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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel and DraftKings on July 24, 2022. Thunder Dan's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
I think the old saying goes, "sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you." I think of that saying often when playing MLB DFS and I remember the iconic delivery of that line by Sam Elliott in one of my favorite cult classic films - The Big Lebowski.
Brady Singer was our cover athlete yesterday, and he went out and struck out 12 Rays, making him an ideal SP2 choice or pivot on FanDuel. While I did have some Singer shares, my best-hitting lineups had Max Meyer, who I recommended against the Pirates. He left the game in the first inning with an injury and destroyed my hopes of taking down a tournament. Getting the bats and the pitcher both right - in the same lineup - is certainly a challenge and can be frustrating. But that's what keeps us coming back every day now, doesn't it? The Dude abides.
As always, this article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Sunday's main slate locks at 1:35 EST on 7/24/2022. The lineup picks will range from some elite high-priced players to mid-priced options, and value plays. I'll give you a few of my top pitching options and then some infielders, outfielders, and teams to stack! You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports here. It's also essential to monitor injury news and today's MLB starting lineups. Now that we got all of that out of the way, it's onto the picks!
DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Sandy Alcantara @ PIT ($10,000 DK, $11,000 FD)
The NL Cy Young frontrunner is my favorite arm to spend up on today. How can we not love Sandy here in this spot against the Pirates, who have managed only two runs total so far through the first two games of this series? They also strike out quite often, giving Sandy a higher strikeout projection than usual.
A lot of folks I talk to about pitching are in disagreement as to whether or not Sandy can sustain his increased strikeout numbers, but the biggest key is that he's pitching deep into games, which is allowing him to build bigger K totals without having an elite strikeout rate. There is safety here in this play and upside at the same time.
Mitch Keller vs. MIA ($6,800 DK, $7,500 FD)
I am not sure you understand how hard it is for me to recommend Keller today. The first thing you should know is that I would absolutely much rather play Cease or Bieber as my SP2 in any cash formats on DraftKings, and playing Keller as your only SP on FanDuel is a deep-field GPP option only!
But rather than go with Nestor Cortes or Miles Mikolas (both seemingly underpriced on DK), I am going to drop all the way down to Keller. He's pitched really well now in two straight starts (one of those against the Marlins) and seems to have settled into a change in his pitch mix where he is actually throwing the sinker, slider, and four-seamer about equally.
We know he has good stuff, it's always been a matter of locating pitches and understanding how to pitch, rather than just throwing hard. I think he's worth a gamble here, the Marlins aren't hitting at all right now. I rarely recommend trusting Pirates, and I am 100% prepared for this play to blow up in my face, so buyer beware!
Also consider - Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber, Nestor Cortes, Miles Mikolas
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Austin Riley - 3B, ATL vs. Reid Detmers ($5,800 DK, $4,000 FD)
Welcome back to another edition of "play Austin Riley against lefties." He homered again last night, though it wasn't off the southpaw starter Sandoval who left after only three innings. Riley has taken another huge step in his development this year and has been arguably one of the best hitters in the NL.
Today's match-up is really, really good as Riley has crushed lefties to the tune of a .444 wOBA and .393 ISO. I love deploying him when we see a match with a secondary pitch that he crushes too, and that's exactly what we have here as Riley demolishes curveballs.
Rowdy Tellez - 1B, MIL vs. Chad Kuhl ($3,800 DK, $2,700 FD)
I am usually hunting home runs with my corner infield spots, and I think Rowdy has a good chance of going yard today. Chad Kuhl has turned back into a pumpkin after a brief stint of success earlier this season. Apparently, you can't throw sliders 60% of the time as a starter, who knew?
Kuhl could be in trouble today with this Milwaukee lineup, they hit the sinker/slider combo guys pretty well and Tellez is the linchpin of any Brewer stack. His .262 ISO against RHP is only .01 behind Willy Adames and a Christian Yelich-Adames-Tellez three-man stack is far too cheap on a site like FanDuel.
Dansby Swanson - SS, ATL vs. Reid Detmers ($5,100 DK, $3,600 FD)
These prices for Swanson have actually come down a little bit and I've decided I am going to make every effort to smash him in with Austin Riley and perhaps a few cheaper Braves (Orlando Arcia comes to mind) as my top stack today.
Swanson's profile against the fastball, slider, and curve pitch mix from Detmers looks so good today that I can't help but get excited about the possibility of the Braves launching multiple deep balls.
The Angels bullpen behind Detmers is also vulnerable, and we've seen Atlanta pile onto leads late in games, too. If you can find the value at pitcher or elsewhere to fit the Atlanta studs in today (Acuna is the one you can skip, trust me, I do it all the time) - then I think you should do it!
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
George Springer - OF, TOR vs. Brayan Bello ($5,200 DK, $3,800 FD)
After already scoring 500 runs this series (or at least it seems that way), the Blue Jays should be popular options on this slate. They have an implied total of over six runs and are facing a rookie here, Bello, who has labored through both of his first two MLB starts.
I don't think Bello is bad, but he's clearly not entirely ready for the show and this is a terrible, terrible spot to be in today as he's facing a team that has been killing RHP. I could have picked any number of Jays to feature, but I am going to roll with Springer here as my pick.
Despite not getting in on the home run derby the other night in the 28-run barrage, Springer has still been incredibly productive at the top of this lineup. He's walking as often as he's striking out lately, and a threat to steal bases and go yard. Building around the leadoff man for the top-implied offense on the slate is a great way to start your cash builds.
Aaron Judge - OF, NYY vs. Dean Kremer ($6,100 DK, $4,500 FD)
Putting Judge and Springer in the same article isn't something I woke up thinking I would do, and I've been critical of content creators recommending only the big names and not enough value, but I simply can not leave Judge out here today.
Dean Kremer's numbers are all screaming regression and today is the day it happens, I think. He has reverse splits with righties having more success against him this year and that could be big trouble when you consider the Yankees have the likes of Stanton, Judge, DJ, Donaldson, and Torres to throw at him. He's striking out only 10% of RHH this season so far, and his primary pitch to righties has been a cutter.
That's where he's going to get hurt by Judge if he leaves a cutter anywhere over the plate because Aaron just crushes that pitch. I had to check the history here, because the match-up looked so sweet and sure enough, Judge is 3-4 with two home runs off Kremer! This is not a "BvP play" only though, all the other numbers back it as well!
Alex Kirilloff - 1B/OF, MIN vs. Rony Garcia ($3,100 DK, $2,200 FD)
Okay, okay, so we need some value, right? How about my guy Kirilloff who is almost free on FanDuel and dual-eligible at first base and in the outfield on DraftKings? The young lefty slugger has been inching his way up the lineup and is projected to hit fifth today. W
e are still waiting on that power, but Kirilloff has hit safely in eight straight games! His batted ball data against the curve, Garcia's primary offspeed pitch, is off the charts. He's a great punt for all formats and could be a crucial piece here to fit in the higher-priced Braves, Yankees, or Blue Jays with your favorite pitcher today.
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
Here are my top stacks for tonight (in the order in which I like them)
- Toronto Blue Jays (6.2 implied run total) vs. Brayan Bello (5.24 xFIP)
- Atlanta Braves (5.4 implied run total) vs. Reid Detmers (5.14 xFIP)
- Milwaukee Braves (5.0 implied run total) vs. Chad Kuhl (5.58 xFIP)
I hope I gave you a head start on your research today and I wish you the best of luck! If you ever have questions about DFS or fantasy baseball, my DMs are always open and I appreciate you taking the time to read my picks today.
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