After looking at all of the tools available at FantasyAlarm, the example lineups page should be used to help validate your thoughts, as well as help you consider some options that may not have been on your radar for the slate. In addition to the example lineups, below you will find a breakdown of possible routes to take when building your MLB lineups tonight. While we are focused on FanDuel and DraftKings, this breakdown can be used for all sites. Please use our live chat feature to share your thoughts, and receive any feedback leading up to first pitch. Good luck!
Please note that this was written before all lineups have been posted, which may open up new routes to consider. The weather for a few games tonight is worth monitoring leading up to lock time, but won’t be excluding any games from my thoughts below.
Pitching:
I always start my lineup building with pitching, as it’s the most important part of building your lineups. I tend to look for pitchers who I believe can pitch six innings, strike out six, and give up no more than two runs. Feel free to set up whatever parameters you want to, but should set yourself some type of “floor” when it comes to how you select your pitchers.
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Five Second Cheat Sheet: Plenty of routes to take for pitching tonight in both cash and gpp style contests.
Thirty Second Cheat Sheet: Trevor Bauer has too high of a salary tonight compared to others in similar spots, including Charlie Morton on FD. Cole Hamels has a solid price tag vs a poor Royals team, with Noah Syndergaard also very much in play. Lance Lynn is the wild card option that could be in play and possibly be popular if the weather holds up.
The Giants check in with the lowest implied run total of the slate, but the Reds and Twins aren’t too far behind. I think their three opponents are your best options in Trevor Bauer , Noah Syndergaard , and Charlie Morton , but none are must plays for me tonight. Cole Hamels and the Cubs are right up there as the largest favorites of the slate, while Lance Lynn takes over the starting role for Gray vs a Sox team that swept a series for the first time in almost a year. Zack Godley and Dereck Rodriguez aren’t really in play for me, and I’m not really on Gibson or Jake Arrieta either. Nick Tropeano and Matthew Boyd are interesting gpp options in a matchup of struggling teams. If looking to be sneaky, but not personally on Wee-Yin Chen and Homer Bailey , who have the cheap price tags, but not really I believer of them.
Thoughts from the FantasyAlarm Team:
Our pitching coach, Tom Vecchio, likes Bauer and Morton if paying up, and Hamels and Arrieta if going the mid-priced route. Boyd and Bailey would be his value options.
Our projections have Bauer leading the way, with Syndergaard, Morton, Godley, and Hamels rounding out the top five. Chen is the top value play on both FD and DK.
Top Hitting Targets:
There are plenty of other routes to take with details given in the playbook, coaches, and our other tools if wanting to look elsewhere. I provided my overall options in the playbook, with some additional thoughts below.
Five Second Cheat Sheet: The SEA/TEX game jumped the PIT/COL game for the highest projected run total, with the Yankees, Cubs, and Indians all in play as well.
Thirty Second Cheat Sheet: That’s seven teams named above on only a 10 game slate. If playing cash games, I would focus on those seven, but can add plenty of more teams when it comes to gpp’s. From that group listed, I’m learning more towards CLE and SEA over the PIT/COL game, off the Rangers entirely, and using Yankees more for gpp’s.
Positional Thoughts:
Catcher: Not a huge fan of catcher tonight, with a wide open field of possible over $4K option on DK led by Willson Contreras and Francisco Cervelli , or going cheaper with a Chris Iannetta or Mike Zunino as likely the top routes outside of team stacking. I mentioned some value plays like Roberto Pérez and Jose Briceno leading the way.
First Base: I prefer Edwin Encarnación over the top priced options in Anthony Rizzo , Paul Goldschmidt , or José Abreu , but could also see some Ian Desmond , Jose Martinez , and Greg Bird exposure for cheaper.
Second Base: I prefer Javier Báez or Ben Zobrist over Gleyber Torres or Neil Walker , but not against either route. Dee Gordon could be a popular FD option, and mentioned a few other gpp routes in the playbook.
Third Base: As mentioned in the playbook, third base is pretty stacked tonight, and has plenty of routes to go. I prefer José Ramírez over Nolan Arenado , and Kyle Seager over David Freese , with other routes mentioned in the playbook.
Shortstop: Jean Segura has a great price tag, while Francisco Lindor and Trevor Story are both possible higher priced options. I mentioned some other options in the playbook, with Didi Gregorius being a top pivot option.
Outfield: As mentioned in the playbook, OF is extremely wide open tonight, and likely comes down to which of the top projected scoring teams you prefer the most tonight. First, if playing cash games, David Dahl is pretty much a plug and play on all sites. Jon spoke about him in the hitting coach. Leonys Martín batting 6th makes for a nice FD option, and Nelson Cruz would be my third OF play. Giancarlo Stanton , Michael Brantley , Marcell Ozuna lead my other options that were mentioned in the playbook, but would try to focus most on the top teams listed above.
Thoughts from the FantasyAlarm Team:
Our hitting coach, Jon Impemba, likes Stanton, Cruz, and Carlos González if paying up, while Dahl, Gyorko, and McNeil lead his mid-priced options. Mason Williams and Forsythe would be his value plays.
Our projections have large group bunched up at the top tonight without much separating them. Marte leads the way, followed by Arenado, and Ramirez, with the rest of that large group being led by Story, Stanton, Odor, Baez, and Segura. Castellanos leads the way on DK, with Zunino leading on FD as one of five Mariners in the top ten value plays.
GPP’s:
If playing gpp’s, your best approach is stacking. Pick a game, or two teams that you think will blast off, then go all in on them. Yes, entering your cash lineup, or another type of lineup can cash in a gpp, but if looking to finish in the top 1%, you need to hit with a stack. I mentioned it above, but prefer SEA and CLE from that group above for stacking, while looking at Hamels and Tropeano as my gpp pitchers. If looking to be different, I don’t mind the Cards, but thinking the Mets and Tigers could also be top higher risk stacks.
Player News
Kyren Paris hit a two-run homer in Wednesday’s win for the Angels over the Blue Jays.
That’s the first homer for Paris since April 9 when he went deep twice against Tampa Bay and caused everyone to lose all sense of rational thought. The 23-year-old did also single and walk to improve his on-base percentage to .311,, while the homer bumps his slugging mark to .378. There is long-term upside in Paris with flashes that suggest he can be a fantasy option. Fantasy managers should still absolutely looking elsewhere for options up the middle.
Jorge Soler hit a three-run double in the bottom of the ninth to give the Angels a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Trent Grisham went 1-for-1 with a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win over the Padres on Wednesday.
While the Yankees won this game on a walk-off in the 10th inning, Grisham’s game-tying home run in the eighth was the biggest moment. He came on as a pinch-hitter for Jorbit Vibas against the usually stout Jason Adam and smashed a two-strike changeup into the right field seats. This clutch shot will only continue to push Grisham’s playing time in the right direction after he just started eight of the last 10 games, hit either first or second in each, and already has 10 homers in 31 games played this season.
Jeff Hoffman blew a save and picked up a loss Wednesday against the Angels.
Devin Williams struck out three batters with one walk and hit another in a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win against the Padres on Wednesday.
The Yankees entrusted Williams with the all important 10th inning and the inherited ghost runner on second base after their dramatic comeback. While he loaded the bases and had some tense moments, he left the inning unscathed and opened the door for them to win it right after. It should be noted that Luke Weaver came on for what were the most important outs of this game at the time, after Ian Hamilton walked two to begin the eighth inning and Weaver allowed both of those inherited runners to score. He was called upon as the fireman though and will likely get the next save opportunity. Still, this was a massive step in the right direction for Williams.
Max Fried allowed five hits and one run with no walks and eight strikeouts over seven innings in a no-decision against the Padres on Wednesday.
Fried’s excellent season continued as he set down the Padres easily besides for a mammoth solo home run by Jackson Merrill. It was no matter though, as they rarely threatened otherwise and Fried continued to find his strikeout stuff. This was his fourth outing of the year with at least seven strikeouts, a mark he only hit 10 times last season in 29 starts. Fried with a strikeout rate that’s better than league average – which is where he’s at right now – is a clear top-10 pitcher in fantasy baseball. He’s set for a two-start week coming up against the Mariners and Mets.