*Austyn Varney*

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks – Tuesday, May 30

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**

Chris Sale vs. Chicago White Sox
Park – Guaranteed Rate Field

In DFS, you certainly don’t want to get hung up on narratives. They are very unpredictable and there is really no telling how emotions will impact a player. With that being said, there are a few exceptions. Chris Sale returning to U.S. Cellular Field is definitely one of them. He played for the White Sox for his entire career and will be bringing a different level of passion to the mound in this one. While I guess he could miss spots and give up some homers, I’m thinking quite the opposite. As an elite pitcher, he understands how to control himself and keep his emotions under control. Sale has arguably been the best pitcher in DFS so far this season. He’s holding a .241 combined wOBA and is striking out nearly 12 batters per 9 innings. The White Sox hold the lowest implied team total on the board and it’s no surprise. They are a bad offense and face off with a guy who knows the in and outs of every hitter. The White Sox have played over their head against lefties so far, sporting a .341 BABIP and a low 26% hard contact rate. Sale is easily the top option on this slate and a guy you will want exposure to in all formats. While the fade is always in play with MLB, it’s going to be quite tough today, when considering the other pitching options.

Ivan Nova vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Park – PNC Park

Like I said, there is a pretty steep drop after Chris Sale. Most offenses are implied to score a lot tonight, so we have to pick and choose out of only a few pitching options. Ivan Nova is facing off with the Diamondbacks at home in PNC Park. The D-backs are a team we never target at home but are a completely different lineup on the road. In 2016, they posted a .296 wOBA against righties on the road, which was 2nd worst behind just the Padres. They do have David Peralta and Jake Lamb, who are undoubtedly great hitters against righties and guys we do have to be careful with. After them, you obviously have Goldschmidt and Tomas with loads of power. However, they do strikeout a lot and as you move down the order, you get more and more strikeouts. PNC Park is a pretty tough spot for righties and with Nova holding a .284 wOBA against them, I’m expecting a nice performance. He’s stepped up his execution against lefties this year as well, currently holding a .309 wOBA compared to the .362 in previous seasons. His changeup has been more effective and he’s throwing it for a strike far more often. Nova has been a different pitcher since coming to Pittsburgh and I think you can target him in every format. Without any elite pitching options outside of Sale on the slate, there isn’t much of an opportunity cost. He’s priced fairly and shouldn’t be overly-owned on any sites.

**STARTING STACKS**

Rockies / Mariners
Park – Coors Field

As we know, Coors Field is just an entirely different environment than the rest of the MLB stadiums. The elevation causes balls to fly out of the park and off-speed pitches to not break. Both of these left-handers rely on off-speed, so it’ll be interesting to see how either fares. On the Rockies side, they will be facing off with Ariel Miranda. Miranda is definitely worse against righties, but not to an extreme. Everyone is in play, though there are a few guys who definitely stand out. Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story are both much better against lefties and are facing off with a guy who has allowed 9 homers in 44 innings (half at Kauffman Stadium). He’s going to certainly add to that total tonight and while these guys will all cost you, this is a night where you can afford it. On the Mariners side, they face a bit tougher competition in Tyler Anderson. Anderson is a pretty solid lefty, but still struggles against righties, especially in Coors Field. Nelson Cruz is my favorite play on the slate as he is the perfect mold for this match-up and ballpark. Taylor Motter and Danny Valencia are also both lefty-specialists and are in play in both formats. Jean Segura, Cano, and Seager are all better against righties but certainly remain in play here. The Rockies bullpen is subpar and even if Anderson has a good game, he rarely sees more than 5 innings. That will leave those guys at least 2 at-bats against a righty, with an ownership that sits below 20%. Lower in the order, you have plenty of fliers. Zunino has a ton of power and could hit 2 homers in Coors Field on pop-ups. The Rockies are the preferred stack here, but not by much. Personally, I will do my best to mix in both. Nolan Arenado and Nelson Cruz are the top 2 options on the slate and you may have to pick 1. Keep in mind, there is usually a lesser opportunity cost in taking 1 OF to 1 3B.

**Rockies Stack – Nolan Arenado, Ian Desmond, Charlie Blackmon, Trevor Story**

**Mariners Stack – Nelson Cruz, Danny Valencia, Jean Segura, Robinson Cano**

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cincinnati Reds
Park – Rogers Centre

The Blue Jays finally have their full team together and it looks like they may be getting right to the chase. They scored 15 runs last night and while that really doesn’t matter, it’s nice to see these guys string together a few innings. They face off with the guy from Monster, Inc. tonight in Asher Wojciechowski. Woj is a guy who has been bouncing around the minors for some time now, without much to show for it. He had a short stint in 2015 but was unable to hold on, struggling against lefties to an extreme. He hasn’t been good against righties in the minors either, so this team should be able to put up some runs. The Blue Jays are the only team outside of Coors Field with an implied team total over 5, so Vegas agrees. Remember, Josh Donaldson won the MVP 2 years ago. He’s a complete game-changer and when you add Tulowitzki, this is a new team. While they still hold a ton of variance and aren’t a team I would stack in cash, they have as much upside as anyone. Chris Coghlan was scratched last night but remains a very good hitter against righties if in the lineup. He will give you exposure to a popular team without the crazy ownership. Donaldson is a must and Bautista/Tulo are close to it. After that, this lineup can get production from a lot of spots. Take a shot at anyone in tournaments.

**Main Stack – Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, Jose Bautista, Kendrys Morales**

**Sneaky Stack – Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, Justin Smoak, Chris Coghlan**

*Chris Durell*

DFS MLB Picks – Friday, May 26

Welcome back for another high-octane Friday in daily fantasy baseball. It’s once again a beautiful TGIF as we faced multiple rainouts and pitcher scratches yesterday across the all day slates. Today is a completely different story as we get some top end heavy pitching options to choose from with some awesome value to boot. 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

Jacob deGrom
Opponent – @ PIT
Park – PNC Park (Pitcher Positive)
Vegas Favorite (NYM +103)
Vegas Total (8.5)

First of all, don’t worry about the Vegas line as it is slated to move anytime now with deGrom being moved up a day after rain presented a delayed threat last night. Speaking of last night, here is what I wrote about deGrom before learning of the push back.

The weather makes this more of a GPP play tonight but deGrom most definitely as the highest upside of any pitcher. He is coming off his best start of the season where he shut out the Angels over seven innings while striking out nine batters en route to his third win of the season. Four times this year he has recorded double-digit strikeouts and his elite 12.3 K/9 rate have him sitting behind only Danny Salazar and Chris Sale through almost two months of the season. He now gets a plus matchup vs. the Padres who have struggled to a .276 wOBA and 69 wRC+ over the last seven days and have struck out just over 24% of the time this season vs. right-handed pitching.

The only thing that really changes here is the matchup as DeGrom and the Mets now travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates. They do strike out quite a bit less which does lower the K upside a bit but the Pirates still rank in the bottom third of the league when looking at wOBA and wRC+ vs. right-handed pitching. Roll out DeGrom with confidence tonight.

Mike Clevinger
Opponent – vs. KC
Park – Progressive Field (Pitcher Positive)
Vegas Favorite (CLE -175)
Vegas Total (8.5)

I won’t mention Max Scherzer in this spot as it seems pretty obvious he is the top play of the day as a giant -250 favorite going up against the Padres. Instead, I will dip into the value range and give you a pitcher who I think makes an excellent SP2 with Scherzer or DeGrom and comes with a ton of upside. Enter Mike Clevinger of the Indians who was also slated to pitch last night but a rainout pushed him back until today. Good news for Clevinger who went from having to face a dangerous Reds team to now getting to face the lowest scoring team in the league in the Royals. Not only that but the Royals also rank second to last in wOBA and wRC+ vs. right-handed pitching and strike out close to 22% of the time. Clevinger, in his second major league season, has elevated his game so far by dropping his ERA by more than four runs and increasing his K rate by over a strikeout and a half per nine innings. He still struggles with the control at times but has only walked two batters over his last two starts. In the high $7K/low $8K range on both sites, he is safe in all formats and makes a nice GPP pivot on FanDuel to load up on bats.

**STARTING STACK**

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Antonio Senzatela (COL)
Park – Coors Field (Hitter Positive)
Vegas – (STL -125)
Vegas Total (10.5)

The start of the long weekend begins with another series opening up in Coors Field. I hesitate to use the Rockies tonight as they face a pretty darn good pitcher in Carlos Martinez but the visiting Cardinals sit in a great spot tonight and projected for the most runs on the slate. They have been up and down this season sitting just two games over .500 and in the bottom half of the league in overall runs but have scored five or more runs in 10 straight wins and I have a feeling they will get that win tonight so fire them up. They face a rookie pitcher who has started to regress after a hot start and has given up eight earned runs over his last two starts and just doesn’t miss any bats with a sub 7% swinging strike rate. Senzatela has also struggled more vs. left-handed bats so make sure to get Dexter Fowler and Matt Carpenter into your stack.

**Stay tuned later this afternoon for my daily YouTube video going over a few more pitching and stacking options for tonight. You can find the video on my Twitter feed (@Jager_Bombs9) or on the LineupLab Twitter feed (@LineupLab).**

*Chris Durell*

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks – Sunday, May 25

Sunday brings 16 games on the schedule, so there are plenty of options to choose from for your DFS entry. There are a few staff aces taking the mound, but there are also several weak starters that you can take advantage of. Put your favorite daily fantasy baseball 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

Jacob deGrom
Opponent – vs. SD
Park – Citi Field(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas Favorite (NYM -205)
Vegas Total (7.5)

The Yankees/Royals game was postponed earlier in the day and there is a 30-60% chance of rain in this one as well so be sure to double check the forecast prior to lineup lock. The weather makes this more of a GPP play tonight but deGrom most definitely as the highest upside of any pitcher. He is coming off his best start of the season where he shut out the Angels over seven innings while striking out nine batters en route to his third win of the season. Four times this year he has recorded double-digit strikeouts and his elite 12.3 K/9 rate have him sitting behind only Danny Salazar and Chris Sale through almost two months of the season. He now gets a plus matchup vs. the Padres who have struggled to a .276 wOBA and 69 wRC+ over the last seven days and have struck out just over 24% of the time this season vs. right-handed pitching.

Drew Pomeranz
Opponent – vs. TEX
Park – Fenway Park
Vegas Favorite (BOS -210)
Vegas Total (9.0)

If the weather scares you away from deGrom and the Mets tonight, consider Drew Pomeranz in the mid $7K range on both sites. Looking at the numbers, we quickly realize that the salary is a mega bargain. Two bad starts where he has allowed six or more earned runs and his inability to get deep into games has inflated is ERA to 4.97 but the xFIP is running over a run lower so there is light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, he comes into tonight with an above average 10.7 K/9 rate and outside those two bad starts has held opponents to two earned runs or less in each of the other six starts. He now gets to face a Rangers team that has really struggled vs. southpaws this year ranking 25th in wOBA(.291) and striking out over 24% of the time.

Stacks

Detroit Tigers vs. Mike Fiers (HOU)
Park – Minute Maid Park(Pitcher Positive)
Vegas – (DET +120)
Vegas Total (9.0)

While there are other teams with higher projected implied runs, the Tigers are my top stack of the night. They are right around league average in hitting vs. right-handed pitching but Mike Fiers is no regular pitcher. It’s been a bit of a tire Fier all year for him as he has given up a league-high 17 home runs including at least one in every start. That is great news for a team that is starting to get healthy with Miguel Cabrera and J.D. Martinez back in the lineup. Miggy is still trying to find his hall of fame form but J.D. Martinez has started his season in style. Through 11 games and 45 plate appearances, he has six home runs and 12 RBI to go along with a .564 wOBA and 270 wRC+. Alex Avila makes a nice play at catcher in the stack if he is again hitting in the top half of the lineup.

*Mike Barner*

Daily Fantasy Baseball Stacks – Sunday, May 21

Sunday brings 16 games on the schedule, so there are plenty of options to choose from for your DFS entry. There are a few staff aces taking the mound, but there are also several weak starters that you can take advantage of. Put your favorite daily fantasy baseball 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 – SunTrust Park

Strasburg has allowed three runs or less in seven of his eight starts this season and has a 3.42 ERA overall. He continues to be a solid source of strikeouts as well as he has 48 in 52.2 innings. Strasburg faced the Braves earlier this season and had success as he allowed two runs to go along with 10 strikeouts over seven innings. With the Braves down their best hitter in Freddie Freemen, this has the makings of another excelling outing for Strasburg.

Zack Godley vs. San Diego Padres
Park – Petco Park

Godley has made three starts this season and allowed two runs or less while striking out at least six batters in all three outings. He already faced the Padres once this season and allowed two runs to go along with six strikeouts over five innings. The Padres have one of the worst offenses in all of baseball, so it’s no fluke that Godley had success against them previously. If you are looking to save money at starting pitcher, Godley presents a nice opportunity.

**OFFENSIVE STACKS**

Colorado Rockies vs. Bronson Arroyo (Cincinnati Reds)
Park – Great American Ball Park

Arroyo provides the Reds with veteran leadership, but he’s been just awful on the mound as he has a 6.31 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. He doesn’t have the stuff to overpower hitters, evident by the fact that he only has 26 strikeouts in 41.1 innings. The Rockies have one of the best lineups in baseball anyways, making this a great match up against Arroyo.

Players to consider stacking: Mark Reynolds, Nolan Arenado and DJ LeMahieu

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Vance Worley (Miami Marlins)
Park – Dodger Stadium

Worley will be making his first start of the season Sunday after pitching primarily in relief for the Baltimore Orioles in 2016. He hasn’t started more than eight games in a season since he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2014. Strikeouts aren’t his forte either as he only has 447 in 595.1 career innings. Don’t expect him to be able to hold down the Dodgers lineup.

Players to consider stacking: Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager and Adrian Gonzalez