FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Thursday July 12

Welcome back to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups column. This is the Thursday, July 12th 2018 edition. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

We had solid results yesterday for our FanDuel MLB Main slate lineups. In fact, the only miss was not picking up the Indians potential against Sal Romano and the Reds. The Tribe piled up an incredible 19 runs, and several players had over 50 FanDuel MLB points.

But, we still had a great night in both GPP and Cash games.Luke Weaver ($6,600) was a super cheap way to get 40 FanDuel MLB points, with seven K’s in six innings. Weaver also earned the quality start points, giving up only one run. In fact, he nailed our expectations for the night.

Picking Weaver allowed us to stack Rockies in our lineup. In Coors Field, the Rockies also had 19 runs last night, and Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, and DJ LeMahieu had a combined 93+ FanDuel MLB points last night. Along with another four runs from our Brewers stack, averaged around 160 points, depending on the stacking picks.

Tonight is a different kind of Main slate. There are a couple of games played this afternoon, but with only two games in the Early Only slate, we’re fading that option. It’s a shame, but the Coors Field game is played early today. But we still think we have a great pitcher pick, and two great offensive stacks.

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: For the Main slate, the Rays and Twins game in Minnesota is a big problem. It currently looks like showers and thunderstorms set up in the area of the Twins stadium, and doesn’t move over a long period of time. We’re concerned enough that we highly recommend fading both teams tonight. Expect a postponement of that game.

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

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate

The Mets aren’t as bad against right-handed pitchers as they are against lefties, but they’re still pretty bad. Since the start of the June, the Mets have a 23.8% K-rate against RHP’s, tied for seventh worst in baseball, with the Tigers. Much worse, their wRC+ is 72, third worst in the league.

So with that in mind, and the fact that Max Scherzer ($12,000) is averaging a steady 45 FanDuel MLB points per game this season, Mad Max seems like a very clear pick tonight. However, when you consider his salary and compare that with his game log over the last month, it’s clearly been a while since Scherzer was actually worth the $12K.

So the immediate thought I had was…fade Mad Max, but we may have to play him if there aren’t better options. Fortunately, we also have Luis Severino ($11,600), Corey Kluber ($11,200), and Blake Snell ($10,500) among the starting pitcher options tonight. There’s also a James Paxton ($10,200) versus Tyler Skaggs ($9,800) match up to consider.

At first, we thought maybe the All-Star snub may be a great reason to grab Snell. But before we even get to the point that he doesn’t have a great match up, it’s also very likely the game gets postponed tonight.

Next, we realized Severino and Kluber are facing each other against two hot lineups. Neither is ideal tonight. And Paxton and Skaggs have a similar scenario. The Angels and Mariners aren’t as dangerous as the Yanks and Tribe right now, but it’s still not an ideal match up.

But, looking at the pitching metrics since June 1st, our top pick became obvious. Unfortunately, we’re worried the word is getting out and he may get chalky. Ross Stripling ($9,200) has an incredible 2.74 xFIP since the start of June.

That’s better than all starting pitchers tonight. Also, Stripling is fanning batters at a 28.7% rate. And the match up? This is where it gets even better. Ross is in a pitcher’s ball park in San Diego, facing a Padres lineup who’s strikeout rate is third worst in baseball, 25.7%.

So for under $10K, we’re getting a pitcher with the best match up tonight, and a solid shot at 50+ FanDuel MLB points. We’re all over Stripling tonight.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

While the pitching pick eventually became obvious, the offensive stacking picks weren’t quite as easy to find. Since June 1st, Wade Miley has the worst xFIP of every starter tonight, 5.05 right now. The problem with playing Miley, he’s also not given up one home run in that time.

Steven Matz has the second worst xFIP in this slate, but 4.24 isn’t that bad. Also, considering the offensive struggles the Nationals bats are currently having, Matz may actually be a better sneaky GPP pitcher play. We may grab some value from the Nats bats though, which we’ll mention later.

But the fact that Matz is even someone to consider, gives you a sense for how hard it is to find the right offensive stack tonight. We could see a lot of great pitching tonight instead. That being said, there are two stacks that do jump out to me tonight.

Tyson Ross is a solid staring pitcher for the Padres, and David Price has been brilliant at times this season. But both pitchers have struggled since the start of June, and they’re both giving up around 1.3 home runs per nine innings in that time. J.A. Happ is the only other pitcher giving up that many home runs during that time, and we’re not paying up for the chalky Red Sox bats tonight.

So, that leaves us with the Dodgers and Blue Jays as our top stacks of the night. Oddly, both teams are very affordable. Aside from Justin Smoak ($3,700), most of the top bats in the Blue Jays’ lineup are actually below $3,000.

And while the Dodgers bats are more expensive, Max Muncy ($4,400) is the only reason we need to grab some value plays. We can afford both Smoak and Muncy in our lineup tonight.

 FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup

We are stacking part of our offense with the Dodgers, but we’re also pitching Ross Stripling. FanDuel MLB allows us to stack as many as four offensive player from one team, while also picking a pitcher from the same team. However, we have to play a minimum of three teams.

Grabbing another team’s top player creates affordability issues. In order to avoid that, we’re going to see if someone like Michael A. Taylor ($2,500) can exploit Steven Matz tonight. Dropping Taylor in our utility spot allows us to stack most of the top bats in both the Blue Jays and Dodgers lineups.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the MAIN FanDuel MLB slate on Thursday, July 12th 2018:

FanDuel MLB Main Slate Sample Lineup: 

P                Ross Stripling ($9,200)

C/1B         Justin Smoak ($3,700)

2B              Max Muncy ($4,400)

3B              Yangervis Solarte ($2,700)

SS              Aledmys Diaz ($2,700)

OF              Joc Pederson ($3,300)

OF              Teoscar Hernandez ($2,900)

OF              Matt Kemp ($3,600)

UTIL           Michael A. Taylor ($2,500)

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!