*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.

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.

**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).**

*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.

*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.

**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.

**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

*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.

**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).

**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

*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.

**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.

**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

*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.

**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.

**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

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

DFS Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks for 05/17/17

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. 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.

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Michael Fulmer vs Baltimore Orioles
Park – Comerica Park

Last time out versus the Angels Fulmer pitched a seven-inning game in which he only gave up three hits, one of those hits ended up scoring a run which prevented him from having the shutout. The second year man has been proving himself this season, as he currently owns a 2.54 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and has struck out 42 batters over 46 innings pitched. The Baltimore Orioles are 21st out of 30th against righties in runs scored this year (120), and own a fairly high 22.2% K-rate vs. them as well. In 3 out of last four games, Fulmer was in the perfect lineup averaging 51 Fanduel points in those three games. With the Tigers favored heavily (-141) and the wind blowing in at 15 MPH, it looks like Fulmer is on par to have another 40+ fantasy point day.

Matt Shoemaker vs Chicago White Sox
Park – Angel Stadium of Anaheim

Shoemaker looked fantastic on the mound on Friday versus the Tigers. Pitching a shutout over six innings, while allowing only three hits and striking out 7. Shoemaker is facing a weak White Sox team who are struggling this year to put runs on the board (6th to last at 155 total runs). Believe it or not, the Sox are even slightly worse against righties, having a .141 ISO and a .308 wOBA. Last season Shoemaker had one of the highlight games of his career versus CHW. Pitching a complete game shutout while giving up six hits and striking out 13. He earned a mesmerizing 78 Fanduel points that night at home. That’s where he faces the White Sox once again, as he hopes to duplicate that powerful performance.

**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** – Going back to the well on Sanchez, as he performed for an incredible 31 Fanduel points last night. Tonight he is going the soft tossing (low 90’s fastball) Jason Vargas.

Victor Martinez- Hitting against Ubaldo Jimenez someone who lacks command and when he is off, he is one of the worst pitchers in the league. Martinez has the hottest hitter behind him in the other JD Martinez, which means he should see plenty to hit.

*FIRST BASEMAN*
**Freddie Freeman** – Does this man ever cool down? In the past 14 days he owns the top 95% in barreled balls vs RHP, and is in the top 90% for exit velocity.
Joey Votto
Anthony Rizzo

*SECOND BASEMAN*
**Ian Happ** – Currently crushing value, he only costs $2,300 on FD. ($2,700 on DK)
Starlin Castro

*THIRD BASEMAN*
Kris Bryant
Corey Seager

*SHORTSTOP*
Jean Segura
Elvis Andrus

*OUTFIELD*
**Kyle Schwarber** – Look for him to continue the hot streak as the wind is blowing at Wrigley 21 MPH!
Aaron Judge
Billy Hamilton
J.D. Martinez
Adam Duvall