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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 9/8/20. Brian Entrekin's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
We head into Tuesday night with a 9 game slate on tap. We have a few strong arms priced at the top with a few nice values on the mound as well. There are a lot of interesting ways to go with bats tonight and that makes for a very fun slate. In today's article, I will highlight some players that most usually will not. The goal is to bring them to your attention as some nice floor or GPP plays that could be apart of some nice, contrarian stacks. Today is a very good day to listen to MLB DFS Quick Hits to get a full rundown of today's slate.
When looking at the slate the top-priced arm is Walker Buehler, but there are questions as he only threw 71 pitches in his return from a blister. He should be good to go, back to 90+ and if he does he is a steal at his price tag. The key to the slate may be trusting or fading Buehler and hitting on the lower-priced arms, then getting weird with some bats. The Dodgers are always in play, but I have more interest in the Giants, Tigers, Pirates, and some other not so popular stacking options.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 9/8/2020. The lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for sites like FanDuel, and other sports too. If you have any questions or comments, contact me on Twitter @bdentrek.
DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Sixto Sanchez - P, MIA vs ATL ($6,200)
Sixto has been nothing but brilliant since he was called up to the bigs. He brings an arsenal of straight gas with some nasty breaking pitches and so far has shut down his opponents. In his three starts, he has a 2.37 ERA and a 2.65 xFIP, so he has been pretty legit. More impressively for a young arm is his 25.4% K-BB% and that is in large part due to a very impressive 1.4% BB rate. He has thrown seven innings in each of his last two starts and will look to keep things going vs a rather hot Atlanta team. A Braves team that strikes out a 24.3% strikeout rate, a,275 average, and .228 ISO vs RHP. Sixto will have his work cut out for him at home tonight, but he has the goods and if the control is there again, he becomes a great value.
Andrew Heaney - P, LAA at TEX ($8,400)
Heaney heads to Texas and faces off with Lynn in what should be quite the pitchers' duel. On paper, Lynn is the safer, cash gameplay, where Heaney brings that upside and is coming off of two really strong starts. He has thrown at least seven innings in his last two starts while striking out at least six over those two starts. He faces a Rangers team whose offense just hasn't been consistently threatening at all this season. They are striking out 25% of the time versus LHP with a .228 average, .132 ISO, and .281 wOBA. Not good at all when it comes to the Rangers offense vs lefties. Heaney can be inconsistent, but he has a great matchup, is a decent value, and could be low-rostered tonight on your winning DFS lineups.
Other Options: Walker Buehler (LAD at AZ) $10,200, Lance Lynn (TEX vs LAA) $9,400
DraftKings DFS Infielders
Will Smith - C, LAD at Luke Weaver ($4,000)
We have been waiting for Smith's bat to get going this season and it appears it finally has arrived. He is still apart of a platoon with Barnes, but it does seem Smith is starting to play a bit on the stronger side of that platoon. He has hit safely in six of his last seven games for a nice .348 average. He has also hit three home runs over that stretch with a .478 ISO and an impressive 17.9% walk rate. He is hitting RHP well to the tune of a .271 average and a strong .417 ISO. He faces Weaver tonight who has shown reverse splits in his career and this season has allowed RHH to hit .294 with a .358 wOBA. Smith could be a sneaky piece of a rather popular Dodgers stack tonight.
Brandon Belt - 1B, SF vs Ljay Newsome ($3,800)
I never thought I would be writing up Belt as often as I have, but he continues to rake and DK continues to price him too cheap. Over his last 11 starts Belt is hitting .476 with a .618 wOBA, 12 extra-base hits, and a 19.2% walk rate. He is barreling the ball 23.5% of the time with a 55.9% hard-hit rate as well. He is one of the best pure hitters in baseball right now and DK gave us a gift at his $3800 price tag. He faces the youngster Newsome tonight who will be making his second career start and will have his work cut out for him versus a rather strong Giants lineup. Belt should be your cash game first baseman and maybe just the only first baseman you roster tonight due to the value he brings to your lineup.
Other Options: Jesus Aguilar (MIA at ATL) $3,800, Jeimer Candelario (DET vs MIL) $3,600
Keston Hiura - 2B, MIA at Spencer Turnbull ($5,100)
Surprisingly I have not written much about Hiura this season. It was a slow start for Hiura, but he has slowly got it going at the plate. On Sunday he snapped a six-game hitting streak. Over the last seven games, he is hitting .259 but has hit four home runs to go with a .461 wOBA. He is also barreling the ball 29.4% of the time and a 52.9% hard-hit rate during the seven-game run. He is hitting the ball extremely hard and it shows as he has 16 or more points in four of seven games. Hiura brings a decent floor but a massive ceiling versus Turnbull who has allowed a 51.3% hard-hit rate to RHH this season.
Willi Castro - 3B/SS, DET vs Adrian Houser ($3,700)
Now we get to some of the names that many do not know about or do not usually like to roster. These next few names will have nice value with some serious upside as one-off plays, cash plays, or even apart of sneakier stacks. The first play is Castro who has been quietly crushing it for the Tigers. He has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, including a current four-game hit streak. Over those 12 games, he is hitting .400 with a .438 wOBA, He is stuffing the stat sheet which is resulting in fantasy goodness. He has scored five or more DK points in eight of his last 10 games which much more upside in play.
Erik Gonzalez - 3B/SS vs Dylan Cease ($4,000)
Gonzalez in the midst of one of the most productive, yet quiet seasons in baseball. He is currently riding an eight-game hitting streak into play tonight where he is hitting .387 with a .434 wOBA. He has a 12.8% walk rate and a 41.7% hard-hit rate over the past eight games as well. He has scored seven or more points in seven over his last eight games and brings a really strong floor into tonight's action. He faces Cease tonight who has struggled of late and on the season is allowing a .438 SLG and 44.9% hard-hit rate to RHH.
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Victor Reyes - OF, DET vs Adrian Houser ($3,800)
When talking consistency and a cash game staple, you should look no further than Reyes. He has hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games for a strong .353 average. He has a .235 ISO and a 45.6% hard-hit rate as well. He is facing Houser tonight who has been struggling of late and has struggled all season vs LHH. Lefties are hitting .365 with a .434 wOBA while allowing 2.5 HR/9. Reyes is very affordable tonight and makes for nice cash gameplay or apart of a really nice and affordable Tigers stack.
Raimel Tapia- OF, COL at Mike Clevinger ($3,300)
I usually only roster Tapia when he is playing in Coors, but at $3300 tonight he is definitely in the discussion. He continues to lead off for the Rockies and continues to produce. On Monday, he snapped a nine-game hitting streak. Over his last 10 games, he is hitting .341 with four extra-base hits. Before Monday's goose egg, Tapia had double-digit DK points in four of five games and scored seven or more points in eight of nine games. He faces Clevinger tonight who has not been his dominating self this season and has allowed LHH to hit .276 with a .483 SLG. Tapia has strong value tonight and can even be a cash game play versus Clevinger.
Corey Dickerson - OF, MIA at Kyle Wright ($3,200)
Dickerson may be one of the stronger values on the entire slate. He has hit safely in his last four games with a .394 wOBA, .471 ISO, and three extra-base hits. It had been a rather disappointing season for Dickerson, but the last four games may start a strong finish to the season. Tonight he faces Wright who is returning to the bigs to make his first start since August 14. In his previous four starts, he allowed at least three runs in three of four starts, while walking 16 batters over 15 innings. He has also struggled versus LHH allowing them to hit .367 with a .471 wOBA. Dickerson is a very strong value tonight, while the Marlins could be quite the sneaky stack as well.
DraftKings DFS Stacks
- San Francisco Giants vs Seattle Mariners (Ljay Newsome, RHP)
- San Diego Padres vs Colorado Rockies (Chi Chi Gonzalez, RHP)
- Miami Marlins at Atlanta Braves (Kyle Wright, RHP)
- Detroit Tigers vs Milwaukee Brewers (Adrian Houser, RHP)
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