FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Monday May 14

Welcome to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups column for Monday, May 14th 2018. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

Before we dive into today’s FanDuel MLB Main slate, we wanted to highlight a monumental U.S. Supreme Court ruling issued today. The ruling could have massive impacts to DFS products in the near future, and may open the door to more daily fantasy sports competition and use across the country.

The state of New Jersey has been pushing the Federal government to legalize online sports betting in their own state. The argument is simple, states should be allowed to manage online sport betting without federal involvement. An Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1992 prevented states from making those decisions.

The move by the Supreme Court will likely allow several states, who have prepared for this result, to legally allow sport betting very soon. However, it may take some states longer to act. Still, the idea that I can vacation at my father-in-law’s beach house in Delaware while playing DFS MLB optimal lineups, is incredibly exciting. Currently, I’m unable to do so.

So, with the exciting news reported today, we’re all likely eager to play some more FanDuel MLB lineups tonight. The Cubs have another afternoon game hosting the Braves in Wrigley this afternoon.

The only way you can play their lineups is by playing the ‘All-Day’ slate, which we’re fading. For the purpose of this article, we’re focused only on the Main slate. So with eight games underway tonight, we have 16 teams to considering, and 16 starting pitchers to investigate.

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: We’re not expecting any postponements tonight, however there is risk for delays in both Kansas City and Minnesota. So if you’re considering playing anyone from the Rays, Royals, Twins, and Mariners (and we are), then keep an eye on those forecasts. There’s slight risk to playing those lineups tonight. With weather-related considerations addressed, let’s get to the top pitching options…

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate

There are many solid pitchers starting on the mound tonight, but unfortunately several are facing each other. Also, within this group there has been some top pitching plays in the early part of this season, but many of these arms have been inconsistent.

Sean Manaea ($8,200) was off to a great start to the season and reached the pinnacle on April 21st when he threw a 9 inning no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox in Oakland. In that game, Manaea only had two walks and ten strikeouts, for 67 FanDuel MLB points.

Tonight, Manaea gets the Red Sox again, but this time in Fenway. Also, since that outing, Sean had a great result against the Astros, but followed that up with bad outings against the Mariners and Astros again.

So while it’s tempting to play Manaea again the same lineup he no-hit earlier in the season, it’s unlikely we’ll see the same result. The value looks great, but the value result likely isn’t there. We’re fading a more improved, this season, Sean Manaea tonight. But he stays on our radar  for the season.

Manaea could be a decent GPP play, but we think too many FanDuel MLB players will grab him, inflating his ownership. A better play GPP value play is 24-year-old Padres hurler Joey Lucchesi ($8,300) against the Rockies.

Thanks to constant buzz about the Rockies offense in the DFS MLB world, due mostly to Coors Field, it’s likely people will fade Lucchesi in hitter-friendly PetCo Park. So we know ownership is likely low. Also, Joey quietly has a 26.7% K rate, and the Rockies just so happen to be fanning at a 26% rate against LHP’s this season. So we know the K count will likely be high, around six to nine for the game.

Unfortunately Joey hasn’t lasted more than six innings this season, and only reached six innings in two of his eight starts. That could limit his FanDuel MLB points down to about 30 to 40. However, if he can make it through six innings with a win, we could see closer to 50 or even 60 points from Lucchesi tonight. He’s too risky for cash plays, but Lucchesi is fantastic for GPP tonight.

Finally, while plays like Carlos Carrasco ($9,800) seem like the best cash-game value play of the night, we love Patrick Corbin ($10,000) over every other starter tonight. Corbin has been consistently solid all season, giving up no more than three runs in a game, and earning a quality start in five of eight starts.

Also, the Diamondbacks are hosting the Brewers tonight. The Brew-Crew offense has a 71 wRC+ against left-handed pitchers this season. That is second worst in MLB, only behind the Mets. Their K-rate is only around 21%, but Corbin is a better pitcher than most of the lefties the Brewers have seen this season. So we think Patrick is a very solid 40+ FanDuel MLB point play tonight, with upside as high as 60 to 70 points.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

We are anxious to see how the weather develops in the Kansas City are tonight, because we really want to stack the Rays against Eric Skoglund and the Royals. In short, Skoglund is the worst pitcher on the mound tonight.

In six starts, Eric has given up 27 runs, or almost five runs per start. Even worse, he’s barely even pitching five innings per game, so you’re more than one run per inning pitched. Also, the Rays have solid offense in their lineup, but they’re dirt-cheap, increasing their value.

Denard Span ($3,000), C.J. Cron ($3,400), and Joey Wendle ($2,700) each hit in the top of the Rays lineup and they’ve all been double-digit FanDuel MLB point productive for most of this season. Carlos Gomez ($2,400) likely gets back into the Rays lineup tonight, too, and provides a value component in a four-person Rays stack.

Also, the Rays stack allows us to play Corbin in cash games, while still having plenty of salary left over to play a higher point outcome from the Houston Astros. Andrew Heaney has been inconsistent this season, but for the most part of the season he’s struggling.

A nearly 1.4 WHIP and ERA close to five gives us confidence a top-notch lineup like the Astros should have a good night in Los Angeles. Alex Bregman ($3,600) has been hot lately, and we can still afford the bat of super-hot Carlos Correa ($4,300).

There are other bats in the Stros lineup which you can grab for value to stack the Rays and Astros with Corbin. But you can also grab a few Angels against Lance McCullers Jr. from the same game in Los Angels. The Halos bats have been hot this season too, and someone like Albert Pujols ($3,100) has been providing consistent points every game. He may not be flashy this season, but you’re getting a solid base of points from that pick, with two great high point-potential stacks.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup

Before we recap our pitching focus and offensive stacks, there’s one more pick in our lineup we want to consider. It’s possible Travis Jankowski ($2,500) will strike out more against the Rockies left-hander, Tyler Anderson, tonight in PetCo Park.

Also, the Padres outfield situation is in flux. But If Jankowski is in the lineup against for the Padres tonight, play him. Since entering the lineup in late April, Travis has been on a tear, hitting nearly .350 with a home run, eight runs, and three stolen bases.

Even against lefties, he has a 126 wRC+ so far this season. Because there’s risk of him playing, and he could cool off, Jankowski is dirt-cheap tonight. We elect to plug him into our lineup, hoping to cash in on a hot bat.

So with Jankowski and likely Albert Pujols, or another Halo bat, in our lineup, we’re stacking Astros and Rays in the offensive positions. For FanDuel MLB cash games, we’re dead-set on Patrick Corbin, but for GPP we could go with Joey Lucchesi. With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the Main FanDuel MLB slate on Monday, May 14th:

FanDuel MLB MAIN Slate Sample Lineup:

P           Patrick Corbin ($10,000)

C/1B    C.J. Cron ($3,400)

2B        Joey Wendle ($2,700)

3B        Alex Bregman ($3,600)

SS        Carlos Correa ($4,300)

OF        Denard Span ($3,000)

OF        Travis Jankowski ($2,500)

OF        Carlos Gomez ($2,400)

UTIL     Albert Pujols ($3,100)

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!