After looking at all of the tools available at Fantasy Alarm, the example lineups page should be used to help validate your thoughts, as well as help you consider some options that may not have been on your radar for the slate.  In addition to the example lineups, below you will find a breakdown of possible routes to take when building your MLB lineups tonight. While we are focused on FanDuel and DraftKings, this breakdown can be used for all sites. Please use our live chat feature to share your thoughts, and receive any feedback leading up to first pitch.  Good luck!

Please note that this was written before all lineups have been posted, which may open up new routes to consider.  

Pitching:  I always start my lineup building with pitching, as it’s the most important part of building your lineups. I tend to look for pitchers who I believe can pitch six innings, strike out six, and give up no more than two runs.  Feel free to set up whatever parameters you want to, but should set yourself some type of “floor” when it comes to how you select your pitchers.

While only $1.4K separates the top seven SP options on FD, that number jumps to $3.6K on DK between the top eight.  On FD, I’m leaning more towards Gio González , but can see some Walker Buehler , José Berrios , Miles Mikolas , and Masahiro Tanaka exposure if playing cash games.  While I don’t mind Zack Greinke , I won’t be on him personally.

I’m sure there will be some chat questions about Chase Anderson tonight.  While I agree with both Howard and Brett about being in a solid spot if going cheap tonight on either site, I would only consider him in gpp’s.  If that’s the case, I’d rather go with German Marquez . Vegas has both the Dodgers and D-Backs at roughly the same implied run total, so I’ll take the lower owned option.

On DK,  I feel like you can avoid the two top priced pitchers, with Gonzalez being my preferred option if paying up for one of them.  I really don’t see any pitcher in a spot to truly dominate, and feel any of the $8.5-$9.8K options are your best bet. Currently learning Tanaka and Berrios, but don’t be surprised to see a higher ownership for a late night hammer in Buehler.  

Thoughts from the Fantasy Alarm Team:  Our pitching coach, Brett Talley, likes Greinke and Mikolas as top priced options with Buehler, but like Buehler’s price best on DK. Berrios and Tanaka are his mid-priced plays, while Anderson is his bargain shopping pitcher.

Our projections have Buehler, Gonzalez, Greinke, Berrios, and Tanaka as your top five projected pitchers, with Anderson checking in as the top value play.

 

Top Hitting Targets:   

There are plenty of other routes to take with details given in the playbook, coaches, and our other tools if wanting to look elsewhere.

On FD, I’m only using a catcher if in a team stack unless you feel strongly about Gary Sánchez over the similar priced 1B options.  Sanchez is the top catcher tonight on both sites, but catcher is always a good spot to save some salary with as well. Pedro Severino and Francisco Peña both work for cheap if you plan on targeting other players from their teams, while Yasmani Grandal and Welington Castillo could be popular mid-priced options.

Freddie Freeman is the top priced first base option, and Howard’s top first base play tonight as well.  Mark Reynolds has a sneaky good DK price if targeting Erlin, while José Abreu should remain a more popular option than Jose Martinez and Cody Bellinger .  I listed Jesus Aguilar as a low owned gpp option tonight, and makes for a great specialty game play as well.

Ozzie Albies and the Braves may not be as highly owned as they have been over the past few days.  I really like Howard’s second base plays in the playbook, and feel like Yoan Moncada leading off and Asdrubal Cabrera batting second are both solid options.  If not wanting to load up on the last place White Sox vs a poor pitcher, Brian Dozier vs a lefty is always in play for me.

Anthony Rendón and Matt Davidson will be popular options, and can always use Mark Reynolds for cheap on DK.  Jon spoke about the Marlins in the stacks piece, and makes a solid case for them vs Vargas. Prado checks in as a cheap leadoff option if looking to be different.  Jake Lamb remains cheap on FD, but not sure if today is his welcome back homer game.

Shortstop is a tough call between paying fully up for Manny Machado , or going slightly cheaper for Trea Turner .  Will leave that up to you depending on how you structure your lineups, but both are top options. Is Didi Gregorius as bad as his 1-45 slump?  Nope, but wouldn’t take him on FD outside of a Yankees stack. On DK, I’m not against saving the salary to go with him, but personally sticking with one of the top two options.

Outfield is always wide open in terms of routes to consider taking.  If not stacking, I prefer to pay up for one spot, punt the other, and use the last spot to pick a player from a team that I’m already targeting.  Even on a solid nine game slate, tonight is all about the Yankees. Aaron Judge , Giancarlo Stanton , Brett Gardner , and Aaron Hicks are all top plays at their price ranges, but can’t ignore Bryce Harper and Tommy Pham ’s spots as well.  You may need to sacrifice another position, but feel you need at least two of those OF options tonight. I’m close to being with Howard on Daniel Palka batting cleanup for the White Sox as a value play tonight. My concern is having more White Sox options than Yankees and Nationals tonight if playing cash games.  Not in the cleanup spot, but still batting a solid fifth for the Cards, is Tyler O’Neil. He’s just as cheap and has gone deep in back to back games.