The FantasyLabs MLB Player Models have numerous data points to help you construct your MLB DFS rosters.
They house our floor, median, and ceiling projections for each player, but that’s just the beginning of what you’ll find inside. You’ll also find our Trends tool, stacking tool, and more.
Also, don’t forget that for large-field tournaments, you can utilize our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 150 lineups, or use our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your teams for cash games or small-field tournaments.
Let’s dive into some MLB plays that stand out in our Player Models for today’s main slate.
Bargain Rating Picks
You might be asking: what is Bargain Rating, and why should I care?
Bargain Rating shows how much of a bargain a player is on one DFS site versus others. If a player is significantly cheaper on one site than the other, they will have a favorable Bargain Rating on the site where they’re more affordable and a poor Bargain Rating on the site where they’re more expensive. It’s a straightforward metric, but targeting players at reduced price tags is almost always a strong strategy in DFS.
Bargain Rating strongly correlates with player value, which you can quickly see with our predictive projected Plus/Minus metric.
Seeing how Plus/Minus helps you project how many points a player is expected to score compared to what their salary implies them to score, this is a good company for Bargain Rating.
MLB DFS DraftKings Bargain
Vaughn Grissom ($2,100): Second Baseman, Atlanta Braves
The rookie second baseman has been a spark plug for the Braves lineup since he made his debut on August 10. In nine games, he is batting .406 with two homers and 11 runs scored.
Grissom could be a highly-owned bargain play until his production begins to slow down. With his low price tag, Grissom has an insane +8.76 Plus/Minus rating so far as a major leaguer.
The Braves face Lance McCullers Jr. and the Astros tonight. McCullers Jr. will be making only his second start of the season.
He threw six scoreless innings in his first start of 2022 on August 13.
MLB DFS FanDuel Bargain
Bryon Buxton ($3,700): Outfielder, Minnesota Twins
His .227 batting average will not impress you, but Buxton has been a high-upside boom-or-bust proposition this season with 28 home runs.
Buxton made his first All-Star team in his eight major league seasons this year. He feasts on left-handed pitching with a .402 wOBA and .357 ISO.
The Twins face a lefty tonight in the Rangers’ Martin Perez. Perez is 9-3 on the season with a 2.79 ERA. Buxton is a lottery ticket play with a high potential payoff and low potential floor.
MLB DFS Ceiling Projection Picks
Pitcher
Shane McClanahan ($10,200 DraftKings, $11,200 FanDuel) vs. Kansas City Royals
In his second big league season, McClanahan is showing out with an 11-5 record and a minuscule 2.28 ERA. He made his first All-Star team this season and currently leads the American League with a 0.871 WHIP.
He has by far the highest projected ceiling on tonight’s slate, as the Royals have the lowest implied run total.
Despite some recent hiccups in his last three starts, McClanahan has a +7.03 Plus/Minus on the entire season. Look for him to get back on track tonight against a weak Royals lineup.
Hitter
Paul Goldschmidt ($5,800 DraftKings, $4,800 FanDuel) at Arizona Diamondbacks
The perennially underrated first baseman is having the best season of his impressive career. He leads the National League with a .335 batting average, .418 OBP, and 1.044 OPS.
In the last month, Goldschmidt has 10 different games with 15+ DraftKings points. He has the potential to reach 30+ points at any time giving him one of the higher ceilings on the slate.
The Diamondbacks face left-handed rookie Tommy Henry on the mound tonight. Henry is 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA in three starts. Look for Goldschmidt to take advantage of the young hurler with a solid fantasy point total.
Top Stacking Pick from THE BAT X
One of the great features of being a FantasyLabs Pro member is the option to purchase additional items in the FantasyLabs Marketplace.
A new addition to our MLB projections is THE BAT from Derek Carty of RotoGrinders. With this purchase, you can use his projections alone or create aggregate projections within our Player Models.
The top five-man DraftKings stack from THE BAT using projected points in our stacking tool belongs to the Dodgers.
When you load them into our Lineup Builder, you’ll have the option to hand-build the rest of your team or optimize the rest of it.
The Dodgers head home to take on Miami tonight in a weekend series. They will face 24-year-old lefty Jesus Luzardo for the Marlins. Luzardo is 3-5 on the season with a 3.72 ERA in nine starts.
Mookie Betts leads the stack tonight for the loaded Dodgers lineup. The six-time All-Star leads the National League with 86 runs scored and excels against left-handed pitching with a .377 wOBA and .230 ISO.
Shortstop Trea Turner slots in just behind Betts in DraftKings salary after a recent price hike of $800 over the last week. Despite his rising inflation, Turner only has one double-digit DraftKings performance in his last six games.
The league leader in hits and doubles, Freddie Freeman, is having one of his best career seasons in his first year with the Dodgers. He is batting .321 on the year with a massive .393 wOBA.
The stack rounds out with catcher Will Smith and third baseman Justin Turner. Smith is the second highest-priced catcher on the slate but has produced an impressive +3.15 Plus/Minus over the last 10 games, including both a 25-point and 30-point performance.
Turner has disappointed since returning to the lineup on August 9 but should have some opportunities to produce runs tonight in this stacked lineup.
