While it’s the first Saturday of college football, don’t forget baseball is still going for another month. That gives us additional opportunities to keep building our bankroll. The DraftKings MLB DFS main slate begins at 7:05 p.m. ET and includes nine games to choose from. FanDuel’s Main slate is identical.
Saturday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Saturday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (9/5)
- This is a strong pitching slate to choose from. The ace pitcher that catches my eye the most is Tyler Glasnow. Whenever he is healthy, he pitches like a top-10 starter in the game, with the best offense in the game backing him. It’s only over 51 innings, but only Jacob Misiorowski and Dylan Cease have a better strikeout rate than his 32% rate among starting pitchers.
- Along with Glasnow, five other pitchers on this slate have high-end outcomes in their range every single start. The best price point across both sites is Drew Rasmussen. After a bit of a lull going into the All-Star break, he’s put together six starts of at least 30 FanDuel points.
- Let’s see if Max Scherzer can continue to turn back the clock. He struck out 10 batters in his last start over seven shutout innings. That was the culmination of a strong August in which he posted a 3.62 ERA and 3.68 FIP.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Boston Red Sox Projected Lineup (9/5)
While it’s the first Saturday of college football, don’t forget baseball is still going for another month. That gives us additional opportunities to keep building our bankroll. The DraftKings MLB DFS main slate begins at 7:05 p.m. ET and includes nine games to choose from. FanDuel’s Main slate is identical.
Saturday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Saturday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (9/5)
- This is a strong pitching slate to choose from. The ace pitcher that catches my eye the most is Tyler Glasnow. Whenever he is healthy, he pitches like a top-10 starter in the game, with the best offense in the game backing him. It’s only over 51 innings, but only Jacob Misiorowski and Dylan Cease have a better strikeout rate than his 32% rate among starting pitchers.
- Along with Glasnow, five other pitchers on this slate have high-end outcomes in their range every single start. The best price point across both sites is Drew Rasmussen. After a bit of a lull going into the All-Star break, he’s put together six starts of at least 30 FanDuel points.
- Let’s see if Max Scherzer can continue to turn back the clock. He struck out 10 batters in his last start over seven shutout innings. That was the culmination of a strong August in which he posted a 3.62 ERA and 3.68 FIP.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Boston Red Sox Projected Lineup (9/5)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| OF |
Roman Anthony |
$5,000 |
$3,000 |
| 1B/2B/C |
Mickey Gasper |
$3,700 |
$3,100 |
| OF/2B/SS |
Ceddanne Rafaela |
$4,200 |
$3,000 |
| OF |
Wilyer Abreu |
$5,500 |
$3,100 |
| C |
Adley Rutschman |
$3,900 |
$2,900 |
| 2B/1B/3B/SS |
Nick Sogard |
$4,000 |
$2,900 |
| 3B/2B |
Caleb Durbin |
$3,800 |
$2,800 |
| OF |
Jarren Duran |
$4,100 |
$3,000 |
| SS |
Trevor Story |
$3,100 |
$2,800 |
- Chris Bassitt is starting against the Boston Red Sox today. He has his worst ERA since 2016 (4.97). His worst expected ERA, FIP and xFIP since 2016 fully support that. He’s just no longer the pitcher he was, with his strikeouts down and his walks up.
- Wilyer Abreu has a track record of success against Bassitt given their time together in the American League East. Abreu has gone 8-for-16 against Bassitt in his career, with four of those hits going for extra bases. Even more so, two of those hits have gone for home runs.
- Imagine if we had gotten a full season from Roman Anthony. He’s been back for six games and has hits in five of them, with four of the games being multiple-hit games. He’s also chipped in a pair of doubles and a pair of home runs since being back.
- It can be safely assumed that Mickey Gasper turning into Barry Bonds wasn’t on anyone’s radar, but that’s what has happened over the past month. He leads the league in slugging, wOBA and xwOBA in the past 30 days, and it’s by a wide margin. He hit four doubles and eight home runs in that span. His price is much more affordable on DraftKings.
St. Louis Cardinals Projected Lineup (9/5)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| OF/2B |
Bryan Torres |
$3,600 |
$2,700 |
| C |
Ivan Herrera |
$5,200 |
$3,400 |
| 1B/OF |
Alec Burleson |
$5,500 |
$3,700 |
| OF |
Jordan Walker |
$6,200 |
$4,200 |
| 1B |
Leo Bernal |
$3,500 |
$3,100 |
| 3B/2B |
Nolan Gorman |
$3,200 |
$2,800 |
| 2B/3B/OF |
Jose Fermin |
$4,200 |
$2,900 |
| OF |
Nathan Church |
$3,700 |
$2,900 |
| 2B/SS/3B |
Thomas Saggese |
$3,000 |
$2,800 |
- Coors Field is inflating the Cardinals’ prices a bit. The Rockies are starting Mason Adams in that game. He made his debut just a few weeks ago and has since made two starts. So far, at least on the surface, it has gone well with a 3.00 ERA. However, that’s hiding a scary 5.43 FIP. He has allowed 13 baserunners on a pair of home runs but only two earned runs. This will be his first home start.
- Jordan Walker has put any concerns about a post-Home Run Derby slump to rest. He has a slightly lower .770 OPS in the second half, but already has four extra-base hits in September. He’s been better away from St. Louis this season with a .919 OPS in road games.
- Almost all of Alec Burleson‘s production this season has come against right-handed pitchers. Forty-six of his 55 extra-base hits this season have come against right-handed pitching. He has a .931 OPS against righties, which falls to .549 against lefties.
- It’s an exceptionally small sample size, but Thomas Saggese has performed well since the Cardinals called him back up at the end of August. He has hits in all five starts since returning from the injured list (IL), with multiple hits in three of those games. It’s not just singles either, as he has also chipped in three home runs.
Core Studs
- If the game between the Athletics and Mariners was at Sutter Health Park, the Athletics would have been an offense to stack. Instead, the game is at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, so we’ll stick with just Zack Gelof. He is 4-for-7 against George Kirby, with three of those hits going for extra bases. He’s also hit three home runs in the last week.
- In one of the more surprising lines of the season, Ty France has 20 home runs to go along with a .295 batting average without a distinguishable split when looking at handedness or home/ away splits. He has a .942 OPS in the second half of the season. His matchup today is against left-handed pitcher Carlos Rodon.
- Isaac Paredes has a home matchup today against right-handed pitcher Brandon Pfaadt. That’s the exact matchup when he is most usable. Paredes has hit 17 of his 18 home runs against right-handed pitchers. Thirteen of those 18 home runs have come in home games.
Value Plays/Punts
- I typically try to avoid hitters against the recommended starting pitchers, but Salvador Perez has to be mentioned, even against Max Scherzer. Perez has gone 14-for-38 against Scherzer with six extra-base hits, including four home runs in their illustrious careers.
- Paul Goldschmidt is facing off against left-handed pitcher Robbie Ray today. Goldschmidt is fourth in baseball among qualified batters in OPS against left-handed pitchers at 1.012.
- Kaelen Culpepper‘s first stint in the Majors is going well. He is batting .301 with three home runs in his first 23 games. Left-handed pitcher Anthony Kay is opposing him today.
Saturday’s Top 3 Underdog Player Props
You have to make sure that Cooper Pratt is in the lineup because there are some games that the Brewers are still sliding Joey Ortiz over to shortstop. The Brewers benched him on August 25th for a perceived lack of hustle. Since that game, he has gone over this line in six out of seven games.
Parker Messick has gone over 17.5 pitching outs in his previous three starts and four of his past five. His matchup today is a divisional opponent, the Detroit Tigers. He faced them once earlier this season and only went five innings. That was earlier in the season, and the Guardians pulled him after only 81 pitches. He’s now thrown at least 88 pitches in each start going back to the beginning of July.
Through Ronald Acuna Jr.‘s first 81 games of the season, he didn’t have a three-hit game. After an off day on August 27th, he’s now had three three-hit games in the past seven games, including his last two. It’s a tough matchup against Zack Wheeler, but Acuna has recorded eight extra-base hits, including four home runs, versus Wheeler in his career.
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