FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Monday July 2

Welcome to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups column. This is the Monday, July 2nd 2018 edition. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

While he wasn’t a complete waste of a pick for only $8,500, Freddy Peralta was still a disappointment yesterday. Our concern about the Reds offense being hot was more valid than we had hoped. Still, 21 FanDuel MLB points from a pitcher is workable.

However, our Halo’s hitting stack fell flat. Against Kevin Gausman, who is a solid pitcher but has trouble keeping the ball on the ground, the Angels only provided two runs. Albert Pujols ($3,100) ended up being the only decent play for that stack.

The Orioles, on the other hand, were a terrific stack. We had Manny Machado ($4,400) in our lineup, even though we also paid up for Mike Trout ($5,000). Machado had a home run, along with a single, and gave us 25.2 FanDuel MLB points. But Mark Trumbo ($3,100) was the real prize. With a sub-10% ownership, Trumbo went yard twice, for 37.4 points.

If the Angels offense had a better day, we would’ve had a better result. It was tough to even win cash games with the Halos. Worse, we paid a big price for Trout, and it didn’t pay off. We were better off stacking the Cubs or Twins in a hot Chicago ballpark. Even Jon Lester smashed a three-run home run there!

On Monday, we have another abbreviated MLB schedule. There is an ‘All Day’ FanDuel MLB slate, only to incorporate the Tigers and Blue Jays into the lineup options. They kick off their match up in Toronto at 1:07pm EDT. That leaves us with nine remaining games, with our focus of this column being on the ‘Main’ slate only.

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: There are some shower and thunderstorm concerns with the White Sox visiting the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, taking on the Reds. However, at worst this seems like a minor delay, as the precipitation chances plummet off a cliff within an hour of the first pitch. All other games are a green light to play.

Several of the games are in a dome today. Those games not in a dome, and on the east coast, will be very hot. However, there appears to be little wind impacting play today, so don’t expect the ball to harry far.

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

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate

Considering the starting pitcher options for the FanDuel MLB Main slate today, we’re going with a fairly unconventional pick. The upside is the lower ownership. The downside, there is certainly some risk with our pick. But from our perspective, there’s risk with most of the pitcher picks tonight.

Max Scherzer ($11,700) is always a great play this season, and we’ll rarely fade him. But the Red Sox offense is dangerous against RHP’s. Also, Scherzer continues to get very little run support from the Nats offense. While Mad Max has four straight quality starts (QS) in his last four games, not one resulted in a win. That minimized his points to the 30 to 40 FanDuel MLB point range. Against the Red Sox, that worries me.

Corey Kluber ($11,200) is the better of the top to most expensive SP options today. Corey has pitched a lot of late inning games, and is averaging over 26% K-rate. Also, Kluber’s match up against the Royals is ideal.

However, there’s risk with Corey. In his last four starts, he was dreadful every other start. Yes, he looked better against lesser offenses like the White Sox and Tigers. The Twins and Cardinals destroyed him, especially the Cards. It may be more due to the match up, but Kluber didn’t look right last week.

Given the conclusions of the top two pitchers in the salary list, I started looking at the mid-salary range guys, and dug for value plays. I don’t love playing him against a solid Braves lineup against RHP’s, especially in a hot Yankees stadium. But, Jonathan Loaisiga ($6,700) has solid upside tonight. Especially for GPP play, he’s one of the best value options you see on the list.

Value thoughts aside, I was surprised when we landed after looking through the metrics and lining them up against the match ups. I ultimately settled on Robbie Ray ($9,400) against the Cardinals. I like this play for several reasons.

At first, I was concerned the Cardinals offense is hot. However, they’re struggling against left-handed pitchers this season. To my surprise, they’ve actually gotten worst against LHP’s, since June 1st of this year.

Over the last month, the Cards offense has a horrendous 57 wRC+ against left-handed pitchers. Their strikeout rate has also remained 23-24%. Yes, Robbie Ray recently came back from the DL and was only allowed to last six innings, but the D-Backs said they will push him from there.

Also, in that first start back from the DL, he had six K’s in six innings, allowing now runs and earning a win and QS. That was against the Marlins who…are struggling against LHP’s over the last month.

Thanks to the D-Backs slow-roll of Ray coming off of the DL, and the eye-candy already on the starting pitchers list for today, we think Ray is a sneaky play tonight. We could be getting a low-owned 50 point FanDuel MLB pitcher for a reasonable $9.4K price.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

While there are several great pitching options on the mound tonight, there’s also several stacking targets we have to get. That is what makes tonight’s FanDuel MLB Main slate so much fun. You have several great pitching plays, but also several likely offensive explosions all in the same slate.

Looking at expected runs totals, the Yankees are projected to land around six runs tonight. However, many of the Yankees bats are obviously expensive. So unless you’re going with a value play like Loaisiga, you probably can’t afford them with the pitchers we like tonight. However, it wouldn’t hurt to slip a Yankee or two into your lineup to get some exposure to the runs bonanza against Anibal Sanchez.

Two more teams who are projected to score over five runs tonight are the Indians and Reds. While the Indians have some expensive bats, many are still affordable. And the Reds have been hot for almost a month now, while their bats continue to be fairly affordable.

Tonight, the Indians have Jakob Junis on the mound for the Royals. After a good start to the season, Junis continues to struggle. His ERA has climbed to 4.67, and he’s giving up over two home runs per game.

The Reds aren’t quite getting the same home run potential from James Shields and the White Sox. But, Shields is still giving up over four runs per game, and they’re hitting in hot weather, and in a batter-friendly ball park. With two RHP’s on the mound against our stacking targets, we’re grabbing predominately left-handed hitters tonight.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup

Mad Max and Kluber are usually a safe play at pitcher. But we’re nervous about Max’s match up, and we don’t love Corey’s consistency lately. Porcello may be tempting, but lefty Nats bats in a hot D.C. ballpark isn’t ideal for Rick. So we’re going with Ray as our sneaky top pick of the day. If you need value, Loaisiga is our favorite, especially for GPP lineups.

You can try to stack the Yankees, like everyone else, but we’re going with two other offenses we expect to have more than five runs today. The Indians have bomber potential tonight, and should have well over five runs with some expensive and affordable picks. Meanwhile, the Reds are hot and it’s not hard to afford some of their best bats in our lineups.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the MAIN FanDuel MLB slate on Monday, July 2nd 2018:

FanDuel MLB Main Slate Sample Lineup: 

P               Robbie Ray ($9,400)

C/1B        Yonder Alonso ($2,800)

2B             Jason Kipnis ($3,100)

3B             Eugenio Suarez ($3,900)

SS             Jose Peraza ($3,200)

OF             Scott Schebler ($3,600)

OF             Tyler Naquin ($2,000)

OF             Michael Brantley ($3,900)

UTIL          Tucker Barnhart ($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 Game by Game Breakdown

Best of luck in your FanDuel MLB contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all your DFS news and analysis across MLB, PGA, and World Cup this summer!