DFS Plays of the Day 8/28/23

The featured slate over at DraftKings consists of 12 of the 14 games on tap for the day. So, the main focus of this article will be on those games. Best of luck however you construct your lineup today!

 

Starting Pitchers

 

Kevin Gausman ($11,200) is the priciest starter of Monday’s group. He takes on the strikeout-averse Nationals though, so his scoring output could be somewhat limited. Priced slightly beneath Gausman is Blake Snell ($10,800) facing the St. Louis Cardinals. We just saw Aaron Nola (7 IP, 1 ER, 9 Ks) and Zack Wheeler (7 IP, 1 ER, 10 Ks) both just shut them down, and there’s no reason why Snell couldn’t do the same.

Zac Gallen ($10,500) is the NL Cy Young favorite for a reason, but facing the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine should cause a bit of concern. With that being said their roster has a 27.7% K% and .251 xwOBA in 119 plate appearances against him. Andrew Abbott ($9,800) has struggled to locate lately, but a date with the Giants could put him back on track.

The Guardians have been pretty mediocre on offense all season long and face Kenta Maeda ($9,200). They don’t typically strike out at an alarming rate, but with the stuff Maeda has, he should have a successful day. Neither Chris Sale ($9,500) nor Cristian Javier ($8,500) should come close to your lineups. Boston and Houston squared off a few days back and their bats have these starters fresh in their minds. Plus, Javier has been terrible and Sale is still rusty working his way back from injury.

The best value option has to be Grayson Rodriguez ($7,500). The White Sox have just been that bad. They have an 83 wRC+ (5th worst ) and 11th highest K% (24.1%) against righties over the past month. Rodriguez has been very solid since rejoining the big-league rotation and has a 3.22 FIP across his last 7 starts.

 

Bats

 

Picking what bats to target is always a struggle in my opinion. There’s so much variance around batters. They can hit one on the screws and it will lead to nothing, and that’s why I tend to stay away from wagering on batters props. Let’s find a few offenses worth stacking today.

How can you not look at the Braves hitting at Coors Field? They will square off against the lefty Austin Gomber and have the best wRC+ (135) facing Southpaws on the season. The bats are incredibly expensive and for good reason, but any stack of them should be worth it in Colorado’s hitting-friendly environment.

The Rockies offense isn’t a bad look either with Bryce Elder on the bump. His ERA might be solid, but the advanced metrics tell a different story. Ezequiel Tovar ($4,500), Charlie Blackmon ($4,500), and Nolan Jones ($4,600) have been the hottest hitters in their lineup over the past 15 days.

By far the best offense to stack with has to be the Padres facing Adam Wainwright. It really doesn’t matter what offense faces him at this point. Every lineup gets to him and San Diego should be no different. Some value bats in their lineup today are Gary Sánchez ($3,800), Garrett Cooper ($2,700), and former teammate of Waino, Matt Carpenter ($2,400) if he gets the start.

Baltimore shouldn’t have any trouble producing runs against Michael Kopech and the White Sox either. He can barely find the zone and when he does, he typically pays. Kopech ranks in the 12th percentile in xERA, 5th in xFIP, and 2nd in BB%. Two of the more inexpensive bats in the O’s lineup worth starting are Ryan O’Hearn ($3,300) and Austin Hays ($4,000). Gunnar Henderson ($5,300) has been on fire lately as well.