We have a solid nine-game slate tonight. It would be 11, but FanDuel deemed the early starts in San Francisco and Miami offensive and left them off the slate. Don't worry, there are still some decent options out there. We'll start where we always do: with the weather.
There shouldn't be any rain tonight. The rain is blowing out to right at 15mph, which basically turns it into Coors Field. There is also a 12mph wind out to left in New York. It will be warmest in Minneapolis and Dallas, but neither has a lot of humidity. Target Field is the best hitting environment aside from Wrigley.
I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 7/5/2021. Be sure to also check out all the MLB player news, including late scratches, and the projected and confirmed daily MLB lineups for each DFS slate. You can also check out today's DraftKings MLB DFS lineup picks, and read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports too. Let's get to it!
FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Cash Game/GPP Anchor Play:
Brandon Woodruff – MIL at NYM ($11,400)
Woodruff has only allowed 21 earned runs in 16 starts this year. Five of those were in one game at Coors Field. To say he has been elite doesn't seem good enough. Woodruff has a 1.55 ERA in eight road starts even including the Coors mishap. Now he's heading to a pitcher's park to face an offense that hadn't scored more than three runs in a game since June 23 until the Yankees came to town. This is once again another great spot for Woodruff and there are enough cheap bats to make him work.
Potential Alternate Play
Max Fried– ATL at PIT ($9,100)
The Pirates are scoring the least runs in the majors, averaging just 3.4 runs per game in their 83 games. They have been even worse in July, scoring just eight times in the first four games while hitting .175. After a rough April and subsequent IL stint, Fried allowed just four runs in four May starts and posted a 3.00 ERA in June. He dominated the Pirates in one of those May starts, holding them to one run on four hits in seven innings. Chances are he can do it again since Pittsburgh is only hitting .223 against lefties. The only knock on this matchup is that the Pirates don't strike out as much as many other teams.
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FanDuel DFS Infielders
Gavin Sheets – 1B, CWS at MIN ($2,800)
In six major league games, Sheets is hitting .318 with a pair of homers and eight RBI. On top of that, he has already ascended to the second slot in the batting order. Considering what the White Sox as a whole did to Bailey Ober last week (Sheets himself putting up 25.2 FanDuel points in that game between Ober and the awful bullpen), he is a great way to save some money today.
Whit Merrifield – 2B/OF, KC vs. CIN ($3,800)
After a soft landing in the majors, the wheels are starting to come off for Vladimir Gutierrez. After allowing no more than two runs in any of his first four major league starts, he has allowed 14 runs in 15.1 innings over his last three. Meanwhile, Merrifield has only gone hitless three times in his last 20 games and leads the majors in stolen bases. He should get something leading off against Gutierrez.
Manny Machado – 3B, SD vs. WAS ($3,700)
Machado has three of the Padres' four homers in July so far. He crushed the Phillies over the weekend and his prize for that is a date with Jon Lester. Machado is hitting .344 with four homers, 10 RBI, and a steal over the last ten games. He is also 5-15 with a homer and five RBI in his career against Lester. This has a strong chance of being his third straight game with a homer.
Javier Baez – SS, CHC vs. PHI ($3,500)
Baez had some fireworks yesterday with his first multi-hit game since Memorial Day weekend. Maybe he just likes holidays. At any rate, the wind is blowing out at Wrigley and Matt Moore and his 5.79 ERA are on the mound. Baez is 2-5 against Moore with a homer so far. If you can get off the cheap White Sox, Anthony Rizzo is 5-6 with a homer off of Moore in his career.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Shohei Ohtani – OF, LAA vs. BOS ($4,600)
There's not even a word for what Ohtani is right now. He has seven homers in his last six games and eight in his last eight games. It goes even further back than that though. Ohtani has 14 homers and 22 RBI in the last 16 games while pitching every fifth day. It's no surprise that Ohtani is leading the majors in homers after a stretch like this. This could be a very long day for Martin Perez and the Boston bullpen.
Nelson Cruz – OF, MIN vs. CWS ($4,200)
Yes, Cease has pitched fairly well against Minnesota this year, but he has also given up three homers to them in two starts. The White Sox won both of those games, but they were also at home. Cease has a 6.08 ERA in eight road starts compared to a 1.81 ERA at home. I have no issues chasing Cease on the road, especially with Nellie. Cruz is 6-11 with a homer and five RBI in his career against Cease. I like those odds.
Andrew Vaughn – 1B/OF, CWS at MIN ($2,400)
Vaughn's six-game hitting streak started last week against the Twins in Chicago. He put up 31.9 FanDuel points against Ober and the Twins on Wednesday in Chicago. A repeat homer wouldn't surprise me at all here. Vaughn hit two of his eight homers on the season last week and has five RBI and six runs scored during his hitting streak.
FanDuel DFS Stacks Options
- Chicago Cubs
- Atlanta Braves
- Chicago White Sox
- Tampa Bay Rays
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