FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Friday May 18

Welcome back to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups column. This is the Friday, May 18th 2018 edition. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

We did the right thing by fading the Cubs and Braves game yesterday. Unfortunately we’ll have many situations like that today for FanDuel MLB, which we’ll get to with today’s ‘Weather Note’ below. We also went with some bold, GPP-like, picks across our lineup.

Our lineup didn’t work out for GPP, and only if you grabbed the right players from the stack with a safer pitcher pick, did you win the cash plays. Chad Kuhl ($7,700) started the night with over 20 FanDuel MLB points with four K’s and two great innings. Unfortunately, from there Kuhl began to fall apart against the lefties, a risk we were aware of. Chad ended the night with only 16 points over 4.1 innings.

The Rockies and Pirates stacks worked OK. They each had five points. But paying for $3,700 for Corey Dickerson and Gregory Polanco for only just over 20 FanDuel MLB points felt like a rip-off. And the Rockies top bats didn’t produce many double-digit point outcomes.

So we feel the stacks didn’t work as well as planned. However, our Shohei Ohtani ($3,400) pick at the utility spot did play out well, as he hit a home run against the Rays, the only run for the Halos. We can do better tonight.

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: Probably the biggest story for all DFS MLB optimal lineups tonight is the weather. There is significant weather risk for the Nationals, Dodgers, Braves, Marlins, Cardinals, Phillies, White Sox, Rangers, Cubs, and Reds. We still think there’s some risk for the Pirates and Padres as well.

We may only see delays in a couple of those games, but most of these teams will not play tonight. Also, as many DFS MLB players experienced using the Braves and Cubs lineups yesterday, it’s just not worth the aggravation. There are plenty of other great games on tonight, with great plays. We highly recommend fading all of these teams tonight.

With weather-related considerations addressed, let’s get to the top pitching options…

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate

While there are many great pitcher picks tonight, several likely won’t even see the mound tonight. Jacob deGrom ($10,000) is one of the better pitchers who likely does see a start tonight, but we have some injury concerns about deGrom right now and hate the match up against the Diamondbacks.

Charlie Morton ($9,700) will seem very tempting to many FanDuel MLB players, but keep in mind that he’s been very inconsistent over his last four starts, and he’s facing a red-hot Indians lineup right now.

Also on the mound in Houston tonight is Mike Clevinger, who has a high K-rate, but a propensity for high walk rates, at times, and can get shelled from time-to-time. Oh, and he’s facing the Astros lineup.

Zack Godley ($8,500) has upside tonight, facing a struggling Mets lineup. But Godley has also see the struggling Dodgers lineup in two of his last three starts with very disappointing outcomes. Blake Snell ($8,000) was off to a hot start this season, but had a terrible outing in Baltimore five days ago, and faces a tough Angels offensive lineup.

So as we tick off the pitchers we don’t like, this slate begins to seem tough, sort of overwhelming. However, it’s slates like these that become the most exciting. Now we know we can maybe grab some solid value from our pitcher pick, and load up on offense.

With that in mind, we’re now digging through some of the riskier players, and realize Kyle Gibson ($7,600) doesn’t seem like much of a risk against the Milwaukee Brewers in Minnesota. Gibson has six-plus K’s in each of his last five starts, giving up around two to three runs per game, pitching over six innings per game, three quality starts in that time, and is averaging over 30 FanDuel MLB points per-game in the last month.

Considering the risk with all of the other pitcher plays tonight, 30 to 40 FanDuel MLB points from our pitcher pick actually sounds ideal. Even better, the Brewers are fanning against RHP’s this season at a 24.3% rate, tied with the Marlins for eighth worst in MLB.

If Kyle can keep the runs low, last six innings, and throw between eight to ten K’s, he is actually a 50 point potential. We saw Gibson do this to the Yankees in late April, fanning ten hitters for 52 FanDuel MLB points. We’re not sure if he can get to 50 tonight, but we like the upside potential, settling for around 30 points from this pick.

 FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

Boy, without considering the weather threats, there was plenty of offensive stacking options which looked incredibly juicy tonight. The Braves had Dan Straily on the mound in Atlanta, and the Rangers, White Sox, and Cubs were all going to be great stacks. But we’re fading each of those teams, and letting other FanDuel MLB players sweat out the game status.

But even when you eliminate those options, there is still plenty of awesome stacking options tonight. By far, my favorite two are in the same game, the Athletics and Blue Jays in Toronto. After eliminating pitchers from the Delay/PPD risk games, Marco Estrada has a 5.43 xFIP, the worst of any starting pitcher left on the list.

Also, Estrada and A’s hurler Brett Anderson each are giving up around two home runs per nine innings, and have a high WHIP. Finally, each of these offenses are efficient, the A’s in most situations and the Blue Jays especially better in Toronto.

But the offensive stacking party doesn’t end there folks. We likely have plenty of cash left on the table from our pitcher picks and stacking most of our offense with A’s and Blue Jays. So, why not look for some more expensive plays with significant FanDuel MLB upside.

The Tigers, Orioles, Red Sox, and Yankees all have ideal match ups with home run potential. Of those four teams, Red Sox and Yankees each have hot offenses with enormous upside available. The Yankees are likely off everyone’s radar right now, as they haven’t played for days due to rain. And the Red Sox may be faded because of all of the available value tonight. So we recommend capitalizing on one, or both, of their top hitting plays tonight.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup

With the A’s and Blue Jays peppered all over our offensive part of the lineup, we’re stacking three to four players from each lineup tonight, in Toronto. Additionally, we’ll look for high point upside from some of the Yankees or Red Sox top hitters, including uber expensive Mookie Betts ($5,200).

This is all feasible thanks to the value we get from not only the A’s and Blue Jays offense, but also by grabbing Kyle Gibson, who should land us around 30 to 40 FanDuel MLB points tonight. We also feel Gibson has a 50 to 60 point ceiling, if his control is on point against a vulnerable Brewers offense.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the Main FanDuel MLB slate on Friday, May 18th:

FanDuel MLB MAIN Slate Sample Lineup:

P            Kyle Gibson ($7,600)

C/1B    Justin Smoak ($3,600)

2B         Jed Lowrie ($3,500)

3B         Yangervis Solarte ($3,000)

SS          Marcus Semien ($3,200)

OF         Kevin Pillar ($3,000)

OF         Khris Davis ($3,300)

OF         Mark Canha ($2,600)

UTIL      Mookie Betts ($5,200)

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!