DFS MLB Lineups for September 5, 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!
9/5/17 MAIN SLATE TOURNAMENT RUNDOWN
DraftKings Old Timer’s Day Main: $1,869 buy-in, $1M guaranteed
DraftKings Medium Old Timer’s Day: $88 buy-in, $400k guaranteed
DraftKings Mini Old Timer’s Day: $8 buy-in, $125k guaranteed
FanDuel Deuces Wild: $222 buy-in, $555k guaranteed
FanDuel Squeeze: $9 buy-in, $125k guaranteed
FanDuel Grand Slam: $33 buy-in, $50k guaranteed
Best DFS MLB Pitchers for September 5, 2017
Justin Verlander @ SEA ($11.5k DraftKings, $8.6k FanDuel)
In his final showing with the Tigers, Verlander dominated despite facing tough conditions at Coors Field and his first matchup as a member of the Astros is not necessarily as daunting, and as a bonus, he checks in at a very cheap price tag on FD. Current Mariners have more K’s (60) than hits (54) with a weak .291 wOBA over 231 combined at-bats against Verlander, which isn’t surprising since the RHP has posted a .218 BAA and 9.83 K/9 ratio against LHP this year. He could continue to dominate that lefty-heavy lineup on the road as he looks to finish 2017 with another blistering second half.
Danny Salazar @ CWS ($9.7k DraftKings, $9.4k FanDuel)
Picking on the light-hitting White Sox with hard-throwing RHP has been a winning formula lately, as young Twins flamethrower Jose Berrios recently posted the best line of his career (7 IP, 11 K’s, 4 H, 0 ER) against the American League’s worst offense against righties (based on CWS collective .305 wOBA) and Salazar has more experience and arguably more talent. Despite getting lit up in his last outing at KC, he’s flashed upside with a solid floor recently and has struck out a whopping 28 batters over 17 IP (3 starts) against the White Sox this year.
Julio Teheran vs. TEX ($7.7k DraftKings, $8.0k FanDuel)
Felling lucky? It might not be time to fully trust Teheran again, but he is worth a look at home against a Rangers offense that’s disappointed all year and is likely to take a downward turn with Adrian Beltre on the DL. Teheran’s 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA and 9.00 K/9 ratio over his last 4 outings and he was more reliable with a 2.86 ERA and .221 BAA over the past 3 seasons at home before falling apart this season when the Braves moved into their new park. He’s posted good reverse-platoon splits with a .235 BAA against LHB this year and Texas now has more of a lefty-loaded lineup.
Other pitchers to consider: Jacob deGrom, Kyle Hendricks, Zach Davies, Eduardo Rodriguez, Miguel Gonzalez
Best DFS MLB Hitters for September 5, 2017
Nolan Arenado vs. SF ($5.2k DraftKings, $4.3k FanDuel)
While he didn’t quite light it up in a plus matchup on Monday, Arenado was solid against veteran LHP Matt Moore and he can get used to that arm angle with young southpaw Ty Blach scheduled to start at Coors tonight. Blach is rocking a rough 5.57 ERA with a 1.53 HR/9 ratio and giving up a 21.2% HR/FB ratio when facing RHB on the road this year, while Arenado is hitting .407 with a .431 ISO Mark and 212 wRC+ when facing lefties and he happens to be 5-for-8 over a small sample of at-bats against the Giants rookie.
Jonathan Schoop vs. NYY ($4.5k DraftKings, $4.0k FanDuel)
A sneaky stud this season who seems to often go unnoticed in GPP formats, Schoop has a chance to blow up in tonight’s matchup. Yankees veteran C.C. Sabathia has been solid in 3 consecutive starts, but has also been tagged for 10 runs (9 ER) over 2 starts against the O’s this year and is giving up a 1.32 HR/9 ratio with a 31.7% Hard Contact Rate when facing righties this year. Schoop is posting a .306 ISO Mark with a 40.4% Hard Contact Rate and 23.1% HR/FB ratio against LHP and he’s been hot throughout the second half with a .330 average since the ASB.
Ryan Braun @ CIN ($4.1k DraftKings, $2.9k FanDuel)
After an incredibly cold stretch, Braun appears to be heating up again with 5 hits over his last 2 appearances and he remains relatively cheap on DK ahead of a plus matchup. Reds RHP Robert Stephenson has done well since returning to the rotation but his success came against weak offense in the Pirates and Mets and not a Brewers lineup that’s tagged him in each of his 3 relief appearances. Braun’s posted a 20% HR/FB ratio off righties and Stephenson’s giving up a 1.72 HR/9 ratio in RvR matchups.
Other hitters to consider: Mike Trout, J.D. Martinez, Byron Buxton, Austin Jackson, Cameron Maybin, Hernan Perez, Whit Merrifield, Didi Gregorious, Buster Posey, Lorenzo Cain
9/5/17 DFS MLB STACKS
Diamondbacks vs Hyun-Jin Ryu
One could say that Ryu’s implosion in a start against the D’Backs last Wednesday was an outlier, but it seems more logical to assert that Arizona’s general inefficacy against lefties this season is bound to regress towards the mean. This is a lineup stacked with RHB that have made their living by crushing lefties in Paul Goldschmidt, A.J. Pollock and now, J.D. Martinez. All three are elite options tonight against Ryu, while Chris Iannetta and Brandon Drury are both appealing values.
Cubs vs Steven Brault
Big lefty Steven Brault makes his first start of the season after posting a 4.86 ERA with a 5.07 FIP over 8 appearances during his rookie season, and he’s been uninspiring thus far in 2017 with a 5.93 ERA over 6 relief appearances this year. The Cubs are hitting a collective .271 with the fourth-highest wOBA (.344) in the Majors against LHP this year and their two best sluggers in Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are quite prolific against southpaws. Rene Rivera is platooning with Alex Avila at catcher and he could be a great value, while Ben Zobrist could be worth a look as a dangerous switch hitter.
Other Stacks to consider:
Rockies vs. Ty Blach
Brewers vs. Robert Stephenson
Indians vs. David Holmberg
