (minus the Atlanta nightclub and COVID outbreak), but this is not a team with a really strong bullpen. The Mets as a team may be in play if they can get back some of their banged-up starters, but even as a one-off, I like J.D. Davis at this price hitting in the heart of the order against a weak bullpen.
DraftKings DFS Stacks
For tonight's slate, you can obviously tell that I'm partial to the Dodgers and Angels stacks, but those will also be highly owned. If the Mets are healthy, they could be a sneaky stack against the Marlins bullpen, and the Blue Jays are also certainly in play against Ryan Weber and the Red Sox suspect bullpen.
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