Friday, Aug. 19, gets things going with an afternoon affair in Wrigley Field before a gargantuan 14-game slate gets underway at 7:05 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 (8/19)
Main Slate: Blue Jays at Jameson Taillon — 4.1 implied runs
August has not been kind to Jameson Taillon, and the Stokastic Top Stacks Tool (FREE TODAY) likes the Blue Jays in this matchup, particularly with gamers flocking to the Coors Field Extravaganza tonight. In three outings spanning 18.2 innings, Taillon has issued seven free passes while allowing five home runs. Power has always been an issue for Taillon, who averages nearly four extra-base hits allowed per nine innings this season. Over his last 1,100 batters faced, the 30-year-old is suffering a .205 ISO to lefties, with a not-so-helpful .174 ISO being logged by same-handed batsmen.
The Blue Jays have an endless lineup of power hitters and the luxury of mixing and matching the last two spots in the order with Whit Merrifield, Jackie Bradley Jr., Santiago Espinal and Raimel Tapia. The primary targets should be Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who each have a strong history against Taillon. George Springer is back and coming off a five-hit game, plus Teoscar Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel and Matt Chapman all are above-average options against fellow right-handers. This is a stack that could easily produce multiple home runs and keep pace with the Giants in Colorado and the Cardinals in Arizona, which will represent nearly 30% of all stacks in tournaments.
Late Slate: Padres vs. RHP Paolo Espino — 5.1 implied runs
While he sort of held his own last Sunday in Washington against the Padres, 35-year-old Paolo Espino still allowed nine baserunners, with four crossing the plate in his 5.2 innings. The Stokastic Top Batters Tool loves that he is striking out only 6.8 batters per nine innings and would like us to take note of his reverse splits that have favored same-handed batters, who have compiled a .245 ISO over the last two seasons against Espino.
Manny Machado has been embarrassing same-handed hurlers for over a decade, and in his last 789 same-handed matchups, he has an elite .222 ISO. Brandon Drury and his retooled swing are not too far behind, with a .203 ISO in his last 366 opportunities. Of course, gamers will again be flocking to former Nationals Juan Soto and Josh Bell as they should, but do not discount the right-handed batsmen in the Padres lineup.
Best MLB DFS Pitchers
Primary Target: LHP Blake Snell vs. Nationals — 2.6 implied runs
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $9,300 | FanDuel $10,500
Now that Soto and Bell are playing for the Padres, Washington is dreadfully bad against left-handed hurlers. The active roster for the Nationals currently has an 84 wRC+ against southpaws, which is essentially in a six-way scrum at the bottom of the category, along with the Reds, Pirates, Athletics, Marlins and Angels. Aside from 42-year-old Nelson Cruz, who is finally playing like his age, and 30-year-old rookie Joey Meneses, who just lost his 11-game hitting streak last night, there are nothing but bats that would be reserves on most teams at best. At worst, half of the lineup taking the field tonight would be considered below-average replacement-level options.
In his last eight starts, Blake Snell has held opposing teams to one or fewer runs seven times. In this stretch, he has tallied 43.1 innings and an eye-popping 13.9 strikeouts per nine innings. On Sunday in Washington, he shut out the Nationals for six innings, allowing just three baserunners while recording 10 strikeouts. Enjoy!
Secondary Target: LHP Shane McClanahan vs. Royals — 3.1 implied runs
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $10,300 | FanDuel $12,000
Heading into the All-Star Break, Shane McClanahan was among the top two or three qualified pitchers in most standard and advanced metrics. Since the All-Star Game, the 25-year-old has scuffled through four starts (BAL x2, DET, CLE), with 23.2 innings, a 4.94 ERA and only 18 strikeouts. Some of this has been unlucky, with half of the baserunners coming around to score, but to his credit, he has ceded only two home runs in this stretch. This will be the third start for the youngster this month, so we should grant him the benefit of the doubt, particularly in his pitching-friendly home park of Tropicana Field.
Wild Card Target: LHP Tyler Anderson vs. Marlins — 3.1 implied runs
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $7,900 | FanDuel $9,600
Aaron Nola has been outstanding recently, but it feels like recommending him is getting a little too cute. The field will be flocking to Patrick Sandoval on DraftKings for salary relief and a perceived good matchup against Detroit. However, Sandoval tends to be light on the strikeouts. That gives us Brady Singer with a park upgrade in Tropicana Field and Tyler Anderson against the Marlins. Ultimately, Anderson wins out, with the Dodgers offense likely putting him in a position to get the win bonus.
On FanDuel, there is no need to look at Anderson as an option aside from the late-slate contests. Similar to his fellow southpaw Sandoval, Anderson does not always bring a lot of strikeout upside to the table. However, Miami collectively strikes out 26.5% of the time against lefties. Even better, the Marlins projected lineup has a two-year-trailing strikeout rate well north of 30%. We can also look to Anderson in same-game parlays or late-night sports wagering with his 4.5 strikeout prop.
Additional Opportunities
Kutter Crawford is facing the Orioles tonight, and he has a very attainable 3.5 strikeout prop. The Stokastic MLB Player Props Tool has him for 4.8 strikeouts and a 68% of surpassing the over. There is a heavy tax on the over at -170 to -180, so this play is worth adding to a parlay to improve the payout. 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
- LHP Aaron Ashby at Chicago Cubs (Early)
- RHP Brady Singer at Tampa Bay Rays (Main)
- RHP Matt Manning vs. Los Angeles Angels (Main)
- RHP Aaron Nola vs. New York Mets (Main)
- RHP Miles Mikolas at Arizona Diamondbacks (Main or Late SP2)
Other Hitting Options
- Rowdy Tellez at RHP Keegan Thompson (Early)
- Anthony Santander vs. RHP Kutter Crawford (Main)
- Coors Field (both teams all slates)
- Mitch Haniger at LHP Cole Irvin (Late)
- Paul Goldschmidt at LHP Tommy Henry (Late)
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Final MLB DFS Thoughts & MLB Weather Notes
There are showers once again in the vicinity of Truist Park, which essentially is going to be our default forecast for the Atlanta area for the next month. Keep an eye on things, though with two spendy but solid pitchers going against two vaunted offenses and a dozen other games to choose from, it is highly unlikely that this game is going to be represented in large-field tournaments.
Minnesota will be dealing with rain from the afternoon into the early evening, and while there looks to be a good playing window at 9 p.m. ET, we could see this game be postponed before the 8:10 p.m. ET first pitch. The forecast will be more accurate the closer we get to lock tonight.
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