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Euan Leith highlights the top FanDuel MLB DFS lineup picks for 8/17/20, and a couple of sleepers to consider while building daily rosters.
23 of the 30 teams have already completed the first third of their 2020 season. It's flying by far too fast, but every second is a blast, and today feels like a good day for the bats. Some of baseball's biggest stars are hitting their way into form, and it's amazing how good some of your hitting lineups can look with the prices available. There are 11 games on FanDuel's main slate and plenty of ways to construct your lineup for tonight.
There are three studs at pitcher to choose from today. Zac Gallen is the top price at $9,700 with Hyun-Jin Ryu behind him at $9,300, and Ross Stripling creates a mini tier of his own at $8,100. I like Stripling the most because of his ballpark (Dodger Stadium) and his opponent (Seattle). Gallen gets to pitch at home, but against the Oakland Athletics and their home-run happy squad while Ryu has to pitch in Camden Yards. I think Gallen and Ryu will still have good outings, but the savings you can get with Stripling open up a lot of the higher-priced bats. One more thing: If you have the money to get Juan Soto in your lineup, then get Juan Soto in your lineup.
I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 8/17/2020. Be sure also to 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 read more DFS advice and lineup picks for sites like DraftKings, and other sports too.
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FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Ross Stripling - LOS vs. SEA ($8,100)
As I mentioned earlier, I intend to fade Zac Gallen and Hyun-Jin Ryu because of their matchups and ballparks. That leaves Ross Stripling as the last pitcher costing more than $8,000 on the slate. I love his matchup and the ballpark. His opponent, the Seattle Mariners, is coming off a weekend where they scored two runs per game and averages 3.82 runs/games on the season. That's the third-fewest in the league.
Stripling hasn't been sharp since his dominating start to the season with a 49 fantasy point outing against the Giants, but this seems as good a spot as any to bounce back. Seattle is striking out 23.6 percent of the time versus right-handers this season and has a .679 OPS versus hurlers from that side of the mound. Stripling should be able to at least get through five innings with minimal run damage, plus some strikeouts. Then he will need the second-highest scoring offense in baseball, the Dodgers, to provide him with some run support, and he will cruise to a win against a lowly-Seattle unit.
FanDuel DFS Infielders
Max Muncy, 1B - LOS vs. SEA ($3,200)
Muncy has been scuffling at the plate during the first third of the 2020 season. Fortunately, he showed fantasy managers some signs of life over the weekend. In two games versus the Angels, Muncy went 2-for-7 with one home run, five RBI, and two runs. He produced his two best FanDuel performances since July 30th. The lefty has a .179/.293/.381 slash line but is still manufacturing the counting stats. The Dodgers and Muncy face right-handed hurler Justin Dunn on Monday. With Muncy heating up and having the platoon advantage, he seems like a good bet to continue his weekend form.
Ryan McMahon, 2B - COL @ HOU ($2,600)
It feels strange to recommend a player that could hit low in the batting order, but, for his price, Ryan McMahon is someone to put in your lineups. Over his last four games, the second baseman 5-for-12 with two home runs, seven RBI, and three runs. He's scored over 15 fantasy points in three of those four contests and above 25 points in two of them. Getting McMahon at this price allows fantasy managers to load up at other positions while offering some fairly decent upside against Astros rookie Brandon Bielak.
Anthony Rendon, 3B - LAA vs SFG ($4,000)
The hottest hitter this side of the Mississippi may be the Angels', Anthony Rendon. Juan Soto owns the eastern portion of the country, but his former teammate, Rendon, is crushing the baseball right now. The newest addition to the Angels roster hit a home run in five of his six games last week while collecting at least one RBI in every contest. He is only hitting .203 on the season, but those hits are going a long way. The man at the hot corner for LA faces a southpaw in Tyler Anderson on Monday, and that will make it tough to bet against Rendon. I'll choose to take one of the hottest bats in baseball, continuing his recent run of form.
David Fletcher, SS - LAA vs. SFG ($3,000)
David Fletcher doesn't have the power that a lot of his teammates are known for; however, Fletcher is batting .300 with three home runs, 9 RBI, 13 runs, and three stolen bases in 2020 and is currently on a 15-game hitting streak.FanDuel projects Fletcher will leadoff against San Francisco, and that puts him in a great spot to rack up some runs.
The Giants will have left-hander Tyler Anderson on the mound. His 3.63 ERA looks good on paper, but he owns a 6.35 xFIP. Right-handed bats are only hitting .154 off him this season, but he has a .156 BABIP against foes on that side of the plate and is rocking a career-high 27.5 percent line-drive rate and a 41.2 percent fly-ball rate. Something has got to give, and I like Fletcher to benefit from some Tyler Anderson regression tonight.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Eloy Jimenez, OF - CHW vs. DET ($3,400)
Eloy Jimenez ranks in the top six percent of the league in barrel percent (18.9%), and hard-hit rate (56.6%) while his 92.1 mph average exit velocity puts him in the 87th percentile of baseball. In layman's terms: the guy is destroying baseballs.
All of those advanced metrics finally turned into results last week as Jimenez hit four home runs and drove in nine teammates. One of those long balls happened to come off the pitcher he faces today, the Tigers' Tyler Alexander. Since Jimenez hit that three-run shot off Alexander, the outfielder has been on fire. He has scored 21 points in four of his last five contests and is up to a .267 batting average with seven home runs and 17 RBI on the season. The slugger bats lower in the lineup than fantasy managers would like, but the White Sox averaged 5.33 runs/game versus Detroit last week, and Jimenez should contribute to that same kind of offensive output today.
Teoscar Hernandez, OF - TOR @ BAL ($3,200)
Teoscar Hernandez is coming off a great weekend series versus the Tampa Bay Rays. He went 6-for-13 with one double, two home runs, and 5 RBI in the three-game set against a formidable pitching staff. On the season, the outfielder is hitting .301 with seven home runs, 14 RBI, and two stolen bases in 18 games. Now, Hernandez can feast on a Baltimore Orioles rotation that is undoubtedly less than formidable.
On today's menu is Alex Cobb. He owns a 2.75 ERA and 1.068 WHIP, but it is all too good to be true. Baseball savant has him sitting at a 6.01 expected ERA while FanGraphs with a 4.77 FIP. Cobb has been pitching above his head and is facing a hitter coming off a great weekend. At this price point and in that ballpark, Hernandez will be in a lot of my lineups.
Clint Frazier, OF - NYY vs. BOS ($2,900)
Clint Frazier is good at this baseball thing, but he can never seem to get a full playing-time workload. Luckily, that has to change now that Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge are on the Injured List. That is terrible news for the Yankees offense in general, but great for daily fantasy players because Frazier gets more playing time at a low price.
In his four games last week, Frazier went 8-for-15 with two home runs, three doubles, and five RBI against the Braves and Red Sox. The outfielder should be a lock for the today's lineup against Boston's start, left-handed Martin Perez. The only question will be where he sits in the batting order. FanDuel has him projected batting seventh, but with the Yankees list of injuries (DJ LeMahieu also hit the IL this weekend), there is a world where Frazier hits higher in the order. I will still roster him in some lineups even if he bats seventh, but any higher, and he becomes a lock on Monday's slate.
