There are a few games to consider for the Early Only FanDuel MLB slate on Thursday, July 24th, but we’re going to focus on the bigger Main slate.
I started building a lineup for the FanDuel MLB Early Only slate on Wednesday evening when I noticed two things. First, typically I like a two game, four-pitcher, slate. There’s usually at least two or three pitchers you can make a good case for; but, there wasn’t.
Second, as I looked at the offensive stacking options, I nearly fell asleep! It was only 7:45pm ET! If you’re playing the slate, you need to play anyone other than Jacob deGrom ($10,900). That may seem odd, but he will be nearly 100% owned in all formats. Why? Because there is no solid argument to play Musgrove, Mikolas, or Lauer over deGrom. There just isn’t.
For stacking, some mix of the other three offenses is your best bet, but even that isn’t very exciting. So, if you’re playing the slate, I’d suggest picking someone like Miles Mikolas ($7,800) at pitcher and stack the Padres and some other offense with them.
It might seem insane to do, but you’re building an extremely low ownership team, and giving yourself the best odds of winning. Otherwise, you’re splitting pennies with the rest of the MLB DFS world.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get more excited with the Main slate. The only upside is that you have a broader list of players to differentiate your lineup. Still, these lineups are going to be fairly heavily owned. So, my main theme for Thursday is, find a way to get the best plays, while throwing some extremely rare curve-balls within your lineup.
We’ll get there, but before we do, keep in mind this is an informative post. Don’t use these example lineups as the only best option you have tonight. I’m highlighting the best plays we see for this slate, and it’s up to you to piece together the best final optimal MLB DFS lineup.
Also, make sure you follow final lineup thoughts throughout the day on our twitter accounts @FanSidedFantasy or me @MattyMcMatt17 for late breaking lineup news and other MLB DFS perspectives.
Weather Note: One of the few bright sides to this slate is the weather seems relatively peaceful on Thursday. That’s the case for both the Early Only and Main slates. There were some random disturbances impacting games like the Nats and Rockies in Washington, D.C. last night.
While that’s still always possible any given summer day, of all days this seems one of the least likely in July to have weather issues. With weather-related considerations addressed, let’s get to the top pitching options…