Welcome everyone to another edition of MLB Thursday daily fantasy. There are nine games scheduled today, but with just two this afternoon, this column will focus on the seven game main slate. What are the Vegas lines trying to tell us today? For starters, there are two games with relatively high over/under run totals - Royals and Rangers (9) and Orioles at Rangers (9.5). The heaviest moneyline favorites of the day are the Red Sox, Rangers and Marlins. As far as positive park factors go, the hitters with the best ones today are the left-handed hitters of the Royals and Rangers and the right-handed batters of the Cubs and White Sox.

In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball MLB lineup picks for FanDuel on 7/28/16. The DFS lineup picks will range from high-priced to low-priced options and identify options who will out-perform their expectations, including sleepers and value plays on FanDuel.

Editor's Note: RotoBaller offers the best Premium MLB Subscription - only $1.99 per week. All the tools you need to help win your seasonal and daily leagues: Hitter & Pitcher Streamers, Matchup Ratings for every player, Under-the-Radar Surgers for AVG, HR, Ks, plus daily DFS Cheat Sheets, Lineup Picks, Expert Lineups, Stacks and Avoids. 

 

DFS Lineup Stacks to Target for FanDuel

Red Sox versus Jered Weaver

Nearly any of the Red Sox hitters, namely their 1-7 batters, are in play tonight for a strong Red Sox stack. Sure, they move away from Fenway Park and into a more hitter friendly park in Anaheim, but that's about the only downside I can think of in their matchup against Jered Weaver. For the season, Weaver has been dominated by hitters from both sides of the plate. Left-handed batters have hit him to the tune of a .350 wOBA and .481 slugging percentage. That's not an extremely enticing slugging percentage allowed, but he has allowed 1.88 HR/9, which is very attractive. Right-handed hitters have hit him even harder, as shown by his .539 slugging percentage allowed and 1.84 HR/9. My favorite Red Sox hitters tonight are Mookie Betts, David Ortiz, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Travis Shaw.

Also Consider: Baltimore Orioles versus Kyle Gibson

 

DFS Starting Pitchers to Consider for FanDuel

Jose Fernandez (SP, MIA) - $11,800

The price is steep, but Jose is certainly worth paying up for tonight, especially on a limited slate. He has been masterful over the past month, exceeding his high price implied value in seven of his last 10 starts, by an average of 10.43 points a game in that time span. Furthermore, in the past 15 days, he sports a hard hit rate of just 25% - which is the best figure of any pitcher taking the mound today. For the season, he has a ridiculous 12.67 K/9 and further upside is there tonight as the Cardinals have gone down swinging in a little more than 25% of their at-bats versus right-handed pitchers this season.

Also Consider: Johnny Cueto (SP, SFG) - $10,700 (cash) and Chris Sale (SP, CHW) - $10,400 (GPP)

 

DFS Infielders to Consider for FanDuel

Catcher (C) - Matt Wieters (C, BAL) - $2,500

Considering how expensive the pitching options I suggested are, I want to find ways for you to load your lineup without sacrificing upside. That starts with Wieters, who hits in the middle of the of the order for the team with the highest projected run total today. He's also a bargain and while the splits aren't awe inspiring from a straight numbers standpoint, he does hit right-handed pitching more stronger than he does southpaws.

First Base (1B) - Ryan Howard (1B, PHI) - $2,100

Howard is criminally under priced tonight when you consider his upside. No, he's not cash game safe, but someone with a .221 ISO split facing a pitcher that has really struggled is an ideal tournament play. He's also sporting a very impressive 46% hard hit rate over the past 15 days.

Second Base (2B) - Dustin Pedroia (2B, BOS) - $3,700

Pedey is one of my favorite cash game options this evening. He hits right in the two-hole of a very potent order with a high projected run total that matches up very well against Jered Weaver. Pedroia handles right-handed pitching better than he does southpaws, and his .367 wOBA and .469 slugging percentage are pretty solid numbers.

Shortstop (SS) - Brandon Crawford (SS, SFG) - $2,500

Bargain hunting in an underwhelming shortstop list has led me to the doorstep of Mr. Crawford, who is definitely under priced this evening. Despite a monstrous game just two nights ago, Crawford has seen his price plummet due to a little bit of a slump. Fear not, though, as he's likely been a bit of a BABIP victim, seeing as he has a strong hard hit rate (37% over past two weeks) and the best line drive rate among shortstops in that same time span, at 29%. He has solid splits against righties, too, as shown by his .321 wOBA and .435 slugging percentage.

Third Base (3B) - Manny Machado (3B, BAL) - $3,800

If you end up stacking the Orioles, make sure Machado is a key piece of that stack. He has some of the strongest splits of any batter playing tonight, and he doesn't have to face Chris Sale, Jose Fernandez or Johnny Cueto. His .239 ISO and .551 slugging percentage splits are some of the best of the night.

 

DFS Outfielders to Consider for FanDuel

Adam Jones (OF, BAL) - $3,500 - Kyle Gibson is the perfect slump buster for Adam Jones. He hasn't been in a total funk, seeing as he surpassed value in two of his last three, but his hard contact rate has dipped a bit. That said, his splits are still very strong - .342 wOBA and .208 ISO - and he hits in the three hole of a lineup that should get a lot of run scoring opportunities tonight.

Max Kepler (OF, MIN) - $3,200 - My apologies that the last time I touted Kepler, he failed to hit value. Tonight, I'm going back to the well. Sure, he has very strong splits, but my biggest reason being is that he's going to match up very well with Ubaldo Jimenez.

Christian Yelich (OF, MIA) - $3,600 - Yelich's .406 wOBA split is insane to have carried this far into the season and he's certainly an underrated stud. He falls short of the .200 ISO split I usually aim for among my outfielders, but he's not far back at .192 and that figure is .125 points higher than when he faces left-handers.

 

Full Season MLB & DFS Premium Pass

Get a Premium Pass for the entire MLB season - including the playoffs - for only $29.99. That's Premium access to over 10 tools, and over 20 valuable resources, for one incredible price. Here's a taste of what you get:

• DFS lineup picks and cheat sheets for FanDuel and DraftKings - seven days a week
• Three expert lineups: FanDuel, DraftKings, and Stack of the Day - seven days a week
• Top DFS value plays, avoids and injury updates - seven days a week
• Lineup tools: daily premium hitter and pitcher matchup ratings

All of this for just $29.99... it's simply the best deal around. No other site offers this type of deal. What are you waiting for?

 

Live Expert Q&A Chats - Every Weekday @ 1 PM and 6 PM EST (DFS)

Fantasy Baseball Chat Room