FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: June 12th Early Only & Main Slates

We’re FINALLY back with another FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups post for your DFS MLB optimal lineups. This post is focused on both the Early Only & Main slates for Wednesday, June 12th 2019.

First of all, to be clear, we’re not discussing the ‘Very Early Only’ FanDuel MLB slate in this post. That slate covers only the Athletics vs. Rays in Tampa at 12:10pm ET and Reds at Indians in Cleveland at 1:10pm ET.

We’re skipping that FanDuel MLB slate and focusing only on the Early Only, which begins in Colorado at 3:10pm and also only has two games, and ending with the Main slate. The Main slate, not surprisingly, has the most robust set of games. With eight games, the slate will be more challening and, as you’ll see, the Main slate is more complicated.

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:  Fortunately, with the large cold front finally exiting the East Coast, there are no real weather-related impacts to consider for Wednesday. We do not expect any delays or postponements, and I frankly don’t think wind will come in to play much Wednesday, as well. That’s unique for the baseball season, but also great for those who prefer to just focus on the metrics.

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

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitching – Early Only

At first glance, the pitching play looks relative easily to pick through. We only have four starting pitchers to consider; Lance Lynn ($9,400), Cole Hamels ($7,200), Rick Porcello ($7,000), and Antonio Senzatela ($6,200). The problem is, the pricing.

I don’t love the idea of playing Lynn against the Red Sox in Fenway Park. Lynn’s history with the Cardinals, and now the Rangers, tells me he’s a righty who will give up four or more runs against a good offense like the Red Sox.

But, the metrics may fool us into picking Lance. Of the four starting pitchers, Lynn’s 24.9% K-rate is easily the best, so far this season. Hamels is a close second with 22.9%, and the K-rate drops from there. But, Cole is facing a Rockies offense who get significantly better in Coors Fields. I mean, practically every offense gets better there.

But, we just talked ourselves out of also playing Senzatela, who’s also pitching for the Rockies in Coors, and Porcello’s 18.3% K-rate is lackluster. So, we seemingly have a pretty big problem with the pitcher position in this slate.

However, if you dig further, there could be a great play here. Yes, Porcello has mediocre numbers. But, the Rangers have a jaw-droppingly high 31.7% K-rate against right-handed pitchers away from Globe Life Park in Arlington, TX. That is the highest in baseball!

Suddenly, Porcello seems to be a better play. Yes, he’ll likely give up three to four runs. But, he’ll be on the higher end of his three-to-five K’s per six innings, he’s likely to pitch at least six innings which gives us the possibility of quality start points, and he is also most likely to get a win.

Oh, and back to the pricing. The cheapest likely starting third base bat is $3,400 for FanDuel MLB. The cheapest short stop bat is $3,700. So paying over $9K for a risky Lynn seems incredibly foolish today.

Maybe you can take a chance with Lance for GPP plays, but you’re most likely to crash and burn with him on Wednesday afternoon. I’d actually rather take a chance with Hamels over Lynn. But again, Porcello has the best chance of all four pitchers in this slate.

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitching – Main Slate

Justin Verlander ($11,100) is obviously the best starting pitcher in the Main slate. Verlander’s 30.9% K-rate is outstanding, and the best of all starting pitchers in this slate who have more than one start this season.

Additionally, his match-up is ideal. Justin faces a decent Brewers offense who’s fanning at a higher than normal 24.2% of the time. That’s ninth worst, or highest, in baseball so far this season. So, if you’re willing to pay up for Verlander, he’ll likely give you a solid 45 to 55 FanDuel MLB points.

The major problem with Verlander, is that you need to absolutely nail the value for this slate. I do think that’s feasible, as we’ll see with the offensive stacks. The pricing for this slate is more manageable, compared to the Early Only slate.

But, I do think there are other options and when you look at the entire list of lineup options, there are likely better value plays out of this slate, at the pitcher position.

Mike Soroka ($10, 600) could be another great play for a slightly cheaper rate. However, I think he’s only a moderately solid play against a decent offense in a hitters ballpark. Also, he’ll likely be higher owned, as a great pivot from Verlander.

And yes, Jose Berrios ($9,600) is always attractive, especially against an offense currently falling back down to earth. But, I think there’s tremendous value buried among the list of starting pitchers for the Wednesday Main slate.

On the surface, Joey Lucchesi ($7,900) seems like a mediocre pitcher who could be a risky play. For the most part, that’s true. But, keep in mind, aside from a difficult win over a very hot Nationals offense recently, Lucchesi has been smoking hot in May.

In his last three starts, he has 21 total strikeouts, averaging around six innings per start. Lucchesi also has three quality starts in his last four games. And his match up? Well, that’s where things get even better.

The Padres are in San Francisco on Wednesday evening, and Joey is facing a Giants offense with a 74 wRC+, second worst in baseball. The Giants also have a fairly high 23.7% rate. That’s not quite as high as the Blue Jays 25% rate, but each offense is performing very poorly this season, and Lucchesi just fanned eleven Jays batters in 6.2 innings a few weeks ago.

So, we could have a solid shot at 35 to 45 FanDuel MLB points while only paying $7.9K for the points. That leaves us with a ton of cash to consider some bit-hitting plays in our lineup as well. And as we’ll see soon, there is plenty of value in offensive stacks to allow us to pick our best overall hitting match-ups of the night.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks – Early Only

Even with Porcello in your pitcher spot, I’d frankly consider all four teams for offensive plays. I just wouldn’t stack the Rangers, as they likely have the worst odds of piling up runs on Wednesday afternoon. Still, that shouldn’t prevent you from considering a ply like Elvis Andrus ($3,700) as a one-off Rangers play for the SS position.

That being said, I’m most focused on the Cubs offense against Senzatela. Of all four starting pitchers, Antonio’s 1.5 home runs per nine innings is the highest rate. And, given he’s hurling the ball to a really good offense in Coors, tells me he’s likely to give up a home run or two on Wednesday.

For that reason, I’m going to try to find way to play Anthony Rizzo ($4,700), Kyle Schwarber ($3,900), Kris Bryant, and Carlos Gonzalez ($3,300). Rockies bats are in play here too, but it’s going to be difficult to afford them and Hamels presents more risk to the offense. So I’m looking for potential value plays there like rookie Brendan Rodgers ($3,000).

The other big offensive stack I like, but not nearly as much as the Cubs, is the Red Sox against Lynn and the Rangers in Fenway. Rafael Devers ($3,800) and Xander Bogaerts ($4,000) are both great plays, but you’re likely going to need to find value plays from that lineup like Brock Holt ($2,600) and Jackie Bradley Jr. ($2,600) in order to afford those top bats.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks Main Slate

If you like home runs, you should catch the Blue Jays and Orioles game in Baltimore on Wednesday evening. The two starting pitchers, combined, in Camden Yards on Wednesday have giving up over six home runs per nine innings this season.

I realize each of these offenses have been somewhat anemic this year, but both lineups have solid power in the middle, and they’re both dirt-cheap on Wednesday. For that reason, I’m stacking one or both lineups to inject a ton of value into my FanDuel MLB plays.

Guys like Justin Smoak ($3,300), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($3,100), Freddy Galvis ($2,900), and Hanser Alberto ($2,400) could produce double-digit numbers with decent shots at over 20 points. Meanwhile, especially if you have Lucchesi in he pitchers spot, we now have a ton of cash to use while splurging with the other four picks.

That is one thing I want to make clear. Instead of going crazy with this Blue Jays and Orioles game, I’d recommend focusing on your top four bats from that game, and use the value from those plays to pay up for top offensive options in your other four offensive spots.

And for those other four spots, I like the Royals and Braves offense the most. More specifically, this is a great opportunity to get a red-hot Jorge Soler ($3,200) and Alex Gordon ($3,500) in your lineup at a cheap price against lefty Daniel Norris.

Meanwhile, you can also pay up for Ronald Acuna Jr. ($4,100) and Freddie Freeman ($4,400), each incredibly strong bats against a vulnerable pitcher in a hitters park.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineups for June 12th 2019

Pitching for the Early Only slate is quite difficult to pin down. But as you dig deeper, Porcello isn’t worth the salary, and Hamels and Senzatela are too risky. Fortunately, Porcello has an ideal match-up against a Rangers team who whiffs at a ton of pitches against right-handed pitchers away from Arlington.

For offensives stack in the Early Only slate, I love the Cubs the most at Coors Field. I may even sprinkle some Rockies into my lineup, but I need to find the value plays there. The other big stack I like for this slate are Red Sox bats. Again, I love some of the top bats from the Red Sox, but we’re also going to need value plays with so many expensive picks forced on us with this slate.

While we can feel comfortable picking Verlander or Soroka at the pitcher position for the Main slate, I’d rather go with Joey Lucchesi and his juicy match-up against the Giants. That allows me to have some real fun with the offensive side of the lineup.

Before I grab top bats like Acuna and Freeman, I am using the Blue Jays and Orioles game in Baltimore to inject a ton of value into my lineup. Each pitcher in that game is giving up a ton of home runs this season, and the big hitters are dirt-cheap. I also love the value you can get from the Royals on Wednesday night.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at sample lineups for the Early Only & Main FanDuel MLB slates for Wednesday,June 12th 2019:

Early Only                                                                                  Main

P               Rick Porcello ($7,000)                                          P               Joey Lucchesi ($7,900)

C/1B        Anthony Rizzo ($4,700)                                       C/1B        Justin Smoak ($3,300)

2B             Brock Holt ($2,600)                                              2B             Hanser Alberto ($2,400)

3B             Rafael Devers ($3,800)                                       3B             Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($3,100)

SS             Xander Bogaerts ($4,000)                                  SS             Freddy Galvis ($2,900)

OF             Jackie Bradley Jr. ($2,600)                                  OF             Jorge Soler ($3,200)

OF             Carlos Gonzalez ($3,300)                                    OF            Alex Gordon ($3,500)

OF             Kyle Schwarber ($3,900)                                     OF            Ronald Acuna Jr. ($4,100)

UTIL          Brendan Rodgers ($3,000)                                 UTIL         Freddie Freeman ($4,400)

Remaining Salary: $100                                                        Remaining Salary: $200

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!