MLB DFS: Friday, July 12th returns us back to the MLB action with thirteen “main” slate games for Yahoo MLB, DraftKings MLB, FanDuel MLB and FantasyDraft with some phenomenal hitting environments on the docket. Before you lock in your fantasy baseball lineups, make sure to check out Awesemo’s MLB rankings and projections. Not a member? Sign up HERE and use Promo Code: MLBSTACKS for 50% off any one month subscription.
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Greetings Gamers! Welcome to the Friday slate as we return from the MLB All-Star Break in earnest!
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Main Slate
New York Yankees vs RHP Aaron Sanchez – 7.0 implied runs
With summer temperatures on the East Coast, with the requisite increased humidity, a game in Coors Field with a 12.0 and climbing run total along with 88-90 degree first pitch heat AND a game in Arlington which also is featuring 90ish degree first pitch temperatures we have ample opportunities to see popularity on the various stacks diffused which will make for fun tournament action.
Hat tip to RHP Aaron Sanchez who managed to stop his negative fantasy point performance streak at four with a decent outing against the Baltimore Orioles, however, this is a game in the Bronx with the Yankees carrying the highest implied run total of the slate… at least the Toronto bullpen will be well rested after the All-Star Break.
Since the beginning of last season, Sanchez has an 18.0 K% which is within hailing distance of league average, however, it is offset by the 12.6 BB% and the 5.26 xFIP is the key advanced indicator. Though he has allowed “only” 14 home runs over his 92.0 innings this season, the 6.16 ERA and 1.75 WHIP let us know that his groundball rate which traditionally approaches 50% is not saving him anymore.
Over his last 464 righty-lefty matchups since the beginning of last season, he has allowed a .371 wOBA, .176 ISO, 14.0 BB% with a 17.7 K% and 441 right-handed batsmen have compiled a .338 wOBA< .130 ISO, 11.1 BB% with an 18.4 K%.
My favorite player is going to be Didi Gregorius who is at a bargain price across the main DFS sites and a nice counter to those that will be rolling with Trevor Story in the Coors Field Extravaganza. With the reasonable price for Gregorius, leaving him out of your “full” Yankees stacks would be a good way to begin your differentiation strategy. Considering price, position eligibility and projected production, the preferred order of the remaining options will be Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, D.J. LeMahieu, Edwin Encarnacion, Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres and then anyone else in the starting lineup… heck and the bat boy as well.
Evening Slate
St Louis Cardinals vs LHP Robbie Ray – 4.4 implied runs
With his price point on the 2-SP sites of Yahoo, DraftKings and FantasyDraft it will be interesting to see if LHP Robbie Ray gains much traction against the Redbirds who have not been quite as dominant against southpaws as one would expect based on their right-heavy lineup and over the last 30 days they have essentially been in the bottom third of the league in most combined offensive categories.
This has all lead to some pretty depressed price tags and of course may increase the interest in this group as a whole since they are a solid “second” stack coming at a discount… we will have to check out the Awesemo+ stacking tool and pitching popularity %s closer to lock.
Paul Goldschmidt gets a nice “remember me” game against his former franchise and it seems that his lumber has awakened from the early season slumber (come on, admit that you missed my corny jokes) and he is in a phenomenal spot with the 85-87 degree temperature and 50-55% humidity next to the Mississippi river which makes Busch Stadium very hitter friendly.
We can roll out a variety of his teammates, most of whom will be coming at a cheap price tag with Jose Martinez, Paul DeJong, Harrison Bader and Tyler O’Neill being the preferred options. There is a chance Matt Carpenter will be in action after missing a couple weeks with a back strain.
Late Slate
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs RHP Mike Leake – 5.7 implied runs
RHP Mike Leake has allowed 23 home runs this season which is tied for second in the league this season and his 46 since the beginning of last year are tied for seventh. This will be the third time the Halos have faced him and in the prior two meetings he has gone 1-1 over 13.0 innings with a 4.15 ERA, 1.00 WHIP though with only half a dozen strikeouts and a healthy five home runs allowed.
This lofty implied run total will have gamers taking notice, however there are still four teams with higher implied totals (NYY, COL, HOU, CIN) along with five more topping 5.0 implied runs (MIL, OAK, BOS, TBR, LAD).
Our focus of course will be the Angels in the outfield (yeah, I went there) with Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Kole Calhoun leading the way and if Justin Upton is in the lineup after dealing with a sore quad leading into the All-Star Break, he is a fine option as well – particularly when we consider that gamers are not particularly fond of using all of their outfield positions on hitters from the same team.
Justin Bour or Albert Pujols make for solid stacking options depending on which ends up in the lineup and then we can round things out with Andrelton Simmons, David Fletcher and whomever is behind the dish.
As always, you can reach out to me in Awesemo.com Premium Slack or on Twitter @EMacDFS if you have any questions.
Good Luck Gamers! ~ EMac
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