DFS MLB Lineups for September 1, 2017 at Draftkings.com & Fanduel.com
For this daily fantasy baseball season, each day there’s a good slate of DFS MLB games, we’ll be writing up a group of pitchers and hitters that we’re considering for our cash and GPP lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel. We’ll also provide a list of stacks to consider, MLB start times, starting pitchers, and game run totals to give you a good idea of where the fantasy goodness might come from on a given night. As with any DFS sport, the advice below is relevant for fantasy purposes. A player or team might be better or worse from a fantasy perspective than they are in real life due to matchup, price, park factor, etc. This is important when constructing a roster. And if you’re looking for new ways to play DFS, be sure and give BOOM Fantasy and DRAFT a try!
A quick reminder while playing DFS MLB, don’t forget baseball is a game of variance. You can make a really solid lineup and still fall short of the cash line. Even Chris Sale can get lit up, and Paul Goldschmidt can still go 0 for 4. Baseball is funny like that. Trust the process and know that if you’re playing quality lineups, you’ll be a winner in the long term.
Another thing to remember outside of making sure your player is in the lineup, is to always check the weather. Always. Make this something that is part of your basic routine. Baseball games can get postponed! Your players receive no points from postponed games!
9/1/17 MAIN SLATE TOURNAMENT RUNDOWN
DraftKings Mega 7th Inning Stretch: $777 buy-in, $650k guaranteed
DraftKings Medium 7th Inning Stretch: $77 buy-in, $400k guaranteed
DraftKings Mini 7th Inning Stretch: $7 buy-in, $125k guaranteed
FanDuel Monster: $777 buy-in, $300k guaranteed
FanDuel Grand Slam: $44 buy-in, $100k guaranteed
FanDuel Squeeze: $9 buy-in, $125k guaranteed
Best DFS MLB Pitchers for September 1, 2017
Gerrit Cole vs. CIN ($11.1k DraftKings, $9.1k FanDuel)
We whiffed on pitching yesterday, but nights like last night happen in the DFS MLB grind. We’re back in the saddle with Gerrit Cole. Cole turned around his season in a big way and recently dominated the Reds over 7 scoreless innings to maintain his 3.19 ERA and 1.11 WHIP since the ASB. He’s also up to a 9.10 K/9 ratio during that span and will face the same lineup at home, where he’s posting a superior 3.84 FIP and will have less risk of giving up cheap HRs than he might at Cincy’s Great American Ballpark. Current Reds have more K’s (31) than hits (29) over 109 combined at-bats against Cole and only Billy Hamilton has given him trouble by stealing an incredible 13 bases off Cole, but Hamilton’s not exactly a consistent threat at the plate.
Sonny Gray vs. BOS ($8.8k DraftKings, $8.8k FanDuel)
There aren’t many tougher matchups a SP can draw than facing the Red Sox, but Gray is capable of improving on his surprisingly weak outing (5 IP, 2 ER, 0 K’s) in Fenway Park on August 20. The RHP has been excellent with a 2.08 ERA and .174 BAA to go 2-0 in his first 2 home starts as a Yankee. Current Red Sox are 20-for-87 (.230) with 19 K’s in their careers against him, with only Mitch Moreland doing damage via the long ball. He’s one of the better pitchers in the A.L. and is quite a bargain on DK tonight.
Dan Straily vs. PHI ($8.6k DraftKings, $8.2k FanDuel)
If you simply want a reliable cash game option in the same range as Gray, consider Straily. He’s been quite consistent with a 3.01 ERA over 14 home starts this season and is working off consecutive Quality Starts, including a 10-strikeout performance against these Phillies. Philadelphia ranks 26th in collective wOBA (.309) with the seventh-highest K-Rate (23%) in the Majors this year and Straily should get plenty of run support with the white-hot Giancarlo Stanton leading the Marlins offense.
Other pitchers to consider: Cole Hamels, Jimmy Nelson, Dinelson Lamet, Doug Fister, Chris Stratton, Kevin Gausman
Best DFS MLB Hitters for September 1, 2017
Nolan Arenado vs. ARI ($5.1k DraftKings, $4.5k FanDuel)
The preferred option at 3B tonight would’ve been Adrian Beltre at home against a vulnerable LHP, but he suffered a hamstring injury and probably won’t be able to go on Friday. Arenado is a fine consolation prize against a mediocre RHP in Taijuan Walker, who has been boom or bust throughout his career and is giving up a 32.1% Hard Contact Rate on the road against righties. Arenado is 3-for-8 in his career against Walker, but has mashed against all comers and is a bit under priced along with the rest of the Rockies.
Adam Jones vs. TOR ($4.4k DraftKings, $3.4k FanDuel)
Jones has posted intriguing reverse-platoon splits over the past several years and he’s hitting .288 with a .200 ISO Mark in RvR matchups this season. Tonight he’ll face one of the more vulnerable righties out there in Joe Biagini, who is sporting a 5.40 ERA over 38 appearances out of the bullpen for the most part and struggled even more over the majority of his 12 starts. Jones is 4-for-8 over a small sample against Biagini and is in the midst of a nice power surge with a .384 wOBA and .560 slugging percentage during August.
Christian Yelich vs. PHI ($4.2k DraftKings, $3.7k FanDuel)
While Stanton justifiably gets all the attention during his historic run, Yelich has quietly produced in the middle of the Marlins lineup with a .333 average and 1.114 OPS over his last 10 appearances. He’s a dual threat with 12 SB and 16 HRs on the season and will have the platoon advantage against RHP Nick Pivetta, who has posted a 7.62 ERA with a 1.79 WHIP on the road this season and given up an 18.4% HR/FB ratio this season. Yelich also has hit 2 HRs over just 5 career plate appearances against the Phillies rookie.
Other hitters to consider: Giancarlo Stanton, Paul Goldschmidt, Nelson Cruz, Brandon Crawford, Dee Gordon, Elvis Andrus, Mike Zunino, Ian Desmond
9/1/17 DFS MLB STACKS
Mariners vs Sean Manaea
Clearly the most appealing component of this stack would be lefty-killer Nelson Cruz, who leads the A.L. with 103 RBIs and has hit .300 with a .403 wOBA at home against LHP this year. He’s already tagged Manaea for 6 hits, 4 walks and 2 HRs over 15 career plate appearances and will be licking his chops to face the vulnerable southpaw. Jean Segura could start things off for Seattle as a dangerous leadoff man and Robinson Cano has been good in LvL matchups this year. You can definitely use Mitch Haniger in GPP formats after his monstrous line on Wednesday and Mike Zunino makes for an intriguing boom-bust option at catcher.
Royals vs Dillon Gee
The former Mets RHP has been prone to getting lit up throughout his career because Gee simply leaves too many fastballs up in the zone and doesn’t have the velocity to overcome that issue. With a 15.6% HR/FB ratio on the year and .312 BAA when facing the platoon, Gee is ripe for a Royals stack led by Eric Hosmer and the struggling Mike Moustakas. Lorenzo Cain and Melky Cabrera are both solid mid-tier options with good track records in the past against Gee and Brandon Moss might be worth a look as a true GPP play depending on his placement within the lineup.
Other Stacks to consider:
Marlins vs. Nick Pivetta
Rockies vs. Taijuan Walker
Orioles vs. Joe Biagini
Rangers vs. Tyler Skaggs
