DraftKings MLB Picks August 24: Mike's are wild (including the author)!

ATLANTA, GA – JULY 17: A member of the grounds crew walks the edge of the tarp over the infield prior to a rain delay in the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs at SunTrust Park on July 17, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Picks August 24: Mike’s are wild! (including the author)

We have 14 games in our main DraftKings tournament today with the Cubs and Reds playing a matinee at Wrigley. If you want a piece of Matt Harvey, you have to play that in showdown mode. We don’t have a true ace on this slate, and we only have three pitchers priced above $10,000. The middle tier is strong though, so we could play two from there. What is the best approach? Let’s break down some stats!

More from DFS

There is a slight delay chance in Minneapolis and Detroit, but the games will still get finished even if they are delayed for a bit. We have no real postponement threat, though I do think they will have to close the roof in Milwaukee.

There is a 12 mph wind blowing out to left center in Kansas City. Do the Royals have enough power to take advantage? I’ll say no. We also have the customary wind blowing out to center in San Francisco for the rematch of the 2010 World Series.

We will provide you with several options to build your lineup here. Want to spend all your money on pitchers and play bargain bats? We will highlight who is worth the money. Want to punt arms and pay up for the big boppers? We can help you with that as well, and everything in between!

These tips are based mostly on past performance. This is a nice tool for building a lineup, but should not be the only pieces of information you use. We have plenty of writers on here who give you relevant information no matter which site you play on!

For you first time players, if you would like a free shot at a million dollars, use this link for the referral bonus with your first deposit of $5 or more! You will receive a free entry into the Fantasy Football Millionaire contest on opening weekend!

ATLANTA, GA – AUGUST 13: Mike Foltynewicz #26 of the Atlanta Braves pitches in the first inning against the Miami Marlins during game two of a doubleheader at SunTrust Park on August 13, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Mike Foltynewicz ($11,100): The Marlins are hitting just .194 against Foltynewicz in 72 at bats with just one homer, five runs, and a solid 18 strikeouts. These numbers don’t really do Folty justice. He has allowed just one earned run over 13 innings against the Marlins this season, putting up 49.4 DraftKings points between his two starts against him. I see Foltynewicz in the mid 20’s once again, making him the best cash game pitcher out there tonight. He has enough strikeout upside for GPP usage, but the fact that he doesn’t go that deep into games could leave us wanting more.

Mike Clevinger ($10,600): The Royals are hitting just .183 against Clevinger with a jaw dropping 22 strikeouts in 71 at bats. Only Alcides Escobar has done damage. It was with a two run homer, and it is his only hit in 14 at bats against Clevinger. Both Mike’s have very good matchups, but Clevinger’s looks elite. That K rate could lead to a monster night for Clevinger. He has the most upside of anyone on the slate.

Middle Tier:

Joe Musgrove ($8,600): Musgrove has turned in five straight quality starts, and has a sparkling 2.18 ERA in five road starts this year. The Brewers touched him up a little in his last start that wasn’t of the quality variety, but that was in Pittsburgh where Musgrove has a 4.00 ERA on the season. The roof should be closed, so that should help keep the ball in the park. There is decent potential with Musgrove, though his strikeout totals aren’t high enough to give him a ton of upside.

Zack Godley ($8,500): Godley is one of those guys that you only use at home. If you think you’re going to get cute and use him in a great situation on the road – say, at San Diego – you lost like I did last week. Godley returns home, where he has a 3.33 ERA in 11 starts to face a Seattle team with power and no much else. There is decent potential here for Godley. He has not given up more than three earned runs in a home start since July 1st.

Sean Manaea ($8,200): The current Twins are just 2-26 against Manaea with a solo homer and a staggering ten strikeouts. With the deadline moves, the Twins now have a lefty heavy lineup, so they aren’t the lefty crushers that they used to be. Manaea’s splits are about the same for home and road, so I have no issues about using him here. The Twins strike out enough to make this worth while.

Bargain Pitchers:

Ryan Borucki ($5,900): Borucki has been really solid at home, posting a 2.52 ERA in four starts. Yes, it’s a small sample, but the Red Sox and Yankees were two of those four teams. Of course, Borucki got torched at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, so there is lots of risk here. It is worth noting that he has pitched well against good teams at Rogers Centre though.

Jalen Beeks ($5,600): Beeks shut down the Red Sox in Boston over the weekend. Now he gets Boston at home, and the Tampa pitchers are all much better at home. Beeks has a 2.70 ERA so far in Tampa. There is risk here since the Red Sox just saw him, but for this price, he may be worth a look in GPP formats. Beeks picked up 17.2 DraftKings points against them over the weekend, so there is decent potential here.

Alex Cobb ($5,200): This is one of those instances where you start wondering how much BvP stats really matter. Well, hear me out. The Yankees are hitting just .194 against Cobb with two homers and four runs in 72 at bats with a solid 15 strikeouts. This Yankees offense is now missing Judge, Gregorius, and Gary Sanchez, which is oh, about 100 homers worth over a full season. That’s a lot of power to lose. Cobb has a 3.45 ERA over his last ten starts after a dreadful start to the season. In fact, Cobb has not given up more than three earned runs in a start since July 8th. Still not convinced? How about Cobb’s 2.88 ERA in six career starts at Yankee Stadium. Against a watered down version of the Yankees, Cobb could be a really nice boost to your team on the cheap. Just don’t expect a lot of strikeouts. That’s still not in his game.

LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 15: Yasiel Puig #66 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates his run with Manny Machado #8 to take a 1-0 lead over the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium on August 15, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Baltimore Orioles vs. CC Sabathia:

CC struggled against the Orioles in both starts this year. Maybe because they can and will start no less than eight right handed hitters in this game. Sabathia has surrendered eight runs in nine total innings to the Orioles year. Considering that he is fresh off a DL stint, I don’t see things getting any better here. Adam Jones has destroyed CC in his career, going 24-84(.286) with five homers and 15 RBI. Chris Davis has the other two homers, but he has been so bad all year that I don’t know if I trust him. I would much rather use guys like Trey Mancini, Tim Beckham, Jonathan Villar, and John Andreoli. All are reasonably priced with good upside here.

Washington Nationals vs. Jason Vargas:

Vargas has only given up more than three runs in a game once in August, but he is always a candidate to get torched, especially against an offense like this. Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman look very good tonight. Any Nats stack should start with Trea Turner. Both Harper and Juan Soto hit lefties well enough to throw out there against Vargas. Besides, the Nationals should be into the bullpen by the fifth inning, so you are stacking against the bullpen as well. I don’t think there is a wrong answer. You can even use Wilmer Difo as a way to save money.

Atlanta Braves vs. Dan Straily:

I was all set to stack against Straily last night. Same thing goes tonight. The Braves are hitting .277 with six homers and 24 runs in only 130 at bats. Ozzie Albies and Nick Markakis are a combined 14-35 with four homers and 11 RBI against Straily. The start should stack there. Ronald Acuna homered again, so if you don’t play him, you are probably going to miss out. Freeman has a homer off of Straily as well. To finish this stack off, you can go with Inciarte, who has three steals against Straily.

Colorado Rockies vs. Miles Mikolas:

And this is where the regression monster takes a big ol chunk out of Mikolas. He allows way too many balls in play, which is a big no-no at Coors. Mikolas looked good against the Rockies in St. Louis, but this is a notoriously horrid road team. The Rockies at home are not something you want to mess with. Charlie Blackmon, David Dahl, and CarGo are all elite plays here. Of course, I’m never going to say no to Arenado either. To cap the stack you can either use LeMahieu batting leadoff or drop to Tony Wolters as a cheap catcher.

Houston Astros vs. Andrew Heaney:

This may look crazy since Heaney has really good numbers at home, and has dominated the Astros this year. However, the Astros are almost healthy, and this lineup is starting to wake up. Losing the lead to the A’s woke this offense up. Heaney has given up 17 runs in his last four starts, including five to the Tigers in his last home tilt. Forgive me if I don’t trust him here. Altuve and Correa are still cheap enough to use here. Tyler White and Alex Bregman are great options as well. If George Springer returns to the lineup, look out! That’s a whole lot of right handed power.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Clayton Richard:

Our own Brian Tulloch is going to be happy about this one. If you are ever going to stack Dodgers, this is the place. The Dodgers are hitting .375 with nine homers and 37 runs in just 152 at bats against Richard. Matt Kemp has three homers and 10 RBI on his own! Puig has two homers and six RBI, and he usually doesn’t crush lefties. Austin Barnes, Kike Hernandez, Cody Bellinger, and Justin Turner have all homered off of Richard as well. The best part? All of them are hitting .300 or better. Yeah, you can fade Coors for this stack. It’s that lethal.

OAKLAND, CA – AUGUST 18: Khris Davis #2 of the Oakland Athletics hits a two-run rbi double against the Houston Astros in the bottom of the first inning at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on August 18, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Rhys Hoskins seems like the logical place to take a shot at Ryan Borucki. Beyond that I don’t have a lot of interest since Borucki doesn’t really give up homers. He has only allowed two in ten major league starts.

I find it really hard to fade either Paul Goldschmidt or David Peralta right now. If you don’t think Mikolas is going to get lit up, this is a great Coors pivot. Jon Jay and Alex Avila have both homered off of Erasmo Ramriez in the past, and are somewhat more affordable.

The A’s haven’t hit Jake Odorizzi well, but they have hit him hard. There is a difference. Despite the .231 average, the A’s have three homers in 39 at bats. Khris Davis has two of them. He is scorching hot anyway, so why not go back to the well?

Brad Keller has been solid all year, including 4.1 innings of shutout relief in two appearances against Cleveland. This is a very dangerous offense though. I’m liking Yonder Alonso and Greg Allen here as good ways to get exposure. I’m not sure I want to pay up for Jose Ramirez and Lindor, but they are the elite options for a reason.

Antonio Senzatela has been much better at home, so I’m not going to stack against him. I’m still using Matt Carpenter though. He has been elite at sea level. What do you think he’s going to do in this series? The power of Paul DeJong and Marcell Ozuna at affordable prices are worth looking into as well since Senzatela likely wont go more than five innings.

I don’t really think I’m going to go after Beeks after what he did to the Red Sox in Boston over the weekend. If I did use anyone though, it would likely be Steve Pearce or Bogaerts since they are pretty affordable. A zero from Mookie or J.D. can ruin your lineup in a big hurry.

More from FanSided

Middle Tier:

The current Blue Jays have destroyed Jake Arrieta, mostly from his time with the Orioles. We all know that he is a different pitcher than he was then, but if you want to take a shot for old time’s sake, Granderson has three homers and 10 RBI in just 32 at bats. Grichuk has two homers and five RBI. Russell Martin has taken him deep as well.

Travis Shaw is the only current Brewer that has homered off of Joe Musgrove. Yelich and Thames are worth a look as well if you’re going after him.

I saw that Jefry Rodgriguez was starting, and immediately went searching for places to stack against him. Imagine my disappointment when I found he was playing the Mets. Jeff McNeil, Amed Rosario, and maybe Conforto are the only viable options I came up with. By the end of the ordeal, I was actually considering using Rodriguez at just $4,000 against the Mets. It’s not the worst idea that I’ve ever had.

Sorry, but I’m not paying five figures for a rookie pitcher coming off the DL against a team with a ton of left handed power. I’m not going to go after Rodriguez either, but Joey Gallo and Odor look pretty appetizing tonight. This is not going to be a high scoring game, so don’t go nuts. This is only a place to gain a little differential.

If you are using Mariners, it is likely for power potential only. I don’t think Godley gives up much else. For that reason, I would stick to Nelson Cruz and Mike Zunino. Both have homered against Godley in the past.

Derek Dietrich is the only current Marlin to homer off of Mike Foltynewicz. However, due to the struggles of the Marlins against Fulty this year, I’m leaving this side of the game alone.

Miguel Sano is the one to use to take a run at Manaea since the latter has had homer issues at times this year, but Sano strikes out A LOT. He is for GPP only. I suppose you could use Forsythe, but he is coming back to earth after the Dozier trade.

Bargain Shoppers:

Going after Michael Fulmer in his return from the DL is not a bad idea, especially given the fact that the Detroit bullpen that will relieve him is nothing special. Nicky Delmonico, Matt Davidson, Yoan Moncada, and Avi Garcia are all under $4,000 if you want to use a couple of them. Interestingly enough, Jose Abreu has never faced Fulmer. He is worth a look as well.

I don’t know that I would necessarily target Reynaldo Lopez since he is capable of having a solid game and Detroit’s offense is average, but James McCann is 7-11 with three runs and two RBI against Lopez so far. Castellanos is 7-15, and is worth a look as well if you are okay spending more.

Drew Hutchison has been okay. Okay is good enough to shut down the Giants. The only Giant I may take a shot with is Brandon Crawford, but even that doesn’t look all that great right now.

Rich Hill has been good, but not as good as the price suggests. The same is true of the past stats against the Padres. With all of the right handed power on this team, you can take a shot or two at Hill on the cheap. Margot, Austin Hedges, Hunter Renfroe, and Wil Myers all have homered off of Hill.

Dallas Keuchel is the closest thing to a powder keg that the Astros have. The Angels are cheap enough to take a shot at him here. Albert Pujols has three homers and six RBI off of Keuchel. Kole Calhoun has hit him fairly well too. The $9,200 price tag on Keuchel and the amount of righty hitters in that lineup, even if it is watered down, turned me away from him in a hurry.

The numbers on Wade Miley suggest that the wheels could come off at any moment. He doesn’t have enough upside for me to use him at his price. He was serviceable against the Pirates earlier this year, but he has been more escape artist than good pitcher so far. This may be the time to go after him. David Freese is the only Pirate to homer off of him so far, but Elias Diaz, Josh Harrison, and Starling Marte are all worth a look and are all reasonably priced.

I don’t think I will stack Rays against Hector Velasquez, but I do want some exposure here. Joey Wendle has homered off of him already. Tommy Pham, Jake Bauers, and Brandon Lowe are good ways to save some money. If you have cash left over, using the hot Mallex Smith is not a bad idea either.

Next. MLB Game by Game breakdown August 24. dark

We promised some big news in June for Fantasy CPR, right? Well here it is! We are now looking for PAID writers to join our team to write about fantasy sports. Seasonal or DFS, any sport you want – get your voice heard and get paid for talking fantasy sports. Apply today HERE!