*Chris Durell*
DraftKings / FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks for August 3, 2017
Welcome to another Thursday in daily fantasy baseball. Today we have a split slate and with just three early games, I will be looking at my top pitcher and stacks from the 10-game main slate. Let’s take a look.
Starting Pitchers
Colin McHugh
Opponent – vs. TB
Park – Minute Maid Park (Pitcher Friendly)
Vegas Favorite (HOU -150)
Vegas Total (9.5)
My top pitcher of the night when factoring matchup, Vegas, and PTS/$ value is Colin McHugh. He made his first start of the season July 22nd after missing the first four months due to an elbow injury. He was looking good early but slipped and ended up giving up four earned runs. In his second start in Detroit, he was fantastic going six innings allowing just four hits and one earned run while striking out seven and walking just one batter. While the Rays can be a pesky team with some power upside, they do have the second-most strikeouts in the league(1052) and have seen it get worse lately striking out 26.5% of the time over the past 14 days. The best part is you can use McHugh as an SP2 on DraftKings at just $7,500 and is likely low owned on FanDuel with Rick Porcello (-250) coming at a $100 discount.
Also consider: Alex Wood (LAD)
Top Stacks
Baltimore Orioles & Detroit Tigers Game Stack
I absolutely love this game offensively from both sides tonight. The Orioles are currently -135 favorites at home in a game with the highest total and we get two pretty awful pitchers facing off. The O’s will face Matt Boyd who doesn’t necessarily give up a ton of home runs(10% HR/FB rate) but has given up three or more earned runs in 10 straight starts. The Tigers get the better power upside matchup vs. Chris Tillman who has been a punching bag all season. He saw his ERA drop to 7.65 after giving up eight earned runs in his last start and best of all, he has given up at least one home run in nine of his last 10 starts.
Orioles Players to Stack – Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Chris Davis, Jonathan Schoop, Wellington Castillo
Tigers Players to Stack – Jim Adduci, Ian Kinsler, Miguel Cabrera, Justin Upton
Minnesota Twins vs. A.J. Griffin
This stack is likely to be low owned due to some rain concerns(40% chance) and the fact the Twins offense just hasn’t been that great this season. I like their upside tonight facing A.J. Griffin who is making his return from an intercostal sprain(chest) that caused him to sit on the DL since the end of May. Before going down, he was having a rough time of it giving up 17 earned runs over 9.2 innings(3 starts) including eight home runs. Until I see him fully regain his form, I will target him for big upside no matter who the team is. Tonight it’s the Twins.
Top Players to Stack – Brian Dozier, Robbie Grossman, Miguel Sano, Eduardo Escobar