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FanDuel daily picks: Fantasy baseball lineup-July 23

By Zachary Thompson

Jul 8, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez (16) throws during the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 8, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez (16) throws during the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 18, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Kendall Graveman (49) throws to the Houston Astros in the second inning of their MLB baseball game at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 18, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Kendall Graveman (49) throws to the Houston Astros in the second inning of their MLB baseball game at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports /

High Value SP

John Lackey-Chicago Cubs (8,800): Lackey and the Cubs will look to take their second game in a row in Milwaukee after winning 5-2 last night.  Lackey will also look to strike out at least eight batters for the third game in a row.

On the season, Lackey has 128 strikeouts in 124.2 innings and has a 7-6 record to go with his 3.75 ERA.  He hasn’t won since early June, though, and has give up four earned runs or more in four of his last five outings.  Lackey is still a solid option to consider for tonight, though, in a favorable matchup against the Brewer who he held to one run on four hits in six innings earlier this season while striking out five.  Lackey has a lot of upside to like at under 9K, although he is riskier than the options on the first slide.∗∗∗

Collin McHugh-Houston Astros (7,600): McHugh will look to pick up where Lance McCullers left off after McCullers dominated the Angels last night in the Astros’ 2-1 win.  McHugh comes in with some momentum of his out after throwing six shutout innings his last time out powered by ten strikeouts against the Mariners.

McHugh’s strikeout numbers fluctuate pretty wildly from start to start with at least eight K’s in four of his last ten starts, but five or fewer in three starts during that span.  He has had pretty good success against the Angels this season taking a pair of no decisions against them despite a solid 2.77 ERA and nine strikeouts in 13 innings.  McHugh has the upside to dominate as evidenced by his 60 fantasy points from his last start, but he can also struggle since he managed just 18 fantasy points in the start prior to that one. He’s a boom or bust play, but one I like at just over 7.5K tonight.∗∗

Kendall Graveman-Oakland Athletics (6,600): If you want to go a different direction than leaning heavily on an Ace arm, you can stock your lineup with top-flight bats by saving money with Kendall Graveman who gets the start in the late game tonight.  If you didn’t quite make it to the end of last night’s West Coast marathon, it took the Rays and A’s 13 innings to get one run in Oakland where the A’s won in walkoff fashion after hurling 13 scoreless innings.

Graveman will look to continue the Rays’ offensive struggles tonight as he takes the mound looking for a win in his fourth straight start.  He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of his last seven starts and has gone at least 6.2 innings in five of his last six outings.  Graveman isn’t an elite fantasy option since he doesn’t strike out enough batters (not more than five in any of his last 13 starts), but he is a good play to get some innings and a possible W as he faces Drew Smyly and the Rays tonight. Grave man’s splits are much better at home (2-3, 2.91 ERA) than on the road (4-3, 5.25 ERA), and he is 3-0 in July with a very solid 2.08 ERA. ∗∗∗

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