*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

DFS MLB Lineup Picks for 05/09/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Lineup 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**

A.J. Griffin vs. San Diego Padres
Park – Petco Park

The Texas Rangers are a better team then what their standings column leads you to believe. Their bats can get hot at a moment’s notice and the surprise of their starting rotation A.J. Griffin is wheeling and dealing. Coming into the game with a 3-0 record, he has eight earned runs over 20.1 innings pitched while striking out 23. He displays excellent control, throwing strikes consistently owning an impressive WHIP of .98. One of his major flaws is his tendency to give up the long ball and while the Padres are fifth to last in runs scored the sit top third of the pack in home runs. However, giving the fact that Griffin is returning to his hometown of San Diego he might be on his best game tonight, showing off for his friends and family back home. Let’s not forget the fact that all three of his wins have come on the road, also a major selling point.

Hector Santiago vs. Chicago White Sox
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field

I quite like this matchup tonight, it seems to me that all of the cards in the deck point to a Minnesota Twins win. Hector Santiago comes into the game 3-1 (2.78 ERA) with 25 SO’s over 35.2 innings pitched. Santiago seems to have the White Sox’s number; the Sox are batting an average of .150 against him (72 at bats). Since the 2016 season, he has played them five times averaging an insanely impressive 49.6 Fanduel points. Currently fourth to last in total runs scored (121) and home runs (28), Hector should easily throw a 40-point Fanduel game tonight.

Also consider – Drew Pomeranz & Ivan Nova

**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
James Mccann
Evan Gattis

*FIRST BASEMAN*
Ryan Zimmerman
Freddie Freeman
Miguel Cabrera

*SECOND BASEMAN*
**Jose Altuve**
Robinson Cano

*THIRD BASEMAN*
**Jake Lamb**
3B-Miguel Sano

*SHORTSTOP*
Corey Seager
Trea Turner

*OUTFIELD*
**Carlos Gonzalez**
**Charlie Blackmon**
Shin-Soo Choo
Adam Jones
Mookie Betts
Nick Markakis

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

MLB Lineup Picks for 05/08/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s 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**

Jacob Degrom vs. San Francisco Giants
Park – Citi Field

Jacob Degrom has 49 strikeouts in over 36 2/3 innings (32% K rate. / 15.6 swinging strike rate) vs. a struggling Giants team. San Francisco, having lost 7 out of their last ten games, have a hard time getting runners across the plate, sitting 2nd to last in total runs scored (105) and RBI’s (97) and last in home runs (19). They will have an even more difficult time going up against Degrom, who in 41 at bats are currently only hitting .117 against him. It wouldn’t necessarily be that bad of a strategy to lock Degrom in nearly all of your lineups today.

Blake Snell vs. Kansas City Royals
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field

This is a one of the riskier GPP plays on the slate, but it has some significant upside. The Royals are one of the worst teams in the league against left-handed pitchers. Versus lefties this year they are 2nd to last with only 13 runs scored in 265 at bats (.181). Even though he is 0-2 this season, Snell has looked good. Having a 3.45 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings. His achilles heel is his inability to control the ball at times, giving up 21 walks. However, Snell is a pitcher that seems to produce better at home, averaging 32.4 Fanduel points in the past five home games. If you are looking to save money for your offensive batters, Snell is a likely candidate.

Also consider Carlos Martinez – The Cardinals open as -125 favorites vs. the Marlins on the road. Martinez is coming off his first win of the year against the Brewers. He gave up just one unearned run over 7 1/3 innings retiring the first 12 batters that he faced. Does this mean he is back on track?

**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*
**Jonathan Lucroy** – Lucroy over his last two outings vs. San Diego has scored 27.5 Fanduel points.
Gary Sanchez

*FIRST BASEMAN*
**Albert Pujols** – Batting .364 over 22 at bats (1 homer, 4 RBI’s) vs. Graveman
Ryan Zimmerman

*SECOND BASEMAN*
Starlin Castro
Jed Lowrie
Roughed Odor

*THIRD BASEMAN*
Nolan Arenado
Jedd Gydrko

*SHORTSTOP*
**Corey Seager** –
Trea Turner
Elvis Andrus (Depending where he is hitting)

*OUTFIELD*
**Mike Trout** – Batting .333 over 24 at bats (1 homer, 3 RBI’s) vs. Graveman
Charlie Blackmon
Bryce Harper
Aaron Judge (Depending where he is hitting)
Kyle Schawber
Carlos Gonzalez
Kris Davis

*Chris Durell*

DFS MLB Fanduel Draftkings Lineup – Friday, May 5

Welcome back to another day of daily fantasy baseball featuring your MLB Fanduel Draftkings Lineup with LineupLab. Today we get just one early afternoon game between the Yankees and Cubs and Wrigley and one late afternoon game between the Giants and Reds. 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**

Stephen Strasburg
Opponent – @ PHI
Park – Citizens Banks Park(Neutral)
Vegas Favorite (WSH -165)
Vegas Total (8)

The combination of more viable starting pitching options and a big 13 game main slate is going to help level off the ownership for pitching tonight. This is great news as Strasburg is not only an elite option, but he comes at a bit of a discount from what we have been used to the last few days. While the ERA and xFIP are right in line with what he has been doing for multiple years, Strasburg has seen a big dip in his K rate(7.97 K/9) early in the season. I am chalking it up to a small sample size as he has recorded eight or more strikeouts in three of his five starts. He should be able to build on those K number tonight in a matchup vs. the Phillies who strike out over 24% of the time vs. right-handed pitching and have a wRC+(95) that is 5% below the league average. The Phillies have also been struggling lately losing three straight and six of their last seven games. Fire up Strasburg in all formats.

Kenta Maeda
Opponent – @ SD
Park – Petco Park
Vegas (LAD -155)
Vegas Total (7.5)

Maeda’s price on FanDuel has been pretty constant in the high $7K, low $8K range all season but on DraftKings it has really bounced around. It has been in large part to his high-end skill set but disappointing start where he allowed 17 earned runs and seven home runs in his first four starts of the season. Good news is that he seemed to find something in his last start where he went a season-high seven innings striking out eight Phillies and picking up his second win of the season. The strikeouts should continue to come as he has recorded a swinging strike rate greater than 10% in four of his five starts and sits with an elite 14.3% for the season. Tonight he gets an elite matchup in one of the best pitchers parks in the league (Petco Park) vs. the Padres who rank 25th in wOBA (.300) and 24th in wRC+(85) vs. right-handed pitching and strike out more than any other team (25.6%). He is an excellent SP2 on DraftKings and nice GPP pivot on FanDuel.

**OFFENSIVE STACKS**

Arizona Diamondbacks @ Colorado Rockies(German Marquez)
Park – Coors Field(Hitter Positive)
Vegas (ARI -110)
Vegas Total (10.5)

Hard to talk stacks and not start at Coors Field tonight. As usual, it boasts the biggest overall total of the night and the Vegas line is currently sitting as a pick em. I lean the D-Backs simply because Greinke is a much better pitcher than Marquez and more likely to get out of his start without being beaten up too badly. Marquez, on the other hand, did not fare well in his first start at home for the Rockies giving up eight earned runs to the Nationals in just four innings while striking out just two and walking three batters. It won’t get any easier today as he will face a Diamondbacks team that sits just outside the Top 10 in hitting vs. right-handed pitching and have scored the second most runs(150) behind only the Nationals through 30 games in the 2017 season. Center your stack around Paul Goldschmidt who is off to a hot star hitting .311 with a .422 wOBA, five home runs, 21 RBI, and 22 runs scored. He also has a secret weapon that not many first basemen possess, speed. He has already stolen eight bases in 2017. Surround him with leadoff hitter AJ Pollock and then pay close attention to the lineup cards coming out as David Peralta should be back near the top of the order as a left-handed hitter and Yasmani Tomas and Jake Lamb are nice power upside, middle of the order hitters.

New York Mets vs. Miami Marlins(Tom Koehler)
Park – Citi Field(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas (NYM -110)
Vegas Total (8.5)

There are many other ways to go tonight, but I am going to try and target a stack that will be low-owned. Enter the New York Mets. It starts with an elite matchup vs. Tom Koehler who is having an extremely hard time keeping the ball in the park this season. He has given up at least one home run in each of his first five starts and sits with a 5.40 ERA and xFIp of 4.62 which suggests things aren’t getting too much better for him. The 25% HR/FB rate is not likely to continue but with a 37% hard-contact rate against, I don’t see the positive regression happening tonight. The Mets don’t stand out as a strong candidate vs. right-handed pitching and combine that with the weather threat tonight and you have yourself a 5% owned stack with upside as they sit 10th in total runs scored on the season. Target the left-handed bats for the Mets (Bruce, Conforto, Cabrera, Walker) as Koehler has struggled mightily with a wOBA great than .500 against left-handed batters.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

*Chris Durell*

Welcome back for another all-day Thursday set of games in Major League Baseball. The schedule is front end loaded with eight games in the afternoon and finishes off with a smaller five-game slate later tonight. 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**

Early Slate

Kyle Freeland
Opponent – @SD
Park – Petco Park(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas Favorite (COL -103)
Vegas Total (8)

First of all, Max Scherzer is an elite play even though he let us down in his last start. He has the highest upside of any pitcher on the slate but is also a bit risky as the Diamondbacks sit 3rd in wOBA(.346) and 10th in wRC+(107) vs. right-handed pitching. This brings me to one of the top value pitchers on the slate due to his matchup vs. the K heavy Padres in one of the best pitchers parks in the big leagues. The game is a pick em as I write this late Wednesday night but I have a feeling the tables will turn in the Rockies favor as we get closer to lineup lock. Freeland has been very impressive in his rookie season with a 3-1 record and has limited his opponents to one earned run or less in four of his five starts. The K/9 upside isn’t quite where we would like to see it(5.2 K/9) but he will get a big boost tonight as the Padres have struck out 26% of the time over the last seven days. The Padres also rank 28th in wOBA(.263) and wRC+(61) vs. left-handed pitching. Freeland is a cheap SP2 on DraftKings and GPP play on FanDuel which allows you load up on bats.

Main Slate

Adam Wainwright
Opponent – vs. MIL
Park – Busch Stadium(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas (STL -140)
Vegas Total (7.5)

The options on the five-game main slate aren’t quite as inviting so I will dip down into the value range and roll with Adam Wainwright. He was scheduled to start yesterday for the Cardinals, but the game got rained out early enough where it shouldn’t affect him at all. It has been a rough start to the 2017 season for the veteran right-hander but things are looking certainly looking up moving forward. He has won two straight starts, striking out 13 batters and walking just one over 11.1 innings despite giving up six earned runs. For the season, he is running a 6.12 ERA, but the good news is the xFIP (much better indicator of future ERA) sits at just 3.18 so far through five starts. The other significant indicator that stood out to me when looking deeper at Waino’s numbers was the BABIP that is running at a crazy high .439 right now while his career average of .298 is much lower. He is a better value on DraftKings in the mid $7K range but in play on both sites, whether playing the All Day or Main Slate.

**OFFENSIVE STACKS**

Early Slate

Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers (AJ Griffin)
Park – Minute Maid Park(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas (HOU -152)
Vegas Total (8.5)

While Minute Maid Park is more favorable for the pitcher, the Astros rank 10th overall this season with a 115 wRC+ which accounts for park factor. They also sit second behind only the Yankees in wRC+(123) vs. right-handed pitching and get a matchup vs. one of the weakest pitchers on the slate. Yes, there are worse pitchers but none getting rocked as hard as Griffin. He leads all pitchers tonight with a 48.7% hard-contact rate against and has been producing just 25% ground balls thus far. His 4.11 ERA also looks to be a bit lucky as he is currently running a .167 BABIP that is close to 100 points lower than his career mark. This is not good news for Griffin tonight but great news for us DFSers as the Astros could be one of the highest scoring teams of the night. The top of the order is the place to be in Houston and Jose Altuve should be the centerpiece in your stack as he can contribute in all areas and hits out of the three hole. Carlos Correa hits right behind him in the cleanup spot and George Springer leads off. Keep an eye on the lineups in the morning as Marwin Gonzalez makes a great play if he is in the Top 5 of the lineup. He is 9 for his last 19 with two doubles, five home runs and has driven in 13 runs.

Main Slate

Seattle Mariners vs. Los Angeles Angels(Daniel Wright)
Park – Safeco Field(Neutral)
Vegas (SEA -130)
Vegas Total (8.5)

The Red Sox are going to be the chalk on the five-game main slate so I love the idea of pivoting to the Mariners with lower expected ownership and similar upside. They are coming off a huge 8-7 win last night and sit Top 10 in overall runs scored through 27 games. Tonight they get an even better matchup than last night vs. rookie Daniel Wright who has been less than impressive to start his career. Through two starts, he has walked five batters while striking out just three and while he has only allowed three earned runs in nine innings, his 6.25 xFIP suggests will not enjoy the regression that is forthcoming. The Mariners, on the other hand, will be licking their chops for his 90 mph fastball as they are a Top 10 team in wRC+(109), wOBA(.318), and ISO(.175) vs. right-handed pitching. Start your stack at the top of the order with Jean Segura who has heated up big time with hits in seven of his last eight games with three doubles, two home runs and two stolen bases. The M’s shuffle their two-hole around but if it is again Ben Gamel he makes an excellent punt and has hits in four of seven games this season. Then you fill in your power upside with Nelson Cruz who has always been known as a lefty masher but is hitting righties a bit better to start the season. Hitting in front of Cruz is Robinson Cano who hasn’t totally got it going yet with a .270 average but picked up his fifth home run of the season last night and now has driven in 21 runs 27 games.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

DFS MLB Lineup Picks for 05/03/17

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**

Jake Arrieta vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Park – Wrigley Field

It’s true, the Arrieta of yesteryear seems to have evaporated. However, it is the Phillies and he is at home. Despite his high ERA (4.66) he has still managed to go 3-1, with a 10.55 K/9 over his past five starts. While there isn’t much of a sample size to go on the Phillies haven’t fared too well against Arrieta, hitting just .170 over 29 at bats. Eickhoff is pitching for the Phillies, who has had recent trouble commanding his curveball. Giving up five runs in 5 2/3 innings pitched on Friday versus the Dodgers. This is the kind of pitcher that can get in trouble early, allowing for a nice Cubs cushion for Arrieta to gain back his confidence to get the 2017 season back on track.

Drew Pomeranz vs. Baltimore Orioles
Park – Fenway Park

Pomeranz certainly does not have trouble with his curve. In his last outing versus the Cubs, the southpaw threw 95 pitches. Out of those 95, 58 of them were curveballs. He received the win over the Cubs, giving up two earned runs over six innings pitched. If he can do this to the Cubs, just imagine what he will do the Orioles. The Baltimore Orioles have a high strikeout rate against lefties (23.5%). Over 53 at-bats the O’s are hitting .230 against Pomeranz. This aligns right with what they have been averaging all season long against lefties (313 at bats).

**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*
C-Russell Martin
C-Salvador Perez

*FIRST BASEMAN*
1B- Anthony Rizzo – consistent and has a good matchup advantage vs. Eickhoff
1B-Eric Hosmer
1B-Edwin Encarnacion

*SECOND BASEMAN*
2B-Robinson Cano – has put up some solid numbers vs. Nolasco. .400/.400/.867. Two Homeruns in only 15 at bats.
2B-Jonathan Villar

*THIRD BASEMAN*
3B-Miguel Sano – Flaming HOT! Has averaged 35.2 Fantasy Points in his past three games.
3B-Nolan Arenado
3B-Evan Longoria

*SHORTSTOP*
SS-Corey Seager
SS-Addison Russell

*OUTFIELD*
OF-Jay Bruce – Crushed yesterday with a 51 Fanduel point perfect lineup performance. Top 5% hitter vs. RH pitchers.
OF-Charlier Blackmon
OF-Carlos Gonzalez
OF-A.J. Pollock
OF-Mookie Betts
OF- Michael Conforto

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

DFS MLB Lineup Picks for 05/02/17

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**

Mashiro Tanaka vs. Toronto Blue Jays
Park – Yankee Stadium

Tanaka has been a beast, in his last three performances he has averaged 42.7 Fanduel points per game and that’s not all, folks; his average at home goes up over the past four games (43.8 FPPG.) In his dominating, shutout performance last Thursday against the Red Sox he allowed just three hits after only 97 pitches through 9 innings. I quite like the match-up against the struggling Blue Jays, who are hitting just .170 through 83 at-bats versus Tanaka.

Ervin Santana vs. Oakland Athletics
Park – Target Field

Ervin Santana, the mythical monstrosity of the Minnesota Twins. Coming into the game this season, he has 35 IP with only 3 ER’s a WHIP of .66 and 26 K’s. All five of his starts this year have been Quality Starts, averaging 43.6 Fanduel points per outing and making the perfect lineup twice. Does the 34-year-old Dominican continue to dominate or does he regress is the question? My forecast says, no regression today (83.1%) as he goes up against the lackluster A’s. Currently tied for second to last in runs scored (91) for the season the A’s are hitting just .190 versus Santana in 43 at bats. The A’s will fall, it’s just a matter of how hard will they hit the ground?

**OFFENSIVE BATTERS**

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

*CATCHERS*
C-Salvador Perez
C-Evan Gattis
C-Jason Castro

*FIRST BASEMAN*
1B- Matt Carpenter – Carpenter has been on fire, scoring 25.2 Fanduel points over the past two games. He is also crushing Peralta over 48 plate appearances he is hitting .465 AVG with a .814 SLG.
1B-Freddie Freeman
1B-Jose Abreu

*SECOND BASEMAN*
2B-Daniel Murphy – Murphy is in the top 5% when it comes to hitting against RH pitchers. No surprise for the lefty who’s team is currently number one by a large margin in runs scored this season (170).
2B-Brian Dozier
2B-Starlin Castro

*THIRD BASEMAN*
3B- Miguel Sano – Sano is hot like molten lava. Right in the middle of a heater, averaging 38.55 over the past two games.
3B-Evan Longoria

*SHORTSTOP*
SS-Trea Turner
SS- Francisco Lindor

*OUTFIELD*
OF-Charlie Blackmon – Though Blackmon has cooled down considerably over the past three games it was against the Diamondbacks. Tonight he faces a different team in the Padres, the matchup screams rebound.
OF-Jay Bruce
OF-Billy Hamilton
OF-Brett Gardner
OF-Bryce Harper

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

DFS MLB Lineup Picks for 05/01/17

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**

Clayton Kershaw vs San Francisco Giants
Park – Dodger Stadium

Every time that Clayton Kershaw is on the mound he is most certainly worth considering, that is if you can afford him. A strategy that I employ is to build one of my lineups starting with the offensive batters first; then if I have money left to afford Kershaw then I plug him in. Last time out versus San Francisco, He allowed one earned run, six hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over seven innings. He may produce another quality start today, being at home versus the Giants, but is he worth the price point?

Luis Severino vs Toronto Blue Jays
Park – Yankee Stadium

Luis Severino, my favorite pitcher of the slate tonight. There is a bit of bad blood with Severino and the Blue Jays. Who could forget the bench-clearing brawl last year facing each other? Hopefully, all of that is over with and the past won’t hinder his performance. This season, Severino is currently supporting an 11.0 K/9 with a 0.78 WHIP. The Toronto Blue Jays haven’t looked the same this year, as they currently sit third to last in runs scored (89), and fifth to last in home runs (22). There aren’t too many batters that pose a real power threat versus Severino except Jose Bautista and possibly Kendrys Morales.

Also consider: Julio Teheran & Trevor Bauer – These two pitchers have both underperform early in the season but have faced opponents multiple times during their careers. Bauer this season is supporting a 10.9 K/9, with no Miguel Cabrera (groin) until Tuesday I would take a GPP risk on Bauer. Teheran “owns” the Mets over his career. I like him at home vs. an injury-plagued Mets team. I think he is a safe play; I would play him in almost every format.

**OFFENSIVE BATTERS**

Here are a few of my favorite offensive hitters that I am going to build my lineups around. The players in bold are ones that I have the most exposure to. Also, it’s important to note that The Cubs will be a bit chalky tonight. 20 MPH winds are blowing out to centerfield. Play them at your risk.

*CATCHERS*

C-Salvador Perez
C-Brian McCann

*FIRST BASEMAN*

**1B-Freddie Freeman** – Top 5% versus RH Pitchers, has averaged 15.6 DraftKings points in his past four games.
1B-Carlos Santana

*SECOND BASEMAN*

**2B-Starlin Castro** – Power slugger for the Yankees. .549 SLG, .947 OPS.
2B-Jose Ramirez
2B- Jose Altuve

*THIRD BASEMAN*

**3B-Evan Longoria** – Facing a fly ball pitcher in Chen. Has two career home runs against him in 40 at bats.
3B-Michael Franco

*SHORTSTOP*

**SS-Francisco Lindor** – Lindor went 2-for-5 Sunday with his 7th homer of the season and finding his way into the perfect lineup. We find out tonight if the hot streak is real.
SS-Addison Russell

*OUTFIELD*

OF-Matt Kemp
OF-Mookie Betts
OF-Andrew McCutchen
OF-Rickie Weeks (Punt)
OF-Michael Brantley

*Chris Durell*

DFS MLB Picks – Thursday, April 27th

Welcome back for another Thursday of DFS MLB Picks. We have a  bit of a whacky one today with a six-game early slate and four-game main slate.

**Starting Pitchers**

Noah Syndergaard
Opponent – vs. ATL
Park – Citi Field(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas Favorite (NYM -220)
Vegas Total (7)

Whether you are playing the Early or All-Day slate today, Thor makes an elite play on both sites. He tops the salary ranks on FanDuel but comes in just behind Chris Sale on DraftKings making it even more enticing. He was scheduled to start yesterday but was pushed back to Thursday to keep the Mets rotation in check. He gave up a season-high seven hits and three earned runs in his last start but also had a season-high ten strikeouts vs. the Phillies. Thor has yet to walk a batter in four starts and has an elite ERA of 1.73 and backs it up with an equally elite xFIP of 1.92 on the season. Thursday he faces a Braves team that ranks 22nd in wOBA(.299) and wRC+(85) vs. right-handed pitching. He is an elite play in all formats.

EDIT:  As of this morning Thor has been scratched, feel free to replace him with Matt Harvey.

Julio Urias
Opponent – @ SF
Park – AT&T Park (Pitcher Positive)
Vegas (LAD -135)
Vegas Total (7.5)

After making three starts in the Triple-A to start the season, the Dodgers have called up Urias to join the rotation for the rest of the season. In his three minor league starts, his numbers were very close to what we saw in his limited stint with the Dodgers last season. He was striking out about 9.5 batters per nine innings but struggled with control and posted a 5.79 BB/9 in his three starts. He was able to keep the ERA in the sub 2.00 range which won’t be realistic in the early going if he continues to walk batters at a high clip. The good news is he is only 20 years old with a ton of raw talent and K upside that is perfect for DFS purposes. In his first start with the Dodgers tonight he gets a plus matchup vs. the struggling Giants who are 8-14 on the season and rank 25th in wOBA(.282) and 24th in wRC+(79) against left-handed pitching. Urias makes an excellent boom or bust GPP play tonight.

**Stacks**

Arizona Diamondbacks
Park – Chase Field(Hitter Positive)
Vegas (ARI -155)
Vegas Total (10.5)

While fading one of Coors or Chase Field is a great idea for GPP’s, fading both can absolutely kill your upside on a given night. I lean the Diamondbacks tonight at home for one simple reason. They get to face Jered Weaver who probably shouldn’t have an MLB starting job in 2017, but that’s just my opinion. I mean, as a DFS player I love it as he is nothing but a gas can and perfect target to stack against. So far in four starts this year he has given up 11 earned runs(10 earned) in just 23 innings pitched while striking out just 13 batters(5.09 K/9). That is not going to strike fear into any opponent, especially the power hitting D-Backs led by Paul Goldschmidt. Weaver has also given up SEVEN home runs already. Look for that number to grow tonight as the D-Backs have been operating with a .238 ISO over the last seven days with ten home runs.

Cleveland Indians vs. Houston Astros(Mike Fiers)
Park – Progressive Field (Hitter Positive)
Vegas (CLE -170)
Vegas Total (8.5)

It’s time for another Fier sale tonight. That’s right, My top stack outside of Coors Field will be the Cleveland Indians tonight who get to face one of the worst pitchers on the slate in a hitter friendly park. Fiers has a slightly above average K rate(7.8 K/9) but has allowed six home runs and a 40%+ hard contact rate in each of his first three starts. That is perfect for targeting the Indians today as they rank 4th overall in wOBA(.340) and wRC+(122) vs. right-handed pitching. If you are looking for some separation in your lineups, it is a great night to target the Indians with very high totals in at both Chase Field and Coors Field.

*James Leer*

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s MLB Daily Fantasy Stacks article, where we feature our top stacks 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 favorite players 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**

James Paxton vs Detroit Tigers
Park – Comerica Park

Before last week’s kerfuffle James Paxton was pitching perfect ball; having not allowing a single run in 21 innings (three starts). While the Tigers are a solid team against righties they are a middle-of-the-road team against lefties. Insert Paxton, a pitcher who has shown a lot of promise early in the season. Currently carrying a 1.78 ERA, .87 WHIP and a 35-5 strikeout to walk ratio. With the wind blowing in at 10MPH and the Tigers having a 28% strikeout rate vs. lefties it should help to limit the threat of the long ball today.

**STACKS**

Chicago Cubs vs. Tyler Glasnow (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Park – PNC Park

When the Cubs offense is on, it’s hard to stop them. Give them the right pitcher on the right day and they will easily score double-digits. Today could be one of those days. Glasnow has yet to receive his first win of the season over 11.1 IP he has ten earned runs with a 7.94 ERA and a 2.29 WHIP. Looking at pitchers in Playerlab he has the worst 30-day xFIP of all of the starters rostered today (5.20). I see a lot of damage being done by the middle of the batting order for the Cubbies.

Possible players to stack: Kris Bryant, Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell.

Seattle Mariners vs. Daniel Norris (Detroit Tigers)
Park – Comerica Park

A sneaky stack with some significant GPP upside are the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners are a team that can put some runs up on the board, for the 2017 season they are 8th overall in runs scored (99). Versus lefties they have a .342 wOBA, a .174 ISO and have a low 18.3% strikeout rate. In 17 innings pitched (three starts) Daniel Norris has seven earned runs and a 3.71 ERA. He has only struck out 11 batters while walking 9.

Possible players to stack: Nelson Cruz, Robinson Cano, Danny Valencia.

*James Leer*

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s MLB Daily Fantasy Stacks article, where we feature our top stacks 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 favorite players 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**

Danny Duffy vs. Chicago White Sox
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field

Danny Duffy has been stellar this year; his only problem is lack of run support. In his last outing versus the Rangers he held them to just four hits over 7 1/3 shutout innings. The lack of runs on either side ended up as a no-decision for Duffy. The Royals don’t need to score a lot of runs to get the victory for Duffy. He hasn’t allowed any more than two runs in any of his four starts. His K/9 is third best today as he visits the WhiteSox, a team that he decimated in the 2nd half of the last season. Scoring an average of 28.7 DraftKings points over the course of his last three outings. The wind is blowing in tonight at 11 MPH, not that the WhiteSox have been able to hit the ball out of the park a lot this year (third to last in home runs for 2017 so far). I think that tonight Duffy brings the pain, whether or not the Royals offense responds is a different story.

Ervin Santana vs Texas Rangers
Park – Globe Life Park at Arlington

Ervin Santana, the mythical unicorn of the Minnesota Twins. Does he continue to prevail or does he finally regress? Coming into the game this season, he has 28 IP with only 2 ER’s a WHIP of .61 and 20 K’s. All four of his starts this year have been Quality Starts, averaging 26.3 DraftKings points per outing and making the perfect lineup twice. Does the 34-year-old Dominican continue to dominate is the question? Well, the plus side is that he is going against Andrew Cashner who has yet to have a victory this season for the Rangers.

**STACKS**

Cincinnati Reds vs. Zach Davies (Milwaukee Brewers)
Park – Miller Park

Zach Davies has had a rough go at it so far this season, with an ERA of 8.24 and a 1.98 WHIP. The 24-year-old still has a lot of maturing to do. He currently sits fourth in the National League in earned runs and is tied for 2nd in allowed hits (29) after 19.2 innings pitched. The Reds are a team that can pile on runs when turned up to full speed, having a .341 wOBA and a .169 ISO vs. righties.

Possible Players to stack: Joey Votto, Zack Cozart, Eugenio Suarez.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Clayton Richard (San Diego Padres)
Park – Chase Field

The Arizona Diamondbacks are crushing baseball this year. Currently sitting number one for runs scored in the league (112), number one in hits (193), number one in triples (7) and number one in RBI’s (105). All of this and they are 1.5 games behind the NL West leaders Colorado Rockies, What an insane division this year. Even though his last outting at home was a win versus the Diamondbacks, Clayton Richard has shown a propensity to struggle at Chase Field, with a career ERA of 5.20. After giving up nine hits in the game, he somehow managed only to give up one run. He currently averages 25.5% less Fantasy Points while away, I’m thinking the trend continues and the Diamondbacks will prevail.

Possible Players to stack: Yasmany Tomas, Paul Goldschmidt, A.J. Pollock.