Here we are folks, the home stretch! The trade deadline has come and passed us by. Roughly 50 games are left for each team and just under two months of calendar days. That’s 50 games left to win your fantasy leagues. See which teams in your league have given up and target counting stats to catch those teams who are now just coasting or have moved onto football. Or if you’re like me, start Ben Lively in Wrigley and say goodbye to all your hopes for winning a few leagues as your ratios get pummeled. C’est la vie. At least I can still make money in DFS to make me feel better. Let’s get onto tonight’s picks.
I’ll be bringing you my DFS picks for the main evening slate on Tuesday, August 8th, 2023. If you play on DraftKings, it is an 11-game slate starting at 6:05 Central time. This article will be primarily focused on the DraftKings slate, so if you play on Fanduel I encourage you to sign up for the DFS tools to help you make the best decisions for your lineups on FanDuel, DraftKings, and Yahoo.
New to DFS? You can start playing right now on FanDuel and put our picks to the test. If you’re scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFS Bot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray, it helps support your Razzball team!
Kutter Crawford, SP: $7,600. The Red Sox will face the Royals in Fenway Park tonight. The Royals are 28th in MLB with a .682 OPS. As for Crawford, he has been much better since the calendar turned to July posting four 18+ Point outings and increasing his K rate by about 40%. Ironically it has been improvements in his cutter and fastball over the last month that have led to the recent success.
Max Scherzer, SP: $10,800. I’m not crazy paying this price, but Scherzer has gotten locked in with 20+ point starts in 7 of his last nine outings. Facing the Athletics and their MLB worst .665 OPS and 24th ranked K-Rate I can’t leave him outside of my lineup.
Francisco Alvarez, C: $3,800. Well, he sucked in my lineup last week, but here he is again. The reasoning is simple: he has the best chance of going deep of any catcher, and there are still more than 10 pricier options on the board. He’ll face Jameson Taillon and his 1.44 HR/9 and 5.36 ERA tonight in Queens.
Matt Olson, 1B: $5,900. To say Matt Olson has been locked in may be an understatement. He’s been full-on Dan Patrick “En Fuego”. He has 9 Home Runs in his last 15 games and is up to 97 RBIs on the season. He’ll face Mitch Keller and the Pirates in Pittsburgh tonight. Keller has fallen apart since the All-Star break allowing 24 ERs in 21.2 IP and things will not get any easier this evening.
Davis Schneider, 2B: $2,900. He’s young, cheap, and setting records with nine hits and two home runs in his first three games. We’ll see if he can keep it going in Cleveland against Tanner Bibee. Oh, and have you seen his mustache?
DJ LeMahieu, 3B: $3,100. I really didn’t like any of the third basemen after the top three options, but I can’t pay up everywhere so I played value here. The Frenchman has hit safely in five straight and 12 of the last 15. Maybe he’ll run into one against Touki Toussaint tonight on the South Side.
Orlando Arcia, SS: $3,900. Arcia continues to rake with a .298 average 11 Home Runs on the campaign. He’s hit safely in 12 of 15 and is part of the best offense in baseball. What’s not to love?
Oscar Colas, OF: $2,000. Colas homered on Saturday and is playing every day. He’s striking out way too much, but he also has amazing raw power. It’s going to translate to the major league level soon. I hope it’s tonight against Clarke Schmidt and the Yankees.
Ronald Acuna Jr., OF: $6,600. The most expensive option tonight for hitters in my lineup and honestly almost every night, Acuna just keeps on hitting. He’s got multi-hit efforts in 9 of his last 15 games. Keller has also allowed a Home Run to Acuna in 8 ABs in their careers.
Daulton Varsho, OF: $3,400. Varsho hasn’t grown on his effort from last year, and I’d be much more excited to use him as a catching option, but alas that isn’t possible. Still at this price with his power, it’s a good value to close the double-up lineup.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Boston and New York could have some lingering showers tonight after Monday’s severe weather rolled through. Some high winds could be blowing out at game time in Los Angeles and Oakland
Doing Lines In Vegas
I did mention I do a bit of Sports Handicapping. Follow me on Twitter @TheGreatKnoche for more info. I’ll give out a Free Play here every Tuesday, but you can find all my free and premium picks for MLB and a few other sports at The Odds Breakers
It’s a longshot, but the Nationals are way under priced at +220 as of writing Monday night.
