*Chris Durell*

Fanduel MLB Lineup for 06/01/17

Welcome back to another day of daily fantasy baseball. Thursday, as always, gives us a split day/night slate and today we get four early games and four evening games. If you are playing on FanDuel beware that the early slate only includes three games and if you want exposure to the Rockies/Mariners you will have to play the all-day 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.

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Early Slate

Corey Kluber
Opponent – vs. OAK
Park – Progressive Field(Hitter Positive)
Vegas Favorite (CLE -220)
Vegas Total (8.5)

The Indians come in as the biggest favorites on either slate as Corey Kluber makes his return to the mound after a month on the disabled list. He was pretty much dominant in his rehab start and will look to shut down the A’s offense this afternoon. He comes in with a healthy 9.9 K/9 and 11.5% swinging strike rate on the season and while the ERA is less than attractive (5.06), the xFIP (3.68) suggests he has been pitching much better. He gets a great matchup to build on his strikeout and overall numbers as the A’s sit mid-pack when looking at team wOBA and wRC+ vs. right-handed pitching but has been striking out over 24% of the team. Things have been even worse for the A’s over the last week as they sit with low .286 wOBA and ridiculous 35% K rate over the last seven days. Load up on Kluber in all formats on the early slate.

Main Slate

Zack Greinke
Opponent – @ MIA
Park – Marlins Park(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas Favorite (ARI -117)
Vegas Total (8.0)

I will ride with Greinke tonight who, despite allowing 4+ ER in two of his last three starts, is having a great start to his season. Through 11 starts he sits with a 10.5 K/9 rate and a career high 14.3% swinging strike rate. Even with those two bad starts recently he still sports a 3.44 ERA and xFIP (3.08) that nearly 40 points lower meaning better things to come. Tonight he faces a red-hot team in the Marlins who rank second in wOBA over the past seven days. Don’t worry too much, however, as looking into the season long splits they have been much better against southpaws. It is a lot to pay tonight, especially on DraftKings so if you are looking for more of an affordable way to get bats in your lineup, Marco Estrada makes a fine choice. He also has a tougher matchup vs. the Yankees but comes at a near $3K discount on DK.

**OFFENSIVE STACKS**

Early Slate

Cleveland Indians vs. Jharel Cotton (OAK)
Park – Progressive Field (Hitter Positive)
Vegas – (CLE -220)
Vegas Total (8.5)

The pitching on the early slate of games, especially on FanDuel, is half decent making it tough to find an option to stack against. If you are playing the early slate on DraftKings, it makes sense to stack either the Rockies or Mariners in a game stack scenario but on FanDuel we are going to pick on young Jharel Cotton of the A’s. He flashed some upside in his brief five-start stint in 2016 but has struggled in his first eight starts in 2017. He comes into tonight with a 5.56 ERA and 5.05 xFIP that suggests things won’t get much better anytime soon. He has strikeout upside with a swinging strike rate above 10% but has been getting hit hard when not missing bats and has given up six home runs in his last three starts. The Indians offense started the year off slow but have been heating up since the return to health of Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis. Over the past seven days, they sit with a Top 10 wOBA (.44) and wRC+ (115) and have hit nine home runs. Today they will throw out a lefty-heavy lineup to face Cotton and have the most upside of any team on the early slate.

Main Stack – Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana

Secondary Options – Jose Ramirez, Bradley Zimmer

Main Slate

Toronto Blue Jays vs. C.C. Sabathia (NYY)
Park – Rogers Centre (Hitter Friendly)
Vegas – (TOR -135)
Vegas Total (9.0)

First of all, I am really excited to have the opportunity to write about my favorite team smashing the ball once again. It was a rough April that saw the Jays score just 89 runs which was third-worst in the entire league. What a difference a month can make as going into Wednesday night’s action they have already scored 143 total runs and sit second in the league with 47 home runs. They also went into Wednesday night’s game (writing this Weds afternoon) having won eight of their last nine games while scoring an average of six runs per game in that stretch and that’s with Josh Donaldson hitting just .250 since his return. He is going to heat up with more at-bats and the good news is that he hit a home run on Tuesday going 2-4 on the day. Speaking of heating up, Jose Bautista has been on a tear over the past few weeks hitting .429 with a .548 wOBA and six home runs since May 13.

Main Stack – Kevin Pillar, Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Kendrys Morales

Secondary Players for Stack – Troy Tulowitzki, Justin Smoak

*Austyn Varney*

MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel – Wednesday, May 31

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 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**

Max Scherzer vs. San Francisco Giants
Park – AT&T Park

When looking for safety, there aren’t many pitchers out there better, if any. Scherzer is the definition of a workhorse and Dusty Baker has no problem riding him to 120 pitches if he feels good. We then get into the match-up. While the Giants at home has been an avoidable match-up for years, 2017 has changed the game. The Giants currently rank dead last against righties, as well as dead last at home in terms of wOBA against righties. AT&T Park is one of the more spacious ballparks in baseball and it will drastically help Scherzer keep the ball in the park. Scherzer has been great, even by his own right. He’s striking out nearly 14 righties per 9 innings and has been absolute death to anyone from the right side. Once you get past Buster Posey and Brandon Belt, you have a very similar lineup to the Braves or Padres. Guys like Mac Williamson, Christian Arroyo, and Eduardo Nunez are all very strikeout prone and lack any type of upside in the ballpark. Scherzer is expensive, but very well may be worth it for the long haul. He’s the top option in all formats, though there is a guy a bit cheaper who is in play as well.

Jacob DeGrom vs. Milwaukee Brewers
Park – Citi Field

If you want to take a step down from Scherzer, there is nothing wrong with a pivot to Jacob DeGrom. You can also target both of them on DraftKings, but you’ll certainly be forced to pay down everywhere else. DeGrom, who faces off with the Brewers tonight, has been very good this year. While he was worked through a couple injuries and setbacks, he has consistently put out a lot of innings and has done so with a circus around him that is the Mets pitching staff. He’s very effective to both righties and lefties, as evident by the .281 wOBA and .321 BABIP. Now that he’s fully healthy, you can expect a few huge outings out of DeGrom as his arm gets more and more stretched out. He showed it just last week, destroying the Pirates for 8.1 innings and 10 strikeouts. The Mets also have a very tired and dwindled bullpen, which almost forces Terry Collins into riding his starter longer than he may normally. The opposing Brewers team is nothing to be afraid of. While they started off pretty hot and had some people hyped up about them, we all know they stink. They are the Brewers. With Braun out of the lineup, DeGrom should be scared of nobody. The Brewers hold a top 5 strikeout rate and bottom 5 wOBA against righties over the last month and show no reason for optimism. The match-up is great and DeGrom is heading in the right direction. He is a fine play in all formats and a guy I’ll have plenty of exposure to.

**OFFENSIVE STACKS**

Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox (Mike Pelfrey)
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field

Mike Pelfrey is somehow finding himself on a major league mound once again tonight. How? Why? I have no idea. He’s been one of the worst pitchers in baseball for years now and it will take a magician to change him. In 2016, Pelfrey allowed a.373 combined wOBA and a 32% hard contact rate. He has no hope against either sides of the plate and should be gone by the 5th inning. This lineup for the Red Sox is a bit tough to stack, as there are 5 or 6 hitters with very similar outlooks. Mookie Betts is the top option and a guy I will make sure to have in all formats. After that, any of these guys can produce in U.S. Cellular Field. Vegas currently has the Red Sox at the highest implied team total of the day of 5.26. Make sure you get exposure in some capacity

**Main Stack – Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, Andrew Benintendi**

**Sneaky Stack – Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts, Mitch Moreland**

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers (Austin Bibens-Dirkx)
Park – Globe Life Park in Arlington

Austin Bibens-Dirkx has been announced the starter here and like Pelfrey, I don’t know why. Bibens-Dirkx is actually the same age as Pelfrey (32), but is just making his starting rotation debut. He’s struggled in AA and AA for about 8 years now and held a 5.00 xFIP just last season. The Rangers are extremely desperate and will just be looking to get 3 or 4 innings out of Dirkx. I don’t think it happens. While the Rays are typically a rather underwhelming team, they can get the bats going, especially when in a bam box like Globe Life Park. Kevin Kiermaier and Corey Dickerson are both great against righties and the anchors of my Rays stacks. Evan Longoria, on the other hand, is at the worst position on the slate. He’s the clear top option and will be very highly owned. There are plenty of was to go with a stack here, but I would make sure to have Kiermaier and Dickerson in all of them.

**Main Stack – Kevin Kiermaier, Corey Dickerson, Logan Morrison, Evan Longoria**

**Sneaky Stack – Kevin Kiermaier, Corey Dickerson, Steve Souza, Colby Rasmus**

*Austyn Varney*

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks – Tuesday, May 30

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 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**

Chris Sale vs. Chicago White Sox
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field

In DFS, you certainly don’t want to get hung up on narratives. They are very unpredictable and there is really no telling how emotions will impact a player. With that being said, there are a few exceptions. Chris Sale returning to U.S. Cellular Field is definitely one of them. He played for the White Sox for his entire career and will be bringing a different level of passion to the mound in this one. While I guess he could miss spots and give up some homers, I’m thinking quite the opposite. As an elite pitcher, he understands how to control himself and keep his emotions under control. Sale has arguably been the best pitcher in DFS so far this season. He’s holding a .241 combined wOBA and is striking out nearly 12 batters per 9 innings. The White Sox hold the lowest implied team total on the board and it’s no surprise. They are a bad offense and face off with a guy who knows the in and outs of every hitter. The White Sox have played over their head against lefties so far, sporting a .341 BABIP and a low 26% hard contact rate. Sale is easily the top option on this slate and a guy you will want exposure to in all formats. While the fade is always in play with MLB, it’s going to be quite tough today, when considering the other pitching options.

Ivan Nova vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Park – PNC Park

Like I said, there is a pretty steep drop after Chris Sale. Most offenses are implied to score a lot tonight, so we have to pick and choose out of only a few pitching options. Ivan Nova is facing off with the Diamondbacks at home in PNC Park. The D-backs are a team we never target at home but are a completely different lineup on the road. In 2016, they posted a .296 wOBA against righties on the road, which was 2nd worst behind just the Padres. They do have David Peralta and Jake Lamb, who are undoubtedly great hitters against righties and guys we do have to be careful with. After them, you obviously have Goldschmidt and Tomas with loads of power. However, they do strikeout a lot and as you move down the order, you get more and more strikeouts. PNC Park is a pretty tough spot for righties and with Nova holding a .284 wOBA against them, I’m expecting a nice performance. He’s stepped up his execution against lefties this year as well, currently holding a .309 wOBA compared to the .362 in previous seasons. His changeup has been more effective and he’s throwing it for a strike far more often. Nova has been a different pitcher since coming to Pittsburgh and I think you can target him in every format. Without any elite pitching options outside of Sale on the slate, there isn’t much of an opportunity cost. He’s priced fairly and shouldn’t be overly-owned on any sites.

**STARTING STACKS**

Rockies / Mariners
Park – Coors Field

As we know, Coors Field is just an entirely different environment than the rest of the MLB stadiums. The elevation causes balls to fly out of the park and off-speed pitches to not break. Both of these left-handers rely on off-speed, so it’ll be interesting to see how either fares. On the Rockies side, they will be facing off with Ariel Miranda. Miranda is definitely worse against righties, but not to an extreme. Everyone is in play, though there are a few guys who definitely stand out. Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story are both much better against lefties and are facing off with a guy who has allowed 9 homers in 44 innings (half at Kauffman Stadium). He’s going to certainly add to that total tonight and while these guys will all cost you, this is a night where you can afford it. On the Mariners side, they face a bit tougher competition in Tyler Anderson. Anderson is a pretty solid lefty, but still struggles against righties, especially in Coors Field. Nelson Cruz is my favorite play on the slate as he is the perfect mold for this match-up and ballpark. Taylor Motter and Danny Valencia are also both lefty-specialists and are in play in both formats. Jean Segura, Cano, and Seager are all better against righties but certainly remain in play here. The Rockies bullpen is subpar and even if Anderson has a good game, he rarely sees more than 5 innings. That will leave those guys at least 2 at-bats against a righty, with an ownership that sits below 20%. Lower in the order, you have plenty of fliers. Zunino has a ton of power and could hit 2 homers in Coors Field on pop-ups. The Rockies are the preferred stack here, but not by much. Personally, I will do my best to mix in both. Nolan Arenado and Nelson Cruz are the top 2 options on the slate and you may have to pick 1. Keep in mind, there is usually a lesser opportunity cost in taking 1 OF to 1 3B.

**Rockies Stack – Nolan Arenado, Ian Desmond, Charlie Blackmon, Trevor Story**

**Mariners Stack – Nelson Cruz, Danny Valencia, Jean Segura, Robinson Cano**

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cincinnati Reds
Park – Rogers Centre

The Blue Jays finally have their full team together and it looks like they may be getting right to the chase. They scored 15 runs last night and while that really doesn’t matter, it’s nice to see these guys string together a few innings. They face off with the guy from Monster, Inc. tonight in Asher Wojciechowski. Woj is a guy who has been bouncing around the minors for some time now, without much to show for it. He had a short stint in 2015 but was unable to hold on, struggling against lefties to an extreme. He hasn’t been good against righties in the minors either, so this team should be able to put up some runs. The Blue Jays are the only team outside of Coors Field with an implied team total over 5, so Vegas agrees. Remember, Josh Donaldson won the MVP 2 years ago. He’s a complete game-changer and when you add Tulowitzki, this is a new team. While they still hold a ton of variance and aren’t a team I would stack in cash, they have as much upside as anyone. Chris Coghlan was scratched last night but remains a very good hitter against righties if in the lineup. He will give you exposure to a popular team without the crazy ownership. Donaldson is a must and Bautista/Tulo are close to it. After that, this lineup can get production from a lot of spots. Take a shot at anyone in tournaments.

**Main Stack – Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, Jose Bautista, Kendrys Morales**

**Sneaky Stack – Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, Justin Smoak, Chris Coghlan**

*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