Good morning and welcome back to the Sunday edition of Covering ALL the Bases, which should be your first read when digging to research any weekend MLB DFS slate for Fanduel or Draftkings. I go by “Thunder Dan” around here and you can find me @ThunderDanDFS on twitter. There are 11 games on today’s main slate for Fanduel and 12 games for Draftkings (they included the Coors game…again).
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On the weekends I write this full slate breakdown in which I try to cover as much as I can about pitching, hitting and roster construction. This article is intended to point you in the right direction and help start your research process. It is by no means a comprehensive list of who play or not to play in today’s contests. Always make sure to check the weather, lineups (especially on Sunday) and our VIP members should try to jump into our premium slack chat to see if our experts have moved on or off certain players.
Pitchers
We have two high priced aces on the main slate today, Trevor Bauer and Justin Verlander. Clayton Kershaw pitches later this afternoon at 4:10 and if you’re playing the late slate, lock him into cash lineups.
The easy cash play for main is Verlander. Ignore the “revenge narrative” BS and instead focus on the fact that he is a ridiculous -350 favorite and facing a Tigers lineup that has Victor Martinez hitting cleanup on a nightly basis. Don’t overthink this one, and lock Verlander into cash lineups and look for some value bats.
Trevor Bauer is very much still in play for tournaments, but the matchup against the Yankees is obviously a dangerous one. Bauer has had success against them in the past, and if he whiffs 12 Yanks today he could outscore Verlander at 1/4 of the ownership.
GPP FAVES
Joe Musgrove costs 7600 on Fanduel today and faces the struggling Brewers. The Pirates have beaten the Brew Crew four games in a row and are going for the 5-game sweep today (can you tell I’m a Pirates fan?) All fan feelings aside if you’ve been reading this column for the last month you know that I am a Musgrove-truther. He’s been up and down this year but is coming off a nine-strikeout performance in only five innings against the Nats. The Brewers are banged up (Thames and Braun hurt) and slumping at the plate and I think Musgrove should be able to put up a quality start and even dominate if he has his good stuff today.
Mike Minor is only 6800 against the Orioles today if you’re looking to get off the De Los Santos chalk. We saw Martin Perez hold Baltimore in check, and Minor is a better pitcher. The Orioles can pretty much lay an egg against anyone at any time, I’m convinced. Our Research Station loves Minor today and I will be overweight on him today in tournaments.
DK SP2 Options
Tyler Anderson is only 7400 on Draftkings and will probably get overlooked yet again since he is pitching at home. He’s simply been awesome in his last three starts (two of which have been at home) and his reverse splits should help him in this matchup with Seattle if they decide to roll out a bunch of right-handed hitters. I’ll like him less if Seattle goes with Span, Gamel, and Hermann. Watch that M’s lineup.
Joe Musgrove – 6600 (see above)
De Los Santos is only 4k on Draftkings today against the Marlins and should be a popular choice for cash games. I see no problem in rolling him out at min price in tournaments, too. He was impressive in his first outing, and his minor league track record suggests he has the talent to keep it up at the MLB level.
Mike Minor – 5900 (see above)
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Hitters
Please remember that if you are playing on Draftkings today, that the Rockies-Mariners game is included on that slate. The Rockies have an enormous team total today and face Mike Leake, who they should be able to smack around. I’m going into a ton of detail here because you should know to play the Rockies at home against a mediocre pitcher. I have very little interest in the Mariners, as I really respect what Tyler Anderson has done in his last three starts.
The Houston Astros are the top stack on the Fanduel main slate. They simply keep rolling along night in and night out and their lineup full of patient right-handed hitters with power should be able to dismantle the washed up lefty Francisco Liriano today.
The Boston Red Sox don’t seem like they can be stopped and they will see Toronto’s worst starter Marcus Stroman today. Personally, I will be looking for some value Sox today like Brock Holt or Jackie Bradley Jr. who can get us some exposure to high team total without strapping your cap.
The St. Louis Cardinals fired their manager Mike Matheny last night. I’m not a big narrative guy, as I’ve said before, but perhaps that move may shake things up for the Red Birds today who really need a win going into the All-Star Break. Matt Carpenter is your top target as usual, but consider a full stack against the Reds today and pay attention to see if they have a different looking lineup.
The New York Mets and Kansas City Royals are not teams we are usually dying to roster, but they could provide some much-needed value today when trying to fit in an ace pitcher like Bauer or Verlander. Both teams have exploitable matchups against lower-end arms today and implied run totals higher than their season average. Brandon Nimmo, Jose Bautista, Michael Conforto, Mike Moustakas, and Lucas Duda are my prime targets here.
I hope this helps you build some winning lineups today! If you like reading my column all I ask if you share it with friends on social media and spread the good word about the DFS Army! Thanks for reading and good luck in your contests!
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