Jared Levitt 
Welcome to Friday’s edition of Aces and Bases, where I’ll go through the top MLB DFS Aces and Stacks on DraftKings and Fanduel.
We’ve made it to Friday folks. For those that didn’t think this day would ever get here, it did. Tonight we’re blessed with a massive 13-game slate of MLB DFS. Even though this slate is lacking in terms of a true-ace-level pitcher, it does have some strong pitchers. We also have some teams like Tampa and Baltimore in great spots for offense.
Let’s dig in and make some money!
MLB DFS Aces – Main
Spencer Strider vs. San Francisco Giants
Fading Spencer Strider tonight is 100% in play. Anytime a pitcher gets up to a price of $12.7k in MLB DFS there’s always a strong case to move on to the next pitcher, and tonight’s no different. That said, there’s no pitcher on the mound tonight with the pure upside that Strider has. He’s a strikeout machine and as we all know very well, K’s are king.
Way more often than not this season, Strider has easily gotten into the 20 DK point range. Last time out he only needed 7 innings against the Mets to get up to 27 DK points. He has a cake of a matchup tonight vs. a team in the Giants that just hasn’t been putting any substantial offensive numbers. Again, fading him somewhat makes sense at his price. But he is the clear SP1 tonight.
Kyle Gibson vs. Oakland Athletics
A cheaper option on the mound tonight is Kyle Gibson vs. Oakland. The veteran right-hander has had a really strong first season in Baltimore (who hasn’t had a strong season in Baltimore this year). He’s coming off arguably his worst outing of the year against what was a surging Mariners team.
The A’s are nowhere in the same class of lineup as the Mariners so Gibson should be able to navigate through the lineup with some ease. We have seen at times that the A’s lineup can be pesky, I just don’t think they have it in them tonight against Gibson. Look for Gibson to be one of the higher-scoring pitchers on a slate that’s really lacking solid options.
Pablo Lopez vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
If you plan on fading Strider tonight because of his massive price, I’d suggest moving down to Pablo Lopez. Lopez is quietly having a super-strong season. He’s 8-6 with a very respectable 3.66 ERA. Over the last month, Lopez has been superb. His ERA is just 1.45 and has a K rate of nearly 30%. He’s in a stretch right now where he’s had 4 consecutive games over 20 DK points, with 1 being over 30 and 1 being just under 30.
Having a date with a struggling Pirates lineup, he should be able to make it 5 straight over 20. This Pirates team has done little over the last week. They have one of the highest K rates as a team at 31% and have scored few runs. Lopez makes for a great option if you fade Strider.
MLB DFS Stacks – Main
Atlanta Braves vs. Alex Cobb
When in doubt, stack in the Braves. They’re that good and they get a really nice matchup today vs. a struggling pitcher. Over the last month, Alex Cobb has been bad. In his last 3 starts, Cobb has given up a combined 14 ER in just 15 innings of work. In his last outing, he got trampled by a very good Rangers lineup. In that game, Cobb gave up 6 ER in just 4 innings of work.
With a matchup against one of the top 3 offenses in the league, there’s a very real chance that Alex Cobb has back-to-back negative outings. I’m not going to be overly concerned with splits in this matchup. Lefties and righties have very similar numbers, with lefties having the slightest edge in the matchup thanks to a lower K %.
You should know the drill by now with the Braves. Matt Olson, Ronald Acuna, and Austin Riley. These are the 3 guys that have the most upside in this lineup. Between steals and homers for Acuna and then homers for both Riley and Olson, each of these guys has the potential to be in excess of 20 DK points on any given night. If you strike it well enough, all 3 of them could be over 20 in the same game.
My order of these 3 would be Acuna, Olson, and then Riley. Affording all 3 of them is nearly impossible without sacrificing the rest of your lineup. After these 3 I’d look to guys like Marcell Ozuna, Michael Harris, and Eddie Rosario. In theory, everyone in this lineup is in play all day every day.
Miami Marlins vs. Tony Gonsolin
One of the nicer surprises in baseball this season has been the play of the Miami Marlins. Normally a last-place or next-to-last-place team, the Marlins have moved all the way up to third in the National League East and have a very real shot at making the Wild Card this season. They’ve done this through solid pitchers and better-than-expected hitting.
Although I normally don’t stack against the Dodgers, Tony Gonsolin is one pitcher in that staff that is attackable. Over the last month, Gonsolin has struggled with a 5.67 ERA and has allowed 5 homers and 12 barrels. This matchup against the Marlins will be a walk in the park for him.
The Marlins that I’m most interested in tonight will be Luis Arraez, Josh Bell, and Jorge Soler. Soler has really come around this season after struggling with the Marlins last year. His numbers vs. righties have also been good as he has an ISO of .204. After flirting with .400 earlier in the year, Luis Arraez has a .360 AVG.
We won’t expect much in the way of power from him, but he’s been an on-base machine and should get us close to double-digit points tonight. After these main 3, I’ll look to get in guys like Jake Burger, Jazz Chisholm, and Jesus Sanchez. Look for the Marlins to really surprise a lot of people tonight and put up a bigger-than-normal number than the Dodgers are accustomed to giving up.
Other stacks I really like tonight will be the Rockies vs. Michael Kopech and the Orioles vs. Luis Medina.
MLB DFS Summary
This massive slate is shaping up to be a fun one. We have plenty of options on both the pitching front and stacking front so ownership should hopefully be spread out.
Make sure to drop into Discord where we’re constantly talking about plays for every slate.
Good luck and hope to see you in the green.
Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @rangerzfan79 and be sure to sign up for an ALL ACCESS GOLD 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!
