Healy’s 8/16/23 MLB Breakdown

August 17, 2023
2:31 am

Intro:
Excited to bring my MLB GPP cheatsheet back to the team at 4DEEP, where we will look to build upon all of our past success. Today, I’ll be covering the main slate beginning at 7:05pm. If you’re not familiar with this piece, it will be broken down into the following three sections. A cheat sheet with three tiers of players (each pricing tier is based on DraftKings positions/pricing and includes my preferred cash plays from each position), my favorite stacks to target and which players in said stacks I prefer, and lastly, my “Today’s Edge” section, which covers my edge play/fade of the slate, top HR picks, and the players I expect to be the top performers.

Cheatsheet:
I’m here to give you the players to consider for your 8/16/23 MLB GPPs. This isn’t a list of every player I will have, but rather the top guys I am including in my stacks/core, whether it be as a matchup-based play, ownership-based play, or even a leverage play, they will all be included in this core list.

$ Tier	SP	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	OF
Top Tier	Luis Castillo	Cal Raleigh	Matt Olson	Nico Hoerner	Jeimer Candelario	Dansby Swanson	Bellinger/Julio
Mid Tier	Aaron Nola	Keibert Ruiz	Joe Meneses	Jake Cronenworth	Eugenio Suarez	CJ Abrams	Thomas/Harris
Value Tier	Jon Gray	Tucker Barnhart	Ty France	Nicky Lopez	IIdemaro Vargas	Dylan Moore	Rosario/Tauchman/Canzone

Pitching Pool:

Luis Castillo – SEA @ KC – DK: $9.6k / FD: $10.5k
Aaron Nola – PHI @ TOR – DK: $9k / FD: $9.3k
Jon Gray – TEX vs. LAA – DK: $6.9k / FD: $8.6k
MacKenzie Gore (DK ONLY) – WAS vs. BOS – DK: $6k

Stacks:

Cubs: Solid hitting conditions coupled with a matchup vs. Clevinger hoists the Cubs to the top spot for me. Clev has a very low K rate (16%) and no ability to generate ground balls. He will need to pray fly balls stay in the park, which I’m betting do not. Bellinger is the top play, followed by Tauchman and Candelario. 1-9 firmly in play.
Braves: Lock and load the Braves again facing young Randy Vasquez, who likely won’t pitch very deep, and the Yanks’ ‘pen is running thin. Vasquez has major control issues, so a timely hit can break this game open. It was Nicky Lopez Monday, and Ozuna yesterday, so it’s about finding tonight’s gem. Vasquez is heavy cutter, and as noted two times already this week, Braves 1-9 all NUKE this pitch. Rosario, Lopez are my preferred value with Olson the top spend up.
Mariners: They did us well last night and get another great spot, though I expect them to carry ownership tonight. They will primarily see Alec Marsh, who like Lyles, gives up a TON of power to both sides of the plate, over .280 ISO. Suarez is once again the top bat, while Julio, Cal, and Marlowe are secondary. 1-9 all in play for cheap.
Nats: My favorite spot to get off the board tonight and strong leverage off the Paxton ownership. He has lost his ability to strike out batters at an elite level, which has led to his struggles. 1-7 is my focus here with Lane Thomas and Joey Meneses being my preferred plays.