FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Wednesday June 20

Welcome back to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups column for Wednesday, June 20th 2018. This is the Early Only and Main slate edition. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

I’ve played DFS MLB for quite some time, and I’ve used Mike Clevinger many times. Usually, he disappoints me. I wasn’t on Clevinger last night, even though he had a solid match up against the White Sox.

Mike hasn’t demonstrated great high K-rate ability this season, but last night was a major exception. With ten K’s in 7.2 innings, and a quality start on just one earned run, Clevinger had 60 FanDuel MLB points. Grabbing mike with a Coors stack, or the Braves, was an easy win last night in all formats.

Our bold Jefry Rodriguez experiment didn’t work out as planned, but mostly because of our offensive stacks. We were asking for 20-30 FanDuel MLB points from that cheap pick, and he gave us 18 points with six K’s in five innings. Rodriguez looked nasty, but his control wasn’t great. Two pitches gave up four earned runs, and without those two pitches we would’ve had a better night.

The Nats stack worked well, depending on who had you in your lineup. Daniel Murphy remained quite, but Adam Eaton continued to heat up with 22.4 FanDuel MLB points. Mike Trout gave us 16 points from the five run Halo’s stack, but that didn’t meet our expectations.

Today, we have another Wednesday split slate. Five games are scheduled between 12:30pm EDT and 2:20pm EDT, which fit nicely into the Early Only slate. The only way you can play the A’s, Padres, Marlins, and Giants is in the All Day FanDuel MLB slate, which we’re fading.

Finally, the Main slate has seven games to play. We will find a couple of offensive pitching options in each slate, and there are a few decent offensive stacks to consider in the Early and Main slates today. If you only want to play one slate today, go with the Main. The Early Only slate has heavy chalk at pitcher, and a lot of question-marks in the lineups this afternoon.

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: Unfortunately, most stadiums east of the Rockies has a shot at rain or thunderstorms today. But the two spots we worry about the most are Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. In fact, the odds are high enough for sustains heavy showers and thunderstorm threats that we’d recommend fading the Tigers and Reds in the Early Only, and Pirates and Brewers in the Main slate.

The Indians are hosting the White Sox this afternoon, and they could see some rain from the same system, but the threat is more like a minor delay. Meanwhile, the Mariners and Yankees game will have some shower threats, but would likely only delay the game later in the night. The Orioles and Nationals have a similar threat, but earlier in the evening.

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

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Early Only Slate

Jake Arrieta ($7,900) or Jon Lester ($9,000) are tempting in this scenario because you know there are some chalky pitcher plays, which we’ll get to soon, for this slate. And, you want to save some salary for your offensive stacks.

But while both pitchers have low ERA’s and low WHIP’s, they’re producing modest DFS MLB results because they also have a low K%. Of the two, Lester’s K-rate is at least climbing, but he also has a hot Dodgers offense in Wrigley this afternoon. We’re fading both options today.

Michael Wacha ($8,800) looked like a great option last week for DFS MLB lineups, until the Cubs smashed eight runs onto the board in just four innings against Wacha. That is two total runs in just 9.2 innings pitched over the last two games. In Citizens Bank Park against a good Phillies home offense is not the time to grab Wacha again.

Fulmer and Mahle aren’t great options because they’re both having rough seasons and the weather is dicey. And Lopez has control issues we don’t want to pay down for. We’re also not interested in J.A. Happ ($9,100) against the Braves. Atlanta has the lowest K-rate in the league against LHP’s, and their wRC+ is 119.

That leaves us with one obvious option, and two solid more affordable options. After seeing the White Sox fan ten times to Clevinger, you have to imagine Core Kluber ($12,100) is a top play today. However, his salary will lower his ownership. Likewise, it will lower your offensive point total.

Still, especially in cash games, Kluber is must own. He has a decent chance at 60 to 70 FanDuel MLB points tonight. If you’re looking for a cheaper option, we like Ross Stripling ($9,400) or Anibal Sanchez ($7,000). Of the two, Sanchez is obviously more risky.

But, Sanchez has a very good 0.96 WHIP, although with less innings than most of this slate’s starters. Still, he has the fourth highest K-rate, 21.8%, and he’s piled up five to six K’s per game, averaging over six innings per game, in his last three outingss. While the Blue Jays offense is productive against RHP’s, they’re also fanning 23.5% of the time, 10th worst in baseball.

Stripling’s value is a bit more obvious. First, the non-obvious part of the play is the Cubs lineup. They just played a double-header yesterday, and now start the day with an early afternoon game. It’s likely the Cubs will have to sit some regulars against a hot pitcher.

That bodes well for Ross. Better, Stripling has a 29.8% K-rate right now, the most of all pitchers starting in this slate. His 2.69 xFIP is beginning to look real, too, as he’s piling up innings pitched. This could be the sneaky best play of the day, even with Kluber on the mound.

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate

The Main slate has some similarities to the Early Only slate, but there is a bigger gap between the top and bottom pitching talent. On of the top picks of the day is expensive and obvious, likely also chalky. But man, there is another great pick buried in this least, who’s way too cheap.

Charlie Morton ($10,000) is expensive but he also has a 30.6% K-rate, more than all starting pitchers in the Main slate. The only other pitcher who comes close is Jonathan Loaisiga ($6,200). Between the two, hopefully it’s obvious Charlie is the better play.

In his first and only start this season, the rookie Loaisiga was able to fan six hitters in five innings against the Rays, without giving up a run despite seven base-runners. Jonathan was able to produce 39 FanDuel MLB points on a cheap salary in that outing. However, Loaisiga also displayed some control issues, and faces a tougher Mariners offense tonight.

Meanwhile, Morton gets the same Rays offense Loaisiga was able to strike out six times. One concern about Charlie is the ERA has been climbing a bit. Although, he’s also seen better talent. If you’re willing to eat the chalk, especially in cash games, Morton is your guy.

However, we’re most excited about Seth Lugo ($6,000). For a plethora of reasons, Lugo will get overlooked tonight. Thanks to Jason Vargas, the Mets pitching looks dangerous in Coors. Also, Seth’s FanDuel point-per-game average is low because he’s mostly pitched in relief spots this season. And finally, with Morton and others at the top of the salary list, it’s just easy to scroll right past Lugo.

So why play him? Well, this is a similar scenario to our deGrom argument earlier in the week. Lugo has a very good 27.3% K-rate. Seth has a low 0.95 WHIP, and his ERA is below 2.5. Yes, he had a rough outing in Arizona where his curve ball hung more, and he gave up five earned runs in five innings. But he still had seven K’s and gave you 21 points.

Five days before the Diamondbacks outing, Lugo fanned eight Yankees and shut them out in six innings for 52 FanDuel MLB points. Also, the Rockies are surprisingly bad against RHP’s this season. Their 76 wRC+ is the worst in baseball, and their 23.7% K-rate is ninth highest. So we’re getting a high K-rate pitcher against a high K-rate offense, who’s struggling to produce to RHP’s like our pitcher. Oh, and he’s dirt cheap. Sign me up!

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Early Only

Unfortunately Tyler Mahle is the most attractive pitcher to target for an offensive stack. But we’re expecting weather issues in Cincinnati. Still, it would be smart to keep an eye on that weather while we approach lock, and potentially flip over to the Tigers as a four-man offensive stack. Mahle is the only pitcher giving up more than 1.5 home runs per nine innings in this slate.

Likewise, even though Fulmer isn’t giving up many home runs, he’s giving up more runs per game than any other starter in this slate. So in the same better-weather scenario, the Reds are also viable. But that also helps set up the story for today’s Early Only FanDuel MLB slate. The offensive options are…meh.

Depending on your starting pitcher option, your best chance of piling up a lot of runs is with the Indians offensive stacked against Reynaldo Lopez. Lopez throws hard and gives up a lot of fly-ball contact. This is an ideal situation to own Edwin Encarnacion ($4,000), but with Kluber it’s very difficult. With Kluber, you may have to stick to the bottom of the order, and hope for the best.

Jon Lester has done a solid job of maintaining a low ERA, but he’s facing at least some difficult hitters in a hot Dodgers lineup today. Again, the starters on in limbo because of yesterday’s double header, but we like the Dodgers stack for this slate.

If you have Stripling or Kluber in your lineup, make sure you grab a cheap option from another lineup like the Braves, to play with the Dodgers and Indians stacks.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

Great news, we have four starting pitchers on the mound today, who’s giving up over 1.5 home runs per nine innings, and averaging around, or over, 4.5 ERA this season. So we have up to four four-man offensive stacks you could consider today.

Even better, they’re expensive and affordable. So if you’re going with Morton, you can still afford most of these guys, and if you’re stacking with Lugo, you can basically afford everyone.

Royals Jakob Junis, Orioles Andrew Cashner, Rockies Chad Bettis, and Rays Nathan Evoaldi are all giving up a lot of fly-balls and home runs this season, and are struggling to keep base runners from scoring. That means, the Rangers, Nationals, Mets, and Astros are all great stacking options.

If you’re going with Morton in your lineup, we suggest stacking some cheap Nats bats with the Rangers sluggers. Another option is to grab any value we find from the Mets lineup along with a Texas stack.

But with Lugo in our lineup at the pitching spot, we have plenty of cash to stack the Nats and Astros bats. That means we can grab guys like Yuli Gurriel ($3,500) and Jose Altuve ($4,500) along with a hot Trea Turner ($3,900), Adam Eaton ($3,800), Anthony Rendon ($3,700) and Juan Soto ($3,800) who have Andrew Cashner on the mound in D.C. today.

The Nats and Astros offense, alone, have the potential to help you win cash games. If Lugo can keep his ERA for the game low, and maintain his K-rate, we’re in for a big night of GPP plays. But don’t forget about the Mets either. They’re another expensive play in Coors Field against a pitcher giving up nearly two home runs per game.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup

For the Early Only slate, we obviously love Kluber, but his salary makes us balk at picking him. Maybe that drives down his ownership, but that also makes playing good offensive stacks very difficult. Instead, we prefer Stripling, while stacking the Indians against Lopez and Dodgers against Lester.

In the Main slate, we have a similar situation, but a greater wedge between the pitcher options. That presents a scenario where we could either get a pricey pitcher and grab cheap home-run possibilities. Or, we can get a super cheap pitcher pick, with a high ceiling, while maintaining plenty of cash flow for some big offensive stacks.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineups for the MAIN and Early Only FanDuel MLB slates on Wednesday, June 20th 2018:

FanDuel MLB Early Only Sample Lineup:                          FanDuel MLB Main Slate Sample Lineup:

P              Ross Stripling ($9,400)                                          Seth Lugo ($6,000)

C/1B       Edwin Encarnacion ($4,000)                                Yuli Gurriel ($3,500)

2B            Jason Kipnis ($3,000)                                             Jose Altuve ($4,500)

3B            Justin Turner ($3,600)                                            Anthony Rendon ($3,700)

SS             Chris Taylor ($3,500)                                             Trea Turner ($3,900)

OF            Lonnie Chisenhall ($3,100)                                  Adam Eaton ($3,800)

OF            Rajai Davis ($2,400)                                               Juan Soto ($3,800)

OF            Matt Kemp ($3,700)                                               Josh Reddick ($2,700)

UTIL        Russell Martin ($2,200)                                        Marwin Gonzalez ($2,900)

Remaining Salary: $100                                                        Remaining Salary: $200

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 Game by Game Breakdown

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