There are two featured slates today on DraftKings. We are examining the larger slate to give you more options to choose from. That slate includes nine games that begin at 7:10 Eastern Time. FanDuel has a slate that begins at the same time with the same nine games.
Saturday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Saturday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (8/30)
- Trevor Rogers has been nothing short of phenomenal this season. He has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last 11 starts. He has gone over 40 points on FanDuel in nine of those 11 starts. His best start yet was in his last game when he scored 55 points by striking out nine batters over seven innings. He also has a matchup against the San Francisco Giants who have the lowest OPS among all teams against left-handed pitchers.
- There are not many pitchers with more upside than Tyler Glasnow. While the strikeout rate is slightly down this season, no one is going to be upset with a rate of 29.6%. That being said, the walk rate is also at the highest rate since his Pittsburgh days. He has a matchup against the Diamondbacks today.
- The two best starts of Cam Schlittler’s career have come in the last two games. They were the first two games where he pitched at least six innings. He didn’t allow an earned run in either game and struck out eight batters in each game. His matchup today is against the Chicago White Sox who are still bottom five in the season for OPS.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Los Angeles Dodgers Projected Lineup (8/30)
| POS | PLAYER | DraftKings Salary | FanDuel Salary |
| 1B (DK)/OF | Shohei Ohtani | $6,400 | $4,700 |
| SS/
2B/OF (FD) |
Mookie Betts | $4,300 | $3,300 |
| 1B | Freddie Freeman | $4,800 | $3,500 |
| C | Will Smith | $4,600 | $3,400 |
| OF | Teoscar Hernandez | $4,100 | $3,200 |
| OF | Andy Pages | $4,000 | $3,200 |
| OF | Michael Conforto | $2,800 | $2,500 |
| 1B/OF/
2B/3B (FD) |
Enrique Hernandez | $2,600 | $2,500 |
| 2B/3B (DK)
SS (FD) |
Alex Freeland | $2,300 | $2,600 |
- After a bit of a lull, the Dodgers are back to a top 10 offense per OPS in August. They are also a top 10 offense on the season versus left-handed pitchers. Today, they get a matchup against left-handed pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez. He has a 7.43 career ERA against the Dodgers.
- Start your lineup with Teoscar Hernandez. He’s been a menace to left-handed pitchers this season with a .304/.344/.591 slash line. If that isn’t enough, he has gone 10-for-23 against Rodriguez in his career with seven extra-base hits including three home runs. His price on FanDuel is far too low.
- While we try to avoid lefty against lefty matchups in DFS, in Freddie Freeman’s case, it doesn’t really matter. He still has been able to maintain an .824 OPS against left-handed pitchers this season. He also has gone 7-for-13 against Rodriguez in his career with two doubles and a home run.
- One of the cheaper options in the Dodgers lineup is Enrique Hernandez. He has always been better against left-handed pitchers, and that continues this season with five of his eight home runs coming against them. He is also 7-for-13 against Rodriguez in his career with a pair of home runs.
Houston Astros Projected Lineup (8/30)
| POS | PLAYER | DraftKings Salary | FanDuel Salary |
| SS | Jeremy Pena | $5,300 | $3,400 |
| 3B/SS (FD) | Carlos Correa | $4,500 | $3,000 |
| 2B/OF (FD) | Jose Altuve | $5,300 | $3,200 |
| OF | Yordan Alvarez | $4,300 | $3,400 |
| 1B | Christian Walker | $4,000 | $3,100 |
| OF | Jesus Sanchez | $4,100 | $2,800 |
| C | Yainer Diaz | $3,500 | $3,000 |
| 2B/OF/
SS/3B (FD) |
Mauricio Dubon | $2,800 | $2,500 |
| OF | Jacob Melton | $2,500 | $2,400 |
- Kyle Hendricks is starting today against the Houston Astros. He has made nine starts going back to the start of July. He has given up at least three earned runs in seven of those starts including his last four games. That’s why his season ERA sits over 5.00 with a FIP nearly as high at 4.82.
- Yordan Alvarez is back, and already has a home run in just four at-bats. While he was struggling before his injury, that still came with elite marks in average exit velocity (94.4 miles per hour), hard-hit rate (48.9%), and expected slugging (.532). He’s still the elite slugger that he always has been.
- It’s taken longer than fantasy managers wanted, but Christan Walker finally looks like himself in Houston. In the month of August, he has had 13 extra-base hits including eight home runs. His .884 OPS this month is the highest of his season.
- Carlos Correa looks revitalized back in Houston. Since rejoining the Astros, he has a .319/.385/.447 slash line. That comes with six extra-base hits including three home runs in 24 games.
 Core Studs
- Nick Kurtz has a matchup today against right-handed pitcher Merrill Kelly. He has an 1.177 OPS against right-handed pitchers this season. While his ERA is only 3.10 since joining the Rangers, his FIP is 4.50.
- We’re looking to play Riley Greene against right-handed pitchers. He has 29 of his 32 home runs against right-handed pitchers. That means that his OPS is nearly 300 points higher against right-handed pitchers. Today, he takes on Stephen Kolek who is right-handed.
- Ben Rice has begun to earn the playing time that he deserved based on his metrics. He is in the top-10 percentiles in all of the major power metrics including average exit velocity, barrel rate, hard hit rate, and expected slugging. It’s also starting to show up in the actual stat line too, as he has an OPS of 1.022 over the last 28 days.
Value Plays/Punts
- Over half of Matt Wallner’s hits this season have been of the extra-base variety. He has 59 hits in total with 36 of them being extra-base hits. He has had seven home runs in August.
- Heliot Ramos fell to Value Play status after a cold July that carried into early August. That seems to be behind him again as he has five extra base hits again over the last two weeks.
- The third outfielder that is priced at $3,700 on DraftKings that is a good Value Play is Brenton Doyle. In the month of August, he has looked like the version that we saw from his last year. He has five doubles and seven home runs this month.
Saturday’s Top 3 Underdog Player Props
Mark Vientos (3B – NYM) – Over 0.5 Total Bases
Mark Vientos has been one of the hotter hitters in baseball the last two weeks. He has a .370 batting average the past 14 days. In the last week, it’s even higher at .407. His hot streak has helped him to have at least one total base in 11 of his last 12 games.
Andruw Monasterio (1B, 2B, 3B, SS – MIL) – Over 0.5 Total Bases
It’s possible that you don’t even know who Andruw Monasterio is. He is filling in at shortstop for the Brewers for the injured Joey Ortiz. He has started the past eight games for the Brewers and has at least one total base in each game with one extra base hit in the last five games.
Gavin Williams (SP – CLE) – Over 2.5 Earned Runs Allowed
Gavin Williams has been a magician at limiting runs this season. He comes into this game with an ERA of 3.36. That doesn’t fit with any of his ERA indicators which are nearly a run higher. This line is set too low. Today he has a matchup with the Seattle Mariners.
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