MLB PrizePicks Predictions Today: Top Plays for Tuesday, August 20th
Traditional MLB DFS formats aren’t the only way to profit from daily fantasy baseball. MLB PrizePicks is a great fantasy pick’em site where we can take today’s projections versus theirs and combine two or more baseball predictions for sizeable payouts.
In this space, we’ll explore a few PrizePicks plays for the upcoming MLB slate. This article isn’t the be-all, end-all of great plays or a recommendation for a full ticket; it’s simply a starting place for you to explore thinking about the game within the game. Maybe you want to scatter these plays across entries. Maybe there are only two or three you think are worth playing. Daily fantasy pick’em gives us the flexibility to make only the plays in which we think there is value rather than being forced to create a full lineup while competing against the best DFS players in the industry.
PrizePicks is daily fantasy baseball made simple, and our MLB PrizePicks picks tool makes the process even simpler.
If you haven’t signed up for a PrizePicks account, make sure to use the PrizePicks promo code ROTOBONUS and get a $100 deposit match. Also, check out more apps like PrizePicks.
All stats cited are since the start of the 2024 season unless otherwise noted.
Editor’s Note: Looking for more places to play? Check out our Underdog promo code and Sleeper promo code, two of the best DFS apps available today.
MLB PrizePicks Predictions for Tuesday, August 20th
- Cole Ragans MORE Than 7.5 Strikeouts (DEMON)
- Zack Wheeler MORE Than 7.5 Strikeouts (DEMON)
- Giancarlo Stanton MORE Than 1.5 Total Bases (DEMON) and 0.5 RBI (DEMON)
Cole Ragans MORE Than 7.5 Strikeouts (DEMON)
We have Cole Ragans conservatively projected for 7.1 Ks because the Angels projected lineup only has one qualified K rate over 21.5% — 2 over 20% — against lefties. I’m saying that Ragans has a ton of baked-in Ks — especially against righties. Ragans is striking out 30.9% of righties, and the Angels are projected to throw a full set of 9 at him. Ragans has thrown 100+ pitches an astounding 13 times this season — 10 times in each of his last 12 starts — so we should love Ragans for volume against a lineup with a .309 wOBA and .127 ISO against lefties in a pitcher-friendly ballpark.
Zack Wheeler MORE Than 7.5 Strikeouts (DEMON)
Not the same situation as Ragans because Zack Wheeler has to face the power-packed Braves, but we do have Wheeler projected for 7.1 Ks as well. The Braves projected lineup has a 23.5% K rate against righties, with 4 of their top 6 in the order carrying near 24% rates or higher. Wheeler’s been knocked around this season quite a bit, but 6 innings is almost a minimum for Phillies starters unless they get totally beaten in. This is a volume play against a decent lineup for strikeouts.
Giancarlo Stanton MORE Than 1.5 TOtal Bases (DEMON) and 0.5 RBI (DEMON)
Giancarlo Stanton against an unimposing lefty is usually a great play for 2+ total bases. We’re getting a discount here that we shouldn’t fully resist. Matthew Boyd has a long history of giving up dongs, allowing 1.66 HR/9 to righties in his career, while Stanton is carrying a 16.2% barrel rate against lefties since the start of the 2023 season. Stanton hasn’t been effective lately, but I kinda don’t care because the power is still so big, carrying a hard-hit rate of 66.1% against lefties this season, and we have him projected for 1.9 total bases. If Stanton feels too risky, Aaron Judge for MORE than 2.5 total bases is a solid play as well.
All projections referenced are accurate at the time of writing but subject to change.
Our pick’em tool is lighting the lamp with a ton of standard projections to attack. I like running a lot of contests with five legs tonight.
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