It’s hard to believe, but next week’s article will be in September. That doesn’t even sound right, but it’s been a fantastic baseball season up until this point. It also means that we have playoffs in about a month, and it’ll be fun to see how everything plays out.
With that said, let’s look at this Saturday slate!
It’s hard to believe, but next week’s article will be in September. That doesn’t even sound right, but it’s been a fantastic baseball season up until this point. It also means that we have playoffs in about a month, and it’ll be fun to see how everything plays out.
With that said, let’s look at this Saturday slate!
Saturday’s MLB DFS & Player Props Picks
Saturday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
| PLAYER |
DK SALARY |
FD SALARY |
VALUE |
RISK |
| Tarik Skubal (DET) at CWS |
$10,900 |
$11,500 |
Low |
Medium |
| Pablo Lopez (MIN) vs. STL |
$8,600 |
$9,500 |
Low |
Low |
| Michael King (SD) vs. NYM |
$9,800 |
$10,300 |
Medium |
Medium |
| Charlie Morton (ATL) vs. WAS |
$8,100 |
$8,700 |
Medium |
High |
Tarik Skubal (DET) at CWS
Detroit mentioned that they will limit Skubal for the remainder of the season, but we don’t care in a matchup like this. Let’s start there because Chicago sits last in runs scored, OBP, OPS, wOBA, and xwOBA. That’s terrifying against the AL Cy Young frontrunner, collecting a 2.49 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 10.7 K/9 rate. That was crystal clear when he held them to six scoreless innings in their last matchup en route to 43 FanDuel points.
Pablo Lopez (MIN) vs. STL
Lopez got off to a slow start, but he’s been cruising for months now. The righty has allowed two runs or fewer in eight of his last 10 starts, registering a 2.95 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 9.6 K/9 rate in that span. We love that since he has a home matchup with the Cardinals, with St. Louis sitting 23rd in runs scored. He scored at least 36 FD points in three of his last four matchups with the Cards!
Michael King (SD) vs. NYM
King also got off to a terrible start, but he’s been one of the best pitchers in the NL since then. The right-hander has allowed three runs or fewer in 15 of his last 16 starts, compiling a 2.48 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and 11.0 K/9 rate in that span. A matchup with the Mets is no easy task, but King has allowed just three runs across 12 innings in his career against New York.
Charlie Morton (ATL) vs. WAS
This veteran has been inconsistent at times this season, but his upside is hard to overlook. Morton has scored at least 40 FanDuel points in three of his last four starts and has surpassed that total six times since June 1. We expect him to grab another one against Washington’s woeful offense, ranked 26th in xwOBA. In addition, Morton has scored at least 43 FD points in four straight matchups with the Nats!
MLB DFS Picks: Suggested Lineup Stacks
Atlanta Braves (vs. Jake Irvin)
This Atlanta team is a shell of itself with Ronald Acuna, Austin Riley, and Ozzie Albies all injured, but they still somehow have a Top 10 offense. That looks even better since they’ve been better at home, and we don’t expect Irvin to slow them down. The Nats righty has a 6.20 ERA and 1.49 WHIP across his last eight starts.
Detroit Tigers (vs. Ky Bush)
Recommending the Detroit Tigers is rare because this is one of the worst lineups in baseball. In any case, they have many cheap options and make for an enticing stack against a guy like Bush. The White Sox lefty has a 1.84 WHIP in three starts this season after posting a 6.16 ERA and 1.53 WHIP at Triple-A
MLB DFS Picks: Core Studs
| POS |
PLAYER |
DK SALARY |
FD SALARY |
| SS |
Corey Seager (TEX) |
$5,600 |
$3,700 |
| 3B |
Manny Machado (SD) |
$5,200 |
$3,200 |
| 1B |
Matt Olson (ATL) |
$5,100 |
$3,300 |
| SS |
Bobby Witt Jr (KC) |
$6,700 |
$4,400 |
- Seager has been unbelievable in the second half of the season. The shortstop has a .345 OBP, .617 SLG, and .962 OPS across his last 17 games. He’s also been unstoppable against right-handers, registering a .397 OBP and 1.007 OPS against them since the start of last year. That’s rough for a regression candidate like Ben Lively, posting a 4.91 FIP.
- Machado got off to a slow start this season, but the All-Star has been rolling for months. Manny has a .294 AVG< .341 OBP, .557 SLG, and .898 OPS across his last 51 outings. He’s also slaughtered southpaws throughout his career, compiling a .353 OBP and .848 OPS against them.
- Olson also got off to an awful start, but this slugger is starting to get hot. The first baseman has a .352 OBP, .467 SLG, and .819 OPS across his last 12 games. That’s closer to the guy who had 54 dingers and 139 RBI last season. We can’t overlook the incredible matchup with Irvin since he has the platoon advantage against the struggling righty.
- Witt could be used on every slate. To say the shortstop is hot would be a drastic understatement, with Witt collecting a .430 OBP, .690 SLG, and 1.120 OPS across his last 80 games. He’s also among the few players with 25 homers and 25 steals, making him an easy option since he has the platoon advantage against a struggling Ranger Suarez.
MLB DFS Picks: Value Plays/Punts
| POS |
PLAYER |
DK SALARY |
FD SALARY |
| OF |
Michael Harris (ATL) |
$4,300 |
$3,000 |
| 3B |
Max Muncy (LAD) |
$4,700 |
$3,400 |
| OF |
Lane Thomas (CLE) |
$4,100 |
$3,000 |
| 2B |
Jace Jung (DET) |
$2,300 |
$2,300 |
- Harris has been moved up to the leadoff spot in Atlanta’s lineup because they need him to step up with Acuna and Albies both sidelined. He’s done just that, recording a hit in seven of nine games since coming off the IL while homering in two of those. This is a 20-20 threat every season, and we have to use him if we’re going to stack ATL.
- Muncy has been mauling the ball since coming off the IL, maintaining a .538 OBP, 1.200 SLG, and 1.738 OPS. That’s a tiny sample size, but Muncy has been a .400 OBP and .900 OPS type of guy throughout his LA tenure. He’s also been much better against righties, which is fantastic since he faces one with an 8.10 ERA and 1.75 WHIP across his last four starts.
- Thomas has been terrible since being acquired by Cleveland, but this guy is too good to be this bad. Before the trade, Thomas was one of the league leaders with 28 steals, totaling 36 homers and 49 steals since the start of last year. Only a handful of players have done that, and he shouldn’t have any issues against a guy like Jon Gray.
- Jung was one of Detroit’s top prospects in their organization, and it’s hard to understand why he’s so cheap. This stud prospect had a .378 OBP, .497 SLG, and .875 OPS throughout his minor league career. That sort of ability is impossible to overlook if we’re going to stack the Tigers, and a play like this would allow you to put anyone in your lineup because of how cheap he is!
Saturday’s Top 3 Underdog Fantasy and PrizePicks Player Props
Blake Snell: 8.5 Strikeouts – Higher
It feels wild to recommend a player with over eight strikeouts, but here we are! Not only does Seattle have the worst strikeout rate in baseball, but Snell has a 14.4 K/9 rate across his last five starts. Seeing him reach 12-13 Ks wouldn’t be surprising.
Tarik Skubal: 19.5 Outs Recorded – Higher
This might seem unbelievable after the earlier write-up, but something tells me Skubal won’t pitch past the sixth inning. While he can still score 40 FanDuel points with that workload, we don’t believe the Tigers will leave him out there into the seventh after what they said about limiting his innings going forward.
Charlie Morton: 17.5 Outs Recorded – Higher
Veterans are always safe bets to clear six innings, especially a guy like Morton. We already talked about how much we like this matchup, but it looks even better since Morton has reached at least 15 outs in 20 of 23 starts this year. He’s also cracked the sixth inning in over half of those!
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Joel Bartilotta is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @Bartilottajoel.
