DFS Plays of the Day – 8/30/2023

Slate Details

 

DK – Early slate (9 games) – starts at 1:05 p.m. EDT | Main slate (6 games) – starts at 6:40 p.m. EDT

FD – Very early slate (5 games) – starts at 1:05 p.m. EDT | Early (4 games) – starts at 3:07 p.m. EDT | Main slate (6 games) – starts at 6:40 p.m. EDT

 

Weather Impact

 

Possibility for a delay in HOU@BOS, but they should get the entire game in regardless. Everywhere else is good to go.

 

Pitching

 

Wednesday starts off with a matchup of middling starters that are really pitching below expectations in Dylan Cease and Kyle Gibson. Very hard to trust either one of them right now against the Orioles and White Sox offenses, but if you have to go with one I’d recommend Gibson.

I don’t trust Reid Detmers at all against the hot Phillies’ offense, but Cristopher Sánchez is a sneaky play today. He has quietly thrown a quality start in three consecutive outings and gets an Angels team that has given up all hope.

A very interesting pitching matchup will go down in Minnesota when Tanner Bibee and Sonny Gray face off. I am comfortable playing either of these guys, as Bibee hasn’t allowed more than 3 ERs in a start since June 13th and Gray gets a moderately weak Cleveland lineup.

After an 11-strikeout performance against the Padres, I think we can all agree Brandon Woodruff is all the way back from his injury and can be started today against the Cubs, who have struggled mightily in the first two games of this series.

Logan Webb has been hit around quite a bit in his last two starts, but they both came against Atlanta so I think they can be forgiven. Today he faces a Cincinnati team that has scored a measly 4 runs in its last 3 games and just lost budding star Matt McLain to the IL.

Framber Valdez has been very hit or miss lately, seemingly only either throwing 7+ shutout innings or allowing 6 ERs, with no in-between. Unfortunately, I just think there are better options out there than Valdez against a Boston lineup that has produced a 130 wRC+ over the last two weeks.

Bryce Miller is probably going to be a popular play against Oakland on Wednesday and for good reason, he’s electric. But I wouldn’t be so fast to play him, especially in GPP games. Miller has failed to get through 6 innings in 9 of his last 10 starts and wasn’t exactly dominant against a weak Royals lineup his last time out (4 IP, 6 Hs, 3 ERs, 6 Ks).

It is very hard for me to feel bad for Gerrit Cole, but it probably hasn’t been easy for him to pitch so well for a team that doesn’t even come close to matching your competitive nature. The good news is he is facing a Detroit lineup that has struck out 27.3% of the time over the last two weeks, so his quality season should continue today.

A very tough matchup to call between Zach Eflin and Jesús Luzardo who are both coming off superb outings. Luzardo had allowed 16 ERs in his previous 3 starts (12.1 IP) before blanking San Diego with 7 Ks over 6 innings last Tuesday. Eflin struck out 11 while allowing just 2 ERs over 6 innings in his last start, albeit against the Yankees. I am leaning Eflin against a sputtering Miami offense, but I also can see why you might play Luzardo.

You may be tempted to play either Brandon Pfaadt or Ryan Pepiot, as they are exciting young arms. But there is just too much talent in the Dodgers and Diamondbacks’ offenses for me to consider putting either in my lineup.

 

Pitcher Pricing 8-30-23

 

 

Hitting

 

Honestly, there aren’t any big-time stacks I’m looking at today, so I think we are just going to cherry pick hitters team by team and go with a committee approach to our DFS hitters.

The Orioles have several hot hitters in Anthony Santander, Austin Hays, and Ryan Mountcastle going against Cease, who not only has been extremely hittable but has had extreme control issues as well. Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, and Ryan O’Hearn are not bad options near the top of the lineup either. All of a sudden, this is looking like a stack.

Andrew Benintendi has posted a nice .306/.358/.531 line over the last two weeks and is a nice safe play against Gibson.

Best of luck to Detmers on Wednesday because it seems like the whole Phillies’ lineup is on fire right now. Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Trea Turner have a ridiculous 20 HRs between the 3 of them in the past two weeks. Surprisingly, Brandon Marsh (.450/.522/.650) and Jake Cave (.308/.367/.731) have also been hitting the ball well of late.

If you have the cash, Paul Goldschmidt is a great option today against Rich Hill, who he has hit for a 1.161 OPS in 27 career at-bats.

Not many batters are hotter than Davis Schneider (351 wRC+ over the last two weeks) and he gets LHP Patrick Corbin and his 27 HRs allowed on Wednesday. Danny Jansen has been seeing the ball well of late and is a good way to save money at catcher and George Springer has an excellent history against Corbin, albeit in just 7 at-bats.

The Houston offense has caught fire of late, with an insane 45 runs over their last 4 games. Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, Mauricio Dubón, Yordan Alvarez, Jeremy Peña, Yainer Diaz, and José Abreu are all in the top 100 in wRC+ over the last two weeks.

The only thing that gives me pause in going all-in on the Astros today is that Kutter Crawford has actually been very effective over the last couple of months, and he only allowed 2 ERs in 5 innings in his last start against the Dodgers.

Seattle’s offense has come back down to Earth just a little bit after their torrid run, but they have a number of hitters I am targeting today against Oakland RHP Zach Neal. Julio Rodríguez and Teoscar Hernández are the obvious ones, but J.P. Crawford and Cal Raleigh are right up there with them.

Josh Rojas and Dylan Moore provide a good power/speed combo and Mike Ford could be a low-priced HR chase.

The Yankees are hot garbage as a team, but Joey Wentz isn’t much better as a pitcher and I am certainly looking at Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres today.

The Rangers offense isn’t quite the juggernaut it was earlier in the year, but more under-the-radar guys like Mitch Garver and Nathaniel Lowe have been hitting it well lately. Denyi Reyes struggled against the Braves in his last start and there probably will be more of the same today.

LHP Angel Zerpa has been awful on the mound for Kansas City when called into action and the Pirates actually have some RHH bats that can do some damage today.

Ke’Bryan Hayes has been destroying the ball all August and Bryan Reynolds is Bryan Reynolds. Connor Joe has produced a nice .314/.457/.457 line over the last two weeks and Liover Peguero has some serious power/speed for a low-priced option.

Yes, the Braves are an obvious stack but I don’t think that’s going to win you much in DFS. They are outrageously priced and are going to garner tons of ownership regardless. Marcell Ozuna has been crazy hot of late and Eddie Rosario isn’t too far off his pace, and they would probably be two lesser-owned options.

For Atlanta, Darius Vines makes his first Major League start and unfortunately, Coors Field looms. Hunter Goodman has been excellent for the Rockies in 3 games since being called up and should be relatively low-priced. Geriatric Charlie Blackmon has also been hitting well and presents a much more palatable route to the Coors effect than the expensive Braves.

 

Hitter Pricing 8-30-23