After looking at all of the tools available at FantasyAlarm, the example lineups page should be used to help validate your thoughts, as well as help you consider some options that may not have been on your radar for the slate.  In addition to the example lineups, below you will find a breakdown of possible routes to take when building your MLB lineups tonight.  While we are focused on FanDuel and DraftKings, this breakdown can be used for all sites.  Please use our live chat feature to share your thoughts, and receive any feedback leading up to first pitch.  Good luck!

Please note that this was written before all lineups have been posted, which may open up new routes to consider.  Make sure to also monitor any potential weather concerns that could take place on the east coast as well. 

Top Pitching Targets

I always start my lineup building with pitching, as it’s the most important part of building your lineups. I tend to look for pitchers who I believe can pitch six innings, strike out six, and give up no more than two runs.  Feel free to set up whatever parameters you want to but should set yourself some type of “floor” when it comes to how you select your pitchers.

Madison Bumgarner is the top priced pitcher tonight vs the Rockies with the lowest implied run total of the slate, but pitching is pretty wide open I feel if playing cash games tonight.  If paying up, I prefer him over Robbie Ray , unless you think he’ll rack up eight K’s in five shutout innings.  Rick Porcello and Boston have dominated the Angels this year, and would be my pivot if not on Bumgarner, and still wanting to pay up for pitching. 

Alex Wood could be the popular cheap option, but I’m not on him as much as the field looks to be.  Jack Flaherty is in a nice spot vs a cold Indians team, while Kyle Gibson , Iván Nova , and Wade LeBlanc all have solid matchups on paper.  I listed a few other options as well in the playbook.

Thoughts from the FantasyAlarm Team:  Our pitching coach, James Grande, likes Flaherty and Porcello if paying up, and Nova if going mid-priced.  For value, he likes the other side of the mound from Nova in Wheeler.

Our projections have Wood leading the way, followed by Ray, Porcello, LeBlanc, and Bumgarner.  LeBlanc is the top FD value option, while Wheeler checks in as the DK one.

 

Top Hitting Targets

There are plenty of other routes to take with details given in the playbook, coaches, and our other tools if wanting to look elsewhere. I provided my overall options in the playbook, with some additional thoughts below.

As mentioned in the playbook, hitting tonight is pretty wide open, and could end up based on your personal game theory routes for tonight.  The Red Sox check in as the only team with an implied run total of over five, but the A’s, Rangers, Twins, and Mariners aren’t too far behind. 

I do think that there are plenty of other teams worth targeting depending on how you see the pitching playing out, but the Diamondbacks and Padres are the top teams I’ll be looking out that I didn’t list above.  This doesn’t mean the other teams aren’t in play, as I mentioned plenty of other teams in the playbook, especially from the two late night games if off those pitchers, but it does help when trying to decide between players from different teams if playing cash games.  

Catcher is starting to become a tough position to read, as FD combines it with first base, and DK is starting to tighten their pricing for catchers. I’m thinking either pay up for J.R. Murphy or go cheap with the debut of Kyle Higashioka from the Yankees.  Could maybe pivot to Buster Posey but would stick with those options outside of team stacks.

Paul Goldschmidt leads the way if you can afford him at first, with Matt Olson right up there for me as well for $1K less than Goldy on DK.. I liked LoMo, but he’s out and I’m not a huge Joe Mauer fan personally, although he is in play. Plenty of other routes to take at first if you are thinking other pitchers are worth targeting. Jose Martinez and Cody Bellinger are two of those top options.

Second base is very wide open but leaning towards either Brian Dozier or Yoan Moncada .  If needing salary, José Pirela and Starlin Castro are in play, but Ian Kinsler and Eduardo Núñez are likely the pivot options.  Javier Báez is the top priced play for me.

A hot hitting Matt Carpenter could be hard to pass up if playing cash games, but I do like Eduardo Escobar as well for roughly the same price tag. I listed plenty of pivots for stacking in the playbook, or if not on the two above.

I’m hoping the SEA/BAL game plays tonight, as I do like multiple players in that game, including Manny Machado at ss.  Xander Bogaerts would be the “safer” pivot option, while Nick Ahmed and Ehire Adrianza work as value plays.

OF is always wide open in terms of routes to consider taking.  If not stacking, I prefer to pay up for one spot, punt the other, and use the last spot to pick a player from a team that I’m already targeting. OF is open today in terms of routes to take.  If paying up, I mentioned a few different routes to take in the playbook.  The top power bats from the Yankees and Red Sox in Giancarlo Stanton , Aaron Judge , Mookie Betts , and J.D. Martínez will likely be the popular options over the other top priced OF’s like Mike Trout . I do like the idea of going cheap with three Padres OF bats in Wil Myers , Hunter Renfroe , and Manuel Margot , but there are plenty of other cheap OF bats if looking to target other teams.  Kole Calhoun , Max Kepler , and Trey Mancini could all be used as punt options as well.

Thoughts from the FantasyAlarm Team:  Our hitting coach, Jon Impemba, likes J.D. Martínez , Stanton, and Carpenter if paying up, and Renfroe, Ozuna, and Murphy as mid-priced options.  Calhoun and Valencia would be his value plays.

Our projections have Betts, Goldschmidt, Trout, Ramirez, and J.D. as the top five.  Ahmed is the top value option on FD and is joined by Higashioka as top DK value plays.

 

GPP’s: 

If playing GPP’s, your best approach is stacking.  Pick a game, or two teams that you think will blast off, then go all in on them.  Yes, entering your cash lineup, or another type of lineup can cash in a GPP, but if looking to finish in the top 1%, you need to hit with a stack. I like the full game stack theory in the OAK/DET game, but leaning more towards the D-Backs, Twins, Padres, and Red Sox.

Thoughts from the FantasyAlarm Team:  Our stacking coach, Brett Talley, likes a fell game OAK/DET stack, but with Oakland being the best team to target out of the two.  Texas is his other top stack, while the Dodgers would be his lower owned one.

 

Final Thoughts:  Pretty wide open in terms of both hitting and pitching.  If leaning more towards single entry GPP, don’t feel like the field will be too high on any of your targets that you need to look elsewhere.  If entering multiple lineups, pick a core of four to five players, and then build a few lineups around those unless going the full four by four stack.  You can also build a lineup, and then swap the SP only.  For instance, swapping out Wood for Nova, Wheeler, or Bieber on FD, or for the same amount on DK, swapping out Bumgarner and Wood, for Ray and Flaherty (or Porcello).