FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Wednesday July 11

Welcome to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups column for Wednesday, July 11th 2018. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

Yesterday, we touted Patrick Corbin ($8,800) as our top pitcher pick for FanDuel MLB. It was a risky move, with Corbin pitching in Coors Field. However, Patrick was able to pile up six K’s while only giving up two earned runs. Unfortunately, Corbin threw over 100 pitches in just 4.1 innings and was pulled from the game too early to nail the 30 to 40 points we expected from him.

The offensive stacks still gave us a shot at winning some cash lineups. The Red Sox and Brewers each piled up eight runs. With the right players from each lineup, you easily had over 100 points, even with Corbin as your pitcher. We’re looking for similar, but potentially better, result tonight.

Four of baseball’s 15 games today are played before the 7pm EDT time-frame. However, only three of those games fall into the FanDuel MLB Early Only slate. We’re going to fade that slate today, and only focus on the Main slate lineup.

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: It continues to be mostly dry throughout the U.S. on Wednesday. The heat dome appears to be back on the east coast, raising humidity levels, but shower possibilities are on the low side. In fact, the only game we could even see shower chances pop up are in Minnesota where the Twins are hosting the Royals. But even there, odds are low. So green light to play all teams tonight.

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

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate

I’ve pointed this out a few times before. The current trend over the past month, has been winning lineups with mid-salary range or cheaper value plays at pitcher. This flies in the face of historical logic, the top pitching point earner wins you money.

That’s sometimes still the case, and Chris Sale ($12,600) is a great example. It’s hard to fade Sale today. Since June 1st, Chris has an insanely good 1.68 xFIP, along with a 45.2% K-rate. Oh, and he hasn’t given up a home run during that time as well. Sale is essentially a lock for 40 to 50 FanDuel MLB points tonight.

However, the ceiling may be low for Sale against the Rangers. Against lefties since June 1st, the Rangers have a solid 103 wRC+, and a very low 18.1% K-rate. Now, they’re facing Sale so their strikeout rate will climb a bit tonight. But that tells us Chris isn’t likely to have one of his best nights hosting the Rangers.

Given that last point, we continue to dig through the rest of the pitching options. Jacob deGrom ($12,100), Lance McCullers Jr.($11,400) and Carlos Carrasco ($10,300) are decent fantasy baseball plays tonight, but for FanDuel MLB they’re just too expensive.

There are some other mid-salary range plays we considered too, but we stopped at Luke Weaver ($6,600). I can barely believe I’m even going to say this but, I think Weaver is one of the top plays tonight, and clearly the best value.

Since the start of June, the Chicago White Sox have a low 80 wRC+ against RHP’s. Even better, the White Sox are fanning at a 27.6% rate, the worst in baseball, against RHP’s since June 1st.

Meanwhile, while Weaver’s stats seem underwhelming at first, he has a 4.2 xFIP and solid 22.7% K-rate since June 1st. So Weaver’s upside tonight is enormous. Also, he leaves plenty of cash on the table for our offensive stacks tonight.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

Yesterday, I debated stacking the Rockies or Diamondbacks in Coors Field. Ultimately, we decided to fade both teams, given the pitching match ups were great. And recently, good pitching has created frustrating results in Coors Field. However, that’s not a problem tonight.

German Marquez has given up 1.53 home runs per nine innings in the last month. So he’s a decent target for D-Backs stack. However, we think we have two better stacks to use. The Rockies face Shelby Miller tonight in Coors Field. Miller is giving up nearly three home runs per nine innings in the last month.

Think about that. Of all the starting pitchers on the mound tonight, the one giving up the most home runs lately…is in Coors Field. They’ll be chalky, but given their price tag and the price tag of the top pitching options, it’s possible their ownership will be lower than normal. So we’re stacking the Rockies bats tonight, even the expensive ones.

Last night, we loved the Brewers in Miami. Tonight, we love the Brew-Crew in Miami, again. Like Miller, Dan Straily is giving up over two home runs per nine innings in the last month. Unlike Shelby, Dan’s 4.61 xFIP is one of the worst among the starting pitchers tonight.

The Brewers bats will stay hot tonight, and even with a Rockies stack in our lineup, we can still afford  expensive grabs like Christian Yelich ($4,000) or Lorenzo Cain ($3,800). The Brewers also have some cheap likely in their lineup tonight, bringing the group together easily.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup

Before we jump into our recap, we have another non-stack flier we’re grabbing for our lineups tonight. Jose Martinez ($2,600) is entirely too cheap to avoid tonight. Martinez and the Cards get Carlos Rodon starting on the mound for the White Sox tonight.

Against lefties this season, Martinez has a 103 wRC+, .323 wOBA, and .720 OPS. So the pitching match up isn’t a concern, and plays to our benefit. But also, Jose is flat out hot right now. In his last two games, Martinez is 6-for-nine, with a double, two walks, and three RBI’s. This is a cheap way to sneak double-digit FanDuel MLB points into our lineups.

With Luke Weaver as our top pitching pick, stacking the top bats with the Rockies and Brewers is easy tonight. And with Martinez as our utility player, we’re easily averaging over ten FanDuel MLB points per offensive player, with Miller likely adding another 30 to 40 points.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the MAIN FanDuel MLB slate on Wednesday, July 11th 2018:

FanDuel MLB Main Slate Sample Lineup: 

P                Luke Weaver ($6,600)

C/1B         Jose Martinez ($2,600)

2B             DJ LeMahieu ($3,900)

3B             Nolan Arenado ($4,900)

SS              Tyler Saladino ($2,200)

OF             Christian Yelich ($4,000)

OF             Lorenzo Cain ($3,800)

OF             Charlie Blackmon ($4,400)

UTIL          Brad Miller ($2,600)

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!