I can't believe the trade deadline has come and gone and we've already reached August. The baseball fan in me is excited as this is when the pennant races really start to heat up, but the daily fantasy player in me is a little sad we've got roughly 8-10 Tuesdays left. Tuesday, in my opinion (and I know I'm bias) is the best daily fantasy day of the week. Many of the teams are well rested thanks to a travel day on Monday and, nearly always, all games are played in the evening, making for one giant main slate on FanDuel.

What can we learn from the Vegas lines set for tonight's games? The games with the highest projected run totals are the following: Dodgers at Rockies (10.5), White Sox at Tigers (9.5), and the Nationals at Diamondbacks (9). The biggest moneyline favorites of the evening are the Giants (-210), Indians (-200), and the Pirates (-170).  As far as positive park factors for hitters, the ones with the relative best factors today are the Dodgers and Rockies at Coors, the left-handed hitters of the Rangers and Orioles, and the right-handed batters of the Cardinals and Reds.

In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball MLB lineup picks for FanDuel on 8/2/16. 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.

 

DFS Lineup Stacks to Target for FanDuel

There are a million different ways you can build stacks tonight. I outline a few of my favorites below, from high floor to value and everything in between.

Pittsburgh Pirates left-handed batters against Mike Foltynewicz

It isn't an enormous park upgrade, but the Pirates hitters do get a little boost moving from Pittsburgh to Atlanta. More importantly, though, they match up beautifully against Mike Foltynewicz. For the season, Folty has allowed 2.01 HR/9 and has a messy 1.475 WHIP. Left-handed batters have hit him the hardest, as he's allowed a .562 slugging percentage split and 2.25 HR/9 - by far the highest figure of tonight's slate. The hitters I've got my eyes on in this one are John Jaso, Gregory Polanco and Adam Frazier.

Boston Red Sox against Wade LeBlanc 

Despite their move from Fenway to Safeco Field, I can't think of any reasons why I wouldn't want to stack the Sox against LeBlanc this evening. LeBlack rarely strikeout anyone out, has a poor HR/9 rate of 2.15, and he's allowed a hart hit rate of nearly 40% over the past 15 days. LeBlanc is also an equal opportunity guy in that he sports a HR/9 allowed split of over two for both right-handed and left-handed batters. My favorite Boston hitters for tonight are Hanley Ramirez, Sandy Leon, Travis Shaw and Mookie Betts.

 

Also Consider: Cleveland Indians against Kyle Gibson

 

DFS Starting Pitchers to Consider for FanDuel

I often feel like I complain when the options at pitcher are slim, so I need to go ahead and do the reverse tonight, since there are literally a ton of ace and front-end starters to choose from.

Carlos Carrasco (SP, CLE) - $10,100

Let's start with Carrasco, who I prefer (albeit only slightly) to Madison Bumgarner tonight. Why? Well, for starters, I don't mind having an extra $1,700 to spend on my lineup and I also think MadBum's ownership percentage will be much higher. Normally I don't like spending this much on a tournament pitcher, but Carrasco's strikeout upside is through the roof tonight against this Twins team, who've struck out in a whopping 30% of their at-bats versus right-handed pitching this season. For the year, Carrasco has a really strong K/9 at 10.09 and his WHIP, which stands at 1.003, is very strong as well. Over the past 15 days, he sports a hard-hit rate of just 27% and perhaps more impressively, he's induced ground balls at a rate of more than 50%.

Jacob deGrom (SP, NYM) - $10,100

I'm a big fan of being able to build a lineup around a pitcher's pricing tier. To elaborate, I try building the strongest lineup I can, leaving room for an $8K range pitcher, a 10K range pitcher, and so on. Tonight, with deGrom and Carrasco being the exact same salary with similar upside, they are the perfect pivot off one another. deGrom has pitched very well since his return from a short DL stint, having reached and exceeded his price implied value in five of his last six starts. Tonight, he has a strong matchup against the Yankees and their now Carlos Beltran-less lineup at Citi Field, a great park for pitchers. On the season, deGrom carries a good HR/9 allowed at 0.91 and a strong K/9 at 9.58. This game also features the lowest projected run total at just 6.5 runs.

Also Consider: Dylan Bundy (SP, BAL) - $6,500 (GPP only)

 

DFS Infielders to Consider for FanDuel

Catcher (C)

Jett Bandy (C, LAA) - $2,200

Bandy has been - almost quietly, I might add - crushing left-handed pitching over the course of the last month. He's listed at nearly the price minimum tonight despite his strong splits - .503 wOBA and .393 ISO - while facing a pitcher in Sean Manaea who struggles against right-handed batters.

 

First Base (1B)

Matt Adams (1B, STL) - $3,000

Like Bandy, Adams is another guy who's not only a bargain, but carries big power upside. Adams has seen his price dip $400 over the past 10 days, but it seems as though he's been a BABIP victim. He has an incredibly strong hard hit rate of 52% over the past 15 days and in the same time span, an average batted ball distance of 276 feet - the highest of any first baseman. His splits are also strong as well, particularly his .219 ISO. The big fella is due.

 

Second Base (2B)

Daniel Murphy (2B, WAS) - $3,700

What's not to love about one of the best hitters in baseball, priced under 4K, batting third in the order and playing in a park that's an offensive upgrade? Murphy and his .402 wOBA and .240 ISO split match up pretty well against just about anyone, let alone Robbie Ray and his over .400 slugging percentage allowed split.

 

Shortstop (SS)

Carlos Correa (SS, HOU) - $3,800

Not only does Correa have really strong splits against right-handed pitching (.373 wOBA, .217 ISO), he also should fair very well against the likes of RA Dickey. Dickey has allowed a .481 slugging percentage to right-handed hitters this season along with 1.62 HR/9.

 

Third Base (3B)

Nolan Arenado (3B, COL) - $4,200

Arenado, in my opinion is one of the smarter if not smartest ways to get Coors Field exposure this evening. His price isn't too inflated and his spits against right-handed pitching - .390 wOBA and a .295 ISO - are just fantastic and far better than his third base piers not named Josh Donaldson.

 

DFS Outfielders to Consider for FanDuel

Brandon Moss (OF, STL) - $3,200

Moss' splits against right-handed pitchers are fantastic and he also gets a nice park upgrade tonight as this game is being played in Cincinnati. Dan Straily should have his hands full with this lineup and Moss should see more than his fair share of RBI opportunities.

 

Jurickson Profar (OF, TEX) - $2,700

Profar has all the upside you can ask for in a player listed at under $3k this evening. His split differences are huge, indicating he fares much better against right-handers, and while Dylan Bundy is talented, he issues too many walks and hits to be ultimately effective just yet.

 

Starling Marte (OF, PIT) - $3,900

Marte gets a slight park factor boost tonight and matches up very well against the likes of Mike Foltynewicz. For the season, Marte is sporting a .382 wOBA split and a .502 slugging percentage,

 

Also Consider: Josh Reddick (OF, LAD) - $3,900

 

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