FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Friday July 13

Welcome to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups column for Friday, July 13th 2018. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

Well, we hit another great FanDuel MLB pitching play last night. Unfortunately, our offensive stacks were ideal. Ross Stripling ($9,200) was only mildly owned, and a cheaper way to get 43 FanDuel MLB points with five strikeouts in six innings, earning the quality start and win.

Thanks to Stripling and only three offensive double-digit plays, I was able to win most of my FanDuel MLB cash plays last night. But the Blue Jays and Dodgers only combined for seven runs, giving us mostly single-digit results, and under 120 FanDuel MLB points in most lineups. Although, that depends on who you grabbed from each stack.

Tonight, we’re back to a full MLB schedule. Every team falls into the Main FanDuel MLB slate, which begins after 7pm EDT. That usually results in an exciting night of DFS action, but tonight’s lineup choices are difficult. For starters, there’s no clear set of pitcher picks. Also, the offensive stacks aren’t easy to find, and for some reason Coors Field just isn’t calling us tonight.

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 looks like we’re mostly clear for all play tonight. The only stadium near any potential shower or thunderstorm concerns is around the Atlanta suburbs. Still, the Diamondbacks and Braves should get the game in, with only a delay likely. Green light to play all lineups and pitchers tonight, even in Atlanta.

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

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate

It would be going against the trend, but we’re tempted to pay up for Noah Syndergaard ($10,000) tonight. For two reasons, many FanDuel MLB players will likely skip over Noah tonight. First, he’s coming off the DL and hasn’t pitched since late May. Secondly, he’s facing the Nationals.

But, Thor has already pitched five innings in a rehab outing, and followed that up with a bullpen session, feeling and looking great in both. For once, it appears the Mets aren’t pushing their top starting arms to get back on the field immediately. So Syndergaard may be back into a six inning form.

Also, the Nationals lineup isn’t currently what they used to be. In the last month, the Nats have an 87 wRC+ and high 22.7% K-rate against RHP’s. So at worst, Thor probably gives us a 30 to 40 FanDuel MLB points. Noah also has a roughly 50 point ceiling, assuming the Nats bats stay cold and he gets through six innings.

The problem with Thor is the price tag. As we’ve seen over the last month, some mid-salary or cheap pitchers have been hauling in 40 to 50 FanDuel MLB points while leaving you with plenty of salary to splash on big offensive stacks.

When digging through the metrics compared to team offensive production over the last month, the problem with the value play tonight is match ups. There are some great pitching picks, like Felix Pena ($6,700) throwing a 30.1% K-rate over the last month. But his match up against the Dodgers in Los Angeles isn’t ideal.

I noticed a lot of problems like this across the slate. But finally, one match up jumped out at me. Since June 1st, the Rays have a 25.3% K-rate against RHP’s, fourth worst in baseball. Their 85 wRC+ is also eighth worst in baseball.

Tonight, the Rays are in Minnesota facing Jake Odorizzi ($7,200) and the Twins. While Odorizzi struggled in the early part of the season, he’s been pitching better lately. In the last month, Jake has a 28.3% K-rate, second highest of all starting pitchers tonight over that period of time.

Odorizzi also has a solid 3.82 xFIP over 30 days. We should be getting a 40 to 50 FanDuel MLB point pitcher, with plenty of salary left over for a great set of offensive stacks tonight. Jake is our favorite play at pitcher tonight.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

Full disclosure, I started my lineup with a Coors Field stack, targeting the Mariners and Rockies tonight. From there, I dropped the Rockies with little known of the Mariners starting hurler. But even then, the Mariners lineup was ‘meh.’ I feel like we’re paying too much salary for maybe four to five runs tonight. I certainly could be wrong, but fading Coors Field seems like the better move tonight.

From there, identifying a great offensive stack isn’t easy. While I think Domingo German is struggling lately, paying up for four Indians bats against the Yankees seems risky. However, as we’ll see shortly, we still like a play from that lineup.

While scanning the pitcher metrics since June 1, a few things jumped out to me, and the stacks started to line up. First, we’ve been on the Brewers all week and that’s going to continue tonight.

The Brew-Crew continues to be a hot offensive team, and we can afford Eric Thames ($4,000), Travis Shaw ($3,500), and Jesus Aguilar ($4,100) thanks to our second stack. Over the last month, Nick Kingham is averaging four home runs per nine innings and has a terrible 5.24 xFIP. This game is screaming for multiple home runs from these big bats.

So how are they affordable? Well, thanks to Tanner Roark giving up 42 hits in his last five starts, the Mets offense looks very attractive tonight. Even better, the Mets top four bats are $3.1K or cheaper. That’s right, we’re getting likely 2nd and 3rd hitters for under $3K. Along with Odorizzi’s cheap salary, we have plenty of salary left over for the Brewers bats and one more top offensive pick.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup

We mentioned the Indians earlier, and with the Brewers already in our lineup, we’re going to fade them tonight, with one exception. Francisco Lindor ($4,500) has 12+ FanDuel MLB points in 11 of his last 13 starts. Lindor his six home runs over that time and has several 20+ results as well. With German struggling lately, and $4,500 of salary still left on the table, he’s our SS tonight.

Again, we love the Brewers bats one again tonight. Kingham makes their power attractive. Thanks to the Mets great match up against Roark, who’s been terrible lately, the Brew-Crew is affordable. Also, Odorizzi has a great match up and his K-rate should continue to climb against the Rays tonight.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the MAIN FanDuel MLB slate on Friday, July 13th 2018:

FanDuel MLB Main Slate Sample Lineup: 

P                Jake Odorizzi ($7,200)

C/1B         Jesus Aguilar ($4,100)

2B             Asdrubal Cabrera ($3,000)

3B             Travis Shaw ($3,500)

SS             Francisco Lindor ($4,500)

OF             Jose Bautista ($2,400)

OF             David Peralta ($3,200)

OF             Brandon Nimmo ($3,100)

UTIL          Eric Thames ($4,000)

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.

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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!