Ten games - all at night - on a Thursday in September? What's not to love? Relative to a normal get-away-day, 10 games is healthy number and as a DFS guy that likes to have his fair share of player options, every game being played at night is dreamy.
As for Vegas lines, there isn't a whole lot of disparity between the games with the lowest over/unders and the highest. The pair of games with an over/under of nine - the highest mark of the day - are the Pirates at Brewers and the Royals at Indians. The biggest moneyline favorites of the day are the Mets (-198), the Dodgers (-184), and the Astros (-166). The hitters with the best positive park factors tonight are the left-handed hitters of the Red Sox and Orioles, and next the left-handed batters of the Pirates, Brewers, Royals and the Indians.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball MLB lineup picks for FanDuel on 9/22/16. The DFS lineup picks will range from high-priced to low-priced options and identify options who will out-perform their expectations, including sleepers and value plays on FanDuel.
DFS Lineup Stacks to Target for FanDuel
Los Angeles Dodgers versus Tyler Chatwood
The Dodgers have the second highest projected run total of the day at 4.7 and a nice matchup with Tyler Chatwood. Chatwood hasn't been completely hammered this season, but he is prone to giving up multiple home runs in games and has given up four earned runs or more in three of his last four starts. What I like about this matchup the most is that so many of the Dodgers hitters have good splits against right-handed pitchers, and you could make a number of potentially lucrative stacks with this team. My favorite Dodgers tonight - Justin Turner, Corey Seager and Yasmani Grandal - all have ISO splits of over .200 versus right-handers. I also like Chase Utley and Adrian Gonzalez as potential fourth options.
New York Mets versus Adam Morgan
Adam Morgan is such an easy target tonight. He has had a brutal season and I think this Mets lineup should tear him up for runs in bunches tonight. For the season, he has a 1.49 WHIP and a terrible 1.8 HR/9. He doesn't strike out many batters either, and on top of that this Mets lineup rarely strikes out versus lefties. The Mets have one the best projected run totals tonight at 4.6 and a few of my favorite New York hitters are Jose Reyes, Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson and Asdrubal Cabrera.
Also Consider: Cleveland Indians versus Jason Vargas
DFS Starting Pitchers to Consider for FanDuel
Justin Verlander (SP, DET) - 10,000
Verlander is my top option on the board tonight for a number of reasons. Before I get into those, I will say that a number of the better looking pitching options all carry a fair amount of risk in the sense that they all have HR/9 of about 1.2. This Minnesota lineup has some pop, but I feel pretty good about Verlander in cash game situations. He has really regained his form this year, the velocity on his fastball has improved, and he's been able to exceed his price implied value in seven of his last 10 games, by an average of nearly seven FanDuel points per night. He's been very consistently good, and even on the rare occasion he hasn't hit value, his numbers weren't the type that would keep you from placing (so long as you had a solid lineup). For the season, he has an impressive WHIP of 1.03 and a strong K/9 of 9.8. He pitches tonight in a great park for pitchers and over the past two weeks, he sports a hard hit rate of just 26%.
Seth Lugo (SP, NYM) - $7,700
If you are loading up on big name bats tonight and can't find a way to afford Mr. Verlander, Lugo isn't a bad option at all. He's been consistently good, and has exceeded 40 FanDuel points in three of his last five starts. The Phillies offense isn't anything to shy away from, and Lugo is a huge bargain at this price. On a day like today, where we have limited pitching options to begin with and there aren't a ton of guys with huge strikeout upside, you could make a case for him in tournament play, just because he would allow you to load up on big name hitters or put together a double stack. He doesn't have the strikeout upside I crave for GPP play, but there isn't a ton to work with today. For the season, he has a very impressive 0.6 HR/9 allowed and his average batted ball distance of 192 feet over the past 15 days is pretty good, too.
Also Consider: Jeff Samardzija (SP, SFG) - $9,100
DFS Infielders to Consider for FanDuel
Catcher (C)
Yasmani Grandal (C, LAD) - $2,900
Grandal is an excellent value play and when he's facing a right-handed pitcher, he has huge power upside. For the season, Grandal sports a .327 wOBA and .248 ISO split.
Also Consider: Buster Posey (C, SFG) - $3,400
First Base (1B)
Freddie Freeman (1B, ATL) - $4,000
Freeman has been on a tear and is having one of the best second half of the season runs of any player I can recall in recent memory. His splits against right-handed pitching are monstrous across the board - .416 wOBA, .303 ISO and a .611 slugging percentage.
Also Consider: David Ortiz (1B, BOS) - $4,500
Second Base (2B)
Chase Utley (2B, LAD) - $2,400
Utley is another fantastic value play and he's in a great spot to exceed value tonight. He has great lineup order value and his huge split differentials tell us he does most of his damage against right-handed pitching. In 2016, he owns a .322 wOBA and .407 slugging percentage split.
Also Consider: Jose Altuve (2B, HOU) - $3,900
Shortstop (SS)
Carlos Correa (SS, HOU) - $3,600
While his batted ball numbers might not suggest it, Correa is once again making awesome contact with the ball. He owns a 42% hard hit rate in the past 15 days and has a good matchup tonight against Ricky Nolasco. For the season, Correa has a .361 wOBA and .191 ISO split.
Also Consider: Asdrubal Cabrera (SS, NYM) - $3,300
Third Base (3B)
Jose Reyes (3B, NYM) - $2,700
There's so much value among infielders this evening, and that's good news if you're paying up for Verlander. It's hard to believe, but Reyes' offense has been completely revitalized since putting the Mets uniform back on. His splits against southpaws right now are fantastic - .498 wOBA and a .327 ISO.
Also Consider: Justin Turner (3B, LAD) - $3,800
DFS Outfielders to Consider for FanDuel
Yoenis Cespedes (OF, NYM) - $3,700
My favorite Met of the evening is a relative bargain to where we sometimes see his price skyrocket to. He's been squaring the ball up well lately, owner of a 38% hard hit rate over the past 15 days, and he gets to face the lowly Adam Morgan. His .279 ISO split is awesome as well.
Christian Yelich (OF, MIA) - $3,400
Christian Yelich just recently reached the 20 home run mark after needing more than 1,300 at-bats in his previous seasons combined to reach that number. He is really developing some power in his game and his fantastic splits against right-handers suggest you should keep him in your lineup, especially at this price point. In 2016, he has a .390 wOBA and .209 ISO split.
Hunter Pence (OF, SFG) - $2,900
Pence offers the best value among outfielders tonight. Like many of his west coast colleagues, he may go over-looked in tournament play, too. In 2016, Pence has an impressive .381 wOBA and .270 ISO split.
Full Season MLB & DFS Premium Pass
Get a Premium Pass for the entire MLB season - including the playoffs - for only $29.99. That's Premium access to over 10 tools, and over 20 valuable resources, for one incredible price. Here's a taste of what you get:
- DFS lineup picks and cheat sheets for FanDuel and DraftKings - seven days a week
- Three expert lineups: FanDuel, DraftKings, and Stack of the Day - seven days a week
- Top DFS value plays, avoids and injury updates - seven days a week
- Lineup tools: daily premium hitter and pitcher matchup ratings
All of this for just $29.99... it's simply the best deal around. No other site offers this type of deal. What are you waiting for?
Live Expert Q&A Chats - Every Weekday @ 1 PM and 6 PM EST (DFS)
Fantasy Baseball Chat Room
[iflychat_embed id="c-55" hide_user_list="yes" hide_popup_chat="no" height="400px"]