FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: April 17 Early Only & Main Slates

Welcome BACK to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

This post is focused on the Early Only & Main FanDuel MLB slates for Wednesday, April 17th 2019. After a couple of mild days of Main Slate only baseball this week, aside from a super early Monday game, we’re back to a split-slate Wednesday, which is fairly common throughout the baseball season.

I enjoy split slates, because it allows you to focus at a more micro level on the top pitching talent for each schedule block, along with making it easier to pick the correct offensive stacks. This could allow you to easily cash twice in one day. The downside is, if you miss, you typically miss big.

It’s been a few days since we’ve review a FanDuel MLB slate, and we were on a hot streak for most of the early part of the season. That ended with some mild plays on Saturday. However, we’ve also had a few days like that, here and there.

For each slate on Wednesday, we’ll nail down the top pitching options, along with the pitchers we want to target for offensive stacking purposes. We may also have some ‘one-off’ offensive plays we likely, even if we’re not stacking that team’s offense.

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: There’s one game I’m concerned about in the Early Only slate, and that’s the Royals playing the White Sox in Chicago. Unfortunately, this could have a huge impact on our lineups, as we like the pitching in this game.

So keep an eye on the weather forecast as we approach lock. It’s possible a shower or thunderstorm could delay the game, which hurts pitching most, but we could also avoid a delay, and a postponement seems unlikely.

For the Main slate, we have a couple of problems in the middle part of the country. It appears the odds of showers and thunderstorms increase around the Minnesota area on Wednesday night, making a delay very likely and postponement possible as well. So, we’re staying away from the Twins and Blue Jays completely.

While I don’t think the game will be postponed, I’m also concerned about some shower and thunderstorm chances in Arlington, where the Angels are playing the Rangers.

This may also be a problem, because I really like the offense in this game. However, it’s more likely a delay would occur, which may not hurt our bats as much. 

The Pirates and Tigers are in a similar situation, in Detroit, and we need to keep an eye on that game for our pitching plays as well.

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

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitching – Early Only

Full disclosure, this is a funky slate for pitching. Again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing as slates like these typically allow the riskier play to cash. However, this is also an easy way to crash and burn, and that’s entirely possible Wednesday afternoon.

I want to like Jake Arrieta ($9,000).  He’s the most well-known player and is obvious the most expensive. Each are for good reason. But, I’m worried about some of the pitching metrics for Jake this season.

Arrieta had two rock-solid outing against the Braves and Marlins. While he did earn a quality start against a good Twins offense, he only fanned one hitter and got a measly 19 FanDuel MLB points.

That’s important, because the Mets have a .344 wOBA, just under the Twins .345. However, the Mets K-rate is about 5% higher than the Twins. So, there’s signs of a solid 35 to 45 point play with Arrieta, but I’m not sure that’s the best value in this slate. Still, he’s one of the best pitching options, and he’s a clear pivot in the case that there are weather-related issues.

The two pitchers I believe have the best value happen to be facing each other in the same game we’re most concerned about, weather-wise. Brad Keller ($8,500) is off to an efficient start for hte Royals and has a great K-rate match-up against the White Sox in Chicago Wednesday.

Keller is facing Lucas Giolito ($6,900) who’s metrics appear horrendous on the surface. However, two of Giolito’s starts were against very good offenses, the Mariners and Yankees, and he still managed to pile up ten K’s in 9.1 innings pitched, combined, in those games.

That is why I love Giolito’s value on Wednesday. He has a 25.7% K-rate this season, second best in this slate and the most consistent.

We need Lucas to get through six innings to earn that quality start, a win wouldn’t hurt as well, and he happened to do both against the Royals already, in Kansas City. I’m also anticipating Giolito knows this Royals lineup better now, and has another shot at 45 to 50 points on top of a VERY cheap FanDuel MLB salary.

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitching – Main Slate

Pitching for the Main slate landed me somewhere around the same place I landed for the Early Only slate. I took a look at the list of top pitching possibilities, and didn’t mind their salary that much. However, many of these pitching top pitching plays likely yield modest FanDuel MLB point returns on top of a somewhat expensive salary.

Cole Hamels ($9,000) is the best example, and will likely be the chalk of the slate. Hamels has a 3.81 xFIP, fourth best of all of the starters on Wednesday night, but he also has a low 19.5% K-rate. For FanDuel MLB, that’s not ideal, especially considering his salary is the second most expensive.

But, Cole is facing a Marlins offense who’s fanning at a 25.9% rate, sixth highest in baseball. So it’s likely Hamels gets around five to eight strikeouts on Wednesday night. Also, he has a very good shot at QS points and a win. He’s a solid play, I just think we can get better value in this slate for pitching.

I’m not touching Carlos Carrasco ($9,600) until we see him bounce-back into his normal form, but I also like how Kevin Gausman ($8,800) is pitching for the Braves. But, of that top three, Hamels is still the safest play.

However, I’m going with the lower ownership move, someone I think has sneaky high upside potential. Trevor Williams ($7,900) pitching metrics are buried in this long list of solid-to-mediocre starting pitchers. Most FanDuel MLB players won’t even look at Williams and his 4.99 xFIP.

However, there are a few telling signals that Williams may be pitching on solid footing. For starters, he has a quality start in all three of his first three starts. Few starting pitchers can claim that this season.

But also, Williams has only given up five runs and four walks in his first 18.1 innings pitched. So we know we’re getting at least 20 FanDuel MLB points purely thanks to his QS and low ERA metrics.

The problem with Williams is the K-rate potential. His current 16.4% rate is very low, even if he also only has a 5.5% walk rate. In short, Trevor is forcing hitters to hit ground balls and pop flies while giving up home runs at a very low rate.

But, Williams did fan six Reds batters in six innings to start his season in Cincinnati. Fortunately, Trevor and the Pirates are facing a Tigers team, in Detroit, with a 26.8% K-rate, the third highest in baseball.

So, not only does he have the possibility to hit six strikeouts, we could see more. And given his solid 25-30 point base, that gives us a decent shot to hit 45 to 50 FanDuel MLB points while using a sub-$8K salary. Again, it’s a risky move, and there are some weather related issues in this game to consider, but the pay-off could be massive.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Early Only

I’m using less of my FanDuel MLB salary to pick a pitcher, which should allow me to really load up on some great offensive stacks. Fortunately, Michael Wacha and Corbin Burnes are are each giving up home runs at a very high rate this season.

That should make for a fun Brewers and Cardinals stack on Wednesday afternoon. The trick will be, who to stack with and do we need any one-off plays to make this work. Addressing the latter first, I really like Eloy Jimenez ($3,100) against Brad Keller in Chicago, assuming we only deal with a delay there.

Jimenez isn’t a flashy rookie offensive player this season, but he’s developing a steady stream of fantasy baseball points, even if they aren’t gaudy. That’s worth the one-off pick, with the possibility of a higher point total upside.

From there, I’m able to afford Christian Yelich ($5,200) and Yasmani Grandal ($4,200) in an OF/UTIL and 1B/C positional spot. These guys average nearly 40 FanDuel MLB points, combined, per game.

I’m also going to take a chance with Travis Shaw ($2,800) and Eric Thames ($2,300). Each are lefties and long-ball hitters, and they’re facing a right-handed pitcher who just so happens to be giving up a lot of long-balls lately.

Dexter Fowler ($2,600) is another fantasy baseball option who isn’t flashy this season, but he also seems to be awake now, getting at least one hit in each of the last six games. In fact, Dexter has at least two hits in each of his last three games.

Fowler’s salary allows me to easily afford bigger Cardinals bats like Kolten Wong ($3,800) and Paul DeJong ($4,100) who are each off to monster fantasy baseball starts this season, and each also has a solid potential to go yard against a fastball pitcher allowing too many home runs right now.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

Unfortunately, the offensive stack I love the most also happens to be in the game most likely to be delayed. It seems unlikely the Rangers and their .340 wOBA will get a chance to swing some bats on Wednesday night, we just need to keep a close eye on the forecast toward lock.

The Rangers have the 12th best offense in baseball this season, just above the Nationals, and they happen to be hitting the ball best in Arlington, Texas so far this season. That’s where they play on Wednesday night, and they’re facing struggling right-hand veteran Matt Harvey.

If you’ve been playing fantasy baseball for the past three seasons, you know all about Harvey’s struggles. He seemed to be climbing back a big with the Reds last season, but he’s off to quite a horrendous start this season.

Harvey’s 2.51 home runs per nine innings is a juicy metric, considering we have some big offensive bats from the Rangers like Joey Gallo ($4,300) and Nomar Mazara ($3,700). Again, we have two left-handed power hitters facing a righty who’s giving up a lot of long-balls.

I’m likely also throwing Elvis Andrus ($4,200) and Asdrubal Cabrera ($3,500) into my lineups, assuming we’re going with Williams at pitcher. All four of these bats are currently on a tear in Arlington against the Halos as well.

I’m probably not going with a second stack, although I considered the Braves in SunTrust Park. The problem with many of the other stacks, after plugging Texas and Trevor into my lineup, is that they’re too expensive.

Instead, I’m likely going with one-off pieces who happen o have a good match-up, great value, or are consistent point providers like Ramon Laureano ($2,800) and Daniel Descalso ($3,100). If you follow this post often, you’ve noticed Laureano and Descalso in many of my lineups.

The reason is simple, they’re consistently providing me around ten points per game. Given their salary, that’s a great play, and their upside is even better.

A couple other potential one-off consistent point providing plays for Wednesday or Johan Camargo ($2,800) and Omar Narvaez ($2,600), assuming Camargo starts in the OF for the Braves and Narvaez at catcher for the Mariners.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineups for April 17 2019

For both the Early Only and Main slate lineups, there are solid safe starting pitcher plays like Jake Arrieta and Cole Hamels. Playing each will likely get you 30 to 40 FanDuel MLB points, but you’re giving up more of your salary compared to other options.

I’ll likely go with either, assuming I can’t find better value, but currently I think that’s possible. Giolito and Keller are each great value plays in the Early Only slate, but I’m leaning toward Lucas over Brad.

For the Main slate, I think the Pirates starter, Williams, is a sneaky great play against an offense fanning often this season.

From there, I’m stacking the Brewers and Cardinals bats in Milwaukee, trying to focus mostly on the batter vs pitcher match up, for example lefty vs right-handed pitcher. But I also have plenty of salary to spend on top plays from each line.

For the Main slate, I’m mostly focused on the Rangers, which is a little dangerous because they’re expecting some weather-related issues in Arlington on Wednesday evening. Still, the point per salary dollar from that lineup should be huge, even with a delay. And instead of adding a second stack, I’m likely snagging four offensive plays I like, as one-off plays from various teams.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the Early Only & Main FanDuel MLB slates for Wednesday, April 17th 2019:

Early Only                                                             Main

P               Lucas Giolito ($6,900)                     Trevor Williams ($7,900)

C/1B        Yasmani Grandal ($4,200)             Omar Narvaez ($2,600)

2B             Kolten Wong ($3,800)                    Daniel Descalso ($3,100)

3B             Travis Shaw ($2,800)                      Asdrubal Cabrera ($3,500)

SS             Paul DeJong ($4,100)                      Elvis Andrus ($4,200)

OF             Christian Yelich ($5,200)               Joey Gallo ($4,300)

OF             Dexter Fowler ($2,600)                  Nomar Mazara ($3,700)

OF             Eloy Jimenez ($3,100)                    Johan Camargo ($2,800)

UTIL          Eric Thames ($2,300)                     Ramon Laureano ($2,800)

Remaining Salary: $0                                        Remaining Salary: $100

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!