FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: April 11th Early & Main Slates

Welcome BACK for another edition of the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups. We’re focused on yet another split slate, for Thursday. We’re a fantasy baseball column working hard to help you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

Wednesday’s Early Only FanDuel MLB slate was exciting, with Matthew Boyd piling up 43 points thanks to a six inning and six strikeout outing, while only giving up one earned run, allowing for additional quality start points, and a win.

The exciting part was more related to the will-they/won’t-they play in Chicago. If they hadn’t, our Boyd with Tigers and Padres stack would’ve worked out perfectly in all formats. Unfortunately, the White Sox and Rays played through wind, rain, and even sleet and that hurt us. The Rays piled up a ton of runs, and Glasnow was easily the best pitcher in the slate.

While we only got some earnings from cash plays in the Early Only, boy did we bounce back well with the Main FanDuel MLB slate. We took a chance with Frankie Montas at pitcher, mostly because he seemed like a safe play and I was excited about the Nationals and Athletics stacks in Philly and Baltimore, respectively.

Frankie pitched six solid innings, only giving up three runs earning the QS points. Fortunately, he also piled up three K’s in that last inning and earned the win, for 28 FanDuel MLB points.

That may not seem like a big pitching play, but we had a 28 point baseline on a monster offensive stack. The Nats and A’s piled up a combined 25 runs. Matt Adams was a fantastic $2K, on FanDuel MLB, 23 point play at 1B. And Matt Chapman and Khris Davis combined for three home runs and several extra bases, each giving up over 47 points per play.

Needless to say, we had over 200 FanDuel MLB points in the Main slate lineup and easily cashed in both Cash & GPP formats. Thursday’s slate could help us continue to pull in more funding for bigger future FanDuel MLB plays this summer.

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: Even though there was a massive storm whipping up in the middle of the U.S. yesterday, and it’s impacts are far-reaching, we’re actually not expecting any delays or postponements on Thursday. However, wind should be a factor in practically all ballparks east of the Rockies.

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

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitchers Early Only Slate

Given recently history, and success, my first thought for the Early Only slate was to attack the Indians high strike-out ratio, 29.7% and highest in baseball, again. But, I’ve noticed their strikeout rate is starting to fall, and even while they struggled yesterday, they’re hitting is generally getting better this week, as they tinker with lineups.

So I crossed Spencer Turnbull ($7,400) off my list,a s he didn’t seem like an ideal candidate to exploit the Indians struggles, like Boyd did yesterday. Then I gravitated toward Mike Leake ($8,200), who’s a solid play against the Royals in Kansas City.

But, as I was looking back at the overall hitting metrics by team, I realized the Royals aren’t as good of a pitching target as they were this time last season, and then something obvious was staring at me.

The Tigers may have had a solid offensive outing yesterday, but K-rate has climbed to 27.0% which is now fourth worst in baseball. Meanwhile, we have Shane Bieber ($9,700) and his 36.7% K-rate on the mound. Shane has been pitching with a higher than average K-rate since last season, when he emerged as a good starting pitcher.

If you’re looking at the game log, you may be unimpressed with his first two-inning start against the Twins. But, as I consistently point out, game logs often tell lies, unless you notice a trend.

And the trend here tells you the Twins offense is good, and Bieber bounced back easily against a struggling Blue Jays offense, piling up nine K’s. I could see a similar, potentially better, outcome from Bieber on Thursday.

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitchers Main Slate

While I finally paid up for a pitcher, after successfully winning in many formats with mid-salary range value plays, during the Early Only slate on Thursday, that’s not much of an option for the Main slate.

Joe Musgrove ($9,000) is the most expensive pitcher in this slate, and I don’t love his match-up against the Cubs in Wrigley Field. And while former O’s prospect Kevin Gausman ($8,600) appears to be off to a hot start for the Braves, he’s only faced a horrendous Marlins offense this season. I actually think the Mets will turn his season around quickly, for the worst, on Thursday night.

Scanning through the rest of the pitcher options, I kept coming back to Jon Gray ($8,500). Gray has been a physically strong, and large, pitcher for the Rockies who can fan a lot of batters in a short period of time.

The problem with Gray is consistency. He can be erratic at times, and gives up too many runs from time-to-time. However, even in Coors Field, Jon also has a long history of piling up a ton of K’s in a short period of time (makes you wonder if he may eventually become a closer). And Gray’s match-up in San Francisco makes him the ideal candidate for this slate.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Early Only Slate

We didn’t get the cheaper, risky, pitching play we’ve been using over the last couple of days. Bieber is a tad under $10K, which means our work is cut out for us with the rest of the lineup. We’ll need to find some value, even if we have some stacks we love.

For that reason, this is the first time I’m going to BITE and plug Chris Davis ($500) into my lineup. The super-rich hit-less wonder is hitting seventh for the Orioles and he’ll get some sort of hit at some point. He also could get us FanDuel MLB points with an RBI or two, thanks to his long-ball sacrifice fly potential.

But, I’m not counting on that. I’ll take the zero from Chris, so that I can stack the Athletics and Mariners for offensive, with a pricey Bieber.

The A’s bats are hot, and the M’s are off to a great seasonal start on offense. Matt Chapman ($3,500) is unfortunately sitting this one out for the A’s after a monster fantasy baseball day, so we’re getting additional value from Chad Pinder ($2,600).

I’m also going to continue to run with Ramon Laureano ($2,900), who still seems like one of the biggest undervalued fantasy baseball players this season. All of this value, allows me to load up on offense with Khris Davis ($4,000) back in our lineup, hopefully to hit another home run or two.

Additionally, I’m looked at Mallex Smith ($3,500), Tim Beckham ($3,500), Dee Gordon ($3,500), and Edwin Encarnacion ($4,400) to each stay hot with great match-ups today, allowing us to pile close to 200 points again, thanks to several double-digit FanDuel MLB plays on offense.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

We have nearly $1,000 more in salary to spend in the Main slate, thanks to the cheaper top pitching plays. However, we don’t have the option of playing a super cheap plug like Chris Davis, who basically gives you zero points for the ability to stack the top offense of the slate.

However, fortunately the two stacks I like the most are affordable. The Diamondbacks and the Mets each have a top ten wOBA right now in baseball. The D-Backs have a .352, sixth best in baseball, and are most effective in Chase Field, especially when the roof is open (physics).

The Mets have a .345 wOBA, tenth best in baseball, but their offensive metrics continue to climb. Also, the Mets happen to be playing in SunTrust Park for the Main slate, a location also becoming well known for great offensive ability.

Gausman had a fantastic fantasy baseball start against a bad Marlins team, and I’m expecting his metrics to level out, falling, after they play a good Mets offense. Specifically, I’m looking for Pete Alonso ($4,100), Michael Conforto ($4,000), and Brandon Nimmo ($2,700) to stay hot against Kevin on Thursday night.

Alonso is hitting everyone right now, and Conforto and Nimmo each have a left vs. righty match-up against Gausman.

From the Diamondbacks, I’m anticipating Adam Jones ($3,800) will stay hot in Chase Field, while Jarrod Dyson ($2,700) provides some left vs right value. Nick Ahmed ($3,500) and Eduardo Escobar ($2,700) complete my D-Backs four-man stack for the same reasons. From there, I’m likely going to grab a ‘one-off’, currently thinking Daniel Descalso ($3,000) at 2B for the Cubs.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineups for April 11th 2019

For the Early Only slate, we’re finally biting the bullet and paying up for the top pitcher of the slate, Bieber. I’m also doing something I’ve been avoiding, and using Chris Davis as a value play. That each allows me to take a shot at nearly 200 points, assuming the A’s and Mariners stacks work out well again, as their bats should stay hot with today’s match-ups.

For the Main slate, I know there’s always risk with his fantasy baseball play, but I love the K-point upside from Jon Gray on Thursday night against the Giants. His salary isn’t too expensive, which allows me to stack the Mets at SunTrust Park, and the D-Backs in Chase Field.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the Early Only and Main FanDuel MLB slates for Thursday, April 11th 2019:

Early Only                                                                           Main

P                Shane Bieber ($9,700)                                 Jon Gray ($8,500)

C/1B        Edwin Encarnacion ($4,400)                      Pete Alonso ($4,100)

2B             Dee Gordon ($3,500)                                    Daniel Descalso ($3,000)

3B             Chad Pinder ($2,600)                                    Eduardo Escobar ($2,700)

SS              Tim Beckham ($3,900)                                Nick Ahmed ($3,500)

OF             Mallex Smith ($3,500)                                 Michael Conforto ($4,000)

OF             Khris Davis ($4,000)                                     Brandon Nimmo ($2,700)

OF             Ramon Laureano ($2,900)                          Adam Jones ($3,800)

UTIL          Chris Davis ($500)                                         Jarrod Dyson ($2,700)

Remaining Salary: $100                                                 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.

Best of luck in your FanDuel MLB contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all your DFS news and analysis across MLB, NFL, PGA, and NASCAR this summer!