MLB Fantasy Lineup Today – June 28, 2017

*Austyn Varney*

MLB Fantasy Lineup Today – June 28, 2017

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s Best MLB Fantasy Lineup Today, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite stacks from the article below in our lineup optimizer and hit calculate. You can let it fill in the rest of the spots for you or choose your personal favorites from the MLB Player Lab.

Starting Pitchers

Stephen Strasburg
Opponent – Vs. CHC
Park – Nationals Park
Vegas Favorite (WAS -167)
Vegas Total (8.5)

We had Max Scherzer in this spot yesterday, facing off with the same Cubs team in the same park. He ended up going 6 quality innings and striking out six, but was pulled after just 93 pitches. Dusty Baker and crew will now send Strasburg out there in hopes of keeping this Cubs lineup under control. Strasburg has slipped up a bit as of late, but is having his best season to date as a whole. He’s sporting a .280 wOBA to both sides of the plate and is striking out nearly 11 batters per 9 innings. Strasburg has moved up into that elite category and row that he’s pitching well against lefties, doesn’t have the main spot to attack. Let’s not ignore the obvious, however. This Cubs team is very good and they can score 10 runs against anyone. With that being said, there very cold and I highly doubt Stephen Strasburg is the arm to wake them up. With that being said, Strasburg does hold more risk than most number 1 pitchers on a slate. The problem with that is there is nobody safe pitching tonight. Stras is as safe as you can get and that’s really not saying much against the Cubbies.

Ivan Nova
Opponent – Vs. TAM
Park – PNC Park
Vegas Favorite (PIT -133)
Vegas Total (8.5)

I don;t know if Ivan Nova is looked at as a good pitcher or not, but he is. Nova is a really good pitcher and he has been since going to the Pirates. HE’s been very consistent this season and is definitely one of the safer options in terms of point per dollar. Nova does still struggle against lefties but gets a great match-up for that. The Rays will have a max of 2 or 3 lefties in the lineup and Nova should be able to work around them. He strikes out about 7 righties per 9 innings and has held them to a .265 wOBA. Nova has also been dominant in PNC Park, posting a .253 wOBA in nearly 50 innings of work. The Tampa Bay Rays are one of my favorite teams to target, as they hold a league-high K rate of 25.5%. They give up strikeouts to the worst of them and have been known to show upside to pitchers that once didn’t have any. Nova is pretty cheap across the industry and a guy I love for his price in all formats. PNC Park is very friendly for pitchers and is basically death to right-handed hitting.

Offensive Stacks

Boston Red Sox Vs. Minnesota Twins (Adalberto Mejia)
Park – Fenway Park

The Red Sox are a team we loved last night and it certainly paid off. They beat up Hector Santiago and ended up putting up a ton of runs. They now run into Adalberto Mejia, who is probably worse than Santiago. Mejia has allowed a .351 wOBA to lefties a .364 to righties. He’s been absolutely horrible in every start and hasn’t shown any signs of getting better. He has similar HR problem as Santiago as well, allowing 7 homers in just over 30 innings. Mejia is simply below average and is no match for a Red Sox squad that is hitting the way they are. When looking at who to target, it will all depend on Hanley. If he’s back in the order, he’s a must in a stack. He murders lefties and along with Chris Young, have to be in your Sox stack. You then get into Bogaerts, Pedroia, and Betts. hey are all tremendous options and can be interchanged at any point. After those 5 (Hanley, Young, Betts, Pedroia, Bogaerts), there is a steep downfall.You can target the bottom of the order, but just know you’re truly winging it. The top of the order is elite and you should certainly look to gain exposure in both cash and tournaments.

Main Stack – Mookie Betts, Hanley Ramirez, Dustin Pedroia, Chris Young
Sneaky Stack – Mookie Betts, Hanley Ramirez, Chris Young, Xander Bogaerts

Toronto Blue Jays @ Baltimore Orioles (Wade Miley)
Park – Rogers Centre

The Blue Jays heavily disappointed a lot of people last night, which will hopefully work in our favor tonight with dropped ownerships. The Jays did have a great match-up yesterday, but it was against a righty, who they’re worse against. Tonight comes a lefty in the form of Wade Miley. Miley isn’t tough to figure out. He has posted a .350 wOBA against righties in back to back years and at 30 years old, he isn’t changing. Miley also gave up 22 home runs against righties in 2016, which is pretty nuts. He does play his home games at Camden Yards, though the Rogers Centre is still a hitter park in its own right. On to this Jays order, it’s pretty simple. Against a lefty, Donaldson is in 150% of my Jays stacks. You then get Jose Bautista, who I can’t see leaving out, though I get it in tournaments. Tulowitzki and Martin are also great and fill positions that aren’t too great. All in all, the Jays have a lot of upside against lefties and I’ll make sure I have a few stacks put together.

Main Stack – Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin, Jose Bautista, Justin Smoak
Sneaky Stack – Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Kendrys Morales, Troy Tulowitzki