*Chris Durell*

Fanduel MLB Lineup for 06/01/17

Welcome back to another day of daily fantasy baseball. Thursday, as always, gives us a split day/night slate and today we get four early games and four evening games. If you are playing on FanDuel beware that the early slate only includes three games and if you want exposure to the Rockies/Mariners you will have to play the all-day slate.

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**

Early Slate

Corey Kluber
Opponent – vs. OAK
Park – Progressive Field(Hitter Positive)
Vegas Favorite (CLE -220)
Vegas Total (8.5)

The Indians come in as the biggest favorites on either slate as Corey Kluber makes his return to the mound after a month on the disabled list. He was pretty much dominant in his rehab start and will look to shut down the A’s offense this afternoon. He comes in with a healthy 9.9 K/9 and 11.5% swinging strike rate on the season and while the ERA is less than attractive (5.06), the xFIP (3.68) suggests he has been pitching much better. He gets a great matchup to build on his strikeout and overall numbers as the A’s sit mid-pack when looking at team wOBA and wRC+ vs. right-handed pitching but has been striking out over 24% of the team. Things have been even worse for the A’s over the last week as they sit with low .286 wOBA and ridiculous 35% K rate over the last seven days. Load up on Kluber in all formats on the early slate.

Main Slate

Zack Greinke
Opponent – @ MIA
Park – Marlins Park(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas Favorite (ARI -117)
Vegas Total (8.0)

I will ride with Greinke tonight who, despite allowing 4+ ER in two of his last three starts, is having a great start to his season. Through 11 starts he sits with a 10.5 K/9 rate and a career high 14.3% swinging strike rate. Even with those two bad starts recently he still sports a 3.44 ERA and xFIP (3.08) that nearly 40 points lower meaning better things to come. Tonight he faces a red-hot team in the Marlins who rank second in wOBA over the past seven days. Don’t worry too much, however, as looking into the season long splits they have been much better against southpaws. It is a lot to pay tonight, especially on DraftKings so if you are looking for more of an affordable way to get bats in your lineup, Marco Estrada makes a fine choice. He also has a tougher matchup vs. the Yankees but comes at a near $3K discount on DK.

**OFFENSIVE STACKS**

Early Slate

Cleveland Indians vs. Jharel Cotton (OAK)
Park – Progressive Field (Hitter Positive)
Vegas – (CLE -220)
Vegas Total (8.5)

The pitching on the early slate of games, especially on FanDuel, is half decent making it tough to find an option to stack against. If you are playing the early slate on DraftKings, it makes sense to stack either the Rockies or Mariners in a game stack scenario but on FanDuel we are going to pick on young Jharel Cotton of the A’s. He flashed some upside in his brief five-start stint in 2016 but has struggled in his first eight starts in 2017. He comes into tonight with a 5.56 ERA and 5.05 xFIP that suggests things won’t get much better anytime soon. He has strikeout upside with a swinging strike rate above 10% but has been getting hit hard when not missing bats and has given up six home runs in his last three starts. The Indians offense started the year off slow but have been heating up since the return to health of Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis. Over the past seven days, they sit with a Top 10 wOBA (.44) and wRC+ (115) and have hit nine home runs. Today they will throw out a lefty-heavy lineup to face Cotton and have the most upside of any team on the early slate.

Main Stack – Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana

Secondary Options – Jose Ramirez, Bradley Zimmer

Main Slate

Toronto Blue Jays vs. C.C. Sabathia (NYY)
Park – Rogers Centre (Hitter Friendly)
Vegas – (TOR -135)
Vegas Total (9.0)

First of all, I am really excited to have the opportunity to write about my favorite team smashing the ball once again. It was a rough April that saw the Jays score just 89 runs which was third-worst in the entire league. What a difference a month can make as going into Wednesday night’s action they have already scored 143 total runs and sit second in the league with 47 home runs. They also went into Wednesday night’s game (writing this Weds afternoon) having won eight of their last nine games while scoring an average of six runs per game in that stretch and that’s with Josh Donaldson hitting just .250 since his return. He is going to heat up with more at-bats and the good news is that he hit a home run on Tuesday going 2-4 on the day. Speaking of heating up, Jose Bautista has been on a tear over the past few weeks hitting .429 with a .548 wOBA and six home runs since May 13.

Main Stack – Kevin Pillar, Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Kendrys Morales

Secondary Players for Stack – Troy Tulowitzki, Justin Smoak

*Austyn Varney*

MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel – Wednesday, May 31

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Lineup picks article, 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**

Max Scherzer vs. San Francisco Giants
Park – AT&T Park

When looking for safety, there aren’t many pitchers out there better, if any. Scherzer is the definition of a workhorse and Dusty Baker has no problem riding him to 120 pitches if he feels good. We then get into the match-up. While the Giants at home has been an avoidable match-up for years, 2017 has changed the game. The Giants currently rank dead last against righties, as well as dead last at home in terms of wOBA against righties. AT&T Park is one of the more spacious ballparks in baseball and it will drastically help Scherzer keep the ball in the park. Scherzer has been great, even by his own right. He’s striking out nearly 14 righties per 9 innings and has been absolute death to anyone from the right side. Once you get past Buster Posey and Brandon Belt, you have a very similar lineup to the Braves or Padres. Guys like Mac Williamson, Christian Arroyo, and Eduardo Nunez are all very strikeout prone and lack any type of upside in the ballpark. Scherzer is expensive, but very well may be worth it for the long haul. He’s the top option in all formats, though there is a guy a bit cheaper who is in play as well.

Jacob DeGrom vs. Milwaukee Brewers
Park – Citi Field

If you want to take a step down from Scherzer, there is nothing wrong with a pivot to Jacob DeGrom. You can also target both of them on DraftKings, but you’ll certainly be forced to pay down everywhere else. DeGrom, who faces off with the Brewers tonight, has been very good this year. While he was worked through a couple injuries and setbacks, he has consistently put out a lot of innings and has done so with a circus around him that is the Mets pitching staff. He’s very effective to both righties and lefties, as evident by the .281 wOBA and .321 BABIP. Now that he’s fully healthy, you can expect a few huge outings out of DeGrom as his arm gets more and more stretched out. He showed it just last week, destroying the Pirates for 8.1 innings and 10 strikeouts. The Mets also have a very tired and dwindled bullpen, which almost forces Terry Collins into riding his starter longer than he may normally. The opposing Brewers team is nothing to be afraid of. While they started off pretty hot and had some people hyped up about them, we all know they stink. They are the Brewers. With Braun out of the lineup, DeGrom should be scared of nobody. The Brewers hold a top 5 strikeout rate and bottom 5 wOBA against righties over the last month and show no reason for optimism. The match-up is great and DeGrom is heading in the right direction. He is a fine play in all formats and a guy I’ll have plenty of exposure to.

**OFFENSIVE STACKS**

Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox (Mike Pelfrey)
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field

Mike Pelfrey is somehow finding himself on a major league mound once again tonight. How? Why? I have no idea. He’s been one of the worst pitchers in baseball for years now and it will take a magician to change him. In 2016, Pelfrey allowed a.373 combined wOBA and a 32% hard contact rate. He has no hope against either sides of the plate and should be gone by the 5th inning. This lineup for the Red Sox is a bit tough to stack, as there are 5 or 6 hitters with very similar outlooks. Mookie Betts is the top option and a guy I will make sure to have in all formats. After that, any of these guys can produce in U.S. Cellular Field. Vegas currently has the Red Sox at the highest implied team total of the day of 5.26. Make sure you get exposure in some capacity

**Main Stack – Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, Andrew Benintendi**

**Sneaky Stack – Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts, Mitch Moreland**

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers (Austin Bibens-Dirkx)
Park – Globe Life Park in Arlington

Austin Bibens-Dirkx has been announced the starter here and like Pelfrey, I don’t know why. Bibens-Dirkx is actually the same age as Pelfrey (32), but is just making his starting rotation debut. He’s struggled in AA and AA for about 8 years now and held a 5.00 xFIP just last season. The Rangers are extremely desperate and will just be looking to get 3 or 4 innings out of Dirkx. I don’t think it happens. While the Rays are typically a rather underwhelming team, they can get the bats going, especially when in a bam box like Globe Life Park. Kevin Kiermaier and Corey Dickerson are both great against righties and the anchors of my Rays stacks. Evan Longoria, on the other hand, is at the worst position on the slate. He’s the clear top option and will be very highly owned. There are plenty of was to go with a stack here, but I would make sure to have Kiermaier and Dickerson in all of them.

**Main Stack – Kevin Kiermaier, Corey Dickerson, Logan Morrison, Evan Longoria**

**Sneaky Stack – Kevin Kiermaier, Corey Dickerson, Steve Souza, Colby Rasmus**

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks for 05/24/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite players 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.

This season, new with our MLB Subscription Package we offer Daily Fantasy Graphs.

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Chris Sale vs. Texas Rangers
Park – Fenway Park

It’s absolutely astonishing what Chris Sale has accomplished; he has become the first pitcher since 1913(C!!) to record nine straight games with at least 10 strikeouts. Think about that for a minute; Babe Ruth didn’t even begin his MLB career until 1914, this record stood before Ruth over 100 years ago! If that doesn’t completely blow your mind as a fan of baseball, I’m not sure what will. As far as elite pitchers go today, he is the cream of the crop. The price is most certainly high, but Sale’s production has been insane. Texas doesn’t do great versus southpaws, with a K-rate of 22.5%, Sale just might see ten straight games with at least 10 K’s and this is a game you don’t want to miss.

Julio Teheran vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Park – SunTrust Park

Teheran has been a hard pitcher to nail down. You would think he would be performing better this year than he has. He struggles at home (10.50 ERA in 5 starts) but seems to pitch like an ace on the road (0.71 ERA in four starts). Even though he is at home tonight, the saving grace could be the fact that he is facing a pitiful Pittsburgh Pirates team, who have only managed 127 runs in 46 games versus righties. The Pirates haven’t scored an earned run against him in over 14 2/3 innings. This could be a saving grace GPP play as many people will avoid him because of his numbers versus the BlueJays last time out.

**OFFENSIVE BATTERS**

Here are a few of my favorite offensive hitters that I am going to build my lineups around. The players that I have the most exposure to will be in bold.

*CATCHERS*
Wilson Contreras – We know that Moore can struggle with his command but is very far away from an elite pitcher.

Evan Gattis – Gattis has been one of the most underrated catchers this year, a guy who is hitting in one of the best lineups in the league. He is currently batting in the middle of the order, which leads me to believe he is in a prime spot to knock in multiple runs today.

*FIRST BASEMAN*
**Ryan Zimmerman** – He has been a little streaky this season. Could last night’s performance be a taste of what’s to come?
Brandan Belt

*SECOND BASEMAN*
Robinson Cano
Neil Walker

*THIRD BASEMAN*
**Evan Longoria** – Small sample size but great matchup versus Nolasco. In 20 plate appeareances he has 5 hits (1 HR) for a .263/.300/.526.
Kris Bryant

*SHORTSTOP*
**Jean Segura** – With Cano back and Roark on the mound, this could be the chance that the M’s snap the losing streak. Look for Segura to play a critical part in this if it happens.
Trea Turner

*OUTFIELD*
**Carlos Gonzalez** – In the past week he possesses a .357/.455/.557, in other words he’s spittin’ hot fiyah!
Chris Young
Mike Trout
Matt Kemp
Kole Calhoun

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks for 05/23/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite players 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.

This season, new with our MLB Subscription Package we offer Daily Fantasy Graphs.

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Clayton Kershaw vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Park – Dodger Stadium

By now do you really need reasons to play Clayton Kershaw? Even though the price point is extremely high, it is versus the St. Louis Cardinals. They have a lot of trouble versus lefties, so you can only imagine the pain that Kershaw will bring. They currently sit 2nd to last in runs scored on the season vs. southpaws (29) and 2nd to last in dingers (5). Kershaw is having a spectacular season in 62.2 innings pitched he has 62 strikeouts with only 8 Walks. If you have enough salary to fit him into your lineups then go for it, he should pitch one hell of a game.

Lance McCullers vs. Detroit Tigers
Park – Minute Maid Park

Lance is one of the best strikeout pitchers on this slate, currently sitting at 60 K’s in only 54.1 innings pitched. Houston comes into this game heavily favored (-220) at Minute Maid Park. Even though it’s against a tough, top-heavy Detroit Tigers team in his last 4 Home games McCullers has averaged 48.3 Fanduel points. The Astros currently own the best record in baseball at 30-15 (.667).

**OFFENSIVE BATTERS**

Here are a few of my favorite offensive hitters that I am going to build my lineups around. The players that I have the most exposure to will be in bold.

*CATCHERS*
Gary Sanchez
Jason Castro

*FIRST BASEMAN*
**Paul Goldschmidt** – Covey, one of the weakest pitchers on the slate tonight giving up 3.85 FD points/PA.
Jay Bruce

*SECOND BASEMAN*
Starlin Castro
Brandon Phillips

*THIRD BASEMAN*
**Miguel Sano** – Perfect lineup two nights in a row, can he make it three?
Kris Bryant

*SHORTSTOP*
Trea Turner
Brandan Crawford

*OUTFIELD*
**Carlos Gonzalez** – Has scored 17.8 Fanduel points in his past 4 games, look for this to continue versus Eflin.
Charlie Blackmon
Michael Conforto
David Peralta
Andrew Mccutchen

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks for 05/22/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite players 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.

This season, new with our MLB Subscription Package we offer Daily Fantasy Graphs.

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Zack Greinke vs. Chicago White Sox
Park – Chase Field

Greinke versus the White Sox? Chalky, yes but also this could be the matchup of the night. Greinke comes into the game solid this year, winning his last three starts. The White Sox come into the game dead last in hard-contact rate versus righties (27.6%) and 6th to last in wRC+ (84). Greinke is already hard to hit as it is, with insane control over his mid 90’s fastball and sensational offspeed pitches. He walks very few batters while striking out a lot (11/66 for a 6:1 ratio.) I see him being one of the top pitchers of the night.

Michael Pineda vs. Kansas City Royals
Park – Yankee Stadium

Pineda has looked pretty solid this season. He is the top projected pitcher of the night (37) and with only a Fanduel price point of 8700 is nearly a bargain. He leads all of tonight’s pitchers in xFIP (2.00), and is third in K/9 (10.8) for the season. The last time out versus the Royals Pineda was effective earning a Quality Start while winning the game striking out 5 and giving up six hits over six innings pitched. The Royals have been dreadful all season, tied for 2nd to last in wRC+ (76), having only a .230 average (3rd to last), and dead last in total runs scored (145). Pineda should have no trouble defeating the Royals once again tonight.

**OFFENSIVE BATTERS**

Here are a few of my favorite offensive hitters that I am going to build my lineups around. The players that I have the most exposure to will be in bold.

*CATCHERS*
Gary Sanchez
Wilson Contreras

*FIRST BASEMAN*
**Chris Davis** – Baltimore is my favorite stack of the day. Hitting against the struggling Kyle Gibson (0-4, 8.2 ERA). (14 PA – .364/.500/.636)
Edwin Encarnacion

*SECOND BASEMAN*
**Brian Dozier** – solid BvP vs. Ubaldo (23 PA – .318/.48/.409)
Ben Zobrist

*THIRD BASEMAN*
Kris Bryant
Miguel Sano

*SHORTSTOP*
Francisco Lindor
Freddy Galvis

*OUTFIELD*
**Adam Jones** – Has homered against Kyle Gibson. Gibson will get hammered today.
Mark Trumbo
Carlos Gonzalez
Aaron Judge
Andrew McCutchen

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

DFS Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks for 05/17/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Optimal Lineup Fanduel Picks, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite players 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.

This season, new with our MLB Subscription Package we offer Daily Fantasy Graphs. We wanted to create a tool that gives users the ability to visualize data points for Hitters and Pitchers by showing DFS salaries/fantasy points over time. If any of you come from the world of Stocks or Equities Trading, you will immediately understand the usefulness of these charts. Just as price and volume are essential in understanding a stocks movement, points and salary are core for DFS.

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Michael Fulmer vs Baltimore Orioles
Park – Comerica Park

Last time out versus the Angels Fulmer pitched a seven-inning game in which he only gave up three hits, one of those hits ended up scoring a run which prevented him from having the shutout. The second year man has been proving himself this season, as he currently owns a 2.54 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and has struck out 42 batters over 46 innings pitched. The Baltimore Orioles are 21st out of 30th against righties in runs scored this year (120), and own a fairly high 22.2% K-rate vs. them as well. In 3 out of last four games, Fulmer was in the perfect lineup averaging 51 Fanduel points in those three games. With the Tigers favored heavily (-141) and the wind blowing in at 15 MPH, it looks like Fulmer is on par to have another 40+ fantasy point day.

Matt Shoemaker vs Chicago White Sox
Park – Angel Stadium of Anaheim

Shoemaker looked fantastic on the mound on Friday versus the Tigers. Pitching a shutout over six innings, while allowing only three hits and striking out 7. Shoemaker is facing a weak White Sox team who are struggling this year to put runs on the board (6th to last at 155 total runs). Believe it or not, the Sox are even slightly worse against righties, having a .141 ISO and a .308 wOBA. Last season Shoemaker had one of the highlight games of his career versus CHW. Pitching a complete game shutout while giving up six hits and striking out 13. He earned a mesmerizing 78 Fanduel points that night at home. That’s where he faces the White Sox once again, as he hopes to duplicate that powerful performance.

**OFFENSIVE BATTERS**

Here are a few of my favorite offensive hitters that I am going to build my lineups around. The players that I have the most exposure to will be in bold.

*CATCHERS*
**Gary Sanchez** – Going back to the well on Sanchez, as he performed for an incredible 31 Fanduel points last night. Tonight he is going the soft tossing (low 90’s fastball) Jason Vargas.

Victor Martinez- Hitting against Ubaldo Jimenez someone who lacks command and when he is off, he is one of the worst pitchers in the league. Martinez has the hottest hitter behind him in the other JD Martinez, which means he should see plenty to hit.

*FIRST BASEMAN*
**Freddie Freeman** – Does this man ever cool down? In the past 14 days he owns the top 95% in barreled balls vs RHP, and is in the top 90% for exit velocity.
Joey Votto
Anthony Rizzo

*SECOND BASEMAN*
**Ian Happ** – Currently crushing value, he only costs $2,300 on FD. ($2,700 on DK)
Starlin Castro

*THIRD BASEMAN*
Kris Bryant
Corey Seager

*SHORTSTOP*
Jean Segura
Elvis Andrus

*OUTFIELD*
**Kyle Schwarber** – Look for him to continue the hot streak as the wind is blowing at Wrigley 21 MPH!
Aaron Judge
Billy Hamilton
J.D. Martinez
Adam Duvall

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

DFS MLB Lineup Picks for 05/16/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Lineup picks article, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite players 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.

This season, new with our MLB Subscription Package we offer Daily Fantasy Graphs. We wanted to create a tool that gives users the ability to visualize data points for Hitters and Pitchers by showing DFS salaries/fantasy points over time. If any of you come from the world of Stocks or Equities Trading, you will immediately understand the usefulness of these charts. Just as price and volume are essential in understanding a stocks movement, points and salary are core for DFS.

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Zack Greinke vs New York Mets
Park – Chase Field

Greinke is coming off of a game in which he entered the eighth inning with a no-hit bid. In that game against the Pirates, Greinke struck out 11 and only walked one batter. He seems to have gotten his mojo back this season after being introduced to the warm, unpredictable climate of Arizona. Averaging over 55 Fanduel points over two games, you certainly can’t go wrong Greinke in this spot. Most of the Mets have a hard time hitting him, in over 221 plate appearances they are batting just a .263 AVG, with a .459 SLG. In 2017, he has racked up 58 K’s with an impressive xFIP of 2.26.

Eduardo Rodriguez vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Park – Busch Stadium

With all the studs on the mound today you might snub your nose at someone like Eduardo Rodriguez but hear me out… First of all, his price comes at a bit of discount comparatively speaking. He has a quality start in his of past four outings, including a six-inning one run game against the Brewers and he is striking out hitters at an amazing clip (10.8 K/9). The young southpaw has a 30.3% strikeout percentage, with a 2.80 ERA. With the Cardinals being in the lower-tier of most of the stats versus lefties (4th to last in total runs scored (24) and home runs (5)) things could get interesting on the mound for Rodriguez. Also, note that with all of the other big names out there today he will be fairly low-owned making him a great GPP play.

**OFFENSIVE BATTERS**

Here are a few of my favorite offensive hitters that I am going to build my lineups around. The players that I have the most exposure to will be in bold.

*CATCHERS*
Gary Sanchez – When Sanchez is on a slate he should always be considered. He has the upside for multiple HRs. Catcher may be a position where you would like to save some salary to afford some higher priced position players. Jason Hammel Struggles, and he’s a solid matchup for Sanchez who has hit safely in 6/7 games.

Salvador Perez – The iron man at the catching position has a matchup vs. Sabathia today.

*FIRST BASEMAN*
Paul Goldschmidt – No need to say anything else. Just like Freeman who crushes opposite handed pitching Goldy is destroying LHP with a .409/.538/.705.

Anthony Rizzo- Facing Arroyo, the Cubs stack will likely be a popular one today. He has more than two weeks without going yard, Rizzo could be due.

*SECOND BASEMAN*
Starlin Castro – If you have been keeping up Castro has been a consistent mention in these writeups, Castro is someone that I love. , I would put Castro in the majority of my lineups without much thought, he is swinging a hot bat all season long and is among the leaders in the MLB in total hits. Making him far too inexpensive on Draftkings.

Ian Happ – The number one overall Cubs prospect ONLY if he is hitting 2nd should you lock him up in your lineups. After only two games in the MLB he is showing great promise.

*THIRD BASEMAN*
MIGUEL SANO or NOLAN ARENADO — Pick your guy, Both are in great matchups, there is no wrong choice among the two as they are both the same price on Draftkings.

*SHORTSTOP*
Chris Owings – He might go overlooked, but he will be batting on the top of the lineup for the Arizona team who is without Pollock and possibly Peralta. The Diamondbacks are facing a middle-of-the-road LHP in Tommy Milone, Owings offers speed and major fantasy point upside, making him by far the strongest play at SS today.

Didi Gregorious- A contrarian play at SS with all of the big names ut there, Didi vs. Hammels is a solid matchup who can run into problems vs. Right-handed batters.

*OUTFIELD*
**Bryce Harper** vs. Chad Kuhl, no further explanation needed.

**Carlos Gonzalez** – Cargo is heating up, no home runs recently but he is hitting bullets across the field. It would not surprise me to see a multiple home run night out of him today.

Kyle Schwaber – He has struggled quite a bit at the plate this year. Nearly almost a week without a home run, batting lead off, facing Arroyo. Just like Rizzo, it will be any time now when we see the resurgence of Schwaber.

Charlie Blackmon facing Hughes who has a tendency to give up a lot of HRs. Not only does he have power but can also get you two stolen bases in any given game. Blackmon is a could easily be one of the higher scoring outfielders on today’s slate.

Kris Davis – At $3,600 on Draftkings you would think Davis is facing Kershaw, but no, he is facing a struggling Mariners pitcher who is all over the place with his command and lacks strikeout pitches. Davis hits the ball with hard consistency as we saw last night vs. Gallardo.

*James Leer & Luis Herasme*

DFS MLB Lineup Picks for 05/15/17

Welcome to Lineup Lab’s DFS MLB Lineup picks article, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite players 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.

This season, new with our MLB Subscription Package we offer Daily Fantasy Graphs. We wanted to create a tool that gives users the ability to visualize data points for Hitters and Pitchers by showing DFS salaries/fantasy points over time. If any of you come from the world of Stocks or Equities Trading, you will immediately understand the usefulness of these charts. Just as price and volume are essential in understanding a stocks movement, points and salary are core for DFS.

**STARTING PITCHERS**

Chase Anderson vs. San Diego Padres
Park – Petco Park

It’s no secret that the Padres are struggling, sitting in last place in one of the toughest divisions in MLB. The Padres are 4th to last in Runs scored (140) and dead last in batting average (.220). The Padres lack of runs on the board stems from their inability to get the ball in play, sitting 4th in the league in strikeouts (347). Anderson, who’s changeup leads to a lot of strikeouts, should bounce back after a no-decision against the RedSox. In 7 starts this season, Chase is currently 2-0 on the season in 39.1 innings pitched he has only 13 earned runs for a 2.97 ERA.

Jesse Chavez vs. Chicago White Sox
Park – Angel Stadium of Anaheim

Jesse Chavez may be the safe option vs. a weak White Sox team. (see also: Cash game play). The White Sox struggle vs. Right handed batters, currently 4th to last in runs scored vs. RHP (101), tied for dead last in batting average (.225), and nearly last in SLG (.356) and Total Bases (303). Chavez hasn’t been all that impressive this season, but against the Chicago White Sox you don’t have to be on your best game. When his cutters are on, he can rack up the strikeouts (35) and as of late it seems like he is finding his groove.

**OFFENSIVE BATTERS**

Here are a few of my favorite offensive hitters that I am going to build my lineups around. The players that I have the most exposure to will be in bold.

*CATCHERS*
Yasmani Grandal
Jett Bandy

*FIRST BASEMAN*
**Eric Thames** – Perdomo is horrible vs. LHB. Thames is always a deep ball threat.
Freddie Freeman- Smashes RHP.

*SECOND BASEMAN*
**Jonathan Villar** – Perfect batting average vs. Perdomo. Though the sample size is minuscule (5) it seems like a great matchup. He is also at the start of a heater, averaging 25 Fanduel points over the past two days.
Neil Walker – Riding the hot streak, he has been smashing the last three games (28.3 Fanduel average). He faces a weak RHP tonight in Godley.

*THIRD BASEMAN*
**Jake Lamb** – He hasn’t hit a homer in 9 Games, it is about time he smashes one out of the park.
Kyle Seager – Hitting 4th with Cano out, seems like a solid matchup.

*SHORTSTOP*
SS- Jean Segura- He is swinging a good bat recently. I like the play should certainly consider.
SS- Corey Seager

*OUTFIELD*
**Mike Trout** – 29.7 Fanduel points over the past 3 games, Trout is riding a hot streak. Nice matchup against the WhiteSox tonight.
Jay Bruce
Hunter Pence
Yasiel Puig
Matt Kemp