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. Jacob deGrom has been scratched for the Mets tonight.
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.
I believe that the top two priced options in Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole are top options, as well as a cheaper Patrick Corbin on FD. I do prefer Bauer or Corbin more than Cole, but more of a personal preference. While I think you could go Corbin with one of the top two priced SP’s on DK, going cheaper with your second pitcher allows you to grab a few extra hitters tonight. I listed a bunch of choices in the paybook, and Jon made the case for a few other options in the pitching coach. From that group, I prefer Marco Gonzalez or Joe Musgrove if playing cash games, but could see the field also using Rich Hill and Marcus Stroman . For gpp’s I like Felix Pena and Sandy Alcantara .
Thoughts from the Fantasy Alarm Team: Our pitching coach, Jon Impemba, likes Bauer if paying up, and Gonzalez and Musgrove if going mid-priced. For value, he likes Stroman and Pena.
Our projections have Bauer leading the way, with Corbin, Cole, and Hill following him. Hill is the top FD value option, and is joined by Alcantara and Stroman for top DK value options.
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.
With thirteen teams having implied run totals of over 4.5 runs, as well as hot temperatures in just about every game not on the west coast, there are plenty of routes to take when it comes to hitting. I mentioned in the playbook that if not a max entry type player, it’s best to pick a small amount of teams to target over trying to find exposure to every plus matchup.
Overall, the Angels, Rangers, and Blue Jays have the highest implied run totals, and would add in the Brewers/Reds game, the White Sox, and the Red Sox/Yankees game. This doesn’t mean you can’t target the Diamondbacks, Astros, Mariners, and others, but just helps when trying to decide between similar priced players.
Catcher is starting to become a tough position to read, as FD combines it with first base, and DK is starting to tighten their pricing for catchers. J.T. Realmuto receives a bump with deGrom scratched but could go cheaper with Robinson Chirinos , or the other players in his price range that were mentioned in the playbook. Christian Vázquez , Russell Martin , or maybe Keegan Smith work as punt options outside of team stacks.
Paul Goldschmidt leads the way if you can afford him at first, with four Brewers players as first base options in a plus matchup vs Cincy. Jesus Aguilar and Eric Thames are your top priced options, while a cheaper Brad Miller is leading off for them. I like Justin Bour and Justin Smoak if looking to go cheaper.
Plenty of other routes to take at first if you are thinking other pitchers are worth targeting. José Abreu and Cody Bellinger are two of those top options.
Second base is one of those positions I think that you can stay away from the top priced options. Yoan Moncada , Rougned Odor , Starlin Castro , Ian Kinsler , and Dee Gordon are solid mid-priced options. José Altuve would be my preferred option if fully paying up.
A hot hitting Matt Carpenter and Nolan Arenado are both top options, with Luis Valbuena my preferred punt play. Justin Turner , Yangervis Solarte , Travis Shaw , and Adrián Béltre are other solid options. I listed plenty of pivots for stacking in the playbook, or if not on the two above.
I prefer Manny Machado if paying up, but as mentioned in the playbook, Marwin González on FD, and Orlando Arcia on DK have great salary relief price tags if paying up for pitching. Nick Ahmed for FD, and Chris Taylor on DK are also in play with cheaper price tags. Elvis Andrus could be the popular mid-priced option though.
OF 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. If paying up, I mentioned a few different routes to take in the playbook, and really comes down to which teams you want to target. Mookie Betts and J.D. Martínez from Boston, and Aaron Hicks , Giancarlo Stanton , and Aaron Judge from the Yankees could all have big games tonight, but could also all be faded fro players like Nelson Cruz , Mike Trout , Rhys Hoskins , Ryan Braun , Bryce Harper , and many more. The problem is that they’ll cost you if looking to load up on pitching. You can pivot to cheap options like Avisail García , Kole Calhoun , Randal Grichuk , Steve Pearce , Marcell Ozuna , or Kiké Hernández for cheaper depending on the site you play on.
Thoughts from the Fantasy Alarm Team: Our hitting coach, James Grande, likes Cruz, Goldschmidt, and the Brewers lefties in Thames and Aguilar. Tim Anderson and Ozuna are his mid-priced options, with Calhoun, Hernandez, and Elias Diaz as his value plays.
Our projections have Betts and Aguilar as the top two, with Trout, Ramirez, and Nimmo rounding out the top five. Pillar and Palka were the top FD value plays, and joined by Marisnick as top DK ones.
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 like targeting a few underdogs on paper in the White Sox and Brewers, and can pay up for the Astros at possibly extremely low ownership.
Thoughts from the Fantasy Alarm Team: Our stacking coach, Brett Talley, likes the Angels and Rangers as his top stacks, and the Astros and Phillies if looking to be different.