We are officially on to the back half of the MLB season, and we are back with another installment of DraftKings DFS MLB strategy advice for tonight, Tuesday, September 1st. Tonight’s featured slate has 11 games, which gives us a good number of players to choose from. With the trade deadline behind us and the new league landscape taking form, let’s look at values, studs, and fades for tonight.

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Value Plays: Pitcher

Tonight’s eighth-most expensive pitcher, Framber Valdez, comes into tonight with a 2.35 ERA and is averaging 22.0 FPPG. He will take on the lowly Texas Rangers offense that is dead last in the league in terms of runs per game. The Rangers also have the second-worst team batting average at just .213.

Ian Anderson has pitched just one game in his major league career, but in it, he held one of the league’s better offenses to one run on one hit through six innings. While his sample size for the majors is limited, Anderson had a career 2.91 ERA in the minors and held opposing hitters to a .214 batting average. The Red Sox have hit for a top-10 league batting average this season, but they are in the bottom half of the league for runs per game. Additionally, they were sellers at the trade deadline yesterday, as they shipped off Mitch Moreland, who had accounted for 13.63% of their RBI in 2020.

Catcher/First Base

McCann has been far more dominant against lefties than righties this season, but Pineda had a worse WHIP and ERA against right-handed batters last season. Pineda takes the hill in his 2020 debut tonight, and he must face McCann, who is batting .351 (.270 against righties), is on a six-game hitting streak, and is averaging 8.2 FPPG. Gurriel is batting .292, is averaging 8.2 FPPG, and faces Luis Garcia and his 2.00 WHIP.

Second Base

LeMahieu has been good this season, with a .398 batting average, an OPS of .965, and an average of 8.7 FPPG. He’s gone hitless just twice in his last 15 games, and tonight, he takes on Trevor Richards and his 5.14 ERA and 1.71 WHIP. Hanser Alberto just continues to hit well, as he is batting .321 on the season, has been held hitless in just three of his last 15 games, and is on a seven-game hitting streak. On top of that, his .450 slugging percentage is a career-high. He will face Franklyn Kilome tonight, a pitcher who missed all of last season and has a 5.14 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP through two games and seven innings in the majors this season.

Third Base

Evan Longoria has been on fire lately, as he’s slashing .364/.410/.600 over his last 15 and .444/.483/.667 over his last seven. He takes on Jon Gray tonight, who has 5.45 ERA, a 1.29 WHIP, and allows right-handed hitters to bat .283 against him. Segura has been hot as of late. He’s on a six-game hitting streak and has four 13-plus point fantasy performances in that stretch. He’ll face Patrick Corbin tonight, who fares far worse against right-handed batters. LeMahieu’s 2B/3B designation allows us to work him in here if we go a different route at second base.

Shortstop

Dansby Swanson has hit in 14 of his last 15 games, is batting .301, is averaging 9.4 FPPG, and will face Ryan Webber, who has a 6.0 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP on the season. While I like Ian Anderson against the Red Sox tonight, if there is a Boston player to bet on, Boagaerts is a good bet. He’s batting .300, has homered eight times, has driven in 23, and is averaging 8.9 FPPG.

Outfield

This is the second time that I’m recommending the matchup against Kilome tonight. Santander has 10 home runs, has 29 RBI, is slugging .593, and is averaging 10.0 FPPG. Jimenez is on a three-game hitting slump, but tonight is a great night to back on track against Pineda. Despite the three-game skid, he is batting .291, has 11 homers, and has driven in 26 runs. Keeping it with the White Sox, I also like Luis Robert tonight. He’s batting .298, has 10 home runs, 24 RBI, and he is on a four-game hitting streak. Smith has a .326 batting average, an OPS of 1.088, and is averaging 9.3 FPPG. Tonight he faces Wojciechowski and his 5.13 ERA.

5 Studs Worth Their Salary

• Mookie Betts (LAD) $6,100: Betts continues to perform, is averaging 11.2 FPPG, and has an ideal matchup tonight.
• Mike Yastrzemski (SF) $5,800: Yastrzemski has cooled off as of late, but he is still averaging 10.2 FPPG and has a good matchup to get back on track against Jon Gray.
• Charlie Blackmon (COL) $5,900: Blackmon is batting .351, has 28 RBI, and is averaging 9.1 FPPG. Additionally, he has a favorable matchup against Kevin Gausman tonight.
• Tim Anderson (CWS) $5,600: I’m looking at the Pineda matchup again, but this time with Tim Anderson. Anderson has an OPS of .966 and is averaging 10.8 FPPG.
• Dallas Keuchel (CWS) $8,700: Keuchel has a 2.70 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP, and faces a team that is in the bottom half of the league in runs per game and bottom third in team batting average.

5 Notable Players to Fade

• Aaron Nola (PHI) $10,400: Nola is the most expensive guy tonight, and he faces a team that is in the top 10 in runs per game and second overall for team batting average.
• Brandon Lowe (TB) $5,500: Lowe is the most expensive second baseman, and he faces Masahiro Tanaka, who has held left-handed batters to a .200 batting average.
• Bryce Harper (PHI) $6,000: Harper has just three hits in his last six games and has not had a double-digit fantasy performance in his last seven.
• Juan Soto (WSH) $5,700: Soto is tough to bet against, but tonight he faces Aaron Nola, who has held left-handed hitters to a .109 batting average.
• J.D. Martinez (BOS) $5,000: Martinez is day-to-day with a hand injury, is batting .208 on the year, and has produced double-digit fantasy points just three times in his last 15 games.

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Ryan Whitfield is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Ryan, check out his archive and follow him @RyanWhitfieldNE.