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Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 05/28/2017

by Mike Barner 0 Comments

*Mike Barner*

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks – Sunday, May 28

Sunday brings an interesting slate of games because even though there are some aces in action, there are also several struggling pitchers taking the mound that you can take advantage of. Put your favorite daily fantasy baseball 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**

Matt Shoemaker vs. Miami Marlins
Park – Marlins Park

Shoemaker got off to a rough start this season, but has settled down lately as he has pitched at least six innings and allowed three runs or less in each of his last three games. One of the big reasons for his early-season struggles has been his lack of control as he has already walked 23 batters in only 56.2 innings. Last season he only walked 30 batters in 160 innings. He has only walked one batter in two of his last three starts, showing definite signs of improvement. The Marlins are not a strong offensive team and are one of the worst teams in baseball at drawing walks, lining Shoemaker up for a big performance.

Joe Ross vs. San Diego Padres
Park – Nationals Park

When you first look at Ross, he doesn’t jump off the page as a great option Sunday. He has a 5.32 ERA for the season and has allowed six home runs in only 23.2 innings. However, he is coming off of a great start against the Seattle Mariners where he pitched eight innings and gave up one run to go along with six strikeouts. His WHIP is a respectable 1.23 and he does have 20 strikeouts, so not all of his stats are ugly. He gets to face a horrible offense in the Padres, so go with Ross if you are looking for a cheaper pitching option.

Mookie Bets - daily fantasy baseball stacks - lineuplab

**OFFENSIVE STACKS**

Boston Red Sox vs. Christian Bergman (Seattle Mariners)
Park – Fenway Park

Bergman was crushed in his last start against the Nationals as he allowed 10 runs on 14 hits over four innings. He’s never been a very impressive option as he has a career 5.85 ERA and 1.53 WHIP. Strikeouts aren’t his strength either as he only has 102 in 167.2 career innings. The Red Sox are hot at the moment, so look for them to roll over Bergman on Sunday.

Players to consider stacking: Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Dustin Pedroia

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Kyle Gibson (Minnesota Twins)
Park – Target Field

Gibson is having a terrible start to the season as he is 1-4 with a whopping 8.62 ERA and 2.01 WHIP. It’s hard to believe a team in first place can have a starting pitcher this bad in their rotation. Gibson has allowed at least seven hits and two walks in four of his last five games and only has 21 strikeouts in 31.1 innings this season. If there was ever a day to stack the Rays, Sunday is that day.

Players to consider stacking: Evan Longoria, Corey Dickerson and Logan Morrison

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 05/27/2017

by Mike Barner 0 Comments

*Mike Barner*

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks – Saturday, May 27

Saturday brings 16 games on the schedule, leaving plenty of options to choose from for your DFS entry. Put your favorite daily fantasy baseball 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 vs. San Diego Padres
Park – Nationals Park

Strasburg is off to another strong start as he is 5-1 with a 3.28 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. While his strikeouts are down compared to past seasons, he still has 59 strikeouts in 60.1 innings. He has been a model of consistency this year, allowing three runs or less in all but one of his starts. Saturday brings a very favorable match up against a poor Padres offense, making Strasburg well worth his high price tag.

Derek Holland vs. Detroit Tigers
Park – Guaranteed Rate Park

Holland has been one of the better surprises in baseball this season after struggling with poor performance and injuries over the last two seasons. He had an ERA of at least 4.91 and threw fewer than 108 innings in both 2015 and 2016, marking the end of his tenure with the Texas Rangers after the 2016 season. The change of scenery has done wonders for him so far as he is 4-3 with a 2.47 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 44 strikeouts in 54.2 innings. He has allowed three earned runs or less and recorded at least five strikeouts in three of his last four starts, making him a viable option at a reduced rate Saturday.



**OFFENSIVE STACKS**

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Chase Anderson (Milwaukee Brewers)
Park – Miller Park

Anderson has really struggled lately as he has allowed at least four runs in four of his last five starts and has not pitched more than 5.1 innings in each of his last four starts. He allows a lot of base runners as his WHIP sits at an ugly 1.46. He’s never had an ERA under 4.00 for his career, so his struggles this season are pretty much par for the course. Expect him to get hit hard by a Diamondbacks offense that is among the best in baseball.

Players to consider stacking: Paul Goldschmidt, Jake Lamb and David Peralta

Los Angeles Angels vs. Vance Worley (Miami Marlins)
Park – Marlins Park

Worley made his first start of the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers last Sunday and he did not pitch well as he gave up three runs in only four innings. Worley struggles to keep runners off base, evident by his career 1.39 WHIP. He’s not a strikeout pitcher either, leaving him with very little appeal. Look for the Angels to have success against him Saturday.

Players to consider stacking: Mike Trout, Kole Calhoun and Andrelton Simmons

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 05/26/17

by Mike Barner 0 Comments

*Chris Durell*

DFS MLB Picks – Friday, May 26

Welcome back for another high-octane Friday in daily fantasy baseball. It’s once again a beautiful TGIF as we faced multiple rainouts and pitcher scratches yesterday across the all day slates. Today is a completely different story as we get some top end heavy pitching options to choose from with some awesome value to boot. 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.

Jacob Degrom - daily fantasy baseball stacks - lineuplab

Starting Pitchers

Jacob deGrom
Opponent – @ PIT
Park – PNC Park (Pitcher Positive)
Vegas Favorite (NYM +103)
Vegas Total (8.5)

First of all, don’t worry about the Vegas line as it is slated to move anytime now with deGrom being moved up a day after rain presented a delayed threat last night. Speaking of last night, here is what I wrote about deGrom before learning of the push back.

The weather makes this more of a GPP play tonight but deGrom most definitely as the highest upside of any pitcher. He is coming off his best start of the season where he shut out the Angels over seven innings while striking out nine batters en route to his third win of the season. Four times this year he has recorded double-digit strikeouts and his elite 12.3 K/9 rate have him sitting behind only Danny Salazar and Chris Sale through almost two months of the season. He now gets a plus matchup vs. the Padres who have struggled to a .276 wOBA and 69 wRC+ over the last seven days and have struck out just over 24% of the time this season vs. right-handed pitching.

The only thing that really changes here is the matchup as DeGrom and the Mets now travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates. They do strike out quite a bit less which does lower the K upside a bit but the Pirates still rank in the bottom third of the league when looking at wOBA and wRC+ vs. right-handed pitching. Roll out DeGrom with confidence tonight.

Mike Clevinger
Opponent – vs. KC
Park – Progressive Field (Pitcher Positive)
Vegas Favorite (CLE -175)
Vegas Total (8.5)

I won’t mention Max Scherzer in this spot as it seems pretty obvious he is the top play of the day as a giant -250 favorite going up against the Padres. Instead, I will dip into the value range and give you a pitcher who I think makes an excellent SP2 with Scherzer or DeGrom and comes with a ton of upside. Enter Mike Clevinger of the Indians who was also slated to pitch last night but a rainout pushed him back until today. Good news for Clevinger who went from having to face a dangerous Reds team to now getting to face the lowest scoring team in the league in the Royals. Not only that but the Royals also rank second to last in wOBA and wRC+ vs. right-handed pitching and strike out close to 22% of the time. Clevinger, in his second major league season, has elevated his game so far by dropping his ERA by more than four runs and increasing his K rate by over a strikeout and a half per nine innings. He still struggles with the control at times but has only walked two batters over his last two starts. In the high $7K/low $8K range on both sites, he is safe in all formats and makes a nice GPP pivot on FanDuel to load up on bats.


Matt Carpenter - daily fantasy baseball stacks - lineuplab

**STARTING STACK**

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Antonio Senzatela (COL)
Park – Coors Field (Hitter Positive)
Vegas – (STL -125)
Vegas Total (10.5)

The start of the long weekend begins with another series opening up in Coors Field. I hesitate to use the Rockies tonight as they face a pretty darn good pitcher in Carlos Martinez but the visiting Cardinals sit in a great spot tonight and projected for the most runs on the slate. They have been up and down this season sitting just two games over .500 and in the bottom half of the league in overall runs but have scored five or more runs in 10 straight wins and I have a feeling they will get that win tonight so fire them up. They face a rookie pitcher who has started to regress after a hot start and has given up eight earned runs over his last two starts and just doesn’t miss any bats with a sub 7% swinging strike rate. Senzatela has also struggled more vs. left-handed bats so make sure to get Dexter Fowler and Matt Carpenter into your stack.

**Stay tuned later this afternoon for my daily YouTube video going over a few more pitching and stacking options for tonight. You can find the video on my Twitter feed (@Jager_Bombs9) or on the LineupLab Twitter feed (@LineupLab).**

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 05/25/17

by Mike Barner 0 Comments

*Chris Durell*

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks – Sunday, May 25

Sunday brings 16 games on the schedule, so there are plenty of options to choose from for your DFS entry. There are a few staff aces taking the mound, but there are also several weak starters that you can take advantage of. Put your favorite daily fantasy baseball 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

Jacob deGrom
Opponent – vs. SD
Park – Citi Field(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas Favorite (NYM -205)
Vegas Total (7.5)

The Yankees/Royals game was postponed earlier in the day and there is a 30-60% chance of rain in this one as well so be sure to double check the forecast prior to lineup lock. The weather makes this more of a GPP play tonight but deGrom most definitely as the highest upside of any pitcher. He is coming off his best start of the season where he shut out the Angels over seven innings while striking out nine batters en route to his third win of the season. Four times this year he has recorded double-digit strikeouts and his elite 12.3 K/9 rate have him sitting behind only Danny Salazar and Chris Sale through almost two months of the season. He now gets a plus matchup vs. the Padres who have struggled to a .276 wOBA and 69 wRC+ over the last seven days and have struck out just over 24% of the time this season vs. right-handed pitching.

Drew Pomeranz
Opponent – vs. TEX
Park – Fenway Park
Vegas Favorite (BOS -210)
Vegas Total (9.0)

If the weather scares you away from deGrom and the Mets tonight, consider Drew Pomeranz in the mid $7K range on both sites. Looking at the numbers, we quickly realize that the salary is a mega bargain. Two bad starts where he has allowed six or more earned runs and his inability to get deep into games has inflated is ERA to 4.97 but the xFIP is running over a run lower so there is light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, he comes into tonight with an above average 10.7 K/9 rate and outside those two bad starts has held opponents to two earned runs or less in each of the other six starts. He now gets to face a Rangers team that has really struggled vs. southpaws this year ranking 25th in wOBA(.291) and striking out over 24% of the time.



Stacks

Detroit Tigers vs. Mike Fiers (HOU)
Park – Minute Maid Park(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas – (DET +120)
Vegas Total (9.0)

While there are other teams with higher projected implied runs, the Tigers are my top stack of the night. They are right around league average in hitting vs. right-handed pitching but Mike Fiers is no regular pitcher. It’s been a bit of a tire Fier all year for him as he has given up a league-high 17 home runs including at least one in every start. That is great news for a team that is starting to get healthy with Miguel Cabrera and J.D. Martinez back in the lineup. Miggy is still trying to find his hall of fame form but J.D. Martinez has started his season in style. Through 11 games and 45 plate appearances, he has six home runs and 12 RBI to go along with a .564 wOBA and 270 wRC+. Alex Avila makes a nice play at catcher in the stack if he is again hitting in the top half of the lineup.

MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks for 05/24/17

by Cory Hanley 0 Comments

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks for 05/24/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite players 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.

This season, new with our MLB Subscription Package we offer Daily Fantasy Graphs.

Chris Sale - MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel - Lineuplab.com

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Chris Sale vs. Texas Rangers
Park – Fenway Park

It’s absolutely astonishing what Chris Sale has accomplished; he has become the first pitcher since 1913(C!!) to record nine straight games with at least 10 strikeouts. Think about that for a minute; Babe Ruth didn’t even begin his MLB career until 1914, this record stood before Ruth over 100 years ago! If that doesn’t completely blow your mind as a fan of baseball, I’m not sure what will. As far as elite pitchers go today, he is the cream of the crop. The price is most certainly high, but Sale’s production has been insane. Texas doesn’t do great versus southpaws, with a K-rate of 22.5%, Sale just might see ten straight games with at least 10 K’s and this is a game you don’t want to miss.

Julio Teheran vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Park – SunTrust Park

Teheran has been a hard pitcher to nail down. You would think he would be performing better this year than he has. He struggles at home (10.50 ERA in 5 starts) but seems to pitch like an ace on the road (0.71 ERA in four starts). Even though he is at home tonight, the saving grace could be the fact that he is facing a pitiful Pittsburgh Pirates team, who have only managed 127 runs in 46 games versus righties. The Pirates haven’t scored an earned run against him in over 14 2/3 innings. This could be a saving grace GPP play as many people will avoid him because of his numbers versus the BlueJays last time out.

Evan Longoria - MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel - Lineuplab

**OFFENSIVE BATTERS**

Here are a few of my favorite offensive hitters that I am going to build my lineups around. The players that I have the most exposure to will be in bold.

*CATCHERS*
Wilson Contreras – We know that Moore can struggle with his command but is very far away from an elite pitcher.

Evan Gattis – Gattis has been one of the most underrated catchers this year, a guy who is hitting in one of the best lineups in the league. He is currently batting in the middle of the order, which leads me to believe he is in a prime spot to knock in multiple runs today.

*FIRST BASEMAN*
**Ryan Zimmerman** – He has been a little streaky this season. Could last night’s performance be a taste of what’s to come?
Brandan Belt

*SECOND BASEMAN*
Robinson Cano
Neil Walker

*THIRD BASEMAN*
**Evan Longoria** – Small sample size but great matchup versus Nolasco. In 20 plate appeareances he has 5 hits (1 HR) for a .263/.300/.526.
Kris Bryant

*SHORTSTOP*
**Jean Segura** – With Cano back and Roark on the mound, this could be the chance that the M’s snap the losing streak. Look for Segura to play a critical part in this if it happens.
Trea Turner

*OUTFIELD*
**Carlos Gonzalez** – In the past week he possesses a .357/.455/.557, in other words he’s spittin’ hot fiyah!
Chris Young
Mike Trout
Matt Kemp
Kole Calhoun

MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks for 05/23/17

by Cory Hanley 0 Comments

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks for 05/23/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite players 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.

This season, new with our MLB Subscription Package we offer Daily Fantasy Graphs.

Lance McCullers - MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel - Lineuplab

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Clayton Kershaw vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Park – Dodger Stadium

By now do you really need reasons to play Clayton Kershaw? Even though the price point is extremely high, it is versus the St. Louis Cardinals. They have a lot of trouble versus lefties, so you can only imagine the pain that Kershaw will bring. They currently sit 2nd to last in runs scored on the season vs. southpaws (29) and 2nd to last in dingers (5). Kershaw is having a spectacular season in 62.2 innings pitched he has 62 strikeouts with only 8 Walks. If you have enough salary to fit him into your lineups then go for it, he should pitch one hell of a game.

Lance McCullers vs. Detroit Tigers
Park – Minute Maid Park

Lance is one of the best strikeout pitchers on this slate, currently sitting at 60 K’s in only 54.1 innings pitched. Houston comes into this game heavily favored (-220) at Minute Maid Park. Even though it’s against a tough, top-heavy Detroit Tigers team in his last 4 Home games McCullers has averaged 48.3 Fanduel points. The Astros currently own the best record in baseball at 30-15 (.667).

Cargo Gonzalez - MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel - lineuplab.com

 

**OFFENSIVE BATTERS**

Here are a few of my favorite offensive hitters that I am going to build my lineups around. The players that I have the most exposure to will be in bold.

*CATCHERS*
Gary Sanchez
Jason Castro

*FIRST BASEMAN*
**Paul Goldschmidt** – Covey, one of the weakest pitchers on the slate tonight giving up 3.85 FD points/PA.
Jay Bruce

*SECOND BASEMAN*
Starlin Castro
Brandon Phillips

*THIRD BASEMAN*
**Miguel Sano** – Perfect lineup two nights in a row, can he make it three?
Kris Bryant

*SHORTSTOP*
Trea Turner
Brandan Crawford

*OUTFIELD*
**Carlos Gonzalez** – Has scored 17.8 Fanduel points in his past 4 games, look for this to continue versus Eflin.
Charlie Blackmon
Michael Conforto
David Peralta
Andrew Mccutchen

MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks for 05/22/17

by Cory Hanley 0 Comments

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks for 05/22/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite players 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.

This season, new with our MLB Subscription Package we offer Daily Fantasy Graphs.

Michael Pineda - MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel - Lineuplab.com

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Zack Greinke vs. Chicago White Sox
Park – Chase Field

Greinke versus the White Sox? Chalky, yes but also this could be the matchup of the night. Greinke comes into the game solid this year, winning his last three starts. The White Sox come into the game dead last in hard-contact rate versus righties (27.6%) and 6th to last in wRC+ (84). Greinke is already hard to hit as it is, with insane control over his mid 90’s fastball and sensational offspeed pitches. He walks very few batters while striking out a lot (11/66 for a 6:1 ratio.) I see him being one of the top pitchers of the night.

 

Michael Pineda vs. Kansas City Royals
Park – Yankee Stadium

Pineda has looked pretty solid this season. He is the top projected pitcher of the night (37) and with only a Fanduel price point of 8700 is nearly a bargain. He leads all of tonight’s pitchers in xFIP (2.00), and is third in K/9 (10.8) for the season. The last time out versus the Royals Pineda was effective earning a Quality Start while winning the game striking out 5 and giving up six hits over six innings pitched. The Royals have been dreadful all season, tied for 2nd to last in wRC+ (76), having only a .230 average (3rd to last), and dead last in total runs scored (145). Pineda should have no trouble defeating the Royals once again tonight.

Chris Davis - MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel

**OFFENSIVE BATTERS**

Here are a few of my favorite offensive hitters that I am going to build my lineups around. The players that I have the most exposure to will be in bold.

*CATCHERS*
Gary Sanchez
Wilson Contreras

*FIRST BASEMAN*
**Chris Davis** – Baltimore is my favorite stack of the day. Hitting against the struggling Kyle Gibson (0-4, 8.2 ERA). (14 PA – .364/.500/.636)
Edwin Encarnacion

*SECOND BASEMAN*
**Brian Dozier** – solid BvP vs. Ubaldo (23 PA – .318/.48/.409)
Ben Zobrist

*THIRD BASEMAN*
Kris Bryant
Miguel Sano

*SHORTSTOP*
Francisco Lindor
Freddy Galvis

*OUTFIELD*
**Adam Jones** – Has homered against Kyle Gibson. Gibson will get hammered today.
Mark Trumbo
Carlos Gonzalez
Aaron Judge
Andrew McCutchen

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 05/21/2017

by Mike Barner 0 Comments

*Mike Barner*

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks – Sunday, May 21

Sunday brings 16 games on the schedule, so there are plenty of options to choose from for your DFS entry. There are a few staff aces taking the mound, but there are also several weak starters that you can take advantage of. Put your favorite daily fantasy baseball 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.

Stephen Strasburg - daily fantasy baseball stacks - lineuplab

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Stephen Strasburg vs. Atlanta Braves
Park – SunTrust Park

Strasburg has allowed three runs or less in seven of his eight starts this season and has a 3.42 ERA overall. He continues to be a solid source of strikeouts as well as he has 48 in 52.2 innings. Strasburg faced the Braves earlier this season and had success as he allowed two runs to go along with 10 strikeouts over seven innings. With the Braves down their best hitter in Freddie Freemen, this has the makings of another excelling outing for Strasburg.

Zack Godley vs. San Diego Padres
Park – Petco Park

Godley has made three starts this season and allowed two runs or less while striking out at least six batters in all three outings. He already faced the Padres once this season and allowed two runs to go along with six strikeouts over five innings. The Padres have one of the worst offenses in all of baseball, so it’s no fluke that Godley had success against them previously. If you are looking to save money at starting pitcher, Godley presents a nice opportunity.

Nolan Arenado - daily fantasy baseball stacks - lineuplab

**OFFENSIVE STACKS**

Colorado Rockies vs. Bronson Arroyo (Cincinnati Reds)
Park – Great American Ball Park

Arroyo provides the Reds with veteran leadership, but he’s been just awful on the mound as he has a 6.31 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. He doesn’t have the stuff to overpower hitters, evident by the fact that he only has 26 strikeouts in 41.1 innings. The Rockies have one of the best lineups in baseball anyways, making this a great match up against Arroyo.

Players to consider stacking: Mark Reynolds, Nolan Arenado and DJ LeMahieu

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Vance Worley (Miami Marlins)
Park – Dodger Stadium

Worley will be making his first start of the season Sunday after pitching primarily in relief for the Baltimore Orioles in 2016. He hasn’t started more than eight games in a season since he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2014. Strikeouts aren’t his forte either as he only has 447 in 595.1 career innings. Don’t expect him to be able to hold down the Dodgers lineup.

Players to consider stacking: Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager and Adrian Gonzalez

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 05/19/17

by Cory Hanley 0 Comments

*Chris Durell*

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks – Thursday, May 19

Welcome back for another exciting day of daily fantasy baseball stacks. After a couple of days of smaller slates, we are back with a full slate on Friday. The pitching is also a lot more inviting with a nice mix of high-end aces and value options if you are looking to make a pivot in GPP’s. 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.


Chris Sale Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks Lineuplab

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Chris Sale
Opponent – @ OAK
Park – Oakland Coliseum (Pitcher Positive)
Vegas Favorite (BOS -200)
Vegas Total (7.5)

There is no debate who the ace is on the slate tonight with Chris Sale on the bump. He comes into tonight with a 4-2 record through his first eight starts as a Red Sox and that could be better had it not been for the offensive support or lack thereof. That part of the equation is out of his control so let’s focus on the things that are fully in his control, like his K rate. Sale has now struck out 10+ batters in seven straight starts to give him an elite 13.04 K/9 rate, just slightly behind league leader Danny Salazar. The difference between the two pitchers is clearly control as Sale walks half the batters Salazar does and sits with a much better ERA that sits at 2.15 on the season. Although he works with just three pitchers (Fastball, Slider and Changeup), he is utterly ruthless with them and is creating a rather high 16% swing and miss right now. Tonight he gets the pleasure of traveling to Oakland Coliseum where he receives a huge park boost and faces an A’s team that ranks 21st in wOBA vs. left-handed pitchers and strikes out just under 24% of the time. Lock Sale into your lineups in all formats.

Luis Severino
Opponent – @ TB
Park – Tropicana Field(Neutral)
Vegas (NYY -130)
Vegas Total (8.0)

My second pitcher option of the night lacks the safety of others in his price range, but that should help keep his ownership down, making him a terrific risk/reward GPP target. For safety, you can roll out Jacob deGrom or even Alex Wood who is a big favorite tonight, but I like risk and will ride or die with Luis Severino. He has improved each year in the bigs and currently sits with a 10.1 K/9 rate to go with an above average 50.9% ground ball rate. Through seven starts in 2017, he has held opponents to three earned runs or less five times and has really improved his walk rate (2.1 BB/9). The risk comes with the fact he can get hit hard and when he is a little off his game the balls start flying out of the yard as his 20% HR/FB clearly show. The Rays have been slightly better at home this season, but the good news is they have been striking out over 30% of the time over the past seven days and 26% of the time vs. left-handed pitching this season. Like I said earlier, he isn’t a safe play in cash games but a good pivot off the other more attractive “safe” plays in tournaments.


Paul Goldschmidt Daily Fantasy Baseball Stack Lineuplab

**OFFENSIVE STACKS**

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. San Diego Padres (Jered Weaver)
Park – Petco Park (Pitcher Positive)
Vegas (ARI -135)
Vegas Total (8.5)

The park is certainly a downgrade going to Petco, but the matchup is good enough that we can ignore the pitcher’s environment tonight. The D-Backs travel to San Diego to take on the Padres and gas can Jered Weaver, who should be targeted against EVERY time he is on the mound. He strikes out less than five batters per nine and of all the pitchers on the bump today, Weaver leads them all with an awful 26.4% HR/FB rate after allowing 14 long balls through eight starts. Even his 6.05 ERA doesn’t appear to have much upside as the xFIP sits just a run lower at 5.09 and now he gets to face a top 5 hitting team against right-handed pitching. The D-Backs also lead all teams with a .397 wOBA and 141 wRC+ over the past seven days and have also clubbed 14 home runs along the way. Center your stack around Paul Goldschmidt at first base and then wait for the lineup card to come out to see which players to fit in around him.

Chicago White Sox vs. Seattle Mariners (Ariel Miranda)
Park – Safeco Field (Pitcher Positive)
Vegas (CWS +100)
Vegas Total (8.0)

Don’t get me wrong; there are other stacks with a higher projected run total tonight.With Sale on the mound, I wanted to find a more affordable option to pair with him without giving up too much upside along the way. Enter Sale’s former team the White Sox who have been disappointing overall sitting five games under .500 but have hit well against southpaws. They currently rank 5th in wOBA (.338) and 3rd in wRC+(113) vs. left-handed pitching while only striking out 16.7% of the time (2nd fewest against LH). Although the wins haven’t been coming on a regular basis, they have also been hot offensively lately scoring 35 runs over their past five games coming into tonight’s matchup. They will face Ariel Miranda who has shown some K upside (8.3 K/9) but has been somewhat wild (3.05 BB/9) and gives up a ton of fly balls(44.6%). Even though the park is forgiving, a flyball pitcher vs. a hot hitting team is a recipe for disaster. Let’s take advantage and center our White Sox stack around Jose Abreu, Todd Frazier, and Avisail Garcia. For value, pay attention to the lineup card as Yolmer Sanchez makes a top value play in the stack if he is again near the top of the order.

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for 05/18/17

by Cory Hanley 2 Comments

*Chris Durell*

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks – Thursday, May 18

Thursday brings us another split slate with six games early and five games on the main slate. The lack of elite pitching tonight will mean it is likely a GPP night where we can almost afford any bats we want. Put your favorite daily fantasy baseball 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.

This season, new with our MLB Subscription Package we offer Daily Fantasy Graphs. We wanted to create a tool that gives users the ability to visualize data points for Hitters and Pitchers by showing DFS salaries/fantasy points over time. If any of you come from the world of Stocks or Equities Trading, you will immediately understand the usefulness of these charts. Just as price and volume are essential in understanding a stocks movement, points and salary are core for DFS.


Trevor Cahill - Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks - Lineuplab.com

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Early Slate

Trevor Cahill
Opponent – vs. MIL
Park – Petco Park (Pitcher Positive)
Vegas Favorite (SD -130)
Vegas Total (8.0)

The options are slim at the pitcher position on the early slate which thrusts Trevor Cahill into the top spot today. It could be worse as Cahill comes into today’s matchup with a 3.27 ERA and 3.03 xFIP which tops all pitchers on the early slate. Not to mention his 11.1 K/9 rate and 13.8% swinging strike rate and while those are not sustainable, it works right into his favor today as the Brewers strike out 24.6% of the time vs. right-handed pitching. Even when Cahill is not striking guys out, he is getting them out with an elite 60% ground ball rate and today will be at home in Petco Park, one of the best pitchers parks in the big leagues. While he seems more of a GPP option, he is the safest of all the pitchers on the early slate if you are playing cash games.

Main Slate

Jordan Montgomery
Opponent – @ KC
Park – Kauffman Stadium (Neutral)
Vegas (NYY -105)
Vegas Total (8.5)

The options don’t get much better on the main slate, so I lean in the direction of the best matchup plus upside. Enter rookie Jordan Montgomery who has been inconsistent but not awful through his first six starts. He has struggled with his control walking almost four batters per nine innings but has also shown nice K upside with an 8.7 K/9 rate and elite 13.4% swinging strike rate. He has made it through the sixth inning in four of his six starts and limited opponents to three earned runs or less in five of those six starts. He now gets a plus matchup vs. the Royals who rank dead last in runs scored (120) in the entire league. The Royals have also been a worse hitting team vs. left-handed pitching with a league-low .259 wOBA and 57 wRC+. Be sure to check the wind forecast before lock as it was blowing out hard last night. It won’t affect my decision too much as Montgomery has a limited hard contact (23.5%) this season and suppressed the home runs (6.5% HR/FB). Same with Cahill in that Montgomery isn’t a cash consideration on a normal slate but tonight with limited options, he is as safe as they come.

Chris Davis - Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks - Lineuplab.com

**DAILY FANTASY BASEBALL STACKS**

Early Slate

Baltimore Orioles vs. Detroit Tigers (Jordan Zimmerman)
Park – Comerica Park (Neutral)
Vegas (BAL -110)
Vegas Total (10.0)

We will start out by picking on Jordan Zimmerman on the early slate today. Since beating the Red Sox in his first start of the season, he has struggled giving up 26 earned runs in his last six outings. He comes into today’s matchup with a 6.28 ERA and a 5.86 xFIP that suggests things aren’t going to get much better anytime soon. Digging deeper we can see why as he is only striking out just over five batters per nine and is giving up a juicy 42.3% hard contact rate on 48% flyballs. That is a recipe for disaster and explains the nine home runs he has given up on the year. This plays perfectly into the hands of the Orioles who sit with a .372 wOBA and .236 ISO over the past seven days. Slugger Chris Davis has found his groove lately and been one of the hottest O’s with four home runs and seven runs batted in over the past seven days. He is surrounded by terrific hitters in Adam Jones, Manny Machado, and another power bat in Mark Trumbo to complete the four-man stack. For value, watch lineup card closely when it’s released as Trey Mancini (.449 wOBA/190 wRC+ vs. RH pitching) and Seth Smith (.383 wOBA/1144 wRC+ vs. RH pitching) make excellent salary relief options.

Main Slate

Seattle Mariners vs. Chicago White Sox (Dylan Covey)
Park – Safeco Field (Pitcher Positive)
Vegas (SEA -170)
Vegas Total (9.0)

Turning to the five-game main slate, this matchup is going to get a lot of attention from a stacking perspective. We have a pair of rookie pitchers going head to head and I lean the Mariners side for stacking as we know a little bit more about Dylan Covey at this point. After posting a sub 2.00 ERA in AA last year he completely skipped AAA and made his way to the bigs in 2017. Through six starts he has struggled mightily giving up 26 earned runs in just 29.1 innings pitched (7.98 ERA). He has also given up multiple home runs in three straight and four of his last five starts for a season total 37% hard contact rate against. It is a small sample size, but he has also been worse on the road. Although Safeco Field is more of a pitcher’s park, the Mariners have plenty of power to crush it out anywhere. They are usually known for their terrorizing of southpaws but also rank 9th overall in wOBA (.334) and 4th in wRC+ (116) vs. right-handed pitching. Build your daily fantasy baseball stack around their core top of the lineup in Jean Segura, Nelson Cruz, and Kyle Seager.