DraftKings FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks for July 21, 2017
*Chris Durell*
DraftKings / FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks for July 21, 2017
Welcome back for another night of DraftKings FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks. It’s Friday and we are gifted with a 15-game slate that is chalk full of elite pitching options and some other options we may want to stack against. Let’s take a look at a few of my favorites.
Starting Pitchers
Chris Sale
Opponent – @ LAA
Park – Angel Stadium of Anaheim(Pitchers Park)
Vegas Favorite (BOS -205)
Vegas Total (7.5)
With their ace on the mound, the Red Sox enter the Friday night slate as the second biggest favorite and are one of three matchups with a very low 7.5 Vegas total. After putting together a CY Young like first half, Sale picked up where he left off dominating the Yankees last Saturday with a season-high 13 strikeouts while limiting them to just three hits over 7.2 innings pitched. Of the four top tier pitchers tonight(Sale, Scherzer, Wood, Darvish), Sale also has the highest projection when looking at the lineup tool by a nice margin which only helps justify his high salary. The Angels don’t strike out a whole lot and did get back their star outfielder Mike Trout but still rank 27th in wOBA and dead last in wRC+ vs. left-handed pitching. Sale is the top pitcher of the night.
Jeff Samardzija
Opponent – vs. SD
Park – AT&T Park (Pitchers Park)
Vegas Favorite (SF -155)
Vegas Total (7.5)
When it comes to GPP pitchers, I love taking risks to gain an edge in ownership. You can’t just throw a dart and hope for the best as you still need upside. Enter Jeff “Shark” Samardzija who has the upside with a 9.8 K/9 rate and terrific matchup in one of the best pitchers park vs. a team that ranks 29th in hitting vs. righties. However, he was blown up by these very Padres in his last start despite striking out eight batters. I know there will be a ton of people avoiding this play tonight and that flips the switch for me to go overweight tonight in tournaments. If you aren’t about the risk, I would consider Aaron Nola instead.
Top Stacks
Houston Astros vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (BAL)
It is a terrific night for targeting bad pitchers and combine that with another series starting at Coors and you should see some spread out ownership. My favorite stack at the top is by far the Houston Astros who lead the league in runs scored and are one of the few teams that can handle losing a stud like Carlos Correa. They get one of the top matchups of the night vs. Ubaldo Jimenez who has given up four or more earned runs in three straight and four of his last five starts with six home runs against. The other good news is that the Astros head out on the road, where they get a nice park boost away from Minute Maid Park.
Top Players to Stack – Jose Altuve, George Springer, Josh Reddick, Brian McCann
Miami Marlins vs. Homer Bailey (CIN)
Another team that gets a nice park boost as the Marlis travel to the Great American Smallpark to start a series with Reds. Not only that, they get a matchup vs. Homer Bailey who has shown some huge blowup potential since returning from offseason surgery. He has made five starts since mid-June and while two of them were positive on the road(one in Coors), he has given up six, eight, and eight earned runs in his other three starts. With so many great spots tonight combined with the fact the Marlins rank in the bottom third of runs scored, I think they are going to be bargain when looking at ownership.
Top Players to Stack – Dee Gordon, Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Justin Bour