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We have another reasonable eight-game slate on the blue site tonight, and it's an exciting one. While Burnes, Lynn, and McCullers are all in great spots at the top of the SP pricing, there are also pitchers in the mid-range and value range to give you options with differentiating your lineup. The two teams with implied totals over five runs are obvious/chalky ones in the White Sox and Astros, so you'll have to make your lineup unique outside of those offenses. Let's get to it.
I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 9/18/2021. You can see our DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineup pick for the early slate here as well.
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:
Corbin Burnes - MIL vs. CHC ($11,200)
Burnes is the high-priced arm you're going to want tonight. He has two games with at least 76 FD points over his last six starts, including an outing with 79 FD points against this same Cubs team he'll be facing tonight. I repeat - 79 FD points. That's absurd. His surface and advanced metrics are among the best in the league, highlighted by a 2.25 ERA, 1.90 xERA, 2.6% Barrel %, .176 xBA, .243 xSLG, and a 35.4% K%. The Cubs' 27.1% K% vs. RHP is the highest in the MLB, by a wide margin, and they're projecting to score just 2.7 runs tonight. Everything is lining up for Burnes to have another monster outing here.
Cash Game / GPP Alternate Play(s)
Aaron Nola - PHI vs. NYM ($8,300)
Lynn (vs. TEX) and McCullers Jr. (vs. ARI) also work fine at the high-end of SP, but if you're looking to save some salary, Nola is a great option tonight. The Mets are a bottom-12 offense vs. RHP in a few important metrics (AVG, SLG, OPS, ISO) and their implied total currently sits at just 3.7 runs. Nola's been knocked around a bit with 12 ER allowed over his last three starts, but he holds an impressive 57/10 K/BB rate over his last eight starts and a solid 29.9% K% on the season. He's a nice mid-range target who shouldn't attract a ton of rostership.
Others: Lance Lynn (vs. TEX), Lance McCullers Jr. (vs. ARI), Alex Wood (vs. ATL), Charlie Morton (vs. SF), Spencer Howard (vs. CWS)
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FanDuel DFS Infielders
Jurickson Profar - 2B, SDP vs. STL ($2,200)
There's not a whole I can point to as a reason to plug in Profar other than his bottom-of-the-barrel pricing and the fact that he'll be either leading off or hitting in a prominent spot in a great lineup. He's not going to strike out and his form is on point with five hits, two doubles, a homer, three RBI, and four runs scored over his last four games. A matchup with Wainwright isn't ideal, but that should just serve to keep the masses off of Profar as an obvious value play.
Travis d'Arnaud - C/1B, ATL vs. SF ($2,600)
It's extremely rare that I'll recommend a catcher in one of these articles, but here we are. d'Arnaud is too cheap for how he has been hitting as he holds a .843 OPS with three homers over 42 at-bats in September. He just homered again last night against Logan Webb and he'll be facing Alex Wood tonight, who has been solid but doesn't match up well against d'Arnaud as a LHP. d'Arnaud is hitting for a .875 OPS vs. LHP this year (in a small sample).
Josh Harrison - 2B/3B, OAK vs. LAA ($2,900)
We're sticking with the theme of underpriced hitters who are showing great form in recent games and slated for positive matchups tonight. Harrison has an absurd nine RBI over his last four games (12 RBI over his last six games) and he's hitting .313 in the month of September. He comes into a matchup with Jose Suarez on a run of four straight games with at least 13 FD points and a 20.1 FD PPG average in that span. While Suarez has been pretty great overall, the A's scratched four runs across the last time they faced him (in June) and they have a solid 4.8-run total tonight.
Others: Eric Hosmer (vs. STL), Adam Frazier (vs. STL), Carlos Correa (vs. ARI)
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Fernando Tatis Jr., SDP vs. STL ($4,500)
It's hard to get away from liking Tatis Jr. from a raw points perspective, and if he's going to be somewhat low-rostered, I'd make it a point to get to him as my primary pay-up option on the slate. He's coming off an 0-for-4 bagel of a game, but he gets to face wily veteran Adam Wainwright tonight. Wainwright is a RHP, and Tatis Jr. is hitting an incredible 1.029 OPS with 32 of his 39 homers against righties this season.
Lorenzo Cain - OF, MIL vs. CHC ($2,800)
Cain is scorching with a .959 OPS over 37 September at-bats, and he's far too cheap for that kind of production. Opposing pitcher Justin Steele has been OK through 17 appearances (six starts), but he's not a pitcher to shy away from. The Brewers' offense should be able to find success here and Cain figures to be right in the middle of it all once again.
Tyler O'Neill - OF, STL vs. SDP ($3,200)
O'Neill is on fire and Darvish has been absolutely dreadful lately, so the emerging star outfielder profiles well tonight. He's rocking a 1.094 OPS with six homers over 60 at-bats in September and has a six-game hitting streak coming into tonight (and has hits in nine of his last 10). In fact, he has put up at least 18.7 FD points in seven of his last 10 games. Darvish has somehow allowed 14 ER over his last 12 and 2/3 innings pitched and he has been giving up a ton of homers while also not striking batters out. It's a recipe for success for O'Neill tonight.
Others: Khris Davis (vs. LAA), Trent Grisham (vs. STL), Dylan Moore (vs. KCR)
FanDuel DFS Stacks
- CWS vs. Howard
- HOU vs. Castellanos
- STL vs. Darvish
- SDP vs. Wainwright
- OAK vs. Suarez
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