FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Thursday June 7 Early Only

Welcome to the FanDuel Daily Lineups column for Thursday, June 7th 2018. This is the Early Only edition. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

Very much like yesterday, Thursday’s MLB schedule offers a split slate for FanDuel MLB. Unlikely yesterday, today’s schedule allows FanDuel MLB to have a nearly clean split between the slates. The only game not in either the Early Only and Main slates is the Phillies and Cubs at Wrigley Field.

But, we’re not fans of the All Day slate, as you’re locking in players assuming lineups, which can be a dangerous, and frustrating, DFS MLB optimal lineups issue. So with a focus on the Early Only slate in this article, we’re reviewing four games and should consider eight starting pitchers.

Yesterday’s Early Only FanDuel MLB slate went well, mostly because of the Nationals mini-stack. We finally landed on Carlos Carrasco as our top pitcher, and with ten strikeouts in seven innings, Carassco was able to pile up 58 FanDuel MLB points with a win and quality start, allowing just one run.

For the most part, the offensive side of the slate was a snoozer.  Our Indians stack yielded modest points, given they could only manage three runs. The mini-Mets stack fell flat given the 1-0 win from the O’s in Citi Field.

But, the Nats piled on eleven runs against the Rays while they experimented with a new starting pitcher technique, using their bullpen. We touted Juan Soto ($3,400) who continues to be on fire but is still fairly affordable. Soto had a double, single, walk, two runs and an RBI for 21.9 FanDuel MLB points.

We didn’t mention Anthony Rendon ($3,700), but once the lineups hit, we figured out a way to plug him into our lineup, and he provided an awesome 41.3 points with four runs, two doubles, three RBI’s, and an additional two singles.

Fortunately, today’s Early Only slate also appears to have a narrow focus on the best pitching options. Also, we think the offensive stacks are fairly obvious as well, but that means ownership is an issue. We’ll consider that as well.

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: In what is becoming a fantastic week for weather, we have no weather-related issues today. If anything, the only concerns continue to be drier and cooler weather than normal, with modest winds. For the Early Only slate, there is literally no wind issues at all. And for the Main slate, the wind will have very minor impacts. Green light to consider all teams!

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

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Early Only Slate

There are some wild-card starting pitchers for this slate, but there’s also two very obvious picks to consider. Dennis Santana ($5,600) is hurling the ball for the Dodgers in Pittsburgh. Santana only has one start, giving up five runs on six hits and a walk.

But Dennis somehow got the win in Coors Field, after just 3.2 innings. Santana had four strikeouts and 14 FanDuel MLB points in the game. For many reasons, that isn’t enough data to conclude Santana’s 21.1% K-rate is legit.

Santana has a 23.1% HC so far this season, one of the best in the slate. But again, the population is minimal and to counter that his GB rate is a very low 25%. It’s amazing Dennis didn’t give up a home run in Coors Field with such a high fly ball rate. He’s the one of the biggest wild cards on the board and a solid GPP consideration.

Another GPP consideration is Trevor Richards ($5,700), but boy is there risk with this play. In most of his outings this season, only five starts, Richards got hammered. In his first 19 innings, he gave up 13 runs, including a seven inning shutout of the Pirates. But, in just 4.2 innings against the Dodgers in late April (when they were cold), he fanned an incredible ten hitters.

That’s a strikeout for every out pitched. He also didn’t give up any runs and piled up 44 FanDuel MLB points. But a key number is 4.2. Only once did Trevor last more than 4.2 innings in any outing in the majors this season.

We’re fading both of those wild-cards, and focusing on the top three pitchers of the slate, Jose Berrios ($9,500), Miles Mikolas ($9,000), and Jameson Taillon ($7,800). Of these three, Mikolas has the best xFIP, 3.38, mostly due to the low 2.49 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. But Miles 18.5% K-rate reduces his DFS MLB optimal lineups impact.

Taillon has a great start tot he season, then fell flat in mid-April. In late May and early June, we’ve seen better results from Jameson. We touted Taillon for his last outing, and he piled up 52 FanDuel MLB points against the Cardinals.

But the Dodgers have a 103 wRC+ against RHP’s this season, seventh best in baseball. By comparison, the Cardinals are only 21st. The Dodgers also have a lower K-rate, 21.9%, but a rate close to Taillon’s 22.1% seasonal rate. Jameson is a 20 to 30 FanDuel MLB point play today, not what we’re looking for. Especially when we have Berrios on the board.

The White Sox have a 100 wRC+, signaling the average for the league against RHP’s. However, their 23.6% K-rate makes them attractive to target when a RHP is starting on the mound. Better, Berrios has a 25.1% K-rate this season, the highest of any starting pitcher for the Early Only slate.

Jose has already seen the White Sox twice this season, with mixed results. In Chicago in early May, Berrios pitched six innings, but only had two K’s and gave up four runs for 18 FanDuel MLB points. But earlier in the season, in Minneapolis, Jose piled up 11 K’s against the White Sox, and gave us 64 FanDuel MLB points.

Tonight, the Twins host the White Sox again, and Berrios has been on a roll lately. Jose has a quality start in three of his last four games, and wins in three of his last four games as well. Jose also has 7-10 strikeouts in each of the last four games. He’s by far the best FanDuel MLB pitcher option in the Early Only slate, but will likely be a high ownership pick.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Early Only Slate

The White Sox, Dodgers, and Marlins appear to have the worst match ups. So with only eight teams to consider for offensive stacks, you can cross all three of those teams off your list. That leaves us with five decent stacks to consider today.

James Shields is a popular stacking target. Shields is giving up nearly four to five runs per game, and he has a high 5.11 xFIP, highest for this slate. However, James has a low 1.26 WHIP, and his home run per nine rate is below one per game.

The Twins have a high 0.168 team ISO against right-handed pitchers, 10th best in baseball. They score over four runs per game, and they’re facing a pitcher who’s giving up around five per game. So we consider the Twins to be a decent stack in their home park today.

However, the Twins are a bit expensive, and we like the idea of stacking one game the most. The Rockies and Reds have a combined 24 runs over their last two games in the Great American Ballpark. That’s 12 runs per game, or six from each team in each game. The results haven’t been lopsided either.

With Tyler Anderson of the Rockies giving up 1.64 home runs per nine innings and Tyler Mahle giving up 1.84 home runs per nine innings, we have the biggest chance of home runs in this game. The Great American Ballpark is also become a notorious hitters park, especially for lefties. So with all of that in mind, we have to consider a full game offensive stack in Cincinnati, with Berrios at pitcher.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup

You can’t afford all of their bats, some like Joey Votto ($4,000), Nolan Arenado ($5,000), or Charlie Blackmon ($4,600) are very expensive. But given the run potential and likely high home run rate today, we’re stacking the Reds and Rockies in Cincinnati. The Twins are a solid offensive stacking option too, but they will be popular and we think they have a lower run outcome.

If you want to take down a GPP with some wild card pitching picks, we like Dennis Santana or Trevor Richards. But we’re grabbing the high K-rate of Jose Berrios against the White Sox for our top pitcher pick in all formats.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the Early Only FanDuel MLB slate on Thursday, June 7th:

FanDuel MLB Early Only Slate Sample Lineup:

P             Jose Berrios ($9,500)

C/1B     Chris Iannetta ($2,700)

2B          DJ LeMahieu ($3,700)

3B          Eugenio Suarez ($3,700)

SS          Jose Peraza ($3,300)

OF          Scott Schebler ($3,300)

OF          Carlos Gonzalez ($3,200)

OF          Adam Duvall ($2,900)

UTIL      Ian Desmond ($2,700)

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

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