*Austyn Varney*
MLB Fantasy Lineup Today – July 3, 2017
Welcome to Lineup Lab’s Best MLB Fantasy Lineup Today, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite stacks from the article below in our lineup optimizer and hit calculate. You can let it fill in the rest of the spots for you or choose your personal favorites from the MLB Player Lab.
Starting Pitchers
Aaron Nola
Opponent – Vs. PIT
Park – Citizens Bank Park
Vegas Favorite (PHI -115)
Vegas Total (8.5)
Boy oh boy, pitching is absolutely terrible tonight. The Nationals play earlier in the day and you can just chalk Strasburg in if you’re playing that slate. On the main slate, the 3 most expensive options are Tanaka, Stroman, and Nola. Stroman and Tanaka face off with each other and I don’t like them against either offense. That leaves us with Aaron Nola on the “high-end”. He’s not that expensive, but relative to the slate, I guess he is. Nola is a huge prospect for the Phillies and a guy they can rely on as a solid pitcher for a long time. He started out 2017 a bit cold, but it was expected after an injury. He’s now back to the old Aaron Nola we know and he’s hit 50 FanDuel points in each of his last 2 starts. He’ll face off against the Pirates, a team that doesn’t offer too much against righties. They’ve ranked 22nd in the league with a .311 wOBA and 20% strikeout rate. They move into Citizens Bank Park, which is a pretty neutral park with all things considered. Nola is striking out nearly 10 batters per 9 innings and the Pirates offer plenty of K’s. I will say nobody on this slate is safe and I personally think cash games are a bit tough on this slate. Let’s take a look at a cheaper, though riskier option.
Jharel Cotton
Opponent – Vs. CWS
Park – Oakland Coliseum
Vegas Favorite (OAK -125)
Vegas Total (9)
I know, yikes. If you have someone better, let me know when they were added to the slate. The said reality of tonight is we have no pitching. It’s something we have to work with and we can take comfort in knowing everyone is going through the same struggle. We’re going to look at Jharel Cotton, who faces the White Sox at home in the Oakland Coliseum. The Coliseum is a bottom 3 park for hitting and the A’s entire pitching staff is terrific at taking advantage. As for Cotton, in particular, he’s not a great pitcher. His true peripherals suggest a wOBA around .332 and a very average K rate. He does, however, face the White Sox. The Sox have ranked 27th in baseball against righties and have trouble getting the ball out in their own hitter-friendly park. Cotton is super cheap on both sites and he won’t have to do much to come through. Even if he allows 2 or 3 runs, the White Sox strikeout nearly 25% of the time, so I assume he’ll pick up a healthy share of those. All in all, this slate is very ugly from a pitching point of view and I don’t think Cotton is any riskier than anyone else.
Offensive Stacks
Boston Red Sox @ Texas Rangers (Martin Perez)
Park – Globe Life Park
The Red Sox have been in a lot of good spots lately, coming through in some and mightily disappointing in other. It’s also known as the nature of baseball. You never really know what can happen and at the end of the day, it can come down to the smallest factors. However, the Red Sox are once again in a great spot and we’ll go right back to the well. They move into Arlington and will hit in Globe Life Park, where fly balls go a far way. In summer, Globe Life has consistently ranked in the top 5 for hitting ballparks. They also face off with a classic DFS MLB pitcher, Martin Perez. Perez has sported a .356 wOBA against righties this year, but is actually getting a bit lucky. We can expect a wOBA around .380 at the end of the year and he’s also always struggled with the long ball (1.86 HR/9. righties seem to hit the ball out at a crazy rate and while the reason is a bit unknown, the proof is there in the numbers. Perez is a very boring lefty and he won’t intimidate a single batter from the get go. As for who to play on the Sox, they have a very strong 4 in Betts, Pedroia, Young, and Ramirez. That is easily my favorite stack, though I think Bogaerts is basically even with Pedroia. You can then go for a Jackie Bradley or Sam Travis, who hit lefties well and will see sub 10% ownership. The Red Sox aren’t implied to score as much as the team we’ll talk about next, but the upside is there and the ownership may not be. Fire away.
Main Stack – Chris Young, Mookie Betts, Hanley Ramirez, Dustin Pedroia
Sneaky Stack – Chris Young, Hanley Ramirez, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr.
Colorado Rockies Vs. Cincinnati Reds (Luis Castillo)
Park – Coors Field
I know, sneaky. I just couldn’t ignore the 6.88 implied run total coming out of Colorado. If you’re somehow unfamiliar and have been living under a rock for 20 years, Coors Field is a crazy boost for the offense(s). You will rarely see an over/under below 11 and tonight is included at 12. The ball flies in the air and also doesn;t break much from the hand, which leaves guys with a fastball and slider. When you’re leaning on 2 pitches in Coors Field, good luck. Luis Castillo is not ready for the majors and lets alone Coors Field. He’s struggled against both sides of the plate and didn’t show any extreme splits in the minor leagues. We do have some interesting injury news with the Rockies, so watch out. Both CarGo and Ian Desmond are questionable, so keep an eye out on Twitter and prepare accordingly. Charlie Blackmon is the easy choice and a guy you have to include in a Rockies stack. after that, go anywhere. LeMahieu, Arenado, and Reynolds are all in the top of the order and make a lot of sense in cash games. Whoever plays out of Cargo/Desmond is in play in both formats as well, as I doubt either return under 100%. Trevor Story has a ridiculous amount of upside and I’ll definitely have him in my tournament stacks. All in all, the Rockies are projected to put up 7 runs and if it happens, you can’t go wrong.
Main Stack – Charlie Blackmon, D.J. LeMahieu, Ian Desmond / Carlos Gonzalez, Nolan Arenado
Sneaky Stack – Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, Raimel Tapia, Mark Reynolds
