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This article outlines the best daily fantasy MLB plays of the day at every position. We take a comprehensive look to uncover these core recommendations, factoring respective salaries into the analysis.
Please note, these player picks were organized early in the day. For MLB contests, always check lineups and weather closer to game time. Rain, wind, or unexpected managerial decisions could open up additional sources of value. Be sure to keep an eye on the MLB Headlines and Injuries desk.
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UPDATE: The Royals have placed Brady Singer on the injured list. Jon Heasley will start in his place. He’s spent the entire season in Double-A where he’s performed decently - a .3.33 ERA, 4.58 FIP, 10.25 K/9, and 2.91 BB/9. He’s a development project who has above average breaking ball spin rates. He’s coughed up 1.54 HR/9 and should be considered highly exploitable. His batted ball profile is neutral so some of the below recommendations aren’t as shiny.
PITCHER
Top Play: Chris Sale – Red Sox (vs Orioles)
Sale is expected to be activated from the COVID-list today. He’s coming off a couple shaky outings against the Rays, but they’re built to leverage matchups against all pitcher types. The Orioles are not designed to take on pitchers of Sale’s profile. Still, there’s risk and reward to consider given that he’s missed most of the last two seasons. It’s concerning he’s allowed a .379 BABIP and 1.44 HR/9, both of which could signal bad luck, poor execution, or an admixture. Projections are by necessity going to lean heavily on his excellent 2018 and middling 2019 output. He’ll probably be capped around 90 pitches. We’re looking for five or six innings and seven or eight strikeouts. If you’d rather play it safe, Zack Wheeler, Walker Buehler, and Logan Webb all have similar upside. They’re pricier and also have a lower median projection.
Pivot: Elieser Hernandez – Marlins (vs Pirates)
The Pirates have the worst offense in the league in unadjusted terms (the Rockies are slightly worse once park-adjusted). They also aren’t especially strikeout prone so this generally means that opposing pitchers generate DFS value by working deep into starts and earning win bonuses. Hernandez has pitched five times since returning from injury, never exceeding 5.1 innings. The good news is he’s coming off an inefficient 93-pitch outing – perhaps a sign he’ll be cut loose for a full workload. At his price tag, even something like five innings, five strikeouts, and one run allowed would be a tidy value. There’s room for upside.
Also Consider: Zack Wheeler, Walker Buehler, Logan Webb, Dylan Cease, Corey Kluber, German Marquez, Ian Anderson, Adrian Houser
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CATCHER
Top Play: Salvador Perez – Royals (vs Chris Flexen)
Perez’s price has fallen from its peak for no discernable reason. His successful combination of aggression and power is a DFS dream. Flexen is an almost perfectly neutral matchup. He’s benefited from a low home run rate. Perez matches well against Flexen all the same. The Mariners bullpen is known for occasional hiccups too. Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez is slightly likelier to homer, but Perez makes up for it with more multi-hit and run production potential.
Pivot: Cal Raleigh – Mariners (at Brady Singer)
Singer is coming off an outing in which he coughed up five home runs. He’s susceptible to fly ball hitters like Raleigh and teammate Tom Murphy. For those (like me) who are trying to figure out when Raleigh has finally settled in enough for his power and launch angle to begin yielding bunches of home runs, it’s encouraging to see he’s produced four hits and three doubles in his last nine plate appearances. Raleigh is playing infrequently due to his struggles, but that might just give him the breathing space needed to actualize. Murphy isn’t as sharp a value. If he starts, he also has an equally favorable matchup against Singer.
Also Consider: Will Smith, Omar Narvaez, Alejandro Kirk, Gary Sanchez, Willson Contreras, Tom Murphy,
FIRST BASE
Top Play: Jose Abreu – White Sox (at Taylor Hearn)
This slate doesn’t offer much meat for first basemen. There are plenty of good bats with decent matchups, but nothing that jumps off the page. That’s almost a good thing as it should mean a high distribution of player usage. Abreu’s is one of the friendlier pairings available. Not only is he among the five top-projected first basemen, he’s also a solid dollar-for-dollar value. The more adventurous could try a cheapening Shohei Ohtani opposite Cole Irvin.
Pivot: Daniel Vogelbach – Brewers (vs Zach Davies)
This all about value. Vogey is cheap and has better than a one-in-five chance to homer. On the surface, Davies should be able to handle the stout lefty slugger. They both have the same skew towards ground ball contact. At least in the initial matchup, Vogelbach probably needs to hunt a mistake. On the plus side, he plays up against soft-tossing pitchers like Davies.
Also Consider: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Freddie Freeman, Matt Olson, Max Muncy, Shohei Ohtani, Anthony Rizzo, Luke Voit, Ryan Mountcastle, Frank Schwindel, Lewin Diaz, Yoshi Tsutsugo
SECOND BASE
Top Play: Jose Altuve – Astros (vs Madison Bumgarner)
Bumgarner has lost his feel of late, blaming “slick” baseballs. Over his last four starts, he’s allowed 13 walks and seven home runs in 23 innings. The DBacks are still pushing him to pitch deep into starts – in part because the Arizona bullpen is so lousy. Taming the Astros is a tall task. Altuve is among the daily leaders in multi-hit potential with just under a one-in-four chance for a home run.
Pivot: Abraham Toro – Mariners (vs Singer)
Toro is overpriced. Otherwise, this is an above average situation for him. He has plenty of lift to scoop a Singer sinker, and he makes enough barreled contact to potentially contribute a dinger. As the regular fifth hitter, run production opportunities should abound. And since he’s expensive relative to his talent, he should be seldom-used in GPPs. The only issue is he might find his way into some stacks because…
Also Consider: Marcus Semien, Brandon Lowe, Trea Turner, Whit Merrifield, Luis Urias, Jazz Chisholm, Enrique Hernandez
THIRD BASE
Top Play: Kyle Seager – Mariners (at Singer)
This is a nitro matchup for Seager. He’s one of the likeliest hitters to homer this evening. Seager crushes pitchers who work down in the zone – and that’s exactly how Singer pitches. As always when trying Seager, we have to treat it as an all-or-nothing play. After all, he’s batting .208/.288/.443 with 34 home runs on the season. Spacious Kauffman Stadium cuts into the power potential slightly.
Pivot: Rafael Devers – Red Sox (vs Keegan Akin)
Right-handed hitting Red Sox will form perhaps the most popular stack this evening. Everyone knows to avoid Devers versus left-handed pitching. However, Akin isn’t exactly an imposing opponent, and there’s a decent chance the Red Sox will chase by the end of the fifth inning. The Baltimore bullpen, includes just one southpaw, Fernando Abad. He pitched yesterday. They’re also probably without Cole Sulser, Conner Greene, and Dillon Tate – three of their four best relievers. That leaves a variety of right-handed mop-up for Devers to feast upon late.
Also Consider: Jose Ramirez, Alex Bregman, Manny Machado, Eduardo Escobar, Yoan Moncada, Josh Donaldson, Jace Peterson
SHORTSTOP
Top Play: Fernando Tatis Jr. – Padres (at Miles Mikolas)
After a couple consecutive torrid games, the ol’ “Tatis is slumping” narrative is seemingly dead. Mikolas is a finesse pitcher who seems to be lacking feel. That’s understandable for someone who has missed most of the season with arm-related injuries. It also means we should treat him as highly exploitable. Tatis is among the top options for run production, power, and multiple hits.
Pivot: Miguel Rojas – Marlins (vs Wil Crowe)
In full slates, few people give Rojas much consideration. The Marlins offer a value-driven stacking opportunity against Crowe – though you’ll be pressured to spike your expensive complementary pieces. Rojas isn’t actually that cheap. He’s priced the same as Corey Seager. He doesn’t have the sort of power typically associated with a good play at this cost. He does have solid multi-hit potential opposite Crowe and a thin Pirates bullpen.
Also Consider: Tim Anderson, Bo Bichette, Trevor Story, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Adalberto Mondesi, J.P. Crawford, Luis Urias, Corey Seager
OUTFIELD
Top Plays: Luis Robert – White Sox (at Hearn)
Eloy Jimenez – White Sox (at Hearn)
Joey Gallo – Yankees (vs Zach Plesac)
As noted earlier, the White Sox are my preferred stack for the day. Robert matches a tad better against Hearn than Jimenez though the latter has shinier home run and run production projections. Since Robert is moderately more expensive, they’re a similar value overall.
Plesac had serious home run issues as recently as late-August. He’s pitched well of late. Similar to what I pointed out with Mikolas, this could be a simple indication that he has a feel for his repertoire after spending a chunk of time injured. He’s keeping the ball on the ground this year which means he’s pitching in Gallo’s nitro zones more often than those of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. They all have healthy home run projections.
Pivots: Brett Gardner – Yankees (vs Plesac)
Chas McCormick – Astros (vs Bumgarner)
Gardner is a sneaky option who has found his way into the lineup most days. He even bats leadoff sometimes. Since early-August, he’s slashing a Gardnerian .287/.376/.475 with four home runs in 117 plate appearances. His power plays up at Yankee Stadium. Considering his near-minimum price tag, he’s a massive value if in the lineup. In Houston, Michael Brantley might return to the lineup which means we’ll get only one of McCormick, Jose Siri, or Jake Meyers. Whichever draws a start offers core performer ability at a discount. Meyers is merely cheap while McCormick and Siri are incorrectly minimum-priced.
Also Consider: Bryce Harper, Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis Jr., Starling Marte, Byron Buxton, Shohei Ohtani, Franmil Reyes, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Jake Meyers, Jose Siri, George Springer, Teoscar Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel, Corey Dickerson, Randal Grichuk, J.D. Martinez, Hunter Renfroe, Enrique Hernandez, Jace Peterson, Kyle Isbe