After looking at all of the tools available at Fantasy Alarm, 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.  

 

Top Pitching Targets

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.

As mentioned in the playbook, I like Chris Sale on a first place Red Sox team facing a last place Rangers over Jacob deGrom and the Mets versus the first place Phillies team. Both are elite pitchers, but expect Sale to have the much higher cash game ownership out of the two. With both of them taking the mound tonight, Lance McCullers really isn’t on my radar, but could see Carlos Carrasco on DK for gpp’s. Kenta Maeda is likely the better cash game option in that second tier price range.  I also mentioned in the playbook that if paying up for Sale on DK, Luke Weaver is the likely value option to pair up with him. I can see paying down a bit for Marco Gonzalez, or up for Vince Velásquez , but Weaver seems to be in a nice bounce back spot.

On FD, Freddy Peralta has a nice price tag, while Weaver will likely be the popular value play in order to pay up for hitting.  I mentioned some other routes to take in the playbook, and the hitting coach has other routes to consider as well.

Thoughts from the Fantasy Alarm Team:  Our pitching coach, Tom Vecchio, likes both Sale and deGrom if paying up, while Kenta is his mid-priced target.  Carlos Rodon and Sam Gaviglio would be his value plays.

Our projections have Sale leading the way over deGrom.  They are followed by Carrasco, Kenta, and McCullers. Weaver is the top FD value play, while Gray checks in as a top DK one.

 

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.

As far as hitting goes, I feel that it’s the ARI/COl game and the Red Sox as the top three targets tonight.  The Cardinals, Yankees, Indians, and Astros all work as secondary targets.

This doesn’t mean that other teams aren’t in play, as plenty of teams have solid matchups, as well as price tags tonight.  The Brewers are towards the top of our projections, with the Braves as another sneaky team to pivot to. There are other teams that are worth targeting, but those listed above are your best bets when trying to decide between multiple players with the same salary.

Tony Wolters and Álex Ávila are your mid-priced catchers for Coors exposure, while Sandy León and Tyler Flowers the similar priced pivots.  Chris Herrmann or Austin Barnes would be my punt catcher(s) if starting, with the others best used for team stacks.

Paul Goldschmidt is the top 1B option, but Mitch Moreland is the better cash game play in order to pay up for pitching.  Jose Martinez is a solid value play, with Jefry Marte as a pure punt if starting. Other solid options are listed in the playbook are Jesus Aguilar and Freddie Freeman .

There are some great top priced 2B options, but better off using this spot to save salary.  Jedd Gyorko will be a popular play, and could pivot to Brock Holt or Eduardo Núñez for exposure to the Red Sox.  If starting, Logan Forsythe is a pure punt play on both FD and DK, and could really open up salary if not on those price more than him.

José Ramírez is the top option for me if paying up over Nolan Arenado and Alex Bregman , but Arenado could be the highest owned in cash games.   Matt Carpenter has a solid price tag if not fully paying up, while Tim Beckham and Johan Camargo are solid value plays on FD. DK wise, I would go toward Gyorko, Valencia, or back to Marte or Forsythe over those two.

I prefer Trevor Story , but can’t go wrong with Manny Machado .  Holt and Nunez are back in play on DK, and Tyler Saladino and David Fletcher work for cheap on FD.  Other routes for team stacks were listed in the playbook.

Outfield is always wide open in terms of routes to consider taking.  If not stacking, I prefer to pay up for one spot, punt the other, and use the last spot to pick a player from a team that I’m already targeting.  Charlie Blackmon and Carlos González are both top options along with David Peralta from Coors, but I still prefer the top three from Boston in Mookie Betts , J.D. Martínez , and Andrew Benintendi .

Outside of those three teams, Mike Trout , Mitch Haniger , Michael Brantley , the Brewers OF, and George Springer would be my preferred plays over the other top priced options in non-stacking lineups, but plenty of mid-tier options with Brett Gardner on FD, Marcell Ozuna on DK leading the way.  I mentioned other routes to take in the playbook, but Kiké Hernández , Michael Conforto , Kyle Tucker (FD), the bottom of the Indians lineups, and the White Sox OF make for great punt options.

Thoughts from the Fantasy Alarm Team:  Our hitting coach, James Grande, likes Goldschmidt and Blackmon from Coors, while Mitch Moreland and Brett Gardner would be his mid-priced 1B and OF targets.  Kiké Hernández and Gyorko would be his top value plays.

As mentioned above, the Brewers had two in the top five, with Christian Yelich as the top projected bat, followed by Judge, Betts, J. Martinez, and Aguilar.  Leury García was the top FD value, but three Cardinals bats were in the top five, with Matt Carpenter also checking in as a top DK value play.

 

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 will likely make one stack of paying up for pitching, and going a possible full game Cards/Sox stack, or Cards with another low cost team.  The other would be paying down for pitching, with a Red Sox OF, and some value plays to fill in the gaps.

Thoughts from the Fantasy Alarm Team:  Our stacking coach, Brett Talley, likes the both sides of the Coors game top two stacks, as well as the Red Sox as top options.   The Cardinals is his pivot stack, and the O’s would be his be different stack.