Friday’s MLB DFS slate is like the Drake’s coffee cake Jerry eats in Seinfeld. That’s your big boy. It’s a doozy, and as such, it’s got a lot to digest. The pitching up top is welcoming, we have a game in Coors, and there’s plenty of more bats to like even beyond our infatuation with all things Colorado.
So, who do you play? I’ll help you out by going over the top pitcher and stacks at DraftKings. If you want even more help, try out our MLB DFS projections (just $7 for a one-week trial). Let’s go!
Best Pitcher Picks for Friday
- Blake Snell ($11k)
- Logan Gilbert ($9.5k)
- Nolan McLean ($10k)
- Shota Imanaga ($8.5k)
- Walker Buehler ($7.1k)
- Matt Wilkinson ($5.3k)
- Andre Pallante ($7.5k)
Snell, Gilbert, and McLean carry the top three projections and there’s a bit of a drop off after that. Snell is at home in a dangerous ballpark against a Nats offense that has James Wood back. I definitely lean Snell, but he’s pretty pricey and their lineup isn’t exactly a breeze. He’s very playable, but he’ll be popular. I’m OK fading at his projected ownership.
Gilbert is a big reason why I don’t mind banishing Snell, as he’s at home at gets the Athletics in the best park in baseball for pitching. I know he’s been pretty “meh”, but he has the slate’s second best projection and is way cheaper than Snell. This feels like a great spot for him to get to his ceiling. I DGAF about the ownership. Fade one chalky arm, but play the other, some are saying.
McLean is a salary pivot away from Gilbert. He is up there in terms of projection and won’t be owned, so he holds value on this slate. IE, if most of the field wants to pair Snell/Gilbert then just going Gilbert/McLean isn’t the worst way to save $1k, maintain a similar ceiling, but also shave off some ownership. He gets the Giants at home in a pitcher-friendly park, too.
I don’t love anything after the top guys, but we need to entertain it. Shota on the road against the Marlins is fine, and the system even likes (gulp) Walker Buehler. None of these guys are exciting, but they also don’t project to be very owned. Buehler, for what its worth, cracks our projections’ top-5.
Wilkinson is just absurdly cheap. He was solid in his last game and if he can crack 10+ fantasy points I think you’ll be happy you played him. He’s especially in play if you want Snell and/or want to fire up the Cardinals or another pricey stack.
Pallante is in Coors, so immediately I deserve a face punch. But hey, the Rockies can sometimes not be good, and his profile has actually been super clean. His Ks still aren’t imposing and the park factor sucks, but YOLO.
Best MLB DFS Stacks for 9/4
- Cardinals
- Rockies
- Dodgers
- Royals
- Blue Jays
- White Sox
It’s a 12-game slate, so there’s a lot out there, folks. Coors is a good place to start, and both sides should be busy. I prefer the Cardinals side (doy!), but really, a date with Ryan Feltner should end well. Paying for St. Louis into ownership could be a mistake, but the slate being so big may dilute ownership a bit. I don’t mind just playing them.
The Dodgers also stand out, and they should have Ohtani back. They’re in a pretty good spot and with Coors on a big slate, it’s possible people don’t flock to them.
KC and Toronto both possess monstrous upside due to the weather at Kauffman Stadium. This is already a good park for offense, but it remains insanely hot there. The pitching is decent, but I don’t really care.
Chicago and Minnesota also look good. Solid hitting park and they both face pitchers they can abuse. Erick Fedde and Zebby Matthews are on either side. Godspeed, fellas.
Noah Simpson is a New England-based DFS writer who has spent the better part of a decade obsessing over MLB DFS. He got his start playing DFS recreationally before realizing he was spending more time building spreadsheets than actually watching games, and decided to make it official. At DFSBuild, Noah covers MLB DFS strategy with a focus on finding edges that casual players overlook. When he’s not staring at Statcast data, he’s somewhere on a hiking trail in Maine with his two dogs, Sandboy and Johnner, who are undefeated at ignoring his lineup advice, because they are dogs. They don’t have the cognitive or motor skills required to operate a computer, let alone process complex theories and information.
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