*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

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

DFS MLB Lineup Picks for 05/16/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Lineup picks article, 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**

Zack Greinke vs New York Mets
Park – Chase Field

Greinke is coming off of a game in which he entered the eighth inning with a no-hit bid. In that game against the Pirates, Greinke struck out 11 and only walked one batter. He seems to have gotten his mojo back this season after being introduced to the warm, unpredictable climate of Arizona. Averaging over 55 Fanduel points over two games, you certainly can’t go wrong Greinke in this spot. Most of the Mets have a hard time hitting him, in over 221 plate appearances they are batting just a .263 AVG, with a .459 SLG. In 2017, he has racked up 58 K’s with an impressive xFIP of 2.26.

Eduardo Rodriguez vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Park – Busch Stadium

With all the studs on the mound today you might snub your nose at someone like Eduardo Rodriguez but hear me out… First of all, his price comes at a bit of discount comparatively speaking. He has a quality start in his of past four outings, including a six-inning one run game against the Brewers and he is striking out hitters at an amazing clip (10.8 K/9). The young southpaw has a 30.3% strikeout percentage, with a 2.80 ERA. With the Cardinals being in the lower-tier of most of the stats versus lefties (4th to last in total runs scored (24) and home runs (5)) things could get interesting on the mound for Rodriguez. Also, note that with all of the other big names out there today he will be fairly low-owned making him a great GPP play.

**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 – When Sanchez is on a slate he should always be considered. He has the upside for multiple HRs. Catcher may be a position where you would like to save some salary to afford some higher priced position players. Jason Hammel Struggles, and he’s a solid matchup for Sanchez who has hit safely in 6/7 games.

Salvador Perez – The iron man at the catching position has a matchup vs. Sabathia today.

*FIRST BASEMAN*
Paul Goldschmidt – No need to say anything else. Just like Freeman who crushes opposite handed pitching Goldy is destroying LHP with a .409/.538/.705.

Anthony Rizzo- Facing Arroyo, the Cubs stack will likely be a popular one today. He has more than two weeks without going yard, Rizzo could be due.

*SECOND BASEMAN*
Starlin Castro – If you have been keeping up Castro has been a consistent mention in these writeups, Castro is someone that I love. , I would put Castro in the majority of my lineups without much thought, he is swinging a hot bat all season long and is among the leaders in the MLB in total hits. Making him far too inexpensive on Draftkings.

Ian Happ – The number one overall Cubs prospect ONLY if he is hitting 2nd should you lock him up in your lineups. After only two games in the MLB he is showing great promise.

*THIRD BASEMAN*
MIGUEL SANO or NOLAN ARENADO — Pick your guy, Both are in great matchups, there is no wrong choice among the two as they are both the same price on Draftkings.

*SHORTSTOP*
Chris Owings – He might go overlooked, but he will be batting on the top of the lineup for the Arizona team who is without Pollock and possibly Peralta. The Diamondbacks are facing a middle-of-the-road LHP in Tommy Milone, Owings offers speed and major fantasy point upside, making him by far the strongest play at SS today.

Didi Gregorious- A contrarian play at SS with all of the big names ut there, Didi vs. Hammels is a solid matchup who can run into problems vs. Right-handed batters.

*OUTFIELD*
**Bryce Harper** vs. Chad Kuhl, no further explanation needed.

**Carlos Gonzalez** – Cargo is heating up, no home runs recently but he is hitting bullets across the field. It would not surprise me to see a multiple home run night out of him today.

Kyle Schwaber – He has struggled quite a bit at the plate this year. Nearly almost a week without a home run, batting lead off, facing Arroyo. Just like Rizzo, it will be any time now when we see the resurgence of Schwaber.

Charlie Blackmon facing Hughes who has a tendency to give up a lot of HRs. Not only does he have power but can also get you two stolen bases in any given game. Blackmon is a could easily be one of the higher scoring outfielders on today’s slate.

Kris Davis – At $3,600 on Draftkings you would think Davis is facing Kershaw, but no, he is facing a struggling Mariners pitcher who is all over the place with his command and lacks strikeout pitches. Davis hits the ball with hard consistency as we saw last night vs. Gallardo.

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

DFS MLB Lineup Picks for 05/15/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Lineup picks article, 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**

Chase Anderson vs. San Diego Padres
Park – Petco Park

It’s no secret that the Padres are struggling, sitting in last place in one of the toughest divisions in MLB. The Padres are 4th to last in Runs scored (140) and dead last in batting average (.220). The Padres lack of runs on the board stems from their inability to get the ball in play, sitting 4th in the league in strikeouts (347). Anderson, who’s changeup leads to a lot of strikeouts, should bounce back after a no-decision against the RedSox. In 7 starts this season, Chase is currently 2-0 on the season in 39.1 innings pitched he has only 13 earned runs for a 2.97 ERA.

Jesse Chavez vs. Chicago White Sox
Park – Angel Stadium of Anaheim

Jesse Chavez may be the safe option vs. a weak White Sox team. (see also: Cash game play). The White Sox struggle vs. Right handed batters, currently 4th to last in runs scored vs. RHP (101), tied for dead last in batting average (.225), and nearly last in SLG (.356) and Total Bases (303). Chavez hasn’t been all that impressive this season, but against the Chicago White Sox you don’t have to be on your best game. When his cutters are on, he can rack up the strikeouts (35) and as of late it seems like he is finding his groove.

**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*
Yasmani Grandal
Jett Bandy

*FIRST BASEMAN*
**Eric Thames** – Perdomo is horrible vs. LHB. Thames is always a deep ball threat.
Freddie Freeman- Smashes RHP.

*SECOND BASEMAN*
**Jonathan Villar** – Perfect batting average vs. Perdomo. Though the sample size is minuscule (5) it seems like a great matchup. He is also at the start of a heater, averaging 25 Fanduel points over the past two days.
Neil Walker – Riding the hot streak, he has been smashing the last three games (28.3 Fanduel average). He faces a weak RHP tonight in Godley.

*THIRD BASEMAN*
**Jake Lamb** – He hasn’t hit a homer in 9 Games, it is about time he smashes one out of the park.
Kyle Seager – Hitting 4th with Cano out, seems like a solid matchup.

*SHORTSTOP*
SS- Jean Segura- He is swinging a good bat recently. I like the play should certainly consider.
SS- Corey Seager

*OUTFIELD*
**Mike Trout** – 29.7 Fanduel points over the past 3 games, Trout is riding a hot streak. Nice matchup against the WhiteSox tonight.
Jay Bruce
Hunter Pence
Yasiel Puig
Matt Kemp

*Chris Durell

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks – Thursday, May 12

Welcome back to another day of daily fantasy baseball stacks. I hope you had a profitable week and if not, well, it’s TGIF! There are a ton of ways to go tonight with your lineups as Clayton Kershaw is on the mound…in Coors Field! That’s right, the best pitcher in baseball enters the best hitters park in baseball. Something has to give. Let’s jump in and take a look at my top pitching options and hitter stacks for tonight’s 15 game slate. 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.

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**

Clayton Kershaw
Opponent – @ COL
Park – Coors Field (Hitter Positive)
Vegas Favorite (LAD -200)
Vegas Total (9.5)

If you are like me, you have been waiting for this matchup. It is an opportunity to get the best pitcher in baseball at a discount, but unfortunately, he travels to the high elevation of Denver, Colorado. It doesn’t bother me as Kershaw has made 18 trips to Coors Field in his career and came away with an 8-4 record and has recorded just over a strikeout per inning pitched. Yes, the ERA is 4.71, but that doesn’t scare me tonight as I am mainly a GPP player. He is still the most expensive option on FanDuel today where we only roster one pitcher but on DraftKings he comes at a $1,300 discount from Johnny Cueto making it an easy decision for me tonight. I mean, when was the last time a Coors game saw an Over/Under below 10? The Rockies have been very impressive to this point of the season, sitting ten games above .500 and in first place in the NL West but Kershaw is the great equalizer. Through sevens starts, Kershaw has a slightly lower K rate (9.8 K/9) which gets a boost tonight as the Rockies have struck out 24.3% of the time over the past seven days and 25% of the time vs. left-handed pitching. You can usually get Kershaw at a slightly lower ownership in Coors as well, and the upside greatly outweighs the risk tonight so build around the Dodgers ace.

Dylan Bundy
Opponent – @ KC
Park – Kauffman Stadium(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas (BAL -105)
Vegas Total (8.5)

From the worst pitchers park in the league to one of the best. Kauffman Stadium ranks #1 right now in run suppression, and that is great news if you want to roster Dylan Bundy tonight. He was pushed back after last night’s game was postponed and sits in a great spot. Vegas isn’t totally on board yet but give it time as I feel the line will shift in the Orioles favor. [Line moved right before publication, nice call Chris! – Editor.] I mean, the Royals are the worst offensive team in the Major Leagues. Bundy comes into this matchup with a shiny 5-1 record and has picked up a quality start in all seven starts which are huge if you are playing on FanDuel. The downside is that his K rate (5.5 K/9) has been less than impressive but should get a boost tonight as the Royals have struck out 23.5% of the time over the past seven days with just an 80 wRC+. He makes a cheap SP2 to pair with Kershaw on DraftKings and an excellent GPP salary relief option on FanDuel that allows you to stack all the bats.

** STARTING STACKS**

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Colorado Rockies (Tyler Chatwood)
Park – Coors Field (Hitter Positive)
Vegas (LAD -200)
Vegas Total (9.5)

It is an extremely low total for Coors Field, but as I mentioned above, it has everything to do with the best pitcher on the planet going for the Dodgers tonight. Give the Dodgers credit last night, making an attempted comeback after falling down ten runs after four innings. They ended up falling short of the win but should be able to carry that momentum over into today’s game which is a really big spot. The Dodgers currently sit behind the Rockies in the NL West and will not want to fall further behind as we get into the summer months. The Dodgers rank third in wOBA (.349) and fourth in wRC+ (118) vs. right-handed pitching and face Tyler Chatwood who has given up four or more earned runs in five of his seven starts. Even worse for Chatwood and better for the Dodgers hitters is that he has also given up close to a league high 33% HR/FB rate and 29% hard-contact rate. Load up on Dodgers bats tonight and start at the top of the order with Joc Pederson, Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger.

Washington Nationals vs. Philadelphia Phillies(Nick Pivetta)
Park – Nationals Park (Pitcher Positive)
Vegas (WSH -190)
Vegas Total (8.5)

I will start off by saying that this game comes with a ton of risk as there is rain in the Washington area, but it appears there is a good chance the game will play. There could be some possible delays, but as a GPP player, this does not scare me at all. I actually prefer rain threats when looking for high upside stacks as the ownership level tends to drop off in these situations. If you are risk averse, I would recommend staying away but if you can handle some risk jump on board with me. Ok, now that I have warned you let’s jump into the pick. The Nationals are currently projected to score just under five runs tonight which comes in large part to their elite matchup vs. Nick Pivetta of the Phillies. The rookie pitcher has shown some K upside (9.9 K.9) but has been hit very hard through his first two starts of the season. He faced the Nats in his last start and gave up nine hits, four earned runs and three long balls. So through two starts now he is giving up over 50% hard contact (WOW) with a 30% HR/FB rate and while he is likely to see some positive regression, I don’t see it happening tonight vs. a powerful Nats team headlined by Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, and Daniel Murphy.

Monitor the weather throughout the day and follow me on Twitter (@jager_Bombs9) for updates.

*Chris Durell

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks – Thursday, May 11

Welcome back for another night of Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks for May 11th. Thursday gives us two-afternoon games with nine more on the main slate. For this article, we will be turning our attention to the main slate for the pitching and stack recommendations. 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.

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**

Zack Greinke
Opponent – vs. PIT
Park – Chase Field(Hitter Positive)
Vegas Favorite (ARi -135)
Vegas Total (8.5)

My top option at pitcher tonight, despite Chase Field being the top hitters park so far, is Zack Greinke. I turn to him as the top priced pitcher Dallas Keuchel gets a very tough matchup vs. the Yankees who are one of the top hitting teams in the league. Greinke, on the other hand, gets to face a somewhat depleted Pirates roster as they are without one of their best players Starling Marte. They rank 22nd overall in wOBA(.300) and wRC+(84) vs. right-handed pitching and have scored the third fewest total runs all season. I am not all worried about Greinke pitching at home in Chase Field as he is coming off arguably one of his best starts of the season where he struck out seven Rockies and allowed just six hits and two earned runs in Coors Field. With 27 strikeouts over his last three starts, Greinke has also brought his K/9 rate back up to a near-elite rate of 9.7 K/9 while he is running nearly a career-best 1.65 BB/9 rate. Fire up Greinke in all formats tonight.

Michael Fulmer
Opponent – @LAA
Park – Angel Stadium of Anaheim(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas (DET -105)
Vegas Total (7)

For me, at least, the pitching options really fall off after the top tier so I find myself building all my lineups around Greinke and Michael Fulmer tonight. Fulmer saw a big price jump after his last start where he went into Oakland and struck out nine over eight full innings to pick up his third win of the season. While the Angels strike out about 3% less than the A’s vs. right-handed pitching, they rank a few spots lower when looking at their wOBA(.289) and wRC+(86) splits. It is also very likely the Angels will be without the services of the league’s top hitter, Mike Trout, once again as he has been dealing with a hamstring injury. The only knock on Fulmer is the fact that he can get into trouble with walks (2.54 BB/9 rate) but the Angels also own one of the lowest walk rates vs. righties so that doesn’t really bother me tonight. Fulmer is also safe in all formats tonight.

**STARTING STACKS**

Cincinnati Reds vs. San Francisco Giants (Ty Blach)
Park – AT&T Park (Pitcher Positive)
Vegas (CIN +122)
Vegas Total (8)

The Reds are dogs on the road tonight against the Giants in AT&T Park, but that doesn’t stop me from targeting Ty Blach with my top stack. The 26-year-old southpaw had a brief stint in the majors last year and started this season out in the bullpen. He was serviceable as a reliever allowing just three hits in 5.2 innings pitched and had just one blow up where he allowed three earned runs. They then made the switch and was placed in the rotation and while he only struck three in his first two starts, ended up only allowing two earned runs in 12 innings. The regression hit big time in his last start where he allowed these Reds to get 11 hits and eight earned runs in just three innings before he was removed. The issue with Blach is that he is nowhere near a strikeout pitcher with his 2.18 K/9 and 4.1% swing strike rate. He comes into tonight with a 5.66 ERA with a 5.72 xFIP that suggests things aren’t going to get much better. This is great news for the Reds who sit third in wOBA(.350) and sixth in wRC+(110)vs. left -handed pitching. The power is what we are looking for and the Reds also rank second in team ISO behind the Nationals vs. southpaws. Everything is pointing to a big night for Reds and the ownership could also be down as they play in a pitchers park as underdogs.

Texas Rangers vs. San Diego Padres (Clayton Richard)
Park – Globe Life Park in Arlington (Hitter Positive)
Vegas (TEX -140)
Vegas Total (9.5)

Outside of the Coors Field game, the Texas Rangers rank #1 when looking at projected team totals today. The Rangers have struggled to pick up wins early in the season ranking dead last in the American League West division but the problem has not been the offense as they rank 14th in total runs scored and 7th in Isolated Power (.177) coming into tonight. They get an excellent matchup vs. Clayton Richard tonight who is walking 3.76 batters per nine and has allowed four or more earned runs in four of his seven starts with five home runs (25% HR/FB rate). How you construct your core stack for the Rangers will be dependent on the lineup as Delino DeShields or Shin-Soo Choo could be hitting leadoff and both have positive splits vs. left-handed pitching. Elvis Andrus, Carlos Gomez, and Mike Napoli should be right in the middle of the lineup and also look for Robinson Chirinos to get in the lineup as he also crushes southpaws to the tune of a .561 wOBA/268 wRC+.