FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Friday May 11

Welcome back to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups column for the Friday, May 11th 2018 edition. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

While he didn’t get the win, Walker Buehler ($8,600) still had a 40 FanDuel MLB point outing against the Reds. Buehler gave up two earned runs, but pitched a quality start in six innings, and fanned eight hitters. Unfortunately for Walker, the Dodgers offense didn’t provide run support. Still, for the salary, that was a decent outcome.

While our Royals stack was solid, it would’ve been more beneficial to stack the Orioles in the same game. But, Jorge Soler ($3,700) returned nearly 20 FanDuel MLB points, and Salvador Perez smashed a first inning grand slam for 29.2 points. The Blue Jays only provided three points, and Josh Donaldson sort of worked out with 12 points, but the Mariners were a surprise better play against a good J.A. Happ starting on the mound in Toronto.

Friday’s FanDuel MLB Main slate is an exciting one. We’re going to fade the All-Day option, with too many question-marks about lineups by the 2:20pm EDT lock for the White Sox and Cubs game in Wrigley.

For tonight’s games, there are several top-tier pitching talent options, but also several great stacking options to target. This is a great situation, because it lowers player ownership, but it also presents an overwhelming number of options for FanDuel MLB players.

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: The Royals, Indians, Mariners, and Tigers have some rain and thunderstorm threats tonight. We’re most worried about a delay in Detroit impacting the Tigers and Mariners game, but a postponement currently appears unlikely. If we see any rain in Cleveland, it should be very minor, and even a delay is unlikely. So, with weather-related considerations addressed, let’s get to the top pitching options…

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate

Oh, Nelly! We’ve got a good one today! There are some mornings, or evenings, when I’m looking at the pitchers for a slate and nearly fall asleep from boredom. Tonight, is the opposite of those days. We have incredible top pitching talent on the mound across several games tonight, and it’s quite frankly going to be difficult to pick one.

Even better, the talent is solid across several of the salary tiers. But paying down for a pitcher in cash games tonight is a sure-fire way to lose easy money. So who do we like? The obvious top three pitchers tonight are Max Scherzer ($11,700), Justin Verlander ($11,300), and Chris Sale ($11,200).

Of those top three pitchers, we like Sale the least. Yes, the Blue Jays offense looked flat last night, but they’re hitting fairly well against left-handed pitchers, and Sale isn’t pitching as dominate as Scherzer and Verlander right now. So now it comes down to two options, and quite frankly, you could pick either one.

Because of the salary difference, we’re likely going with Verlander tonight. At first, we thought Verlander was the obvious choice, given the match ups. But to our surprise, the Diamondbacks are actually hitting very poorly against right-handed pitchers, like Mad-Max, this season.

In fact, the D-Backs have the seventh WORST wRC+ (88) in this scenario, while the Rangers (facing Verlander) are fourth (82) worst. And they’re both fanning around 25% of the time to right-handers. So both Justin and Max should be back in the ten’s for K’s tonight. But given Verlander is $400 cheaper and pitching at home, we’d suggesting going with Justin over Max. Still, Max has be far the greatest upside of any pitcher on the mound tonight, so paying up for him is NOT foolish.

Like many FanDuel MLB players, you’re also wonder, OK…But, what about cheaper or less obvious picks for GPP play, or for a better chance at cash winnings using a bigger offensive lineup. That’s a fair thought, and I’ve been debating that with other FantasyCPR Expert Brian Tulloch this morning.

If you’re trying to dip below the $10K salary mark at pitcher, Trevor Bauer ($9,500) is the safest bet. However, the Royals have a very low, nearly 15%, K-rate against right-handed pitchers this season. In fact, that low K-rate has burned us earlier in the season. So we’d generally recommend avoiding that play. For GPP, it’s an intriguing idea though. If Bauer maintains his 28% K-rate against the Royals, you’re likely going to have a big advantage in most tournaments.

Digging further for a better option, we like Kenta Maeda ($8,400) against the Reds in Los Angeles. Maeda’s 4.02 ERA and 1.42 WHIP likely scare many DFS MLB players off of his pick. But Kenta is only giving up 0.86 home runs per nine innings, and is fanning batters at a very high 30% rate. So with K-upside against a struggling Reds offense on the road, Maeda is a sneaky value play.

Two final value play thoughts are Jameson Taillon ($7,400) and Jake Arrieta ($8,000). Both of these pitchers are understandably flying under the DFS MLB optimal lineups radar for different reasons.

After a great start with a high K-rate, Taillon has fallen apart over the last couple of weeks. But Taillon has a good match up at home in Pittsburgh tonight and is likely to bounce back. Arrieta appears to be getting better control as the season progresses, and is giving up minimal hits, walks, and runs. But, Jake has a low K-rate. However, Arrieta also has a great match up against a struggling Mets lineup. Either are sneaky value plays tonight.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

With all of the great pitching on the mound tonight, it’s understandable to be concerned about offensive stacking options. Fortunately, there are plenty of terrible arms walking to the rubber tonight.

We start with an obvious one, Dan Straily. The Marlins righty has only pitched in two games this season, and a combined eight innings. Although, he could’ve pitched more innings if he wasn’t so terrible. In those outings, Straily gave up nine hits, eight walks, and six runs, while only getting three strikeouts.

The outings were against a mediocre Reds lineup in Cincinnati, and the Phillies away from Philadelphia, where they’ve struggled. Tonight, Miami hosts a solid Braves offensive lineup, and if you don’t stack the Braves, try to at least have someone from the top of their order in your lineup.

While the Braves are a great offensive play, they may be chalky. We’re more excited about a Los Angeles stack tonight. There often appears to be west coast bias in DFS MLB optimal lineups, likely due to many east coast DFS MLB players not wanting to wait for games to start. That alone reduces the ownership of these stacks.

The Angels are facing Lance Lynn on the mound tonight for the Twins. Lynn has a horrendous 1.96 WHIP in six starts, is walking batters at a 16% rate, and is giving up 1.52 home runs per nine innings.

This bodes well for a Halos offensive lineup who’s been slugging the ball this season. Fortunately, several of the players in the lineup are still affordable, although grabbing someone like Mike Trout ($5,500) with a Scherzer or Verlander is going to be extremely difficult without assuming a ton of value-play risk.

We touted the Dodgers last night, and they were a dud. So it’s risky to go back to them again. However, the Dodgers advanced metrics continue to see positive regression from their offense soon.

Meanwhile, the Mets traded Matt Harvey to the Reds after trying to demote him to their minor league system. Also, keep in mind the Mets pitching staff is struggling with injuries and performance lately. Yes, he’s been that bad. The Reds are giving Harvey a last chance at resurrecting his career, starting tonight against the Dodgers. This is a great opportunity for the Dodgers to ignite those bats.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup

Before we get into the re-cap, some additional thoughts about offensive lineup options. The Rockies are a popular stacking option, but we’ve noticed some Coors Field fatigue in FanDuel MLB ownership lately. The Rockies have another solid match up with good weather.

While they’re not our favorite play of the night, they should be considered for an offensive stack, even in GPP tournaments, and especially with a cheaper arm in the pitcher spot. Also, Mark Trumbo ($3,000) is still ripping the baseball since his DL release. Yes, he hasn’t hit a home run yet, but he’s bound to hit several soon. In the meantime, we’re going to continue to ride his .333 batting average and plug him into the utility spot.

So, for pitching, you recommend going with Verlander or Scherzer, and fading Sale. We like Trevor Bauer as a better value pick, but would take on more risk with Taillon or Arrieta. Also, Maeda is a sneaky cash-game play with more value than Verlander and Scherzer, if he can maintain his high K-rate.

For offense, we love a full L.A. stack, with mostly Dodgers and Angels in our lineups. But we also like the Braves pitching match up tonight, and would recommend playing the Rockies as well, if you can afford them. And yes, we’re still on a Mark Trumbo tout for Friday.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the Main FanDuel MLB slate on Friday, May 11th:

FanDuel MLB MAIN Slate Sample Lineup:

P          Justin Verlander ($11,300)

C/1B   Albert Pujols ($3,100)

2B        Chase Utley ($2,300)

3B        Zack Cozart ($3,200)

SS        Andrelton Simmons ($3,400)

OF        Matt Kemp ($3,400)

OF        Joc Pederson ($2,400)

OF        Ender Inciarte ($2,900)

UTIL     Mark Trumbo ($3,000)

Remaining Salary: $0

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.

Next: MLB DFS Picks and Pivots

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!