MLB Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Stacks for July 31, 2017
*Austyn Varney*
MLB Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Stacks – Tuesday, July 31, 2017
*STARTING PITCHERS*
Luis Severino Vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Park – Yankee Stadium
Vegas O/U – 8.5
We don’t have much pitching at all on this slate and Severino is the one guy who’s basically a lock. He’s easily the top option in both formats and will end up being very popular. I’m fine with it and in tournaments, this is a slate where you can get contrarian with your bats. Severino and the Yankees host the Rays, who are not very good. While they can hit homers against righties, the strikeout the 2nd most in the league at 25%. Severino has proven himself as a dominant and close to elite starter this season. He’s held both lefties and righties to a sub .281 wOBA, while striking out 10+ and walking 2 per 9 innings. He’s been better at home and all in all, doesn’t have much working against him tonight. He still has risk because of his age and these Rays can get streaky. However, nobody is at all safer. In any way.
Sonny Gray Vs. San Francisco Giants
Park – Oakland Coliseum
Vegas O/U – 9.5
It looks like Sonny Gray is going to get traded. Definitely watch out for news, but I expect his to be his last showcase game. They will let him wear his arm out of pitching well and they will tank him quickly if he’s not. Against the Giants, there’s a good shot of Gray dominating. The Giants have ranked dead last in baseball against righties with a .280 wOBA, showing no hope or signs for the future. Gray has been phenomenal against both sides of the plate (.271 wOBA) and is striking out 8.5 per 9 innings. The Oakland Coliseum is huge and I expect the Giants to have similar issues as they do at home. Gray is always going to be a bit risky and this 9.5 over/under is slightly worrisome. We don’t have much to choose from on the slate and Gray is a quality arm in a quality match-up. Once again, make sure he doesn’t get traded before the start.
*OFFENSIVE STACKS*
Cleveland Indians @ Doug Fister (Red Sox)
Park – Fenway Park
Implied Total – 5.56
I tried to go a little bit under the radar here. We do have some super popular offenses on the slate and you don’t need me to tell you to play those guys. However, we’ll look at a team who should be popular, but I’m not expecting it. The Indians will head to Boston and face off with the Red Sox in Fenway Park. The Sox will be tossing Doug Foster, who is AWFUL. In over 80 innings last season, he gave up a .400 wOBA. This year? It’s up to .470. I don’t know what in the world happened to this guy, but he can’t get his sinker to work against lefties. They’re implied to score over 5.5 runs and I think they should end up over 6. Jose Ramirez and Michael Brantley are my 2 favorites, but you can really go anywhere. This team is full of hitters and not at all a concentrated offense. Choosing between the 2 1B, I’ll go Santana due to the splits.
Main Stack – Jose Ramirez, Michael Brantley, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana
Sneaky Stack – Jose Ramirez, Michael Brantley, Edwin Encarnacion, Bradley Zimmer
Toronto Blue Jays @ James Shields (White Sox)
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field
Implied Total – 5.89
Now here’s one of the far more obvious stacks. When James Shields is on the mound, look to stack the other team. He’s one of the absolute worst pitchers in baseball and I will target hitters against him every single time. The Blue Jays have an implied team total of 5.69 and it’s only gone up from opening. Shields has been better against righties this year, but looks to just be getting lucky. He allowed a .385 wOBA against righties in 2016 and all of the peripherals still match. Against lefties, he’s held a .370+ wOBA for multiple seasons. Guaranteed Rate Field a great park for hitting and I fully expect the Jays to give off some fireworks. Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson are my 2 favorites, with the 2 1B following. This is a concentrated offense and I would keep your exposure towards the top of the order. If you want to get cute, find a guy with substantial power and hope for a low-owned dinger.
Main Stack – Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson, Justin Smoak, Russell Martin
Sneaky Stack – Jose Bautista, Kendrys Morales, Steve Pearce, Josh Donaldson