FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Monday July 9

Welcome to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups column for Monday, July 9th 2018. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

While we didn’t have any FanDuel MLB lineup columns over the past weekend, there was plenty of action. On Saturday, the Nationals and Diamondbacks combined for 38 runs, each playing just a single game. Stacking the Nats and D-backs was easily beneficial.

Also, one of the interesting trends of the mid-summer part of the season continues. While it’s typically more beneficial to pay up for a top arm, lately it’s better to dig for value. For example, Max Scherzer ($12,200) was an expensive 24 FanDuel MLB points, while Nathan Eovaldi ($6,800) was a dirt-cheap 58 points against the Mets. This is a trend we need to keep in mind for this week.

Monday presents an odd set of slates for FanDuel. The Orioles and Yankees series starts around 4pm EDT, but they play a doubleheader in Baltimore. The Mets and Phillies have a similar situation in New York. You can play each team in the Early Only slate, but neither team is available in the Main slate.

For tonight’s Main slate, games begin just after 7pm EDT and there are only nine games, or 18 teams, played. So we have a limited number of arms to consider, and limited set of offenses to stack. Fortunately, there are clear pitcher picks tonight, and the offense stacks aren’t hard to find either.

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: We had a fantastic weekend across the US, although the heat dome appeared to have moved tot he western part of the country. The temperature is rising a bit on the eastern part of the U.S. on Monday, but we still have ideal weather for baseball across the entire country tonight. So no issues to consider when building your lineup.

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

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate

We have a decent list of great pitchers starting on the mound tonight. Gerrit Cole ($11,100) was one of the most dominating pitchers in the early part of this season, but Cole’s FanDuel MLB point impact has been muted lately.

After averaging nearly 50 points per game, Gerrit hasn’t eclipsed more than 49 points in his last ten starts. Still, Cole is a solid bet for around 40 points tonight, even against a tough A’s offense. But for this price, we’re fading Cole. There are too many better, or similar, options.

Clayton Kershaw ($10,500) has an ideal match up in a pitcher-friendly ballpark. But, Kershaw has only lasted more than five innings once, since returning form the Disabled List in late June. The Dodgers may try to push Clayton tonight, but it’s more likely they allow him to continue to ease back into action, as we’re rapidly approaching the All-Star break. At this price, Kershaw is another fade.

I want to like Eduardo Rodriguez ($8,000) given his 24.9% K-rate and 3.93 xFIP over the last 30 days. But the Rangers have been surprisingly good against left-handed pitchers in the last month. Considering the number of lefty bats the Rangers have in their lineup, that is odd. Eduardo may be worth a flier, but he’s not likely to have a 40+ night tonight.

Chris Archer ($8,800) has looked better over the last month, but the Tigers bats have done well against RHP’s lately. That leaves us with Jose Berrios ($10,100) and Mike Clevinger ($9,700) in the top six most expressive pitchers. Clevinger has a difficult match up against a Reds offense who’s had a great month and a half. And while Berrios has a good match up, he’s giving up nine runs in his last 11.1 innings pitched.

There just isn’t enough reward to pay up for any of these expensive arms. While continuing to look at the rest of the list, we kept coming back to Andrew Suarez ($7,700) against the Cubs. This is surprising.

For starters, we don’t like pitching against the Cubs solid offense. But over the last month, the Cubs have a mild 99 wRC+ against LHP’s, and their 24.3% K-rate is fifth worst in baseball. The Cubs .120 ISO is also 23rd best in baseball in this scenario, signaling overall struggles against southpaws right now.

Meanwhile, Suarez has quietly piled up two straight 40 FanDuel MLB point games in his last two starts, against the Rockies (in Coors Field) and Diamondbacks (in Chase Field). In the last month, Andrew has a 3.19 xFIP, third best of all starters tonight, and his 23% K-rate matches well with the Cubs struggles against lefties. For $7,700 we could get another 40+ FanDuel MLB point result and have plenty of salary left to load up on some of the best offensive options tonight.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

The Nationals recently called Jefry Rodriguez back up from the minors to fill a pitching rotation spot until the All-Star Break. Meanwhile, Ivan Nova is giving up 1.77 home runs per nine innings in the last month. That’s slightly better than Rodriguez’s 1.84 per nine innings.

With the Nats offense heating up over the last weekend, and the Pirates getting an ideal match up on their home field, stacking both teams is one of our better offensive options tonight. Another note to consider for the Pirates, the Nats bullpen is tired right now. It’s likely Dave Martinez pushes Rodriguez to pitch five-plus innings, regardless of the scare, to give his relief arms some rest. Also, both lineups have affordable picks tonight.

If you’re going with Suarez at the pitcher spot, you don’t necessarily need to find affordability for your offensive stack. The Indians have several expensive bats in their lineup. They also have a fantastic match up against Anthony DeSclafani and the Reds in Cleveland tonight.

Over the last month, DeSclafani has given up almost 2.5 home runs per nine innings. Anthony has a solid 1.28 WHIP in that time, but he’s also giving up around four to five runs per game. The Indians should get a lot of hard contact out of DeSclafani tonight, and we should see several home runs.

The Twins have an even better match up with Danny Duffy back on the mound for the Royals. Once a fantasy darling with tons of hype around him, Duffy is having a horrendous season, and his last month wasn’t any better.

In the last month, Danny has a 1.5 WHIP, he’s giving up 1.7 home runs per nine innings, and his 5.23 xFIP is the second worst of all the arms on the mound tonight. The Twins aren’t as expensive as the Indians, but with Suarez in our lineup, you have plenty of cash to stack any of these four teams.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup

Before we jump into our summary, we wanted to highlight one bat we’re definitely targeting tonight. This isn’t a surprise pick, but for only $3,200, we have to call out Mark Reynolds as a great Utility spot tonight. Reynolds is eight for his last ten, with three home runs and eleven RBI’s.

Mark is averaging over ten FanDuel MLB points-per-game this season, and is averaging over .300 right now. Reynolds is a streaky hitter, who happens to be on the hot side of his streak, and as we already mentioned, the Nats have a great match up against Nova tonight.

Again, we don’t think it’s worth paying up for any of the top-six most expensive arms tonight. The recent trend shows cheaper arms can be just as effective. Suarez carries a modest salary and is currently pitching his best baseball of the season. And we’re not scared off by the Cubs bats against lefties lately.

Having salary left over for offensive stacks isn’t a big concern right now. That’s great, because the Indians have some expensive bats and a very good match up. Stacking the Indians with the Twins, Nationals, or Pirates is the ideal target for Monday night.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the MAIN FanDuel MLB slate on Monday, July 9th 2018:

FanDuel MLB Main Slate Sample Lineup: 

P                Andrew Suarez ($7,700)

C/1B         Mitch Garver ($2,400)

2B              Jason Kipnis ($3,000)

3B              Eduardo Escobar ($3,300)

SS              Francisco Lindor ($4,900)

OF             Eddie Rosario ($3,600)

OF             Michael Brantley ($4,200)

OF             Jake Cave ($2,700)

UTIL         Mark Reynolds ($3,200)

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 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!