After looking at all of the tools available at Fantasy Alarm, 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.  The weather may also be a concern in the Mets vs Yankees game tonight. This is already a makeup game from an earlier rainout, and although it should play, it’s worth monitoring leading up to lock time.  For the purposes below, I’m writing as if the game will be played.

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.

Five Second Cheat Sheet:  Clayton Kershaw and Jacob deGrom lead the field, with pitching overall being very top heavy tonight.

Thirty Second Cheat Sheet: I prefer Kershaw for the discount on DK, but both have similar price tags on FD.  While Luis Severino could shut down the Mets, Michael Foltynewicz and Mike Clevinger could do the same vs their opponents, but for cheaper.

Of the top two pitchers, I prefer Clayton Kershaw on DK if playing cash games.  On FD, I could see either in play, but also feel that Mike Foltynewicz is in play for his cheaper price tag.  FD is always tough to to make the decision to pay down in cash games due to the number of under $2.5K hitters available, which usually means I lean towards paying for the pitcher I want.  For that #2 DK spot, I think it’s pretty wide open. I’m likely leaning towards Mike Clevinger or Zack Greinke , but if not paying up, or not feeling a Miles Mikolas or Marco Gonzalez type play, than feel free to go cheap tonight.  From that cheaper group, I prefer Reynaldo López .

Thoughts from the FantasyAlarm Team: Our pitching coach, Jon Impemba, likes deGrom, Folty, and Greinke if paying up.  If going the mid-priced route, Clevinger, Mikolas, and the Sean Manaea vs Marco Gonzalez matchup.  Lopez and Richard are his top value routes.

Our projections have Kershaw leading the way, followed by Folty, Severino, Clevinger, and Greinke.  Richard checks in as the top value option.

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.

Five Second Cheat Sheet:  The Diamondbacks, Braves, and Indians check in as your top teams to target, but plenty of salary relief teams in play as well.

Thirty Second Cheat Sheet:  With pitching being top heavy tonight, you may not be able to pay up for the top bats.  No real issues with that tonight as many mid as value priced hitters are in play vs some pretty weak pitchers.  Mentioned in the playbook slightly more, but CWS/DET, and TOR/KC look to be the best games to find that value, but wouldn’t load up on them fully in cash games.

Positional Thoughts

Catcher:  Yadier Molina is your best option if fully paying up, but players like Austin Hedges , Salvador Pérez , and Mike Zunino are all in solid spots for cheaper.  Jeff Mathis or James McCann would be my punt plays.

First Base:  Paul Goldschmidt looks to be your best bet if paying up over Freddie Freeman and Matt Carpenter , but can’t go wrong with any of them. Yonder Alonso has a nice FD price tag, while Ryon Healy could be a popular punt option.  I mentioned other routes in the playbook, including a cheap Albert Pujols .

Second Base:  I prefer using second to save some salary over paying up for Ozzie Albies .  Jed Lowrie and Daniel Descalso would be my preferred value routes, with others best suited for team stacks.

Third Base:  José Ramírez is a top option if you can afford him, but could see going cheaper with Eduardo Escobar or Jedd Gyorko , who are both in solid spots.  I mentioned some other routes in the playbook depending on your team targets.

Shortstop: Francisco Lindor is right up there price wise with Ramirez, while Paul DeJong , and Trea Turner are my top pivots.  There are plenty of value routes to go with though, with José Iglesias and Nick Ahmed my preferred options, but other routes were given in the playbook.

Outfield:  As always, OF is extremely wide open tonight and likely comes down to which of the top projected scoring teams you prefer the most tonight.   I prefer sticking to the higher projected scoring teams if playing cash games, which places David Peralta , Michael Brantley , Ronald Acuna , Melky Cabrera , and Adam Duvall as top potential targets, but plenty of other stand alone players have been swinging a hot bat including Khris Davis , Giancarlo Stanton , Mitch Haniger , Nelson Cruz and Justin Upton .  Plenty of other routes were provided in the playbook, and if trying to decide between similar priced options, I would look towards one of the top or value target teams listed above.

Thoughts from the Fantasy Alarm Team: Our hitting coach, Brett Talley, likes Justin Upton , as well as the Francisco Lindor /José Ramírez combo if paying up, while the Peralta/Escobar ARI combo, as well as Palka and Smoak would be his top mid-priced targets.  Sanchez and Descalso are his top value plays.

Our projections have Ramirez and Linor leading the way, with Goldschmidt and Rendon rounding out the top four.  Peralta, Brantley, Chapman, And Carp lead a packed tier after the top four. Zunino is the top FD value play, while Rosario leads the way on DK.

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. Out of those top team targets, I like the Indians the best, but not sure if you can fit their top bats in without going against the top pitching arms. The D-Backs would be my pivot. I do like Seattle as a sneaky stack, as well as the Angels. Even if playing the full 10 game slate, sometimes it’s best to just play it as a smaller slate, which for me would be the three late night games, and Lopez from the Sox.

Our stacking coach, Tom Vecchio, likes the Indians, White Sox and Blue Jays.