It’s Thursday, Sept. 1, and it’s once again it is getaway day, which brings two four-game featured slates. The early action begins at 1:10 p.m. ET leading into the second act, starting at 6:10 p.m. ET. Let’s get into the top MLB DFS picks today for pitchers and stacks for DraftKings and FanDuel daily fantasy baseball lineups.
DraftKings & FanDuel MLB DFS Picks Today (9/1)
Main Slate: Braves vs. RHP Chad Kuhl — 5.6 implied runs
Ozzie Albies will start his rehabilitation in Triple-A Gwinnett today and he is trending towards joining the big club later next week. In the meantime, the healthy Bravos will be treated to a stellar matchup against Chad Kuhl.
Once upon a time, Kuhl was an intriguing prospect with Pittsburgh. However, those days have long since faded like sun bleached patio furniture. Since early July, Kuhl has allowed home runs in seven straight starts, including three multi-home run games. During this stretch he has lasted only 30.2 innings with a 9.39 ERA, 8.44 FIP accompanied by a robust 2.02 base runners per frame. Basically, opposing hitters been masquerading as Triple Crown winners with a .339/.429/.677 triple slash line, which is just preposterous.
Matt Olson leads the way as the keystone for any Atlanta stack. Over the last two years, he has tallied 787 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, compiling a .248 ISO and patient 11.9% walk rate. Tonight, he should have several RBI opportunities with Ronald Acuna Jr., Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley all excelling in same-handed matchups. Rookie Michael Harris III and catcher Travis d’Arnaud can be used to round out full stacks. For differentiation, look to the back of the order with outfielders Eddie Rosario and Robbie Grossman.
Early Slate: Athletics at RHP Paolo Espino — 5.2 implied runs
The Stokastic Top Stacks Tool likes the matchup for Oakland as they wrap up their three-game series in our nation’s capital. On the mound it will be journeyman Paolo Espino, who is just playing out the string on his career. Espino broke into the majors in 2017 as a 30-year-old rookie seeing time with the Brewers and Rangers. After that cup of coffee, Espino was back to toiling in the minors before resurfacing with Washington.
All told, the 35-year-old has logged MiLB action in 13 different seasons and 10 years of winter ball action to go with 230.2 career innings in The Show. In his last 11 starts, since being stretched out as a starter, Espino has a 6.08 ERA, a 5.65 FIP and a 2.32 home-run-per-nine-innings rate.
Oakland will be popular today as a salary-saving option, with no player topping $3,000 on FanDuel and Sean Murphy being the only hitter over $3,100 on DraftKings. Murphy, Seth Brown and leadoff man Tony Kemp are the trio to target and as such will also carry the most popularity. Differentiation is easy if Shea Langeliers is in the lineup at catcher as he provides a built-in alternative to Murphy.
The back half of the A’s lineup is bereft of power upside. However, after Espino leaves the game, a beleaguered bullpen will take over, and that could easily be the catalyst that drags the Oakland offense into crooked numbers. Plus, there is added utility with this motley crew since their salary savings can be reallocated to the top pitchers and stacks created from the rest of the player pool.
Best MLB DFS Pitchers
Main Slate Target: RHP Spencer Strider vs. Rockies — 2.7 implied runs
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $8,800 | FanDuel $9,900
Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more we will look to a right-handed hurler against Colorado. It is well documented that the Rockies struggle on the road when compared to their results in the thin Denver air. That of course is no surprise as any road trip represents a ballpark downgrade. However, they are also dismal against right-handed pitching with an 85 wRC+ that is a bottom-three mark for the season. This is a tremendous advantage for rookie Spencer Strider, who has a 36.7% strikeout rate this season. Strider has also limited power allowing a sub .100 ISO to batters swinging the stick from both sides of the plate and he looks to be a near lock for a quality start tonight.
Early Slate Target: LHP Ken Waldichuk at Nationals — 4.2 implied runs
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $5,000 | FanDuel $6,600
Logan Gilbert against the Tigers is the top pitcher this afternoon and it is not even close. In the late-afternoon action we can of course turn to Clayton Kershaw in New York squaring off against Chris Bassitt as the next best options. That is all quite obvious, so let’s have some fun and take a look at rookie Ken Waldichuk who will be making his MLB debut.
Waldichuk was part of the return package from the Yankees in the Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino deal. He was the co-headliner of this trade along with right-handed Luis Medina, who has a wicked fastball. Most projection systems have Waldichuk projected as a middle of the rotation starter that limits power, while also striking out nearly a batter per inning. His minor league strikeout rates are obscene with a combined 13.4 per-nine-innings rate. Obviously, he will be nowhere near that in The Show, but you can see why the various forecasting systems have him as an above average option.
The rookie is fully stretched out throwing 90 and 88 pitches in his last two Triple-A starts with 15 strikeouts across 10.1 innings. A reasonable expectation for this afternoon is something around 75 pitches with a handful of strikeouts. Plus it should make for a fun diversion at work, sneaking this game up on a second monitor as long as the boss is not around heading into a holiday weekend. Enjoy!
Additional Opportunities
Spencer Strider has an early line at 7.5 strikeouts for his matchup with the Rockies that is currently +100 on DraftKings for the over. The Stokastic MLB Player Props Tool has him for 8.4 strikeouts and a 67% of surpassing this over. It is important to note that Strider has notched seven or fewer whiffs in three of his last five starts; however, two of those games were against the Mets and one was against the Cardinals. He rolled up nine strikeouts against the Astros and 13 against the Phillies, so tonight’s matchup against a dilapidated offense should feel like a walk in the park.
If this wager feels a bit risky, you can still navigate things at an advantage with a RISK FREE BET up to $1,000 on BetMGM.
Other Pitching Options
- RHP Logan Gilbert at Detroit Tigers (Early)
- LHP Clayton Kershaw at New York Mets (Afternoon)
- RHP Shane Bieber vs. Baltimore Orioles (Main)
- RHP Brandon Woodruff at Arizona Diamondbacks (Main)
Other Hitting Options
- Eugenio Suarez at LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (Early)
- Jose Abreu vs. RHP Daniel Mengden (Early)
- Jose Ramirez vs. RHP Kyle Bradish (Main)
- Willy Adames at RHP Merrill Kelly (Main)
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Final MLB DFS Thoughts & MLB Weather Notes
Thursday should be another uneventful day regarding weather issues. Keep in mind that with two short slates, the popular options will be surging by comparison to last night’s 12-game player pool. This brings in leverage as a very valuable aspect for those gamers savvy enough to wield it properly.
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