Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Thursday, July 9th! 

Let’s start the week on the right foot with some winning lineups today. We have an 11-game main slate in store for us this evening on DraftKings and FanDuel starting at 7:05 PM ET. Today, we have plenty of talent on the diamond and many different ways to build your lineup. Our expert analysis is here to guide you through the top pitchers, value plays, and stackable offenses to target.

Whether chasing big GPP prizes or grinding cash games, we’ve got you covered with insights tailored to today’s matchups. Let’s jump right into the key plays and strategies to dominate the slate!

 

This season's MLB DFS picks and playbook will consist of a pitcher and hitter core players section with written analysis, player pool grid and core stacks section.

The core player section should be used as a starting point for all lineups, you may not be able to use all players in the same lineup, but those players should be the building blocks for you on a given night.

The player pool grid will feature both players from the core player section along with additional plays to help you build a complete lineup. The grid will be broken into top priced players, mid-priced players and value tier players.

The stacks section will bring you are favorite lineups stacks for the day and which players we would look to include in those stacks based on matchups and pricing.

Check out the MLB DFS Show to get an initial outlook on the day's MLB DFS slate to give you a good base for the start of your research each day! 

Make sure you subscribe to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel so you never miss a show! Also, join the Fantasy Alarm Discord to get your DFS lineup questions answered by our MLB DFS team! Plus, as always, be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the Daily MLB Projections, MLB DFS Rostership Projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting.

 

MLB DFS Picks & MLB Playbook

MLB Weather: Wednesday, 7/9

Seattle Mariners @ New York Yankees

This game looks much better than it did earlier in the day. Should play with no real issue, could have a slight delay like there was yesterday.

New York Mets @ Baltimore Orioles

This game has been PPD.

Atlanta Braves @ Athletics

It's going to be 90 degrees in a small, minor league ballpark. That's a good thing for offense.

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Let's get into today's core pitching plays for our DFS lineups

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Kris Bubic, Kansas City Royals

There has been nothing going on in Pittsburgh to suggest they'll be able to get to Kris Bubic here and Bubic will likely be quite popular because of it. Even an improved Pirates offense vs. LHP in the past month ranks 24th in OPS, 25th in wOBA, and 27th in wRC+ with a 24.5% K-rate.

MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals

The Cardinals were good against lefties earlier in the year but over the past month, that has not been the case. In fact, they've been awful. They rank 29th in OPS and wOBA and 27th in wRC+. They have a 22% K-rate over that span and now face a strikeout expert in MacKenzie Gore. Gore has a massive ceiling in this spot.

Brandon Walter, Houston Astros

I'm not sure many people go here with Lucas Giolito in a similar price range facing the Rockies. Walter is interesting because of how bad the Guardians are offensively (as long as Jose Ramirez is avoided). There are a LOT of peripherals to like about Walter. He has a 4/15 ERA but a 3.19 xERA, 2.89 xFIP, 2.98 SIERA, and a 52% GB rate. Cleveland is 25th or worse in OPS, wOBA and wRC+ over the last month against lefties and 28th or worse in those categories for the entire year.

Lucas Giolito, Boston Red Sox

If you haven't watched baseball over the last two days because you were on a trip on ayahuasca, the Rockies have been dominated by Richard Fitts and Brayan Bello. Lucas Giolito has been amazing lately notching five straight quality starts and has allowed just 3 ER total over that span. This is a ceiling spot for Giolito.

Kumar Rocker, Texas Rangers

For a team that has a .172 ISO on the year against right-handed pitching, they're slumping in that department posting a .140 ISO against RHP over the past month. During that span, they've still struck out over 25% of the time and are 20th in OPS, 19th in wOBA, and 21st in wRC+ against right-handed pitching. Rocker has a 5.8 ERA, but a 3.9 xFIP, 3.9 SIERA, and a near 60% GB rate. He's dominated righties this year, which is mostly what the Angels feature.

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Let's check out today's core plays to build our lineups around.

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Sutter Health Park Stacks O'Plenty

Two of the teams with the highest implied totals of the day are in the same game..this one. The Braves have 5.7 implied runs and the Athletics sit at 5.4.

We'll talk Braves first..

They face Mitch Spence, who's numbers are getting worse as the season progresses. Lefties have a .238 ISO, .247 xISO, .386 wOBA, and .378 xwOBA and average 2.1 HR/9 while righties are at .113 ISO, .184 xISO, .274 wOBA, .340 xwOBA.

Ronald Acuna should be back in the lineup & he's dominated righties to a .255 ISO and .462 wOBA. Matt Olson looks fantastic with how good lefties have been, he has a .224 ISO, .277 xISO, .375 wOBA, and .397 xwOBA.

Other Braves options:

On the Athletics front, they face Bryce Elder who's in an absolute free fall on the mound. He's allowed 4 ER or more in four consecutive starts and has allowed seven home runs over that span.

Elder vs. RH - .251 ISO, .215 xISO, 2.2 HR/9, .391 wOBA, .372 xwOBA, 42.6% HH

Elder vs. LH - .221 ISO, .240 xISO, 1.7 HR/9, .361 wOBA, .402 xwOBA, 31.6% HH

With how much righty-power has hurt Elder, the three guys that stand out off rip is Brent Rooker, Shea Langeliers, and Max Muncy. Jacob Wilson Zack Gelof are some other righties to possibly click as well.. Rooker, Langeliers, and Muncy all have ISOs of at least .198 vs. RHP this year.

Lefties have given him issues too, so can I interest you in Lawrence Butler, Nick Kurtz, and Tyler Soderstrom? Butler had two home runs last night and has a .188 ISO vs. RHP. Kurtz has light tower power and a .338 ISO vs. RH. Soderstrom's .218 ISO and .367 wOBA against righty hurlers isn't bad either.

The A's are one of the best stacks of the day.

Yankees Bats..ALIVE?

The Yankees had a breakout on Tuesday and face Logan Evans on Wednesday. Evans has split his time between the majors and the minors this year. Righties are what have given him absolute fits as they're hitting .310 with an .854 OPS against him. At the major league level he's over 2 HR/9 against righties. Lefties have an elevated flyball rate and his xFIP is elevated too, suggesting some luck.

When he's pitched away from Seattle, he hasn't had success this year. On the road, opponents are batting .330 and 1.6 HR/9.

I'm not sure if you heard of that Aaron Judge guy, but he hits from the right side. So does Giancarlo Stanton. 

The Yanks have a boatload of guys from the left side that do damage, too. Jazz Chisholm, Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, and Austin Wells all have an ISO of .200 or better this season against righties. I haven't said Cody Bellinger's name yet, but he's awesome lately.

Look for the Red Sox to Stay Hot

Facing facts here, Antonio Senzatela is really bad. He hasn't really shown any signs of life either.

Vs. LH - .155 ISO, .208 xISO, .409 wOBA, .412 xwOBA, 8% K

Vs. RH - .220 ISO, .223 xISO, .402 wOBA, .386 xwOBA, 15% K

Here's where we're looking for the Red Sox;

Masataka Yoshida is also making his season debut too, and he's a cheap option against a bad pitcher on the other side.

Cubs Have a Festa-val 

The Cubs were a big letdown on Tuesday but baseball is 162 for a reason. We flush yesterday and move onto today. They face David Festa who does have talent, but has a home run problem.

Righties have averaged 2.05 HR/9, .198 ISO, .239 xISO, 44% FB

Lefties are at a .180 xISO, .329 xwOBA

The Cubs top-five are as good as it gets. Ian Happ, Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong & Michael Busch. Any and all of them. Dansby Swanson has pretty good numbers under-the-hood against righties, too. Carson Kelly, if behind the plate, has a .266 ISO vs. RHP this year.

Rangers

Kyle Hendricks has been a reverse splits pitcher this year, allowing over 2 HR/9, 43% FB, .237 ISO, and .374 wOBA against right-handed hitters. That has me looking at Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia, Wyatt Langford, and Jake Burger. Corey Seager has been on fire, too, which ties together this stack perfecetly.

Twins Righties

The Cubs send Cade Horton and one of the worst bullpen's in the league to the mound today and Horton really struggles with right-handed hitters. The Twins did their due diligence and are using six righties in their lineup.

Righties against Horton in '25: .209 ISO, .268 xISO, .365 wOBA, .396 xwOBA, 2.1 HR/9, 41.2% FB, 36.8% HH

Twins righties we're looking at;

Player Pool

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Stacks

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