MLB DFS Picks: Draftkings, FanDuel August 20

Thursday, Aug. 20, we have a 7:05pm ET eight-game “main” slate on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and SuperDraft. Before you lock in your MLB DFS lineups and MLB DFS picks, make sure to check out check out Awesemo’s DFS baseball MLB rankings and projections.

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Greetings, Gamers! For a third straight day we have twenty-two teams in action on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and SuperDraft.

Similar to last year, I will be providing a review of one stack for each of the day’s slates. Some of these short-slate options will be good for the full-game set, others will be more contrarian and better suited for the mini-game sets.

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MLB DFS Afternoon-Slate Picks

Chicago White Sox vs RHP Spencer Turnbull – 4.9 implied runs

Depending on your site of choice, the Coors Field Extravaganza may or may not be part of the early slate. Also, keep in mind that the PHI at TOR game is in Buffalo as well as the first game of a doubleheader. That means it will need just seven innings to be official.

The White Sox have been a common recommendation in this space with their much improved team. We do not know the status of Yasmani Grandal who has been dealing with a sore back. Rookie Luis Robert should be back in the lineup after receiving a day off Wednesday for a sore hand.

RHP Spencer Turnbull does a reasonable job of keeping opposing power hitters in check and he has yet to allow a home run this season. However, there are enough power hitters on the ChiSox that we can do a little home run hunting. There is no need to go with a full-stack, but mixing and matching some pairs or trios as part of a synergistic strategy is a fine play.

Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez and Edwin Encarnacion all have tallied a .200+ ISO against right handed hurlers over the last two seasons.

MLB DFS Main-Slate Picks

Boston Red Sox at RHP Asher Wojciechowski – 5.1 implied runs

Looking to the BoSox against 31-year old RHP Asher Wojciechoski is going to be a popular play on Thursday. There are still fifteen other teams on the slate, so we will have plenty of ways to differentiate our lineups. Wojciechoski has been through seven different minor league systems. He had cups of coffee with the Astros ’15, Reds ’17 and Orioles ’19-20 with 179.2 innings. The main issue has been his career 1.90 HR/9 rate. While the main projection systems like him for a solid 8.0-8.4 K/9 rate, they also are projecting him for nearly a 6.00 ERA.

Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Rafael Devers and Mitch Moreland are the core four to target as they all boast a .240+ ISO against right-handed hurlers over the last two plus seasons. DraftKings has done a good job on pricing, but Yahoo has missed a couple of these guys.

Secondary plays from this lineup include Alex Verdugo who will likely be leading off and Christian Vazquez on sites that require a catcher. For differentiation we can always consider a “wrap-around” stack with Jackie Bradley Jr.and Kevin Pillar.

MLB DFS Late-Slate Picks

Oakland Athletics vs. LHP Alex Young – 5.0 implied runs

The only thing keeping this run total in check is the 65 degree first pitch temperature. We have a 7-10mph breeze out to center field and a pitcher who coughs up gopher balls. In only 14 innings this season, LHP Alex Young has already allowed four home runs. While he has made just one start this season, he did go for 63 pitches. For this start he is expected to be capable of around 75 pitches. Last year was his first season in The Show and his performance was uneven as we would expect from a rookie.

Against 284 righties, he has allowed a 1.88 HR/9 rate and same-handed hitters have gotten to him for a 1.19 HR/9 rate. The main culprit is a lack of ground balls and a nearly 40% hard hit rate.

We know the likely sources of the Athletics fantasy production, which is what makes stacking them so much fun! Ramon Laureano is back from his suspension and he is a top priority along with Matt Chapman, Mark Canha and Marcus Semien. Towards the bottom-third of the order, I really like Stephen Piscotty. On the main slate he will be completely overlooked and even on the late slate he will not garner much popularity.

As always, you can reach out to me in Awesemo.com Premium Slack or on Twitter @EMacDFS if you have any questions or want to discuss anything MLB DFS related.

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Author

Eric MacPherson

Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].