DraftKings MLB DFS Cheat Sheet For August 19: Projections, Ownership, And Stacks
By Sam Smith
August 19, 2026
Tonight's free DraftKings MLB DFS cheat sheet from Stokastic opens with rare agreement: the field and the Sims both make Cleveland's Parker Messick (18.7 projected points, 35.2% ownership, 41.3% top-150 exposure) the settled SP1. The disagreement starts at the second pitcher slot and runs through the bats, and that is where August 19 gets won. The Eugenio Suarez build I keep coming back to is below.
The Quick Answer
Messick against the Giants is the SP1 I'm not moving off. The second slot is a real trade: Logan Gilbert projects 18.5 to Dustin May's 15.6, so the pivot costs about three projected points. What it buys is the field — Gilbert's 28.3% ownership essentially matches his 28.0% top-150 exposure, while the sheet doesn't print May's ownership, but exposure minus leverage implies roughly 14%. In a large-field GPP I pay the points and make May my SP2; in cash, take Gilbert. Stack Houston or the Dodgers at Coors, tied at 8.0%, and center the bats on Suarez, the board's top leverage play at 15.7%. The full panels and a Suarez-centered example build are below.
Today's Board: Messick Is Settled, Nothing Else Is
| Panel | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top Projections (Proj FP) | Parker Messick 18.7 | Logan Gilbert 18.5 | Chase Burns 17.0 | Dustin May 15.6 | Drew Rasmussen 15.5 |
| Highest Ownership (Own%) | Parker Messick 35.2% | Logan Gilbert 28.3% | Shohei Ohtani 25.7% | Mookie Betts 18.2% | Chase Burns 17.9% |
| Top Values (Value) | Austin Wells 2.86 | Josh Lowe 2.78 | Michael Toglia 2.68 | Colton Cowser 2.68 | Alex Call 2.62 |
| Top Exposures (Exp%) | Shohei Ohtani 41.3% | Parker Messick 41.3% | Logan Gilbert 28.0% | Dustin May 26.7% | Eugenio Suarez 25.3% |
| Leverage Plays (Lev%) | Eugenio Suarez 15.7% | Shohei Ohtani 15.3% | Dustin May 12.4% | Salvador Perez 12.2% | Daulton Varsho 12.0% |
| Top 5-Stacks (5-Stack%) | HOU 8.0% | LAD 8.0% | STL 4.7% | LAA 4.7% | BAL 4.0% |
DraftKings rosters two pitchers, and Gilbert and May oppose each other in Milwaukee, the pairing question the correlation guide walks through: only one of them collects the win bonus and a slugfest sinks both, though a clean duel can pay both sides. I still take just one, mostly for salary and roster room, and the ownership math above says that one is May. Chase Burns (17.0) is the third arm at 17.9% ownership, though the same Sims build St. Louis stacks at 4.7% against him, a two-sided Cardinals-Reds game.
The stack panel is a tie at 8.0% with opposite personalities. The Dodgers at Coors against lefty Kyle Freeland are the ceiling play and the field knows it: Shohei Ohtani (25.7% owned, 41.3% exposure) and Mookie Betts (18.2%) both crack the ownership panel, with Dodger Alex Call (2.62 value) as the salary-saving fifth bat DraftKings' five-batters-per-team limit demands. Houston earns the same 8.0% of Sims builds against Walbert Urena with Daulton Varsho (12.0% leverage) its only bat on any panel — and no Astro cracks the top-five ownership board, which is the appeal: the same stack rate without the visible ownership. Full projections, ownership and stack tables live in MLB DFS projections, ownership and stacks in the DataHub.
Worked Example: The Suarez Row Into A Build
Suarez leads the leverage panel at 15.7% with 25.3% top-150 exposure, and exposure minus leverage implies roughly 10% ownership: a quarter of the Sims' best lineups on a bat one in ten opponents rosters, a right-handed power hitter at home against lefty Matthew Liberatore. So my roster shape, salary and positions allowing: Messick and May at pitcher, five Astros including Varsho, then Suarez with Reds teammate Michael Toglia (2.68 value) as the two-man mini-stack. That fills nine spots, and catcher Austin Wells (2.86), the value panel's leader, is my tenth. One five-stack, one mini-stack, two leverage pillars — the shape the tournament guide argues for.
More on this: MLB DFS Hub: Every Live Stokastic MLB Page · DraftKings MLB DFS Cheat Sheet: Projections, Ownership & Stacks For August 3 · FanDuel MLB DFS Cheat Sheet: Projections, Ownership & Stacks · DraftKings NFL DFS Cheat Sheet: Week 1 Picks And Stacks · DraftKings PGA DFS Cheat Sheet: Sims, Projections And Ownership
The Sims Behind The Free Sheet
The cheat sheet is free. The paid layer is Stokastic Sims, the engine that built it: the exposure panel above is the visible top of the ROI-ranked lineup pool, and the full product adds Ownership Projections and Boom/Bust ranges for every bat on tonight's board, walked through in the MLB DFS Sims guide. Code CHEAT discounts a Stokastic MLB DFS weekly or monthly package. 21+.