Best MLB Draftkings Lineup Tonight – June 14, 2017

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s Best MLB Draftkings lineup tonight, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite stacks from the article below in our lineup optimizer and hit calculate. You can let it fill in the rest of the spots for you or choose your personal favorites from the MLB Player Lab.

Starting Pitchers

Corey Kluber vs Los Angeles Dodgers
Park – Progressive Field

We have a pretty solid all-day slate on our hands, with some very interesting pitching options. There is definitely 1 guy that stands out above the rest and Corey Kluber is that guy. He is finally the true ace he was in 2015 and is dominating lineups start in and start out. Kluber has sported a .315 wOBA and backs it up with a .335 BABIP. He’s striking out over 10 batters per 9 innings and is holding opposing batters to a 19% line drive rate. When you look a little further in depth, everything is working smooth. He’s sporting a 61% Z-Swing% and a career high 13.9% SwgStk rate. Kluber is the real deal and a workhorse every single time he takes the mound. His opponent, the Dodgers, are a very average team against righties. They rank 14th in the league with a .308 wOBA and strike out almost 23% of the time. Of course, you have guys like Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger that rightfully incite some fear. The hit righties well and have the potential to do some damage, even against an elite arm like Kluber. However, after those guys, this lineup is a barren wasteland. Sure, you know the names of Adrian Gonzalez and Yasiel Puig. It doesn’t mean they are good. The rest of these guys either strikeout 24+% of the time or have 0 power potential. Kluber is a safe cash game option and a guy I will make sure to have in all of my lineups.

Michael Pineda vs. Los Angeles Angels
Park – Angels Stadium

Even though there are some pitching options on the slate with upside, there isn’t much safety to be had here. In the past, we ould never use the words Pineda and safety in the same sentence. He was truly one of the most inconsistent arms in the league and would constantly go from elite to atrocious. This year, that has all changed. Pineda is pitching effectively on a weekly basis and finding a way out of the innings that used to send him to the bench. He’s striking out over a batter per inning and holding hitters to a 21% line drive rate. Pineda has been even better than Kluber when you look at wOBA, sitting at a crazy .296. He is seeing a bit more luck than Kluber and his wOBA should rise to around .320. The Angels aren’t at all good against righties, ranking 26th in baseball with a .301 wOBA. They strikeout a ton and often get shut down for innings on end. Albert Pujols is the only guy that can really do much damage on his lonesome, but he strikes out almost 30% of the time and isn’t nearly as effective against righties. When you remove Mike Trout, good luck. They have nobody to rely on for consistent production and it will come back to bite them. Pineda has as much upside as Kluber and is a bit cheaper, giving him plenty of appeal.

Offensive Stacks

Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers (Andrew Cashner)
Park -Minute Maid Park

The Astros are undoubtedly a top 5 offense in the league and one of the 3 best DFS offenses to target. They have power from tons of different spots and have the ability to string runs together without the longball. Most teams rely on one or the other. This gives them the ability to hit groundball and flyball pitchers, changing their approach based on the pitcher’s intentions. The Rangers will move into Minute Maid Park and bring Andrew Cashner with them. Cashner is a pretty interesting character, as it seems like he’s been a different level of pitcher every year. Coming up with the Cubs, he had a lot of potential. He then moved to San Diego and became one of the worst pitchers in baseball. He’s now somewhere between those two spots, though slightly leaning towards the bad side. He’s giving up more than 4 runs in a ton of his starts and often gets booted before the 6th inning. The Astros are the toughest match-up Cashner will face all season long and there are plenty of guys that can do damage. Altuve is obviously the heartbeat of it all and a must in cash games. After that, 7 of these guys can hit a homer and 6 of them have a good chance of producing. Take your pick.

Main Stack – Jose Altuve, George Springer, Josh Reddick, Carlos Correa

Sneaky Stack – Jose Altuve, George Springer, Brian McCann, Marwin Gonzalez

Minnesota Twins vs. Seattle Mariners (Sam Gaviglio)
Park – Target Field

When the Minnesota Twins hold an implied team total of 5.67 in Target Field, you must take notice. Sam Gaviglio is not a good pitcher and I think everyone finally realizes that. He’s currently 27 years old and is just seeing his first major league action. While not extremely old, Gaviglio is by no means a coveted prospect. He’s struggled in the minors and only struck out 7 batters per 9 in AA. He held a 4.86 xFIP and struggled to get an AAA call-up. He is now seeing a shot at the starting role, for whatever reason. Gaviglio has been slightly worse against righties, but you can target anyone against him with comfort. Miguel Sano is one of the more electric fantasy players on the slate and draws close to an ideal match-up. Brian Dozier is the other expensive option that has legitimate upside and safety. You then work with a bunch of fringe players who hold a ton of potential. The Twins should be a lot lower owned than some of these other stacks and have an implied team total that exceeds most of them. Sano and Dozier are some of the best options on this slate and a full team stack is a great move in tournaments.

Main Stack – Miguel Sano, Brian Dozier, Robbie Grossman, Max Kepler

Sneaky Stack –  Miguel Sano, Brian Dozier, Kennys Vargas, Jason Castro

DraftKings FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks – June 13, 2017

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s Best MLB Fanduel lineup today, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite stacks from the article below in our lineup optimizer and hit calculate. You can let it fill in the rest of the spots for you or choose your personal favorites from the MLB Player Lab.

Starting Pitchers

Clayton Kershaw vs Cleveland Indians
Park – Progressive Field

It’s that day of the week. Clayton Kershaw takes the mound and is going to be the top option on every night he pitches. He’s pitching as well as ever, tossing 14 innings and striking out 23 batters in just his last 2 starts. Kershaw has actually been unlucky so far, sporting a wOBA against lefties that is far higher than ever before in his career. That number will come down and even further dominance will occur by Kershaw. Even with the Indians being a solid hitting team, they are severe underdogs with Kershaw on the mound. He’s allowed more than 2 ER just twice so far and one of those was at Coors Field. Kershaw is going to end up being one of the 3 best starting pitchers to ever take a mound and I want to be on him as often as possible. This match-up isn’t a horrible one for Kershaw. The Indians may be scary on the surface, but aren’t nearly as good against lefties. Michael Brantly and Jason Kipnis are huge parts of the offense and will have an incredibly tough time getting on-base. Even by the numbers, the Indians aren’t great. They rank 19th in the MLD in terms of wOBA against righties at .302 and strikeout almost 23% of the time. Kershaw is the clear top option on the slate and you make it happen in cash games.

Joe Ross vs. Atlanta Braves
Park – Nationals Park

Joe Ross isn’t the hardest pitcher in the world to figure out. He’s really good against righties and has a very tough time with lefties. He should be seeing 4 lefties and 5 righties tonight, which gives him some solid upside. While this Braves team has been scrappy over the last few weeks, there one of the worst teams in the league without Freddie Freeman. Nick Markakis and Matt Kemp are the biggest bats in the order, which should give you an idea of the quality. Ross has pitched exceptionally in 2 of his last 3 starts. HE went for 8 innings and 7 innings respectively and struck out a combined 18. Nationals Park is a downgrade for the Braves and thy should see a dip in offensive production as a whole. Ross is striking out over 10 batters per 9 innings and has only walked 1.83. While there is no such thing as a safe Joe Ross, this is one of his better spots. Vegas is a big fan and have them as the 2nd biggest favorites on the night.

Offensive Stacks

Boston Red Sox vs. Philadelphia Phillies (Edward Lively)
Park – Fenway Park

Edward “Ben” Lively has only pitched 12 innings so far this year, which will hopefully give people and inaccurate depiction of who he is. Ben Lively is a below average pitcher and a guy you absolutely want to target with major league hitters. Lively has struggled throughout the minors and has never been above 8 K/9. The Red Sox have been hitting well at home and Vegas currently has them sitting at a 6 implied run total. The Phillies have a poor bullpen and a relentless lineup like this one is hard to stop consistently. You obviously have a lot of different ways to go with the Sox and you can’t really go wrong. Mookie Betts and Dustin Pedroia are the safest of the bunch, but may also be the highest owned. You then have to choose between Mitch Moreland and Hanley at 1B. Personally, I prefer Hanley, but the get the merit in going either way. Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi have as good as shots as anyone and should be less popular than the bunch. If you need to be crazy, I don’t hate targeting the bottom of the order in hopes of an HR.

Main Stack – Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, Xander Bogaerts

Sneaky Stack – Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia, Mitch Moreland, Andrew Benintendi

Chicago White Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles (Alec Asher)
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field

We have a pitcher here in Alec Asher that is not very good. He’s holding a favorable .270 BABIP as of now, all the while struggling mightily against righties (.347 wOBA). He’s pitching on the road in Guaranteed Rate Field, where the ball flies pretty nicely. The White Sox, while a team that can be shut down by god pitching, has the tendency to have some solid hitting games as a whole. They have hit right-handed pitching well and have a few guys who can drive in runs, as well as a couple with some speed. Asher, as a righty, has been worse against righties, but I’m willing to target everyone. He’s not a good pitcher and doesn’t have any pitch that can shut down lefties. The White Sox lineup isn’t one that’s very spread out, so I don’t know how sneaky you’re really getting. Abreu is obviously a must in both formats and Frazier is right there as well with his power.

Main Stack – Melky Cabrera, Jose Abreu, Avisail Garcia, Todd Frazier

Sneaky Stack –  Jose Abreu, Todd Frazier, Tim Anderson, Matt Davidson

MLB Fanduel Lineup Today – June 12, 2017

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s Best MLB Fanduel lineup today, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite stacks from the article below in our lineup optimizer and hit calculate. You can let it fill in the rest of the spots for you or choose your personal favorites from the MLB Player Lab.

Starting Pitchers

Stephen Strasburg vs Atlanta Braves
Park – Nationals Park

In terms of pitching, this slate is rather cut and dry. Sure, you can look at the likes of Darvish and DeGrom for upside, but they hold real risk against the elite offenses of the Cubs and Astros. You then have Stephen Strasburg at home, facing the Freddie Freeman-less Atlanta Braves. The Braves are probably the worst hitting team in baseball without Freeman, at least against righties. Matt Kemp and Matt Adams are the 2 guys who the Braves are currently lean on, so let that tell you how it’s going in the ATL. Strasburg has never been so dominant and he’s one of the most entertaining pitchers to watch when throwing well. We use to dream about Stephen Strasburg being consistent on a start-by-start basis. We’re now seeing it. He’s been over 40 FanDuel points in each of his last 4 starts and has lasted at least 6 innings in 13 straight appearances. Strasburg s looking great and I see no reason to shy away in cash or tournaments. Personally, Strasburg will be on every team. He has more upside than anyone on the slate and is easily the safest to hit 40 points.

Masahiro Tanaka vs. Los Angeles Angels
Park – Angels Stadium

Once you get past Strasburg and the expensive tier, you have a whole bunch of nothing. Absolutely nothing. Luis Perdomo, Yovani Gallardo are guys who will be considered by plenty, which should let you know exactly how bad. Masahiro Tanaka is a really weird guy to look at right now, because we know he’s not this bad. He’s had fantastic starts this year and then fallen off for 2 weeks after. He’s either injured or running into some bad luck. He faces off against a Los Angeles Angels team that is missing Mike Trout. Trout is super-glue for this lineup that consists of strikeouts and groundouts. Albert Pujols can always send one over the fence, but he strikes out 30% of the time and hasn’t been great in the spacious Angels Stadium. You then get into hitters like Andrelton Simmons and Eric Young. Guys that are out there to play defense and try to move runners over. While a clean slate is never out of the possibility, it’s not expected here from Tanaka. I’m looking for 6 runs, 6 K’s and a run or two. If you’re able to get that type of production on the slate from Tanaka, you are in a fantastic spot.

Offensive Stacks

Baltimore Orioles vs. Chicago White Sox (Mike Pelfrey)
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field

Let’s get Mike Pelfrey out of the way. He has a BABIp of .240 this season. AKA throw away everything he has done. BABIP is not a specialty of Pelfrey, nor is it of any pitcher. It’s uncontrollable for the most part, sitting around .310 as average. As a note, groundball pitchers see slightly lower BABIP’s on average. Mike Pelfrey has always been around .320 and he will return there by the time its all said and done. With the regression monster looming like crazy, you want to make sure ou hop on before it’s too late. If the Orioles go off here, the opposing team against Pelfrey next week will be heavily owned as the public realized his fraud. Hop on early and get exposure to a team that can hit an HR from any spot in the order. When stacking the Orioles, you can go anywhere. Chris Davis is obviously the biggest HR threat against righties, with Machado and Trumbo a close 2nd and 3rd. You then work into Welington Castillo and Seth Smith, who are very nice plays that help you pay up elsewhere. If you want to get crazy, Jonathan Schoop hits righties better and should end up near the top of the order. All in all, the Orioles should be a bit under-owned and make for an incredible stack.

Main Stack – Chris Davis, Manny Machado, Seth Smith, Mark Trumbo

Sneaky Stack – Chris Davis, Jonathan Schoop, Mark Trumbo, Welington Castillo

Boston Red Sox vs. Philadelphia Phillies (Jerad Eickhoff)
Park – Fenway Park

When a team has an implied team total well over 6 outside of Coors Field, you have to take notice. The Red Sox are currently sitting at a 6.28, so Vegas is definitely expecting some runs to come out of that 3rd base dugout. They face off with Jerad Eickhoff, who doesn’t necessarily profile as the gas can you would imagine when a team is expected to score 6. He has struggled against both sides of the plate and the Phillies have a bottom 5 bullpen in all of baseball. Over the past 2 seasons, Eickhoff has sported a combined wOBA of .337. He has trouble with the long ball and Fenway Park is a top 5 park for right-handers. The Red Sox are like the Orioles, but to a lesser degree. They have 5 or 6 guys who can produce and they all have a ton of upside. Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts are the 2 safest options and should be pretty highly owned. You can then choose between Hanley Ramirez and Mitch Moreland. Moreland is a bit more expensive and has a better match-up, which should lead to higher ownership. Lower in the order, I’m fine targeting Jackie Bradley or Sandy Leon. They both have upside and will be way lower owned than the rest of the lineup. Who’s to say they won’t get up with 2 or 3 guys on base and take advantage.

Main Stack – Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Mitch Moreland

Sneaky Stack –  Mookie Betts, Hanley Ramirez, Xander Boagerts, Andrew Benintendi

MLB Fanduel Lineup Today – June 07, 2017

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s Best MLB Fanduel lineup today, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite stacks from the article below in our lineup optimizer and hit calculate. You can let it fill in the rest of the spots for you or choose your personal favorites from the MLB Player Lab.

Starting Pitchers

Clayton Kershaw vs Washinton Nationals
Park – Dodgers Park

Yep, a real sleeper. On this three game early slate, there really isn’t a better option. Kershaw faces the Nats at home today, in pitcher-friendly Dodgers Park. While the Nationals clearly have star-studded names in their lineup, they do not do great against southpaws and strikeout more than league average. Kershaw has pitches that will destroy any left-handed batter, so the likes of Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy will be greatly decreased. Kerhsaw, instead, should draw his attention to Zimmerman and who both hold a .390+ wOBA against them in 2017. Kershaw has a tendency to strikeout around 9 or 10 batters per 9 innings. In the past three straight seasons he has help a .280 wOBA. Even though he is expensive, Kershaw always seems to be worth the play in cash and GPP’s, especially on this small early slate.

Dallas Keuchel vs. Kansas City Royals
Park – Kauffman Stadium

Dallas Keuchel comes in as the top and most expensive pitcher on this main 12-game slate. HE heads to one of the best pitching parks in baseball to face off with one of the worst lineups in the game. Kauffman Stadium is one of the bigger parks in baseball and ranked 2nd to last in terms of power since 2012. Keuchel is having a Cy Young season and while he may be getting a few lucky breaks, he is this good. He’s holding lefties to a .122 wOBA and righties to an amazing .250. He’s still not a huge strikeout guy, putting away just 8.26 per 9 by the K. The Royals offense is one of the absolute worst in baseball, like it or not. They hold a .277 team wOBA against lefties, which is second to last behind just the Padres. In this ballpark, Lorenzo Cain is really the only + hitter against lefties and he is even struggling at the plate. Keuchel will be very popular and rightfully so. In cash games, I wouldn’t get cute. If you need to go elsewhere in tournaments, Greinke and Odorizzi are intriguing.

Offensive Stacks

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo)
Park – Great American Ball Park

Bronson Arroyo is on the mound, so you have to love some of these Cardinals. While Arroyo hasn’t been thrashed in most of his starts, he isn’t very good either. He’s allowed at least 2 runs in each of his starts and usually gives up at least 4. He never lasts any longer than 5 or 6 innings and will rarely have a clean slate. He’s allowed 12 home runs in his last 5 starts, which is simply astonishing. He pitches at Great American Ballpark tonight, which has ranked in the top 5 for hitters in each of the last 3 seasons. The Cardinals are a team who gets a big upgrade with this park, as they are generally in the spacious Busch Stadium. A lot of these guys don’t have much power and this ballpark gives them a ton more upside. Matt Carpenter and Dexter Fowler are the easy calls. They both rake righties and have been swinging the bat well. You then have a whole bunch of different guys to choose from. Aledmys Diaz is a lot better than righties and he would be my other favorite if he sees the top of the order. Jedd Gyorko and Yadier Molina are the 2 Cardinals who will probably be over-owned, but are just fine in cash games. All in all, the Cardinals in Great American Ballpark against Bronson Arroyo is too good of a spot to ignore.

Main Stack – Dexter Fowler, Matt Carpenter, Yadier Molina, Stephen Piscotty

Sneaky Stack – Dexter Fowler, Matt Carpenter, Aledmys Diaz, Jhonny Peralta

Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins (Jose Urena)
Park – Wrigley Field

The fact of the matter is that Jose Urena is not very good at all. He, like Arroyo, seems to give up at least a few runs every single start. He also has a problem with the HR ball and moves into a park that is a lot friendlier to hitters than Marlins Park. Wrigley Field, while heavily dependent on wind and degrees, ranked 9th for power in 2016. Yes, that probably has something to do with the home team being the power-heavy Cubs. Still, that’s who Urena is facing tonight, so it doesn’t really matter. Urena has sported a .417 wOBA against righties and has allowed 7 homers in just 25 innings (lol). The Cubs are obviously one of the more dangerous offenses in baseball and always have 8 guys you can play. Tonight is no different. Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are still the top dogs, with whoever is in the 1/4 hole coming up next. Against righties, it should be Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber/Ben Zobrist. In tournaments, you can definitely look lower in the order. Javier Baez has a ton of power against righties and always goes under-owned because of Addison Russell. The Cubs are the offense with the most upside tonight and you should be able to fit them without too many issues.

Main Stack – Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez

Sneaky Stack – Kris Bryant, Wilson Contreras, Jason Heyward 

Best MLB Draftkings Lineup for Tonight – 06/06/2017

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s Best MLB Draftkings Lineup for Tonight, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite stacks from the article below in our lineup optimizer and hit calculate. You can let it fill in the rest of the spots for you or choose your personal favorites from the MLB Player Lab.

Starting Pitchers

Chris Archer vs Chicago White Sox
Park – Tropicana Field

Max Scherzer is on this slate, so you can always make a very viable argument for him in cash games. He’s one of the best pitchers in the game and will more often than not get it done. However, he’s on the road facing the Dodgers, who have ranked in the 3 against righties so far this season. Instead, we’re going to look down a bit at Chris Archer. Archer is also one of the best pitchers in baseball, though his inconsistency in previous years has been his kryptonite. He’s been fantastic this season, striking out nearly 11 per 9 innings and walking just over 3. He’ll also take the mound at home, where he has been MUCH better over his career. The Rays are hosting the White Sox, who have ranked 28th in the league against righties with a .294 wOBA. They strikeout 23.2% of the time and have a hard time doing much damage (.150 ISO). Tropicana Field was a top 10 park for pitchers in 2016 and is typically a place where flyballs die. While Archer always has a bit more risk than a guy like Scherzer, his upside is identical and he has a much better match-up. Archer is my top option in all formats.

James Paxton vs Minnesota Twins
Park – Safeco Field

James Paxton is a beast. We know that. It just comes down to how limited he will be tonight. He came off the DL just a week and threw 74 pitches in a dominant 5.1 innings. He’s given up more than 1 ER in just 1 start this season and has struck out at least 8 in 4 of his 7 starts. Paxton has actually been slightly better against righties over his career, which is extremely rare for a left-handed pitcher. With that being said, he’s holding lefties to a .193 wOBA this season with strong peripherals, so who really knows. He faces off with the Minnesota Twins tonight, who are very lackluster against lefties. The rank 20th in the majors with a .298 wOBA against and have hit the 3rd least homers against southpaws. They also move into Safeco Field, which has always been a bottom 5 park for hitting. James Paxton should be able to get up around 90 pitches tonight, which gives him the upside to fit 7 innings. Make sure you keep an eye on Twitter as a pitch limit is something you want to fully avoid as it restricts upside 100% of the time.

Offensive Stacks

Colorado Rockies vs. Mike Clevinger
Park – Coors Field

Of course, Coors Field is going to be the top stack of the night. We do have Antonio Senzatela on one side, so the Indians aren’t a team we will be looking to target quite as much. That’s not to say the Indians offense can’t put up 10 runs in Coors Field. However, the Rockies are facing off with Mike Clevinger, who struggled mightily in 2016. He sported a .412 wOBA against righties and a .224 BABIP against lefties. He’s sure to see some regression very soon and will likely have a very tough time dealing with Coors Field. With a reverse-splits righty, you can target everyone. Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez are both fantastic against righties and in Coors Field, have as much upside as anyone. Nolan Arenado could also end up being a bit lower owned than he should be in an R/R match-up. In Coors Field, the production can come from anywhere. If you want to get sneaky in a large field tournament, don’t be scared to target the bottom of the order. All in all, this is Coors Field and it’s almost always the best spot on the slate. The Rockies will be highly owned and you can certainly fade in tournaments. In cash games, this is a spot you might want to ride the chalk.

Main Stack – Charlie Blackmon, Carlos Gonzalez, Nolan Arenado, D.J. LeMahieu

Sneaky Stack – Charlie Blackmon, Carlos Gonzalez, Ian Desmond, Mark Reynolds

New York Mets vs. Dillon Gee
Park – Globe Life Park

For whatever reason, Dillon Gee is getting another chance to start. He was absolutely horrible last season and had a lot of trouble getting both lefties and righties out. He held a combined .348 wOBA and had big trouble keeping the ball in the park (24 in 120 innings). This entire Mets team is in play here and they are definitely my favorite stack outside of Coors Field. They’re a team who has actually been hitting well, although the circus around them has made it tough. Michael Conforto is truly the best hitter in this lineup right now and you can’t avoid him against righties. Further down, you can target a lot of different guys. Jay Bruce and Lucas Duda have a ton of HR potential and will be a lot lower-owned than expected. Neil Walker and Curtis Granderson are also really good against righties and have more than enough upside in Globe Life Park. Arlington is a huge upgrade for the Mets, who play their home games in the pitcher-friendly Citi Field. The Mets should be lower owned than both offenses in Coors Field and have similar upside in Globe Life.

Main Stack – Michael Conforto, Jay Bruce, Neil Walker, Lucas Duda

Sneaky Stack – Michael Conforto, Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson, Wilmer Flores

Best MLB Draftkings Lineup for Tonight – June 05, 2017

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s Best MLB Draftkings Lineup for Tonight, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite stacks from the article below in our lineup optimizer and hit calculate. You can let it fill in the rest of the spots for you or choose your personal favorites from the MLB Player Lab.

Starting Pitchers

Carlos Martinez vs Cincinnati Reds
Park – Great American Ball Park

This isn’t a slate where we’re able to choose from 100 different solid pitchers. We’re going to have to take what we can get and build solid lineups around guys that aren’t overly “safe”. Carlos Martinez is the first guy we’re going to take a peek at. He’s been absolutely great as of late, posting more than 40 FanDuel points in 6 straight contests. He emerged as an ace last year and it looks like he has no plans of regressing. He has held a .263 wOBA this season and with elite peripherals, it’s not going to go up. He faces a Reds team that is pretty weak as a whole. While Joey Votto and Adam Duvall are some scary bats, they are all the Reds have against righties. Eugenio Suarez and Zack Cozart are far superior against lefties and Scott Schebler is an HR or K almost every time. While Great American Ballpark is a lot worse for pitchers than Busch Stadium, Martinez has been fine there in the past. He profiles as the safest option on this slate and you can afford him n both sites. With that being said, his DraftKings price leaves a lot to be desired. If you feel the need to pay down, let’s take a look at a guy who can certainly be considered.

Junior Guerra vs. San Francisco Giants
Park – Miller Park

That guy is Junior Guerra. Guerra is a pretty interesting pitcher, playing just his 3rd year in the majors at 32 years old. He struggled early on and moved to the Mexican league to play professionally. He became a lot better while there and moved up the ranks quickly upon his return to the MLB. He’s been a little TOO GOOD against both righties and lefties, posting a sub .280 wOBA against both. While I’m not sure we can come to expect that, I do see Guerra as a solid 2 or 3 starter. He’s priced like a backend starter that’s going to go 5 innings and give up 3 runs. He faces off with the Giants, who have ranked dead last against righties so far in 2017. Miller Park has been neutral over the last 2 years and Guerra should be in for a very nice start. While I’m not expecting a clean slate out of Guerra, I expect him to strikeout at least 6 and go as many innings. His price is very fair on both sites and on DraftKings, he is a strong SP2. He should be highly owned and rightfully so. I don’t see anywhere else you can go while also paying down.

Offensive Stacks

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds
Park – Great American Ball Park

We touched on Carlos Martinez as our top pitcher and now we’ll take a look at the guys who will be responsible for providing him some run support. They shouldn’t have much of an issue, facing off with Asher Wojciechowski in the hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark. Woj has been absolutely horrible and it’s not too clear why he is even getting this opportunity. He has struggled in the minors and allowed a 5.31 xFIP in AAA for the Marlins last season. The Reds have decided to give him a shot in the majors for whatever reason and it’s not going well, as expected. He allowed 4 runs in 4 innings to the Blue Jays and will likely have a very similar outing here. The Cardinals are actually a pretty simple team to stack. We know where the production will come from and how it will come. Matt Carpenter, Dexter Fowler, and Aledmys Diaz are the 3 best bats against righties and all have plenty of power potential. After them, you can do a bit of mixing and matching. Yadi and Peralta are both full of power and should be pretty low-owned. All in all, the Cardinals are implied to score the most on this entire slate and are a team that will be in all of my cash games and tournaments.

Main Stack – Dexter Fowler, Matt Carpenter, Stephen Piscotty, Aledmys Diaz

Sneaky Stack – Dexter Fowler, Matt Carpenter, Yadier Molina, Jhonny Peralta

Houston Astros vs. Kansas City Royals
Park – Kauffman Stadium

The Astros are the only team with a comparable team total as the Cardinals, sitting at 4.73. They’re a team who is usually heavily owned and very variant. Even though there aren’t many other offenses to target, I don’t think the ‘Stros will be too heavily owned. Ian Kennedy has put up some very misleading stats (.190 BABIP) and I think there is a false thought of him being decent. They’re also in Kauffman Stadium, which is a lot worse of an environment than Minute Maid Park. These guys still have plenty of power and can hit an HR in any ballpark. Ian Kennedy has posted some solid surface stats, but it’s pretty clear a .190 BABIP is the reason why. The Astros, unlike the Cardinals, are a bit tougher to stack. They can produce from anywhere in the lineup and are priced up in 8 of 9 spots. Jose Altuve and Josh Redick are my two favorites, with Correa and Springer coming in next. Marwin Gonzalez and Brian McCann are both great tournament options and should be low owned. Bregman and Aoki are fine but lack any type of upside compared to the others. While the Astros aren’t a must to stack, they will be a bit lower-owned than they should be and have more potential than anyone on the slate.

Main Stack – Jose Altuve, Josh Reddick, George Springer, Carlos Correa

Sneaky Stack – Jose Altuve, Josh Reddick, Evan Gattis, Carlos Beltran