The Cubs and White Sox will engage in the second half of their Crosstown Classic beginning on Friday and the White Sox can go in with a huge sigh of relief that they are no longer in jeopardy of the longest losing streak in MLB history. The White Sox snapped their 21-game losing skid with a 5-1 win over Oakland on Tuesday. In what's certainly been a lost season for the White Sox this summer, could a rivalry matchup bring better performances for their players in the MLB DFS player pool?
White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi hit his 10th home run of the season on Tuesday and he's hitting .318 with at least one hit in five of six August games. Should you roster him in MLB DFS picks? Or should you build MLB DFS stacks around Cubs options such as Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings in MLB DFS picks against a team that's 1-22 over its last 23 games as a part of your MLB DFS strategy? Before locking in any MLB DFS picks for Friday, be sure to check out the MLB DFS advice, strategy and projections from SportsLine daily Fantasy expert Mike McClure.
McClure is a daily Fantasy pro who has won more than $2 million in his career. And when it comes to daily Fantasy baseball, McClure is at his best. Recognized in the book "Fantasy Football (and Baseball) for Smart People: How to Turn Your Hobby into a Fortune" as a top MLB DFS player, McClure's proprietary projection model simulates each game 10,000 times, taking factors such as matchups and recent results into account. This allows him to find the best values on every site.
On Thursday, McClure identified Diamondbacks outfielder Jake McCarthy as a core part of his MLB DFS lineups on both sites. The result: McCarthy went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI, returning 31.7 points on FanDuel and 24 points on DraftKings. Anybody who included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
Now, with the 2024 MLB season rolling, McClure has locked in his top MLB daily Fantasy picks for Friday, August 9. You can head to SportsLine now to see them.
McClure's top MLB DFS picks for Friday
One of McClure's top MLB DFS picks for Friday is Astros second baseman Jose Altuve at $5,300 on DraftKings and $3,500 on FanDuel for MLB DFS lineups. Altuve enters on a three-game hitting streak while reaching base safely multiple times in all three of those contests. He also has at least one hit while reaching base multiple times in four of his last five contests. The nine-time All-Star is eighth in baseball in batting average (.303) and ranks in the top five among second baseball in categories such as runs scored (62), RBI (48) and home runs (14) with the second-best OPS (.796) at the position.
Altuve has a home run in one of six career at-bats against Red Sox probable starter Tanner Houck. The 28-year-old RHP allowed six runs over five innings against the Rangers on Saturday and he has a 6.88 ERA over his last three starts. Altuve has been one of the most consistently producing second basemen in baseball over his 14-year career and McClure views this as another strong matchup for the 34-year-old to display that.
McClure is also targeting Braves catcher Sean Murphy ($4,000 on DraftKings and $3,100 on FanDuel). Murphy hasn't had as strong of a season this year, but he entered the season averaging 18.7 home runs over his previous three seasons and has been dominant over his career against the Rockies as the Braves begin a three-game series at Coors Field. Murphy is hitting .433 with a 1.185 OPS and seven extra-base hits over eight career games against Colorado. The Rockies are scheduled to start RHP Tanner Gordon, who has a 6.75 ERA over his first four career starts entering Friday.
Although the Braves enter on a five-game losing streak, they are averaging six runs over their last two contests. The Rockies have allowed the most runs in baseball this season (5.8 runs per game) and the Braves averaged eight runs per game last season in their three-game series in Colorado. With catcher being a tough position to find contributions from for MLB DFS lineups, Murphy against the Rockies can hold strong value for MLB DFS picks. See McClure's full MLB DFS player pool right here.
How to set your MLB DFS lineups for August 9, 2024
McClure is also targeting an undervalued player who is set to explode for huge numbers on Friday. The stars are aligning for him to return tournament-winning value and he comes at a price that won't break the bank. You can only see who it is, and get the rest of McClure's MLB DFS picks, here.
So what are the top MLB DFS picks for Friday? Visit SportsLine now to see DFS millionaire Mike McClure's complete player pool and picks for FanDuel and DraftKings, all from the DFS expert who has won more than $2 million.
