FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Friday May 25

Welcome back to FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups. This is the Friday, May 25th 2018 edition. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

Yesterday’s column’s had mixed results. We did quite well with the suggested draft lineup, landing around 190 FanDuel MLB points, and winning all of our cash games easily, along with some money in the GPP.

Unfortunately, our Main slate suggestions bombed, although some of the stacking plays worked better with different players than those used in our example lineups. For Friday, we’re only focused on the Main slate again, with an All-Day slate the only other real option. But the All-Day slate only includes one additional game, the Cubs Matinee.

Unlike most slates this week, and likely a result of the slates leading up to tonight, we have a plethora of fantastic pitching talent starting on the mound tonight. Unfortunately, several of the top pitchers are over-priced, and many are facing each other. So making the pitching pick will be difficult. Also, finding the best stacks won’t be as easy 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: Great news once again! There are currently no weather related threats creating PPD or cancellation concerns. So have at those lineups without worry about rain or thunderstorms on Friday. With weather-related considerations addressed, let’s get to the top pitching options…

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate

When I saw the list of pitching possibilities for tonight, I got very excited. Max Scherzer ($12,000) is always a must have in your lineups when he’s on the mound, averaging nearly 55 FanDuel MLB points-per-game, and often getting us 60 to 70 points with just one player pick.

However, Scherzer’s salary really makes finding the right offensive stacks difficult. Especially given the stacks we like are mostly pricey tonight. We still recommend playing Scherzer in as many cash games as you can make your lineups work. He’s a lock for a bunch of points against a terrible Marlins offense.

Corey Kluber ($11,000) is holistically just as dominate a pitcher as Mad Max, but he’s unable to produce nearly as many strikeouts each game. In fact, Kluber’s 26% K-rate pales in comparison to other pitchers like Luis Severino ($10,300) with 30% and Patrick Corbin ($9,300) with 33.3%. Also, Corey has a very tough match up against the Astros tonight.

While we mentioned Severino and Corbin, for the same reason we’re not hot on either tonight. Corbin is probably your better bet against the Athletics in Oakland, but the A’s are a subtle but dangerous offense to face. And Luis has a tough Halos offense to face tonight.

We admittedly skipped over our favorite pitcher for tonight, multiple times, while doing our research. Earlier in the season, James Paxton ($9,700) caused some DFS MLB optimal lineups developers to fade him.

Paxton struggled at times on the mound in early April. However, since then, James has thrown a no-hitter, and is looking very dominate on the mound right now. Paxton is facing the Twins offense tonight, who’s quietly struggled against left handed pitchers this year.

Paxton can match his 31.5% K-rate with the Twins overall 24.6% K-rate against southpaws this season, seventh worst in Major League Baseball. So, in all formats, we think Paxton could get overlooked and end up being a top three pitcher tonight, with a reasonable salary. Tonight, that will matter.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

Finding the right offense tonight is challenging. First, there are so many appealing options when you look at xFIP. However, there are also dangerous traps as you dig further into the metrics. For example, Reynaldo Lopez has the worst xFIP on the mound tonight, 5.44, but he’s actually very good against right-heavy offenses like the Tigers. So, it’s possible some lazy FanDuel MLB players using an advanced metrics site will quickly jump on the Tigers. We recommend fading them!

One of the most obvious stacks tonight is the Rockies in Coors Field. Not just because the Rockies typically pile up runs in Coors, and not just because they’re playing the Reds. Although, those are two really good reasons. But mostly because Sal Romano is one of the worst starting pitchers tonight, and he’s giving up nearly 1.5 home runs per nine innings.

They’re expensive, but the Red Sox are also an intriguing stack against Julio Teheran tonight. Teheran has actually pitched some solid outings this season, but he’s historically streaky, and bad in this environment. Especially with the lefty bats, we love the BoSox tonight.

A couple of other stacks we think may fall off the radar tonight are the Nationals and Rays. Desperate to find new starting pitchers, the Orioles appear to be trotting David Hess to the mound tonight.

Hess has a modest seven K’s in just 10.2 innings, but he’s giving up too many hits, walks, and runs to not consider the Rays as a viable stack tonight. The Nationals are facing a decent Jose Urena, who’s also been unable to win a game in ten outings, and he’s giving up about four to five ‘clean’ runs each game.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup

Before we do a brief review, two other big things to consider for tonight. First, do NOT play Hanley Ramirez. At the time of writing this article, Ramirez has been designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox, and is now no longer a part of the team. FanDuel MLB has yet to update this in their app.

Also, while flipping player options at the pitcher position, I noticed Jean Segura ($2,600) is dirt cheap tonight at the shortstop position. While Fernando Romero has looked great in his first 21.2 innings pitched this season, he has yet to prove he can consistently dominate on the mound. Meanwhile, Segura is en fuego! We’re plugging Segura in all lineups tonight.

So with a Ramirez fade, Sugura in all of our lineups, we love Max Scherzer or James Paxton as our top pitchers tonight. Meanwhile, we’re looking to stack any combination of Rockies, Red Sox, Nationals, or Rays to complete our lineups tonight.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the MAIN FanDuel MLB slate on Friday, May 25th:

FanDuel MLB Main Slate Sample Lineup:

P            James Paxton ($9,700)

C/1B     Wilson Ramos ($2,400)

2B          Dustin Pedroia ($3,000)

3B          Rafael Devers ($3,600)

SS          Jean Segura ($2,600)

OF          Denard Span ($2,700)

OF          Jackie Bradley Jr. ($2,500)

OF          Mookie Betts ($5,400)

UTIL       Matt Duffy ($3,000)

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.

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!