If you've never played daily fantasy baseball before, it's time to start. Unlike traditional leagues, you're able to select the players you want on that specific day only, giving you a different squad to root for each and every day.
And while there are many platforms to play daily fantasy baseball on, one of our favorites is from our partners over at DraftKings.com, a place where over $300,000,000 will be won this baseball season. Never played over there before? It's time for that to change. Sign up now and use our optimal lineups here at numberFire.com to crush the competition. You won't regret it.
As for today's lineups -- those can be found here. The information below is to help you understand why particular players are being picked, because we don't want you going into the things completely blind. We want to help you. Keep in mind, however, that things often change up until the games start, so make sure you're refreshing the optimal lineups as close to the start of games as possible.
Top Pitchers
High-Cost Pitcher
Lance Lynn – Tonight's slate of pitchers will make you not want to play daily fantasy baseball, but if you are, it's Lynn for the win. The Cards are heavy favorites against the Reds in St. Louis, and Lynn will get a Reds team that's been pretty average against right-handers, ranking 15th in wOBA. The matchup isn't ideal considering the Reds' bigger bats are left-handers (and then there's Todd Frazier who can hit anything and anyone), but with a slate like tonight, an average matchup with a pitcher who has a 2.68 FIP and 9.80 strikeout per nine rate on the year is phenomenal.
Alternative Option: N/A
Cost-Effective Pitcher
Kyle Hendricks – If you'd rather spend a little less on pitcher, our algorithm is into Kyle Hendricks at home against the Rockies. Hendricks has been solid this season, as evidenced by his 3.24 FIP and 3.31 xFIP. The real reason you'd want to use him tonight is because, although Colorado has hit to the best wOBA in the bigs versus righties, their wOBA on the road ranks 26th in Major League Baseball. Wrigley isn't Coors Field -- take advantage of that.
Alternative Option: Kevin Gausman
High-Cost Hitters
Alex Rodriguez – The Yankees will face lefty Matt Harrison tonight in Texas, in a game that has a nine run over/under. Harrison has a career 4.32 FIP and has struck out just 5.52 batters per nine innings over his 662.1 inning career, surrendering a .340 wOBA to right-handed bats. That's where A-Rod comes in, who has the platoon advantage in the hitter's park. The Yankees and A-Rod could do some serious work tonight.
Hanley Ramirez – Ramirez has a .359 wOBA against left-handed pitching this season, with an impressive .265 ISO, which is 85 points higher than the power he's getting off of righties. He'll have the platoon advantage tonight against southpaw John Danks, who's one of the most stackable pitchers in baseball. Target HanRam, and target those Red Sox right-handers.
Alternative Option: Manny Machado
Cost-Effective Hitters
Adam LaRoche – LaRoche isn't a sexy play by any means, but when he's facing a righty, he's never a terrible punt option. He has just a .318 wOBA against them this year, but over his career, LaRoche has hit to a .357 wOBA versus them. Joe Kelly and his 4.48 FIP is on the mound against the White Sox -- though he's looked like a reverse splits pitcher this year, over his career, he hasn't been.
Eric Hosmer – Hosmer's been lightyears better against right-handed pitching than left-handed hurlers this year, hitting to a .384 wOBA in the split. He'll go up against Cody Anderson, who has just 33 innings of Major League experience. Given this and his price tag, Hosmer's not a bad option.
Alternative Option: Mookie Betts