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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel and DraftKings on July 21, 2022. Mike Marteny's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
It's the end of the All-Star Break as we know it (and I feel fine). Well, it's only the end for six teams. The other 24 still have an extra day to relax while these six have to get back out there a day early and make up some games. Hey, we're not complaining! It means our first DFS slate of the week!
Two of the three games are in domes and the other is in Oakland, so weather won't be an issue here. We start at the crack of noon (central) with Houston hosting the Yankees and Miami hosting Texas. We finish out west with the Tigers in Oakland.
As always, this article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Tuesday's main slate locks at 1:10 pm EST on 7/21/2022. The lineup picks will range from some elite high-priced players to mid-priced options and value plays. I'll give you a few of my top pitching options and then some infielders, outfielders, and teams to stack! You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports here. It's also essential to monitor injury news and today's MLB starting lineups. Now that we got all of that out of the way, it's onto the picks!
DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Jon Gray at MIA ($8,600 DK, $9,000 FD)
Gray turned in his best start of the year right before the break, notching 37.2 DraftKings points in a dominating effort over Oakland. There's the caveat. It was Oakland, one of the worst offenses on the planet. I say one of because you could make a strong case for the Marlins being the worst, at least recently.
The Fish are hitting just a buck-eighty-two over the last fortnight while striking out at a 26.8% clip. We have Gray coming on strong and the Marlins going deeper into the tank. There's not a lot to choose from today. We should feel fortunate that we have a low-risk option like Gray to anchor our lineups with. It's days like this where you want to take the guesswork out of pitching, especially on one-pitcher sites like FanDuel.
Tarik Skubal at OAK ($7,100 DK, $8,300 FD)
I love the discount for Skubal on DraftKings, but we can't pretend like it's not warranted. Skubal has only turned in one quality start in the last five weeks while giving up ten runs (nine earned) to the Royals. We just saw Jon Gray (and pretty much any pitcher with a pulse) turn in his best start of the season against the A's. The A's haven't really hit well anywhere, but they are hitting a pathetic .194 in 42 home games with just 21 homers.
There is some risk with Skubal considering the A's hit lefties better (don't get too excited...better is a relative term. The A's are only hitting .221 against southpaws on the season) and he got punked by the Royals twice. However, the strikeouts have still been there for Skubal and he has only issued one walk in his last 14 innings. Those lofty numbers will start to come down if his command is back.
Also consider: Jameson Taillon, Pablo Lopez
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Jose Altuve - 2B, HOU vs. Jameson Taillon ($6,000 DK, $4,000 FD)
Pricing is nuts across the board, especially on DK, but we have enough cheaper pitching that we can afford bats. Altuve might be one of the guys to reach for. He doubled twice off of Taillon and scored three runs in the game Taillon started on June 23. Altuve has at least three DraftKings points in every game this month. On top of that, the trash cans in Minute Maid Park still work wonders. Altuve is hitting .341 in home games compared to .224 on the road.
DJ LeMahieu - 1B/3B, NYY at Cristian Javier ($4,800 DK, $3,100 FD)
LeMahieu is hitting .351 in July, but only has two extra base hits to show for it. Still, he hits at the top of the most potent lineup in baseball against a pitcher in Javier who stumbled into the break by allowing a combined eight runs to the Angels and Royals. Ouch! There is risk involved since Javier absolutely dominated the Yankees in Houston's bombardment of the Big Apple (both Yankees and Mets) at the end of June. Javier is still going to rack up the K's, but he gave up three homers to the Royals on July 6. If the gopher-itis is still present, the Yankees could have a big day in Houston.
Corey Seager - SS, TEX at Pablo Lopez ($5,900 DK, $3,800 FD)
Seager was one of the hottest hitters heading into the break, hitting .355 with seven homers and 17 RBI in 16 July games. I don't usually go after pitchers like Lopez, but the Marlins have only allowed him to go five innings in three of his last four starts. That means two at-bats at least against a very suspect Marlins pen. I'll ride Seager's hot streak, especially for the nice discount on FanDuel.
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Matt Carpenter - OF, NYY vs. Cristian Javier ($5,500 DK, $4,000 FD)
Carpenter is only eligible at 1B/3B on FD and OF on DK. Weird, huh? Also weird is his blistering .424 average with five homers and 16 RBI in the ten games leading up to the break. Carpenter has turned back the clock to 2018 somehow. Maybe the beard was weighing him down the last couple of years. Javier's OPS allowed is nearly .200 points higher against lefties. I'm not on many Yankees, but Carpenter's hot streak certainly warrants a look, especially when you consider that Judge and Stanton are a combined 0-for-8 against Javier with six strikeouts.
Ramon Laureano - OF, OAK vs. Tarik Skubal ($3,800 DK, $3,200 FD)
If you want an all-or-nothing proposition, Laureano is your guy. He's only hitting .211 in July, but five of his nine homers on the season have been this month. He's hitting a blistering (for him) .298 against lefties this season and both of his homers in Oakland have been this month. He's not going to break the bank and he's got a great shot at going deep today.
Leody Taveras - OF, TEX at Pablo Lopez ($2,600 DK, $2,900 FD)
Taveras is the low-hanging fruit on DraftKings, but I'm not too proud to write him up. Taveras is hitting a robust .457 with a homer, 11 RBI, and four steals over the last ten games. Don't ask questions...just PLAY HIM!
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
Here are my top stacks for tonight (in the order in which I like them):
Detroit Tigers - Yes, I am aware that I didn't write up any Tigers up top. Why? Because there are better options at nearly every position and I have very little idea who's going to get to Zach Logue, but somebody will. He has actually been worse in the cavernous Coliseum than on the road. That likely means no homers for the Tigers, but they'll get some doubles or more in those gaps. I'm looking at you, Javier Baez and Riley Greene. Mix and match any Tigers that fit your build. I'm a sucker for Eric Haase batting cleanup too.
Texas Rangers - The big spenders over the winter had a rough couple of months, but this team got hot with the weather around Father's Day and haven't looked back. I'm a Pablo Lopez truther, but the fact is that the Marlins are going to save him for when the team is actually good. He'll go five innings, meaning four innings of batting practice for Rangers against that bullpen. Lopez will keep the ownership down, but start your stack with a free Leody Taveras and white-hot Corey Seager and go from there.
Houston Astros - The Astros hit better at home. Most players do, but many of the splits for Astros players are as massive as Altuve's. This team clobbered Taillon in New York. Houston is now down Yordan Alvarez, who did a lot of that damage, but there are still good hitters in here. I particularly like Aledmys Diaz on the cheap and Mauricio Dubon if he's leading off.
I hope I gave you a head start on your research today and I wish you the best of luck! If you ever have questions about DFS or fantasy baseball, my DMs are always open and I appreciate you taking the time to read my picks today.
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