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Happy Wednesday, Rotoballers. We've got another fun slate on tap for tonight as there should be offense everywhere. Well, maybe not everywhere as there are a few elite pitching options including Shohei Ohtani taking on the Texas Rangers and Max Scherzer making his Dodger debut, against the Astros no less.
Elsewhere, yes, there will be offense tonight. Coors Field is in play again after the Rockies put up 13 runs last night. Speaking of teams that put up a baker's dozen, the Yankees did it last night and now get to face Matt Harvey at home. The Toronto Blue Jays join the Yankees and Rockies as teams with implied run totals over six; there will be offense tonight.
I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 8/4/2021. 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:
Jameson Taillon – NYY vs BAL ($8,000)
Normally our anchor play is a high-priced ace, but every slate is different and we're going to have to make some tough choices when it comes to budget management. As we talked about in the intro, there should be tons of offense tonight. Three teams have implied run totals over six and another five teams are implied to score over five runs. The hitters on these teams (especially Toronto) are EX-PEN-SIVE meaning we need to choose if we want our bats, or if we want to pay up for Ohtani ($10,700) who will be closely monitored after having a turn in the rotation skipped, or Scherzer ($10,500) who was just traded and has a tough matchup with Houston.
That brings us to Taillon, fresh off being named the AL Pitcher of the Month for July. Jamo got off to a slow start to his Yankees career but has settled in nicely going six straight starts allowing two runs or less. He's not a strikeout artist, but his 23.8% strikeout rate and 11.8% swinging-strike rate both represent career highs. Baltimore is not an intimidating matchup and they rank 10th in strikeout rate versus right-handed pitching. Taillon should have a relatively simple path to the quality start and win bonus tonight on FanDuel and, at this price, he feels like the safest option to keep us in play for cash games.
Potential Alternate Play
Eduardo Rodriguez – BOS at DET ($7,600)
Attacking Detroit with left-handed pitching was one of the easiest ways to score points on FanDuel early in the season. The Tigers have gotten their offense rolling a little bit lately, but this is still not a matchup to shy away from given their collective 26% strikeout rate vs LHP, fifth-worst in baseball. E-Rod has gotten roughed up lately, but still is striking batters out at a high rate and is in a good get-right spot here.
He's got a 5.60 ERA on the season, but his skill-based ERA indicators imply he's been unlucky as his FIP is 3.46 and his xFIP is 3.32. Last time out he allowed six runs to the Blue Jays so between that ugly start and his ugly ERA, he could come in at low rostership tonight. Don't be scared to go back to E-Rod in this spot, though, he's better than his stats indicate and has a prime matchup in Detroit.
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FanDuel DFS Infielders
J.T. Realmuto – C/1B, PHI at WAS ($3,300)
We don't need to play a catcher on FanDuel, but Realmuto is no ordinary catcher as evidenced by his .275/.360/.458 slash line. The Phillies are one of my favorite stacks of the night against 34-year-old journeyman Paolo Espino, who has thrown under 100 career MLB innings, but will get thrust into the fire for the rebuilding Nationals. Realmuto homered last night and has a good chance to go yard again tonight facing a hurler with a 45% fly-ball rate through 61 innings.
DJ LeMahieu – 2B/3B, NYY vs. BAL ($3,000)
LeMahieu has been ice cold lately, but if you believe most of my colleagues here with the RotoBaller DFS team, there is no such thing as hitters being hot/cold. I trust those smart minds and am going to take a shot on the leadoff hitter for an offense implied to score six-plus runs. LeMahieu at $3,000 should make him a very popular play but this is "good chalk" as he'll likely get to face Harvey three times in Yankee Stadium. It's tough to fully stack the Yankees, but LeMahieu at this price is a gift.
Jean Segura – 3B/2B/SS, PHI vs WAS ($3,100)
In the same theme, let's grab the leadoff hitter for our Philly stack shall we? Segura, like Realmuto, homered versus Washington pitching last night and gets to face Espino and his sly-high fly ball rate tonight. Segura-Realmuto with Bryce Harper is my preferred three-man stack of the night. They can be used as a secondary stack to a four-man combo from a different lineup, or slap Alec Bohm or Rhys Hoskins in there for a full Philly stack.
Dansby Swanson – SS, ATL at STL ($3,200)
The Braves rudely greeted Jon Lester to St. Louis last night in Lester's Cardinals debut. Atlanta could do the same to J.A. Happ tonight who is giving up a whopping .397 wOBA to right-handed batters. Swanson found his power stroke in July cranking seven homers and posting a .927 OPS for the month. Swanson, Austin Riley, and Ozzie Albies are all priced under $4K and will have R/L matchups versus Happ. Mix and match Braves and Phillies infielders to maximize your allotted salary tonight.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Jorge Soler – OF, ATL at STL ($3,300)
If stacking Braves don't forget about Soler who has five hits in his first three games with Atlanta, including a homer last night off of a mediocre lefty. That puts him in play again tonight versus Happ, another mediocre lefty. Soler has had a rough season but he's been better against southpaws and the change of scenery moving from KC to ATL seems to be helping so far.
Michael Brantley – OF, HOU at LAD ($3,300)
BvP is almost always useless for DFS purposes. I say almost because there is one scenario I like to attack and that's a player, with a large enough sample size, who has big numbers versus an elite pitcher. In 44 career at-bats versus Scherzer, Brantley is batting .341 with a 1.004 OPS. Does that guarantee he'll do something tonight? Of course not. But it's a good starting point and he'll carry a minuscule rostership percentage facing Mad Max.
Yadiel Hernandez – OF, WAS vs PHI ($2,500)
If we need value, look no further than Hernandez who is slashing .314/.376/.467 through 67 Big League games. He's making hard contact 49% of the time and gets a pillow-soft matchup versus Chase Anderson of the Phillies. Hernandez is the top salary-relief option tonight to fit in the big bats from Toronto or Coors Field.
FanDuel DFS Stacks Options
- Atlanta Braves vs LHP J.A. Happ
- Philadelphia Phillies vs RHP Paolo Espino
- New York Yankees vs RHP Matt Harvey
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