MLB Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Stacks for August 2, 2017
*Austyn Varney*
MLB Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Stacks – Tuesday, August 2, 2017
*STARTING PITCHERS*
Dallas Keuchel Vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Park – Minute Maid Park
Vegas O/U – 9
An elite lefty against the Tampa Bay Rays is never too tough to decipher. When looking at what the Rays do against lefties, it’s quite clear why. They’ve ranked 23rd in the league with a. .307 wOBA against righties, while coming in 2nd in K% at 25. The team is good against lefties. Outside of Evan Longoria, everyone on the team either K’s a ton or is ineffective against righties. Keuchel has dominated both lefties as righties this year though his numbers against righties should actually keep going down. He’s striking out batters at an 8 per 9 clip and walking just 2. He does K nearly 13 lefties per 9, so those guys can basically just stay in the dugout. All in all, this is a slate you want to pay up for pitcher on and Keuchel looks to be the somewhat clear option. At least for me.
Jake Arrieta Vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Park – Wrigley Field
Vegas O/U – N/A
If you want to pivot off of Keuchel or simply want a lower owned option, Jake Arrieta is a phenomenal way to go. He’ll welcome the Diamondbacks to Wrigley Field and hopefully shut them down with the same ease. We all know where the Diamondbacks are dangerous. Against righties, they especially rely on David Peralta and Jake Lamb. While those 2 guys are absolute animals, I expect Arrieta to pitch around them. The rest of the order is pretty weak against righties and strikeout nearly 23% of the time. Arrieta has definitely been worse against lefties this year and it’ll be interesting to see how he approaches the game this late into the season. Arrieta has also seen his K/9 dip to around 8, though it’s allowed his BB/9 and LOB% to drop. The Diamondbacks are nowhere near the offense outside of Chase Field and should have some trouble with Arrieta in Wrigley. Let’s hope.
*OFFENSIVE STACKS*
Pittsburgh Pirates Vs. Robert Stephenson (Reds)
Park – PNC Park
Implied Total – 5.25
It doesn’t take too long to figure out why Vegas has the Pirates projected for over 6 runs. Good ol’ Robert Stephenson. I have no idea why this guy isn’t pitching in A working on his game, but he’s not. He’s in the majors and simply shouldn’t be. He’s posted a .400 wOBA against both sides of the plate in consecutive years. Come on. Even if he improves greatly, he will be considered bad. As for the Pirates and who I like most, Marte and Frazier hit that spot. McCutchen and Bell would be the next 2 with Cervelli following closely behind. He hits righties better and will go ignored at a very weak position. This is a team who is going to put up runs and I don’t think the general public will be all too interested.
Main Stack – Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Josh Bell, Adam Frazier
Sneaky Stack – Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Josh Bell, Francisco Cervelli
Park – Marlins Park
Implied Total – 4.83
Ah, Vance Worley. I’m not exactly sure what the Marlins were looking for, but unless that’s an atrocity of a pitcher, they didn’t get it. He’s posted a .375+ wOBA against both lefties and righties and has had serious issues with the HR ball. There is no team to better capitalize than the Nationals. The Nats are obviously one of the 3 best orders in the league and can be targeted many different ways. Daniel Murphy and Bryce Harper are the only 2 musts. After that, you can go anywhere from Wilmer Difo in the leadoff spot to Anthony Rendon in the 6 hole. All in all, this slate is pretty big and I don’t think the Nats come in over 20% owned outside of Harper.
Main Stack – Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy, Wilmer Difo, Ryan Zimmerman
Sneaky Stack – Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy, Anthony Rendon, Adam Lind