The dog days of summer are here as the fantasy action starts to heat up around MLB. This is the case on Friday as the baseball calendar month flips to August and another day closer to post season baseball. All 30 MLB teams are in action on Friday as two of the games top starters take the mound.

In Chicago, Chris Sale takes the mound with his 1.88 earned run average against the Minnesota Twins. In St. Louis, Adam Wainwright will take the mound verse division rivals the Milwaukee Brewers. In daily fantasy leagues this would be a tough division as both starters have pitched against the clubs they are facing on Friday recently.

Chris Sale

Sale went eight innings in his last start which was also against the Twins allowing zero runs while striking out 12 batters. Wainwright wasn’t as dominate allowing two runs in seven innings in a no decision against the Brewers. The one key stat that would point me to Sale is the fact he is going against a Twins team that has hit the fifth fewest home runs in all of baseball.

Allen Craig benefits from the trade as he makes his Fenway Debut for the Boston Red Sox verse Chris Capuano. In 11 career at bats verse Capuano, Craigh has seven hits including two home runs and six runs driven in with a .636 batting average. Paul Goldschmidt also makes a good option at first base with seven career hits in 14 at bats verse Edinson Volquez.

Moving around the infield Aramis Ramirez might be the one guy in the Brewers lineup to start verse Wainwright. In his career he has posted a .380 batting average in 50 career at bats. Nine of the 19 hits have went for extra bases including two home runs.

Aramis Ramirez

In the outfield, Shane Victorino and Josh Reddick both make good options. Victorino has four career hits in only 10 at bats verse Capuano. Reddick has picked up six hits with three extra base hits in 19 career at bats verse Jeremy Guthrie of the Kansas City Royals.

On the mound Wei-Yin Chen might be an interesting matchup against the Seattle Mariners. Chen has only allowed 13 hits in 77 matchups against Mariners hitters. The other key stat is over that time frame the Baltimore Orioles starter has only allowed one home run and two runs batted in.

Jon Niese might be the cheapest of the options against the San Francisco Giants if you elect to stay away from the high priced starters taking the mound. The Giants have posted a .224 batting average against Niese in 98 at bats.