FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Thursday April 20
By Matt Rogers
Welcome to FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups for Friday, April 20th. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.
Very much like the Wednesday slate, Thursday was a mixed bag of hits and misses. However, most of our focus areas worked out. Zack Greinke ($8,900) pitched seven innings, got the win, only gave up one run, and earned the quality start. However, Greinke only had 34 FanDuel MLB points, which was below our target for this play.
Still, Zack was chalk and he created a solid base for cash games. But for GPP plays, someone like Jake Arrieta ($8,300) who put on a dominating performance and piled up 61 FanDuel MLB points, was a better play.
For a random play, we expected J.T. Realmuto ($2,700) to stay hot since returning to the field mid-week, but he didn’t produce. That result hurt some of our more aggressive cash plays. But, the Braves stack worked out nicely, piling up 12 runs on a struggling Matt Harvey, as expected. We also focused on the Brewers, we added another 12 points. Lorenzo Cain ($3,200) was one of our top OF plays, and he ended the night with an incredible 46.8 FanDuel MLB points.
For FanDuel MLB on Friday, we’re looking at all 32 teams playing tonight, but only one of those games, the Tigers hosting the Royals, is in the afternoon. So we’re going to avoid the All-Day slate including the afternoon game, and focus only on the Main slate in this article.
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: For the most part, the weather remains fairly good across the country. We’re still a little cooler than normal in the northern half, but there’s less preciptitation. The one exception, the Cubs and Rockies game is at risk of a delay or postponement thanks to off-and-on rain showers throughout the day. While that game could be an attractive play for offense, we’re fading the lineups due to the weather risk. So, with weather-related considerations addressed, let’s get to the top pitching options…
FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate
Boy is this slate big-arm heavy tonight! We have Max Scherzer ($11,400) facing Clayton Kershaw ($11,500) and the Dodgers in Los Angeles. A red-hot Justin Verlander ($11,100) is leading the Astros on the mound against the White Sox in Chicago. Noah Syndergaard ($10,700), aka Thor, is facing the Braves in SunTrust Park. And Trevor Bauer ($9,000) and the Indians are facing a hot Dylan Bundy ($9,400) and the Orioles in Baltimore.
So who’s the best option? The answer is unfortunately multiple pitchers, including some we haven’t even mentioned yet. The Nationals offense had some success against Kershaw and the Dodgers last season, especially in L.A., for that reason we’re likely fading the incredible southpaw. However, Kershaw still has incredible upside, around 60 to 70 FanDuel MLB points, and incredibly low 2.77 xFIP since early last year.
But Max Scherzer is arguably the hottest DFS MLB pitcher this season. Mad Max is averaging almost 54 FanDuel MLB points per game, well above any of the other awesome starting pitchers on the mound tonight. That’s because Scherzer is managing a WHIP of well below 1.00, pushes team management to keep him in the game each outing, and he’s averaging around ten strikeouts per game. Of the two, we like Scherzer most.
However, paying up for Scherzer or Kershaw really limits your offensive picks. So we’re likely going with a better value play at pitcher, even if it means giving up ten to 15 FanDuel MLB points at the player spot. Verlander is also a great pick, but he’s also over $10K, but Bauer is a very intriguing pick.
Yes, Bundy is pitching very well lately, and he could threaten a win from Trevor Bauer and the Indians. But, Trevor has pitched five to eight innings in each of his three outings, and has seven K’s in all three games. Meanwhile, the Orioles are giving up a 28.3% K-rate against right-handed pitchers. That is the highest strikeout rate against RHP’s in baseball! Bauer could actually reach the point potential of Max or Clayton, and he’s over $2K cheaper than the other top picks.
You could try to dip even lower in salary and grab someone like Lance Lynn ($7,100) against the K-happy Rays, a returning from the DL Drew Pomeranz ($7,200) against the Athletics, or Matt Koch ($5,800) who’s facing a terrible Padres offense in Arizona. Any of those three make it easier to afford the top hitters from our offensive stacks, across the board. But we think it’s safer to use Bauer, and grab value from the stacks, while picked one or two top hitters.
FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate
Now that we’ve finished a rather exhausting list of thoughts about the pitchers spot, let’s get to the offensive stacks. Fortunately, this was easier to analyze tonight. The hard part will be affordability.
The White Sox are likely NOT staring James Shields tonight, as he had to come in during the marathon game against the A’s, in Oakland, on Wednesday night. That leaves either Lucas Giolito or a prospect from the Minors to start for the White Sox. Regardless, we think stacking the Astros is a great way to go tonight.
The problem with the Stros is that they’re mostly expensive because of the great offensive productivity. Still, we’ll likely try to grab one or two for our lineup, depending on the value we see once they post their lineup. One guy we are looking for in the lineup tonight is Marwin Gonzalez ($2,800).
Marco Estrada had some solid outing at the beginning of last season, but he’s regularly struggled since. With a 1.37 WHIP and giving up 1.51 home runs per nine innings, Estrada is a very big offensive target for bombers like the Yankees in New York tonight.
We’ll probably look for some value picks like Miguel Andujar ($2,600), but we’re also very interested in Didi Gregorius ($4,600). Didi’s offensive production this season has been top-give so far, and he has another juicy match up on his home field.
The Diamondbacks are also attractive as long as Tyson Ross continues to struggle, but especially in Chase Field. But the best value stack tonight is coming from the Cardinals in St. Louis. Likely a team many are overlooking for offense tonight, the Cards get Brandon Finnegan for a few innings to start the game tonight.
Finnegan has a horrendous 1.85 WHIP, is walking hitters at a jaw-dropping 21% rate, and is giving up nearly 1.6 home runs per nine innings. That means Yadier Molina ($3,400) and Tommy Pham ($4,400) or worth the price tonight. Also, Dexter Fowler ($3,100) and Harrison Bader ($2,400) have tons of value potential.
FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup
We obviously like Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw tonight, even facing each other. Of the two, we like Mad Max more. Justin Verlander is also a top three option. But we think Trevor Bauer ($9,000) offers not only the best value, but has the best match up. The O’s are fanning against RHP’s at the highest rate in baseball right now. Play the man!
For offensive stacks, we like the Astros and Diamondbacks. But we’re more interested in the Yankees and Cardinals. That combination allows us to play some top-hitter picks, while also grabbing an even amount of value for affordability. With that summary in mind, here’s a look at the sample lineup for the Main FanDuel MLB slate on Thursday, April 19th:
FanDuel MLB MAIN Slate Sample Lineup:
P Trevor Bauer ($9,000)
C/1B Yadier Molina ($3,400)
2B Ketel Marte ($2,600)
3B Miguel Andujar ($2,600)
SS Didi Gregorius ($4,600)
OF Tommy Pham ($4,400)
OF Harrison Bader ($2,400)
OF Dexter Fowler ($3,100)
UTIL Marwin Gonzalez ($2,800)
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!