Hey, everyone. Jared from Fantasy Cruncher here. I’ll be writing the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday FanDuel MLB Lineup Advice articles every week for FantasyPros this year. Really excited to share my thoughts and recommended plays with you throughout the season!
This evening, we have another full 15-game slate to work with. Lineups lock tonight at 7:10 pm EST.
For reference throughout the season, be sure to bookmark our overview of MLB Park Factors and how to Use Weather to Your Advantage in MLB DFS. Also, check out our GPP and Cash Games Primers to learn more about different daily fantasy game types specific to MLB.
Weather
Right now, the only risk of rain that I see is in St. Louis where it is currently seeing an approximate 90% chance of rain at game time. There’s still a ways to go, but keep a close eye if you decide that is a route you’d like to go for pitching or hitting exposure. I’d recommend steering clear with so many other strong games to focus on.
Overall Thoughts
There are a couple different ways to go with your mound choice on Wednesday. Jacob deGrom, Drew Pomeranz, and even Julio Urias jump off the page for me. We have some very hittable arms taking the hill as well, with plenty of exploitability from an offense perspective to back it up. Houston, Boston, Cleveland and Minnesota all have great match-ups and high team totals (just to name a few). You can build a strong team of bats behind either the $10K+ arm or the tier below, so let’s dive in and have a look at one way to build a competitive lineup for the evening.
Create Optimal FanDuel lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool 
Pitcher
Jacob deGrom (NYM): $11,000 @ ATL
It was a close call between deGrom and Pomeranz (with Urias lurking as a 10-20% multi-entry GPP kind of guy for me tonight), but ultimately deGrom won out thanks to his K prowess of late. He has double-digit strikeouts in three straight games and sports a slate-high 12.5 K/9 through his first five starts in 2017. The 2.77 SIERA is also best on the slate, as is the absurd 17.8% swinging strike rate which is miles away from anyone else on the board today, too. The Braves are a pesky group, and we always need to give credit to Freddie Freeman – but I do think deGrom makes for a terrific cash game anchor as a guy you can lock in for 7 IP, 8+ Ks, and 2-3 ER on the high side.
Other Notables
Catcher
Salvador Perez (KC): $3,400 vs CWS
As we usually find on a day where you have a terrible SP taking the hill like Mike Pelfrey, I have a ton of heart for stacking against a low-K, high-contact arm with an offense that is at home in decent hitting conditions. We should see the temperature around 50 degrees come game time, and while that may not jump off the page, Pelfrey’s mere 10.8% K rate and 1.63 WHIP over the last couple years (4.78 xFIP) scream mediocrity in every sense of the word. Perez has been swinging a hot bat this year against both RHP and LHP and is a great anchor behind the dish on Wednesday. Note that Evan Gattis is a fantastic pivot if you don’t want to have as heavy exposure to the Royals as I am suggesting with this lineup.
Other Notables
Evan Gattis– * Editor’s note: Gattis is not in the lineup today- Brian McCann
- Austin Hedges
First Base
Edwin Encarnacion (CLE): $3,300 @ DET
Despite not hitting for much power to start the year, Edwin is looking better these days and comes with a great price point on FanDuel at only $3,300. The Indians have some of the better leading indicators on the slate, with a 4.6 implied run total and incredibly soft SP opponent (Matt Boyd and his 5.13 SIERA through his first 25.2 IP). A fly ball pitcher facing a strong RHP-hitting offense? Yes, please.
Other Notables
Second Base
Whit Merrifield (KC): $2,700 vs CWS
Merrifield has been hitting the ball well lately, with a near 50% hard hit rate over his last 10 games, and has been batting at the top of the order more often than not when in the lineup. He is the second part of my Royals stack here today and makes for an excellent value under $3,000 against Pelfrey. I love Brian Dozier and feel that Dustin Pedroia is a fine pivot off Merrifield if he happens to be bumped down in the order, so keep an eye on those guys as back-up options (or if you don’t want to go 4-deep against Pelfrey). There is a good chance Moustakas leads off, which may bump him back down to 6th or 7th in the order, lowering the appeal.
Other Notables
Third Base
Mike Moustakas (KC): $3,300 vs CWS
I was tempted to roll with one of Miguel Sano or Yulieski Gurriel here in their respective spots, but I’m loving Moose far too much these days. He has a .400 wOBA split vs RHP over the last year and a gaudy .313 ISO as well. I already spoke about how I am excited to attack Pelfrey tonight with Royals bats, and he should be in the top third of the lineup on Wednesday night. Let’s do this.
Other Notables
Shortstop
Carlos Correa (HOU): $3,700 vs TEX
Hard to believe I don’t have Corey Seager in this spot, right? Well, I would be lying if I said he wasn’t tempting as a building block, but I think he’s a fine guy to keep on the sidelines tonight. Correa is in a great spot against the reverse-splits Nick Martinez, who sports a wOBA of nearly .380 to opposing RHB. Correa has been swinging the bat very well lately and is making some of the hardest contact at the position right now. In a great hitting environment, I am all over him as one of my top spends behind deGrom.
Other Notables
Outfield
Josh Reddick (HOU): $2,800 vs TEX
Despite being a reverse splits pitcher, Martinez still allows plenty of production to opposing LHBs. Reddick’s price is still extremely fair at only $2,800 considering he is averaging nearly 9 FDP per game so far in 2017, and he crushes RHP. He’s a fairly high-floor option for your OF in a very good spot on the slate against a hittable arm.
Cory Spangenberg (SD): $2,500 vs COL
One of the more under-the-radar situations to have exposure to is in San Diego, where Antonio Senzatela takes the hill for the Rockies. Unless you look below the surface, you’d likely see the 2.81 ERA and think we’re looking at a rock solid arm. Right? Wrong. His 4.5 SIERA, 5.5% whiff rate and 21.3% chase rate are just about as bad as it gets on the slate, and Spangenberg has really been driving the ball well with solid line drive and hard hit rates over the last week. For the price, I’m loving the play as a middle-of-the-order bat with a great split and potential for 1-2 hits, an SB and a run.
Jorge Bonifacio (KC): $2,400 vs CWS
Bonifacio rounds out the Royals stack here today as a lower-half hitter at a really nice price against Pelfrey. I expect that Kansas City is going to have a few crooked innings against him, and while we may not see a ton of long balls (Pelfrey is pretty good at keeping the ball in the yard), they should single, double and run him to death here. Bonifacio has been making solid contact of late and carries a very attractive price point, making him an excellent option to round out the roster.
Other Notables
- Michael Conforto
- Jay Bruce
- Andrew Toles
- Kevin Pillar
- Max Kepler
- Mike Trout
- Carlos Gonzalez
- Ian Desmond
My Lineup
- SP – Jacob deGrom (NYM)
- C- Evan Gattis (HOU)
- 1B – Eric Hosmer (KC)
- 2B – Whit Merrifield (KC)
- 3B – Mike Moustakas (KC)
- SS – Carlos Correa (HOU)
- OF – Josh Reddick (HOU)
- OF – Carlos Gonzalez (COL)
- OF – Cody Bellinger (LAD)
Play in today’s FanDuel Mixup contest! Entry is FREE with cash prizes
Jared Kwart is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jared, find his work at FantasyCruncher.com and follow him @FCJaredK.
