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DraftKings FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks for June 29, 2017

by Chris Durell 0 Comments

*Chris Durell*

DraftKings / FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks for June 29, 2017

Welcome back for another split Thursday in daily fantasy baseball. In the article below, I will be looking at some of the top pitchers and stacks for the eight games main slate tonight. Let’s jump right in.

Put your favorite Draftkings / Fanduel MLB Lineup Picks 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


Clayton Kershaw
Opponent – @LAA
Park – Angel Stadium of Anaheim (Neutral)
Vegas Favorite (LAD -210)
Vegas Total (8.0)

Starting right at the top, we get the best pitcher on the planet tonight. The concern all season has been the price vs. the production and while it was close to sub-optimal early on, Kershaw appears back on an elite pace. He had a hiccup vs. the Mets two starts ago but has limited opponents to a .175 average in June while striking out 12.2 batters per nine with an elite 5.6 strikeout to walk ratio. The Angels have been a scrappy team since losing Mike Trout but still rank in the bottom third of the league in hitting vs. left-handed pitching and strike out right around league average. The Dodgers are huge -210 favorites boosting Kershaw’s win potential which makes him playable in all formats tonight.

 

J.A. Happ
Opponent – vs. BAL
Park – Rogers Center (Hitters Park)
Vegas Favorite (TOR -190)
Vegas Total (10.0)

If you are looking for a viable SP2 on DraftKings or a low-owned GPP pivot on FanDuel, target J.A. Happ who appears to be back on track after spending over a month on the disabled list. He was rusty in his first start giving up five earned runs to the A’s in early June but has limited opponents to just four earned runs in 19.1 innings pitched since. The best part about Happ is that he comes with added upside this season as he is carrying a 9.9 K/9 rate into this matchup with Orioles who are striking out over 25% of the time vs. left-handed pitching and rank in the bottom half of the league in wOBA and wRC+. There is definitely risk tied to this game with a high Vegas total but Happ should be easily low owned with two elite options above him making him a great GPP pivot with upside.

 

Stacks of the Night

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Homer Bailey (CIN)

Start your stacks tonight by targeting Homer Bailey who is still making his way back to full health after he had surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow in the offseason. He wasn’t able to get in any spring training and missed the first two and half months of the season. He made his return to the Reds last Saturday and was greeted by the top offense in the league who scored eight earned runs off him in just 1.2 innings pitched. The Brewers aren’t quite at the level of the Nats this season but still rank Top 10 in overall runs scored and they also rank Top 10 in wOBA, wRC+ and ISO vs. right-handed pitching. The left-handed bats are the top target for the Brew Crew as Bailey has struggled much more vs. southpaws dating back to the 2013 season.

Top Players to Stack – Eric Sogard, Eric Thames, Travis Shaw, Ryan Braun

Value Options – Domingo Santana, Manuel Pina

 

 

 

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (BAL)

The Blue Jays are likely to be the chalkier stack tonight but also come with a bit more upside considering their implied run total is almost a full run higher than the Brewers. The Jays offense has struggled in 2017 ranking 26th in overall runs scored but the run line has much more to do with the matchup vs. Ubaldo Jimenez. When stacking offenses we want home run potential and Ubaldo gives us just that. Since returning to the rotation in mid-June, he has given up 11 earned runs in 9.1 innings pitched with back to back games with multiple home runs giving him a 22.2% HR/FB rate for the season. Look for the Jays to tee off tonight.

Top Players to Stack – Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson, Justin Smoak, Kendrys Morales

Value Options – Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin

MLB Fantasy Lineup Today – June 26, 2017

by Austyn Varney 0 Comments

*Austyn Varney*

MLB Fantasy Lineup Today – June 26, 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.

MLB Fantasy Lineup Today - Chris Sale - Lineup Lab

Starting Pitchers

Chris Sale
Opponent – Vs. MIN
Park – Fenway Park
Vegas Favorite (BOS -193)
Vegas Total (8.5)

When Chris Sale is pitching you can certainly expect to find him in this spot. He is always going to be the top pitcher on the slate and I actually thought he would be more expensive tonight. That’s not to say he’s cheap, still forcing you to pay down in numerous spots to afford him. The problem is you don’t really have a strong alternative. Sure, there are some talented guys on the slate. There is nobody who compares to Chris Sale in Fenway Park. Sale has been absolutely dominant to start this ’17 campaign, posting a combined wOBA of .242. He’s also striking out 12.2 batters per 9 innings, which is very telling in itself. His peripherals suggest, if anything, he’s actually just getting a bit unlucky. The point is Chris Sale is amazing and he’s going to have some insane games on the season. This could certainly be one, facing off with the Twins at home in Fenway. The Twins offense is slightly scary, but hot too bad. Miguel Sano and Brian Dozier are the only 2 real worry spots, albeit very real ones On a side note, I actually don’t hate rostering either one of the guys in large-field tournaments. Getting back to this match-up, the Twins leave a lot to be desired. They strikeout 22% of the time against lefties and have a few guys who have simply no shot against Sale. Kepler, Polanco, Grossman, and Castro have all struck out over 25% of the time against lefties and have absolutely no chance against Sale. If you want to play cash games on this slate, I would advise finding a way to fit Sale. He’s the clear top options and makes for the top player in both formats.

 

Jeff Samardzija
Opponent – Vs. COL
Park – AT&T Park
Vegas Favorite (SF -120)
Vegas Total (8.5)

After Sale, we see a pretty steep fall to the number 2. There are definitely a lot of ways you can go here, but I ended up on Jeff Samardzija. Jeff “Shark” Samardzija is a guy who will consistently put up solid games, though he’ll rarely step out of that comfort zone and wow. He has a very safe match-up tonight, facing the Rockies porous offense in AT&T Park. A lot of people have the perception that the Rockies are an elite offense. If you put 25 of these MLB offenses in Coors Field for half of their games, they would be better. The Rockies ranked 26th in terms of wOBA in 2016 on the road and can’t get away from it at AT&T Park. It has ben in the bottom 3 for hitting for many years in a row now and against righties, good luck. Samardzija has held a .302 wOBA against righties, so the likes of Arenado, Reynolds, and LeMahieu should be held down at the top of the order. CarGo and Blackmon are the 2 obvious trouble pieces and it may come down to whether or not he can avoid them. When looking at the other options you have to choose from, I’ll take Samardzija in AT&T Park. Some may also make an argument for his counterpart in German Marquez, which I don’t hate, but only in tournaments.

MLB Fantasy Lineup Today - Cody Bellinger - Lineup Lab

Offensive Stacks

Los Angeles Dodgers Vs. Los Angeles Angels (Ricky Nolasco R)
Park – Dodger Stadium

The Dodgers are a pretty easy offense to love tonight. For god’s sake, they face Ricky Nolasco. Ricky Nolasco was a pitcher who used to stifle offenses, but that was about 50 years ago. He’s now posting a .390 wOBA against righties and a .360 against lefties. He moves into Dodger Stadium, which is actually a slight upgrade from Angels Stadium. The Dodgers are obviously one of the more lethal offenses in all of the league, possessing bats from both side of the plate that rakes righties. We start off with Babe Ruth. I mean Cody Bellinger. Bellinger and Corey Seager have been ridiculous against righties this season and look to be the future of this franchise. They will both remain in every Dodgers stack I create. You then work into Justin Turner, who is very safe as well. As a righty, he swings it better against opposing righties, which plays into Nolasco and his reverse splits. Once you get past Turner, you can go a ton of different ways, wait for the lineup to come out and take your pick.

Main Stack – Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, Logan Forsythe/Chase Utley (leadoff)

Sneaky Stack – Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig

New York Yankees @ Chicago White Sox (Dylan Holmberg L)
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field

The Yankees offense is another pretty obvious one on this slate. This slate is a bit odd, with only a few games and a few offenses that stand far above the rest. Even if the Yankees do end up being popular, I see the merit in going here. They are raking what seems like every night and I certainly don’t see Dylan Holmberg slowing that down. Holmberg has been decent in hos own right, but not really. A .220 BABIP throws absolutely every number out of the window. The regression monster is going to come and it’s probably going to come tonight. Gary Sanchez may seem like the obvious choice, but he’s actually better against lefties. That’s not to say I’ll be avoiding him. I just think he sees an inflated ownership tag. Aaron Judge is my favorite of the bunch with Aaron Hicks emerging next, both holding a .400+ wOBA against lefties. You then get into Starlin Castro and Matt Holliday, who are very safe and have HR upside as well. After that, you don’t have a lot with this team. You know where to look and who to target. Guaranteed Rate Field is a + park for hitting and the righties should have a better time here than they do at home in Yankee Stadium. All in all, the Yankees are one of the top offenses on the day and you will want to make sure you get exposure one way or another.

Main Stack – Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Starlin Castro, Matt Holliday

Sneaky Stack – Aaron Judge, Matt Holliday, Gary Sanchez, Aaron Hicks

DraftKings FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks for June 23, 2017

by Chris Durell 0 Comments

*Chris Durell*

DraftKings / FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks for June 23, 2017

Welcome back for another TGIF edition of my daily fantasy baseball picks. With no afternoon games today, we get a full 15 game slate tonight. This gives us tons of different slates on both sites so be sure to get your subscription to the tools here at LineupLab to help you build better lineups. Let’s jump in and take a look at a couple pitchers to build around and some stacking options for tournaments.

Put your favorite Draftkings / Fanduel MLB Lineup Picks 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

DraftKings FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks - Lineuplab - Chris Archer

Chris Archer
Opponent – vs. BAL
Park -Tropicana Field (Pitchers Park)
Vegas Favorite (TB -225)
Vegas Total (9.0)

The Rays are hanging on in the American League East thanks to their sparkling 23-16 home record which is second best in the league. After taking two of three from the Reds earlier in the week the Rays have now won seven of their last 10 home games and open a series with the Orioles tonight with their ace toeing the rubber. Chris Archer has given up some runs this year and sits with a 3.75 ERA but makes up for it in fantasy with his very high floor thanks to an elite 11.2 K/9 rate(4th in the league). The only knock on Archer this season has been the high walk rate(2.84 BB/9) but the good news is he faces an Orioles team that walks less than all but two teams in the league(6.6%) vs. right-handed pitching. Archer has also had some trouble with lefties(.335 wOBA) this season while dominating righties(.249 wOBA) and another bump in the projections is the fact Chris Davis(O’s most powerful LH bat) is out of the lineup. Look for Archer and the Rays to open the series with a dominating performance from their ace. He is safe in all formats.


J.A. Happ
Opponent – @ KC
Park – Kauffman Stadium (Pitchers Park)
Vegas Favorite (TOR -125)
Vegas Total (9.5)

His salary is back up in the $8K range on both sites but Happ still brings a lot of value to the table in this matchup. He spent a month and a half on the disabled list in April and May and struggled in his first two starts back but has been much better lately. Over his last two starts, Happ has allowed just three earned runs in 12.2 innings pitched with 17 strikeouts and just one walk while limiting the hard contact to 28%. He appears back in the form we saw last season when he posted a career-high 20 wins and the best part is the increase in strikeouts, even though I don’t think he maintains a rate over 10 per nine. As long as he keeps limiting the free passes (1.7 BB/9), he will give himself a much better shot at getting deeper into games and a shot at more wins. Tonight he gets a park upgrade as the Jays travel to Kauffman Stadium to take on a Royals team that ranks in the bottom third of the league vs. left-handed pitching. The opening line has Happ as a -125 favorite and I wouldn’t be surprised if it got even bigger closer to lineup lock. Happ makes an excellent SP2 on DraftKings or contrarian GPP play on FanDuel.

 

 

Stacks of the Night

DraftKings FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks - Lineuplab - Francisco Lindor

Cleveland Indians vs. Adalberto Mejia (MIN)

I will be targeting the Indians heavily as my top stack in tournaments and even some smaller two and three-man stacks in cash games. They currently sit as big -170 favorites with the third highest implied run projection tonight as the Twins come to town to open a weekend series. The Indians have been red hot lately winning eight of their last nine games while scoring 68 runs which is an average of 7.5 runs per game. They will be facing rookie start Adalberto Mejia who has struggled in his first attempt as a major league starter. He is walking over 4.5 batters per nine innings and while he has only had one blow up game (8 ER to the Mariners), he will not be able to sustain such a high walk rate. He enters tonight’s matchup with a 5.53 ERA and 5.31 xFIP while also giving up an 18% HR/FB rate. All signs point to the Indians having their way with Mejia tonight. They rank 12th in wOBA and 10th in wRC+ vs. left-handed pitching and have some hitters that can take us to GPP glory tonight.

Top Players to Stack – Edwin Encarnacion, Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez

Value Options – Austin Jackson, Yan Gomes

 

DraftKings FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks - Lineuplab - Corey Seager

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Kyle Freeland (COL)

The Dodgers are down the list a bit when looking at implied run projections and I think this helps with their ownership tonight. Along with the Indians, they are arguably the hottest team in the league winning seven straight and 13 of their last 14 games. They have sustained the winning streak with some timely pitching but most of all from their consistent and powerful offense. During those last 14 games, they have scored a total of 98 runs on their opponents which works out to seven runs per game. Over the last 14 days, they sit with a .400 wOBA and 153 wRC+ as a team and should be able to keep that pace up going up against Kyle Freeland tonight. He is another pitcher who has struggled with his control(3.53 BB/9) but has gotten away with it for the most part. While you would think a pitcher for the Rockies would have splits favoring the road but it is a different story for Freeland who has an ERA close to a half run more on the road while allowing opponents a wOBA of .345 while holding them to a .309 wOBA in Coors. It doesn’t completely make sense over a small sample size but it is something to monitor. He could be in trouble tonight as the Dodgers lineup ranks 5th in wRC+ and 10th in wOBA against left-handed pitching and make a high upside and very affordable stack.

Top Players to Stack – Logan Forsythe, Justin Turner, Corey Seager, Chris Taylor

Value Options – Enrique Hernandez, Yasiel Puig