FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: Tuesday July 24

Welcome back to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups column for Tuesday, July 24th 2018. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

Well yesterday was rough! After almost an hour of FanDuel MLB players wondering why the tool was not moving the ‘Upcoming’ lineups to ‘Live’, following the 7pm EDT lock, FanDuel Customer Support finally alerted everyone they were working on an issue with the tool. Ultimately, everything worked out, but that was a rough 50 minutes.

Then, our lineups performed poorly. The Marlins were on the wrong side of a great stack, as Jose Urena and the rest of the Marlins pitching staff were crushed by the Braves offense, scoring 12 total runs. Meanwhile, the Marlins only put up one run against a struggling Sean Newcomb. Although, we’re happy to see Newcomb climbing back into his early season form.

Meanwhile, Mike Trout had another solid DFS MLB outing with four walks, two stolen bases, and an RBI. Eugenio Suarez and Matt Carpenter also stayed hot. But the rest of our lineup was lackluster, especially the pitching.

Barria lasted another five innings for the Angels, but he gave up four runs and only managed two K’s against a high K-rate offense. Oh, and Ross Stripling ended up pitching after-all. So, tonight, it’s time for a reboot.

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: The same weather system creating DFS MLB optimal lineup headaches on the east coast continues to pump moisture into the eastern part of the U.S. But, as we saw yesterday, it does appear most of the rain and thunderstorm activities appear to be west of the Philadelphia area.

So the Dodgers and Phillies have a decent chance of playing again today. Thought there’s still risk with that game. The Pirates and Indians are another potential delayed game in Cleveland, but likely get the game in.

The big issue is in Baltimore, with the Nationals in Milwaukee this week. The Baltimore and D.C. area appear to be right in the middle of the rain-train. It’s very unlikely the Red Sox and Orioles get their game played in Baltimore tonight, so we’re fading that game.

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

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitcher Main Slate

There are a lot of reasonably priced starting pitchers we like for FanDuel MLB tonight. This is exciting. Sure, there’s a few expensive pitchers too. James Paxton ($9,300) is having a great summer, fanning batters at a 35.6% rate over the last month. He’s certainly in play against the Giants tonight.

Another somewhat expensive pitcher we really like tonight is Mets right-handed hurler Zach Wheeler ($9,000) in New York against the Padres. Wheeler has a solid 3.43 xFIP over the last 30 days and a 25.5% K-rate.

The strikeout rate pairs well with the Padres horrendous 25.6% against right-handed pitchers. So Wheeler is one of the better pitching plays tonight, and should be a better value than Paxton.

But, there are two better values we can’t shake, and likely take us off of playing Paxton or Wheeler. First, in the same Giants Mariners game, Paxton is facing Andrew Suarez ($7,500). The match up likely reduces Suarez’s ownership, with the expectation that the Mariners and Paxton get the win.

However, Andrew is one of the most underrated fantasy baseball pitchers this summer. Suarez has a decent 21.3% K-rate, but also a low 1.13 WHIP and his xFIP of 3.43 matches Wheeler’s. The Problem with Andrew’s play is the Giants have a low 17.9% K-rate against lefties since June 1st.

Although they also have a 72 wRC+ against lefties in that time, third worst in baseball. Suarez is getting around five to seven K’s per game lately. Even on the low end, he’s a solid shot at 30 to 40 FanDuel MLB points on a reasonable salary. So he’s a decent play.

After last night, I’m hesitant to recommend this but can’t ignore the fact that it’s actually a better play than last night. Felix Pena ($7,100) is on the mound for the Angels and his 2.79 xFIP over the last month is fourth best of all starting pitchers on the mound tonight. That’s right, fourth best…better than Aaron Nola, for example.

But what about Pena’s K-rate? Oh boy, it gets better here. In the last 30 days, Felix has a 29.3% strikeout rate, averaging between five and eight per game in his five starts this season. Meanwhile, the White Sox have a dreadful 27.1% K-rate against RHP’s since the start of June.

Not only could Pena crack the six inning mark tonight with over eight K’s, but he’s got a great chance for the win. So for only $7.1K, we could get over 40 FanDuel MLB points from our pitcher pick. That’s our favorite play of the night. But yes, you have several great options.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

When you look at the list of starting pitchers, you’re likely thinking…man, this will be an offensive stack focused night. At least that’s what I first thought, too. However, unlike last night, as you look at the pitching metrics of the starters, over the last 30 days, they’re not giving up many runs or home runs lately.

There are a few exceptions and two jumped off the page when we looked at the metrics this morning. First, Mike Minor is giving up the most home runs per nine innings, no surprise there, with 1.7 over the last month. Meanwhile, Minor is also holding a pretty terrible 5.02 xFIP over that time, one of the worst of this slate.

With the Rangers hosting a hot Oakland Athletics offense in Arlington, TX again tonight, the A’s are one of our primary stacks. Minor is a lefty, and there are several right-handed (or switch) hitters in the A’s lineup tonight.

We expect to see a cheap Chad Pinder ($2,500) in the outfield and Khris Davis ($3,700) should be hitting cleanup again. Jed Lowrie ($3,100) has cooled off since a hot start, but with this match up he’s still a great play in this stack. And while Matt Olsen ($3,500) is a lefty, we’re not expecting that to be an issue against Mike on the mound tonight.

Our other stack? Yes, Yes…we’re going back to Anaheim to grab the Angels bats again. But this time, we’re feeling more confident against the Lefty Carlos Rodon, starting for the White Sox tonight.

We’re definitely starting a red-hot Mike Trout ($4,800), which plenty of cash to spend thanks to the value we get at pitcher. Trout is, somehow, quietly having one of the best seasons we’ve ever seen from a baseball player.

With a lefty on the mound, we also feel confident playing Justin Upton ($3,600) somewhere in the lineup, and another solid play like Andrelton Simmons ($2,900) is on our radar. Before we wrap up the lineup though, we still have plenty of salary left and need to grab a player from a third team.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup

Aaron Nola is a very good starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. But Max Muncy ($3,800) is one of the hottest hitters in baseball over the last two months, and he’s batting in a hitter-friendly park. We’re betting Muncy challenges Nola’s ability to eliminate home runs over the last month, and he gets one tonight. Regardless, Muncy is a FanDuel MLB points machine lately.

Again, we love several pitchers tonight, including Paxton, Wheeler, Suarez, and especially Pena. Felix is our favorite pick for tonight, and the value he gives our lineup is tremendous. With Pena as our pitcher, we’re stacking the best hitters from the A’s and Angels lineups, and plugging Max Muncy into the 3B spot for a great offense.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the MAIN FanDuel MLB slate on Tuesday, July 24th 2018:

FanDuel MLB Main Slate Sample Lineup: 

P                Felix Pena ($7,100)

C/1B         Matt Olson ($3,500)

2B             Jed Lowrie ($3,100)

3B             Max Muncy ($3,800)

SS              Andrelton Simmons ($2,900)

OF             Mike Trout ($4,800)

OF             Khris Davis ($3,700)

OF             Chad Pinder ($2,500)

UTIL          Justin Upton ($3,600)

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 MLB 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!