MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers for DraftKings + FanDuel

Welcome to Thursday, Sept. 3, in MLB! We have a plethora of starting pitcher options on tonight’s 10-game slate, ranging from the extremely expensive to cheap. The following FREE MLB DFS picks for fantasy baseball lineups are based on Awesemo’s MLB Projections for today’s MLB DFS fantasy baseball slate on DraftKings. For more free DraftKings MLB picks and analysis for DFS baseball lineups, check out the Awesemo.com YouTube Channel for today’s MLB Strategy Show, Deeper Dive and Live Before Lock Shows.

Top Value Plays

Clayton Kershaw – Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks – FanDuel $10,900, DraftKings $10,300

We have a smaller slate on our hands tonight with just four games, and Kershaw stands head and shoulders above the field. He faces off with the Diamondbacks, who are implied to score just 2.68 runs and have already been beaten by Kershaw once this year. It’s been a great 2020 for the southpaw, striking out 9.90 batters per nine while sporting an elite 2.64 xFIP. He’s walking just 1.50/9, doing a phenomenal job of spotting his fastball and letting the secondary stuff do its strikeout work.

The matchup couldn’t be much better, as the Diamondbacks rank 29th against lefties with a dreadful .267 team wOBA and 20% strikeout rate. Few players in history have dominated Kershaw like Christian Walker (16 at-bats, four home runs), but I’m willing Kershaw will make the proper adjustments. This order is filled with guys that don’t have much pop against lefties and don’t get on base either. It seems like every time we think Kershaw is all the way back he stabs us right in the heart, so it’ll be interesting to see how tonight goes in what looks like the perfect recipe for a solid start. He’s the surefire top play in cash games.

Awesemo FanDuel Grade: A, D

Awesemo DraftKings Grade: A, C

Taijuan Walker – Blue Jays at Red Sox – FanDuel $9,200, DraftKings $4,800

Awesemo FanDuel Grade: D, E

Awesemo DraftKings Grade: C, A

This might just be the biggest price difference at starting pitcher between FanDuel and DraftKings since I started covering DFS some seven years ago. DraftKings is typically the more up-to-date site, but it’s FanDuel in this case that has priced Walker up with his recent dominance. DraftKings has insisted on him being utterly terrible, and he’s under $5,000. He’ll have to get blown up to hurt you with the value he gives you elsewhere. Walker has been surprisingly great this year, eclipsing 37 FanDuel points in four of his six starts and going six-plus innings in each of them.

He’ll now face off with the Red Sox, who have been utterly terrible but still present the same scary look. They still have the talented bats at the top of their lineup, and I wouldn’t be surprised if people stay away, even at the depressed price tag. Walker strikes out a batter per inning, and let’s not forget he was one of the bigger prospects in baseball once upon a time. The upside is still there, and he’s shown to be an inning eater when the command is on. I’m a big fan of Walker on DraftKings in all formats, as he opens up the rest of your lineup.

Mike Clevinger – Padres vs. Angels – FanDuel $9,400, DraftKings $8,700

Clevinger will make his first start for new team, and the move to San Diego will look to rejuvenate what’s been a terrible year to this point. There’s no way around a 5.60 xFIP and 4.37 BB/9. The hope is that this change of scenery will give Clevinger back whatever made him one of the best pitchers in baseball in 2019. He struck out 12.07 batters per nine with a 3.09 xFIP. Call me crazy, but I’m taking the 126-inning sample size over the 23-inning one. We know he can handle a huge workload and I wouldn’t expect less than 100 pitches if he’s dealing.

The matchup against the Angels is a great one, as they deploy one of the worst lineups in baseball after Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Assuming Clevinger is able to escape the mini murderers row, I expect to see a flash of dominance return. The Padres are -160 favorites, and the Angels hold the second-lowest implied total on the slate at 3.72. I wouldn’t touch Clevinger in cash games but will certainly be over the field in tournaments on both sites.

Awesemo FanDuel Grade: B, D

Awesemo DraftKings Grade:

Follow us on all of our social channels! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for more great Awesemo content.

Looking for more MLB DFS picks content? We’ve got loads of articles, data, cheatsheets and more on the Awesemo MLB home page, just click HERE.