This is it, my friends. This is goodbye. Goodbye to the best daily fantasy day and sport there is - MLB Tuesday. It's been a pleasure writing these columns all year, and it's with a tear in my eye that I say - goodbye until next year. But first, actually, let's grab some cash one more time. In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball MLB lineup picks for FanDuel on 9/27/16. 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.
Before we get into it, let's take a look at over/unders, moneylines and park factors. The biggest over/under today stands alone at 9.5 - Brewers at Rangers - and happens to be the only game of nine runs or above. After that, it's a fairly evenly projected field with several games between 7.5 and 8.5 runs. The heaviest favorites right now on the moneyline are the Cardinals (-222), the Red Sox (-182) and the Giants (-187). As for park factors, the hitters with the highest positive park factors are the left-handed hitters of the Red Sox and Yankees, the right-handed batters of the Rays and White Sox, and the right-handed hitters of the Blue Jays and Orioles.
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DFS Lineup Stacks to Target for FanDuel
The Texas Rangers against Jimmy Nelson
The Rangers have the highest run projection tonight at 5.5, and by a pretty wide margin, I might add. This game is taking place in a great power hitter's park in Arlington against the ever-so-hit-able Jimmy Nelson. For the season, Nelson has been serviceable, but he does allow a slugging percentage to right-handed and left-handed batters north of 4.30 and nearly 1.2 HR/9 allowed to both sides. The biggest reasons for the high projection comes down to two factors, in my opinion. For one, Nelson has been hit hard lately. He's getting squared up (23% line drive rate over past three starts) and in the second half of the season, his slugging percentage allowed is .480 - which is nearly 100 points higher than the first half of the season. Nelson has also performed much more poorly on the road than at home. The second reason, though, is that the Rangers have some hitters that have huge differentials in their splits - numbers that favor facing right-handed pitching - just as they do tonight. My favorite Rangers tonight are Jurickson Profar, Nomar Mazara and Rougned Odor.
St. Louis Cardinals left-handed batters against Robert Stephenson
The Cardinals have the second highest run projection of the night - 5.2 - and face a pitcher they should be able to tee off on. Their lineup is loaded with guys with excellent splits against right-handed pitching and Stephenson and his 1.6 WHIP and 2.2 HR/9 has little business being in the majors at this point. In 2016, left-handed batters have shown the most success against Stephenson. He's allowed a .387 wOBA, .563 slugging percentage and 2.93 HR/9 to that group. My favorite Cardinal hitters of the night are Matt Carpenter, Brandon Moss, Greg Garcia, and Jeremy Hazelbaker.
Also Consider: Chicago Cubs left-handed batters against Ryan Vogelsong
DFS Starting Pitchers to Consider for FanDuel
Chris Sale (SP, CWS) - $10,800
Thanks to receny bias, we could see Sale at a much lower ownership rate than he should be at tonight. He performed poorly in his most recent start, but was electric in the two starts prior, averaging 57 FanDuel points in that span. He owns an excellent 1.02 WHIP and a really strong 9.2 K/9 rate. Tonight, he is of particular interest to me because of the elevated strikeout projection, which is thanks to the Rays striking out in nearly 27% of their at-bats versus southpaws this season.
Also Consider: Max Scherzer (SP, WAS) - $11,300
DFS Infielders to Consider for FanDuel
Catcher (C)
Willson Contreras (C, CHC) - $3,100
The Cubs backstop is listed a little higher in price tonight than you and I are accustomed to seeing, but he's still a nice value when you look at the matchup and what he's done lately. He has a .347 wOBA and .211 ISO split this season and an incredible 56% hard hit rate and 31% line drive rate in the last 15 days. Pretty safe to say he's seeing the ball well.
First Base (1B)
Brandon Moss (1B, STL) - $3,200
Moss against a subpar, inexperienced major league pitcher at this price is like stealing. Not only does he have excellent splits against right-handed pitching this season - .357 wOBA and a .312 ISO - but he's also smacked the ball hard over the past two weeks.
Second Base (2B)
Rougned Odor (2B, TEX) - $3,700
Odor is sure to be a part of my favorite stack of the night - the Rangers - and he'll be on my all-stud lineup as well. He has great park factors working in his favor tonight, faces a subpar pitcher and owns these splits in 2016 - .334 wOBA and a .242 ISO.
Shortstop (SS)
Asdrubal Cabrera (SS, NYM) - $3,300
One of the things I seek out when looking for big value in a player is a huge disparity in his splits. Cabrera fits that bill, as he displays a wOBA and ISO that 12 and 90 points higher, respectively. The difference in wOBA is marginal at best, but the ISO differential is noteworthy. In addition to that, he has a 35% hard hit and 23 line drive rate over the past 15 days.
Third Base (3B)
Justin Turner (3B, LAD) - $3,700
Like Cabrera, Turner is a big differentials guy, only the gaps in his numbers are even wider and his floor is a little higher with his .382 wOBA and .250 ISO. He has a good matchup tonight against Paul Clemens and has been squaring up the ball excellently in the past two weeks, as his 29% line drive rate in that time shows.
DFS Outfielders to Consider for FanDuel
Mike Trout (OF, LAA) - $4,100
The rest of my outfield is loaded with value - and I think there is a ton of it to be found across the board today - so paying up for Trout shouldn't be an issue. He has been a fantasy points machine lately, exceeding value in seven of his last 10 games, by an average of 5.6 points a night. He and his .424 wOBA split have an excellent matchup tonight.
Jeremy Hazelbaker (OF, STL) - $2,500
Hazelbaker is such a steal tonight. I can't quite understand why his recent strong performances haven't driven up his price, but this certainly isn't a complaint. Tonight, he faces a subpar pitcher that gets drilled by lefties. Jeremy and his .263 ISO split should fare very well.
Joc Pederson (OF, LAD) - $3,300
Young Joc has been crushing the ball lately, to the tune of a 42% hard hit rate over the past two weeks. He's got a good matchup against the subpar Clemens, and his .381 wOBA and .267 ISO splits give him a high floor with home run upside.
Also Consider: Jurickson Profar (OF, TEX) - $2,200 and Josh Reddick (OF, LAD) - $3,100
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