FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Sunday April 15 MAIN
By Matt Rogers
Welcome back to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups column. This is the Sunday, April 15th 2018 MAIN slate edition. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.
We started yesterday’s slates with minimal weather concerns, but learned quickly there were big issues across a good portion of the country. We loved the Yankees and Twins FanDuel MLB offenses, but neither team was able to play. That forced us to narrow down our picks to Red Sox, Nationals, and Orioles for offense, with Max Scherzer in the early slate.
For the most part, the Early Only slate was successful, generating 150 to 180 FanDuel MLB points. However, with so many players having the chalky Scherzer in their lineup, it was difficult to win without exceeding 160+ points in most cash games, and for GPP you needed around 200 points. So we had a marginally successful afternoon. The Main slate, didn’t do well with Jameson Taillon struggled to generate the K-rate he’s developed earlier.
For FanDuel MLB this Sunday, we have an early Main slate, and a Late slate covering most of the late afternoon games, starting after 4pm ET. If you want to factor in the one evening game, you need to play the All-Day slate. For the purpose of this article, we’ll cover the Main slate only, and will possibly have a ‘Late Afternoon’ article later today.
Before we get there, a reminder to never take a DFS MLB optimal lineup as ‘bible’ for your personal lineup each day. Use the suggestions as guidance. Also, make sure you follow final lineup thoughts throughout the day on our twitter account @FantasyCPR or me @mattymcmatt17 look for late breaking lineup news.
Weather Note: With so many weather-related concerns across a good portion of the country, from the central US to the eastern coastline, the main slate is narrowed down significantly. The Phillies and Pirates play the Rays and Marlins in a dome in Florida. So each game is a lock. All other games for the Main slate are under threat of delay or postponement due to the weather.
So with the major weather-related considerations addressed, let’s get to the top pitching options…
FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate
So with weather considerations narrowing down our focus, we have four pitchers to consider. Ivan Nova ($7,900) and Ben Lively ($6,800) have the best potential for a win. Rays Ryan Yarbrough ($5,500) and Jose Urena ($5,900) are your best GPP plays, with the unlikely event they pull of a win against solid offensive lineups.
Ben Lively is tempting, averaging six strikeouts per game this season. Lively had a solid outing against the Mets to start the season, giving up only one walk and two earned runs. But Ben wasn’t able to last a full six innings for the Quality Start, and gave up six hits. Still, with five K’s, Lively had 26 FanDuel MLB points, and unfortunately that may be enough for a win today.
But the bigger FanDuel MLB point potential comes from Ivan Nova. The 31-year-old veteran hurler from the Dominican Republic, has developed into one of the better starting pitchers for the Pirates. Especially after Gerrit Cole was traded to the Astros last season.
Ivan struggled in his first two outings this season, but pitched an awesome game against the Cubs in his last outing. In Chicago, Nova gave up seven hits. But while he gave up three runs as well, he lasted seven innings, earned a quality start, the win, and had six strikeouts while walking no batters. Nova finished the game with 40 FanDuel MLB points. Against the Marlins, Nova has a nearly 50 point ceiling. We think he’s the best play in both Cash and GPP games.
FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate
Frankly, our stacks are easy today. The hard part may be picking the right players from the stack to fit in our lineup with Nova. We’re focused most on the Phillies against Yarbrough and Pirates against Urena. Between the two teams, we’ll probably grab at least four Phillies and maybe only two or three Pirates.
But, we also think we can get some offense from the Rays, in Tampa today against Lively. C.J. Cron ($2,500) is a very cheap cleanup hitter for the Rays today. So we’re putting him in the 1B/C spot to make it easy to grab the best Phillies and Pirates hitters. But we also like Denard Span ($2,600) leading off for the Rays in either a OF or Utility spot.
With those two picks in the lineup, Carlos Hernandez ($3,700) is leading off and a good play at second, Scott Kingery ($3,500) is a great prospect play at shortstop, and Odubel Herrera ($3,000) and Rhys Hoskins ($4,600) are hitting third and fourth today.
With only two spots left, we’re definitely keeping a red-hot Corey Dickerson ($4,000) in our lineup at the OF position, and Colin Moran ($3,100) is a very cheap play at third base. Moran may only hit seventh in the lineup, but the veteran is having a good spring.
FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup
With all of the weather-related concerns today, playing the All-Day slate is incredibly risky, unless you’re only making good weather lock plays today. Los Angels (Dodgers), San Diego, and Seattle are the three games we’ll likely focus on for the Late Afternoon slate, and if you’re playing the All-Day, use some of these ‘Main’ slate picks to make the big plays in the late afternoon affordable.
Ivan Nova is our best pitcher on the mound where weather isn’t a problem for the Main Slate. We love the Phillies bats today, and you could either mix that with three-player Pirates stack, or go with two-man mini stacks from the Pirates and Rays. You could also go with a four-man Pirates stack, and go with two Phillies or Rays.
With that summary in mind, here’s a look at the sample lineup for the Main FanDuel MLB slates on Sunday, April 15th:
FanDuel MLB MAIN Slate Sample Lineup:
P Ivan Nova ($7,900)
C/1B C.J. Cron ($2,500)
2B Carlos Hernandez ($3,700)
3B Colin Moran ($3,100)
SS Scott Kingery ($3,500)
OF Odubel Herrera ($3,000)
OF Rhys Hoskins ($4,600)
OF Corey Dickerson ($4,000)
UTIL Denard Span ($2,600)
Remaining Salary: $100
Note: This is a recommended lineup after discussing our top options for today. You should use this as a guide, and provide your own input when building FanDuel NHL lineups. We are not telling you, or selling you, to use this lineup.
Best of luck in your FanDuel MLB contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all your DFS news and analysis across MLB, NBA, NHL, and EPL this spring!