Fantasy Baseball Picks: Top DraftKings MLB DFS Lineup Strategy for Mets vs. Dodgers Showdown on August 20

Our late DraftKings Showdown matchup on Friday sees two teams that just met last weekend in the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. The road to the postseason and the West Coast roadtrip from hell continues for New York, who will have to get past Walker Buehler ($11,600) in this one. Which bats are we looking at from L.A., and can anyone get to Buehler on the New York side of things?

Let’s get into it.

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $20K Extra Inning [$5K to 1st] (NYM vs LAD)

New York Mets vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Captain’s Picks

Walker Buehler ($17,400 CP) - If you’ve been following my Friday Showdown picks, you’d know I’m not always willing to deploy the high-priced pitcher as my captain. With that said, I think you need to go after Buehler in this spot. The matchup with a Mets team which has a 79 wRC+ over the last two weeks and a 24.7% strikeout rate is too good to pass up, and it doesn’t hurt that Buehler just dominated this team to the tune of 10 strikeouts over seven shutout innings a week ago. He’ll be just fine at home against a slumping offense.

Cody Bellinger ($11,400 CP) - I’ve been saying I’ll wait for the right moment to play Bellinger in a Dodgers Showdown, and I think this is it. Bellinger has a fantastic .364 ISO over the last two weeks and really seems to be finding his swing. The matchup against Carlos Carrasco ($9,800) is a fantastic one as well, considering he lacks a ton of velocity on his fastball and throws a lot of junk. Bellinger has proven to be effective against off-speed pitches and I love his chances of going deep here.

UTIL Plays

Max Muncy ($10,000) - It’s becoming a meme at this point how good Muncy is. He has an absolutely absurd .488 ISO over the last week with a strikeout rate south of 16%. He’s just been a machine getting on base and mashing the baseball, and you absolutely have to get him in your lineup any way you can against Carrasco. I love taking a cheaper captain like Bellinger to afford Muncy, but do what you have to.

Jeff McNeil ($7,200) - It’s hard to pick out a Mets bat which is going to have a realistic chance at success against Buehler, but I think McNeil is the best candidate. He’s quietly beginning to put together better at-bats and find his contact swing again, and a high-contact guy like himself should be able to avoid the strikeout bug against Buehler. Those who have been able to get the ball back in play have put it back in play hard, increasing the likelihood of extra bases for McNeil.

Fades

J.D. Davis ($6,400) - I’m not sure how much consideration you were going to give to Davis, but I’m here to officially advise against him. He’s struck out in more than a third of his plate appearances over the past week, and has had serious issues catching up to fastballs. It’s gotten to the point where he visibly looks to have something wrong with him physically. Against a flamethrower and strikeout machine like Buehler, he stands no chance.

The Outcome

The Dodgers’ big boppers should get to Carrasco early and often here, putting Buehler in a spot of strength. The Mets are simply filled with too many strikeout candidates to trust here, and I think they’ll pop a couple of homers to get a few runs and will go quietly into the night after that. This should be yet another devastating loss and another shot to the Mets’ playoff hopes.

Final Score: Dodgers 7, Mets 3

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $20K Extra Inning [$5K to 1st] (NYM vs LAD)

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