Adam Strangis MLB DFS: Aces and Bases for 8.9
I’m Adam Strangis and I’ll be covering Aces and Bases for the weekend. Hopefully, you all were on the Discord last night to catch all of our discussions that lead to a very nice night of cashing! Let’s run it back today. The August 8th edition of Aces and Bases will take on the main MLB DFS slates on DraftKings and FanDuel.
The purpose of this article is to identify our top pitching plays and fades on the slate, in addition to our top offense stacks for your GPP lineups.
Please make sure you keep an eye on the weather and other factors as those are always important things to monitor when playing MLB DFS. Be sure to check out our MLB DFS Projections as well. Without further ado, it’s MLB DFS: Aces and Bases for 8.9 time.
MLB DFS: The Aces
Best Value: Spencer Turnbull ($8,000 DK/$8,100 FD)
I will point out on DK that Sonny Gray is vastly underpriced against the Brewers offense and I will be exploring expensive pitching pairings with him (more on that later). There’s a great path to pair up deGrom and Gray with a value stack later on in MLB DFS: Aces and Bases for 8.9.
The righty for the Tigers has been excellent the first two turns, striking out 31.8% of the hitters he’s faced and racking up just a 1.82 FIP. The walks are high at 11.4% but my mostly hapless Bucco offense is 29th in walk rate vs RHP at 6.4%. They’ve hit better vs the Tigers, but I’m still not worried using Turnbull. He really impressed me going up against the Reds his last start, a team that should’ve given him fits.
Honorable Mention – Charlie Morton (Yankees are scary to say the least but the price is low enough for a GPP stab)
Top Ace(s): Jacob deGrom ($11,600 DK/$11,100 FD)
There’s just not much debate to be had here that deGrom is the best overall arm on the slate and should be the most expensive. He’s bumped his K rate up to 35.5%, cut his walks to 4.8%, has a 1.70 FIP…need I go on here? The Marlins are top 10 in K rate to RHP already. Good luck hitting deGrom. I do want to possibly pair him and Gray on DK if I can find enough value hitters.
Honorable Mention(s) – Lance Lynn, Brandon Woodruff (not the easiest spot but the talent is undeniable)
Punt Play: Pablo Lopez ($7,000 DK/$7,100 FD)
Every Mets fan will tell you that it’s baseball law that the Mets offense does not show up when deGrom is on the mound. The man went 10-9 in a season where he had a 1.70 ERA. Lopez looked sharp in his first turn, only allowing two hits and striking out seven.
The Marlins RHP is still only 24 years old and many thought he likely wasn’t ready for the majors last year. He should be able to improve on his 20.3% K rate from last year. I do worry slightly that the Mets are the second-best changeup team in baseball. That’s the main secondary pitch for Lopez but his price is still too low for potential upside.
Honorable Mention – None
Top Fade: Jose Berrios ($10,000 DK/$8,900 FD)
Berrios is why some people have trust issues. I personally just can’t ever seem to get him when he’s on his game and get mediocre results. The K rate was only 23.2% last year and that’s down further this year with his walk rate over 9%. Berrios has given up a 45.5% hard contact rate and has a 4.40 FIP, suggesting his 4.80 ERA is fair. He’s too expensive on DK and there’s better options in his range on FD.
Honorable Mention – James Paxton
MLB DFS: The Bases
There are a ton of different ways to build your offense on these big slates. Personally, I’m going to take a stand on a few offenses and call it a day. If you’re play MME style of GPPs, you can always get some exposure to more offenses, but for 3-Entry Max and Single Entry GPPs, I’m going to battle with a very limited player pool, as I really want to pick on a couple of starting pitchers and weaker bullpens.
We all know the importance of stacking when play MLB DFS GPPs, so here are my top stacks for MLB DFS: Aces and Bases for 8.9.
Top Stacks
- Tampa Bay Rays – Until Paxton shows any sign of life on the mound, I’m going after him. Tampa has a .307 wOBA to LHP and the grouping of Hunter Renfroe and Jose Martinez stand out. A sneaky addition is Austin Meadows, who had a .346 wOBA and a .246 ISO vs LHP last season.
- Boston Red Sox – They were quiet last night but drawing Matt Shoemaker should help. His FIP to RHH is 9.23 so far and the ERA overall is pushing 6.00. When you add in a 51.4% hard hit rate, 2.53 HR/9 and just a 13% K rate, it’s a pretty grim picture for the Jays starter.
Value Stacks
- Detroit Tigers – They have mashed the ball all weekend and now Joe Musgrove can’t pitch for the Bucs Sunday. Steven Brault has to step in after throwing 32 pitches Friday night and not recording an out. Pittsburgh hasn’t let him throw more than 37 pitches on a regular turn yet. The Tigers are getting into the sixth-worst bullpen ERA early here.
- Philadelphia Phillies – This could change pending a lineup but this is a good GPP play. The game is only going seven innings so the masses will be off it from the word go. Huascar Ynoa starts for the Braves and he has all of three innings in the bigs.
Monkey Knife Fight
Using the information above, you can even make some money on Monkey Knife Fight! I’m picking on Paxton and really like this three man Rays stack to get over 15 points today. Check out how to play with our quick overview here.
Make sure you follow me on Twitter @bucn4life and be sure to sign up for a ALL ACCESS GOLD ACCOUNT account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate as sports FINALLY return.
