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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on July 17th, 2019. Austyn Varney's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
Welcome to Wednesday baseball on DraftKings. DK has some fun tournaments tonight, including the Web Gem and Broken Bat, which will both award $20k to the winner with huge all-around prize pools. We have a slate earlier in the day, but we'll be focusing on 7:05. There are plenty of options for tournaments and plenty of offenses expected to go off.
There is no game in Coors Field, so at least we have that balance. The Red Sox are the projected top offense of the night and we'll dig in deeper on them. The Nationals are another lineup to watch out for, but we may be looking at some weather troubled in Baltimore. Keep an eye out and adjust accordingly.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 7/17/19. The lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for sites like FanDuel, and other sports too.
If you have any questions or comments, contact me on Twitter @Varneydfs.
DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Gerrit Cole - HOU @ LAA ($12,500)
Gerrit Cole is in a tier of his own tonight. He's over $2k more expensive than any other pitcher and rightfully so. He's gone at least six innings in nine straight games and has accounted for double-digit strikeouts in five of those. On the season, Cole has allowed a 2.62 xFIP while striking out 13.43 batters per nine innings. The Angels are nowhere near the same lineup without Mike Trout, and still strikeout 26% of the time. Anaheim is a ballpark upgrade for Cole and he should coast through a relatively easy one tonight. In cash games, it's tough to go elsewhere.
Mike Clevinger - CLE vs. DET ($9,900)
Clevinger is a bit cheaper than Cole and in a phenomenal match-up. Against right-handed pitching, the Tigers rank 29th ahead of just the Marlins. They K nearly 27% of the time and have the lowest ISO in baseball. They'll now face off with a guy in Mike Clevinger who doesn't make it easy for anyone. He's dominated in five of his six starts this season and now sees the best match-up yet. He's able to go over 100 pitchers and could easily get into the double-digit K range. For under $10k, I prefer Clevinger over Cole slightly.
DraftKings DFS Infielders
C - James McCann - CWS @ KC (Duffy) ($4,100)
James McCann is having an all-star season and a lot of his success has come against lefties. He's sported a .398 wOBA against lefties and has hit 10 home runs on the year. Danny Duffy on the other hand, has allowed a 5.12 xFIP and 3.17 BB/9, while striking out just six batters per nine. The White Sox are expected to score over five runs and McCann will be in the cleanup hole behind Abreu. There isn't much to love at catcher tonight and McCann is in a perfect platoon split vs a poor lefty.
1B - Matt Adams - WAS @ BAL (Brooks) ($4,400)
This is the only game Vegas hasn't dropped a line on yet, but the Nationals are going to hold an implied total well over five or six runs. Matt Adams has been great against righties this season, sporting a .394 wOBA with 10+ home runs. Aaron Brooks has been bad since he debuted in 2014, and he's not any better now. He still holds an xFIP over 5 and strikes out just seven betters per nine. This Nationals team ranks 7th in baseball vs righties and Adams is a core piece. He'll be hitting cleanup or fifth, so the RBI opportunities will be plentiful and there will be no choice but to pitch to him. Camden Yards is one of the top ballparks in the league for power. Everything looks right for the Nats tonight.
2B - Jason Kipnis - CLE vs. DET (Turnbull) ($3,600)
The Indians are a huge favorite tonight and these bats are great correlation plays if you're pitching Mike Clevinger. They face off with Spencer Turnbull, who's given up a 5.70 xFIP to left-handed bats on the season. He walks four lefties per nine while striking out just over six. That ratio isn't going to work against an Indians team that is extremely patient. Kipnis has slashed righties to the tune of a .327 wOBA and six of his seven homers have come off them. The Indians ar eprojected for well over five runs and you have to believe Kipnis gets involved one way or another. At an affordable $3.6k on DraftKings, you don't need much. He's a great play in all formats sitting in the cleanup hole.
3B - Jake Lamb - ARI @ TEX (Chavez) ($4,000)
Jake Lamb used to be one of the best hitting third baseman in all of baseball. Over the course of two seasons ('16 and'17), Lamb posted 59 home runs and 196 RBI on his way to a .388 wOBA vs righties. Like I said, he was one of the more dangerous bats in the league. He's since gone through so injures and is nowhere near the same hitter, but there is still a chance that player is hiding under the injury bug. He's supposedly fully healthy now and he did hit two homers in the last six games. Jesse Chavez is a fill-in starter that struggles against lefties and has allowed four + earned runs in the majority of his starts. Lamb is going to be under-owned and is my favorite 3B under $5k.
SS - Xander Bogaerts - BOS vs. TOR (Sanchez) ($5,600)
I don't know what has gotten into Xander Bogaerts, but he looks like Mike Trout paired with Barry Bonds over the last week. In just FOUR games, Xander Bogaerts has accounted for three home runs and 11 hits, while boasting a crazy 86.2% hard contact rate. He'll come back down to earth eventually, but I'm not going to bet that it's not tonight. Not against Aaron Sanchez where the Red Sox are expected to score close to seven runs. Sanchez is worse against lefties, but a .347 isn't ant good either against right-handers. This entire offense is in play and they should be one of the more popular stacks of the night.
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Mookie Betts - BOS vs. TOR (Sanchez) ($5,400)
We'll stay in Boston with our pricey outfielder of the night. You can always go a lot of different ways here and tonight is no different. With that said, Mookie Betts and the Red Sox are in a great spot to do damage tonight. Aaron Sanchez has been terrible so far this year, allowing a 5.39 xFIP while walking close to six batters per nine. He'll be followed by the league's 22nd ranked bullpen, so Betts will have five or six at-bats with the advantage. He won't be highly owned and I think he has a huge game.
Alex Gordon - KC vs. CWS (Nova) ($4,300)
We haven't touched on the Royals yet, bt this whole team is in play vs Ivan Nova. They hol done of the highest totals on the board at 5.48, but we all know the Royals are a bit hard to stack. They spread the wealth out well, and it seems like it's always someone lower in the order with a huge game. However, Merrifield and Gordon are two consstants on this team. Gordon has sported a .350+ wOBA against righties for two straight years after struggling immensely in '16. Ivan Nova is one of the worst pitchers in the league against lefties and it's not close. Look for the Royals to do real damage tonight and for Gordon to be in the middle of it all.
