There's nothing quite like a full slate of games on a Friday night in the summertime! We have a 13-game slate on both sites tonight, which means there is no shortage of options on the mound or at the plate!
My job is to help steer you in the right direction, but there are going to be many different paths to green tonight! I always make my dummy build by penciling in my top two pitchers on DK (just one on FD, obviously) and seeing what value I can find to go along with those stud arms. This usually helps me locate my favorite values first and decide which positions I want to punt or spend up on with bats.
As always, this article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Friday's main slate locks at 7:05 EST on 7/15/2022. The lineup picks will range from some elite high-priced players to mid-priced options, and value plays. I'll give you a few of my top pitching options and then some infielders, outfielders, and teams to stack! You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports here. It's also essential to monitor injury news and today's MLB starting lineups. Now that we got all of that out of the way, it's onto the picks!
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DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
If you like data, here are some projections for today's starting pitchers. Green is good for the pitcher, while red is bad!
Brandon Woodruff @ SFG ($10,200 DK, $10,000 FD)
It's a great day to pay up for at least one ace - and maybe two. Woody is in excellent form right now and appears to have turned the corner after a shaky start to the year and a trip to the IL.
Now, he did face Pittsburgh twice and the Rays once so far, so we can probably take his results with a little bit of a grain of salt, but all-in-all he looks great. The velocity is there, his walks are down, and he looks like the co-ace that everyone thought he would be this year.
Clayton Kershaw @ LAA ($9,400 DK, $10,100 FD)
If I have to pick one between Kershaw and Woody (only 100 dollar difference on FD), it has to be Kershaw. Like Woody, he's in great form right now and is coming off two big strikeout outings in a row. The key for me was seeing him pitch 7 or more innings in those last two starts, which is really encouraging and shows that he is working efficiently while still dominating.
This matchup with the Angels is simply one of the best we have seen all season. This team continues to strike out over 30% of the time against both handedness of pitchers and their most recent 14-day trend has been a whopping 35% K rate! I look for Clayton to dominate this hapless Halos squad and if I can squeeze him into some lineups on DK with Woody, I will!
Also consider - Robbie Ray, Alex Wood, Hunter Greene
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Austin Riley - 3B, ATL vs. Patrick Corbin ($5,500 DK, $4,300 FD)
If I get to spend up on just one bat today, it's probably Riley against the lefty Corbin. After crushing righties all of last year, it's been the lefties that Riley is feasting on in the first half of 2022. He's posting some gaudy platoon splits with a .438 wOBA and .372 ISO so far this year. He feasted on the Nats pitching staff in their series last week, gathering six hits over three games with two of those being long balls.
Jorge Polanco - 2B, MIN vs. Michael Kopech ($5,100 DK, $4,000 FD)
The price on Polanco is going to keep some people away here, and the Twins may also go overlooked as Kopech is a pitcher that many people respect. And while I was in on Kopech at the start of the season, I have to say he has been fairly disappointing this year compared to expectations.
The most troubling thing for Kopech is a massive fly-ball rate and hard contact rate to lefties. He has strong splits this year and lefties are crushing the ball off him when they make contact. Polanco's batted ball numbers suggest that he's been a bit unlucky the last few weeks, and the guy can really hit. I'll take a shot on him to go yard or smack a few extra-base hits here tonight.
Aledmys Diaz - 1B/2B/SS/3B/OF, HOU vs. Cole Irvin ($3,200 DK, $2,400 FD)
So he's not eligible at five positions on the same site, it's middle infield and third base on FanDuel and 1B/OF on DK, but Diaz is certainly giving new meaning to the term "super-utility man" with his role in Houston this year.
He's been a really reliable punt option for the last two weeks, even posting some massive scores in there and he has always hit lefties well. He's a crafty, veteran hitter who will draw walks and rarely whiffs. He's such a great cash game play because he so rarely puts up a goose egg, yet he also has the power to be a slate winner if you catch a 20+ point game from him.
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Adam Duvall - OF, ATL vs. Patrick Corbin ($3,400 DK, $2,600 FD)
If you need some salary relief (and you will if you want a stud pitcher and some other Braves) then Duvall looks pretty good at this price. Yes, he is hitting only .202 this season, but he is still a HR threat nightly and has solid power against lefties as evidenced by his .348 ISO this season. He missed this series against Washington last week, but I'm on him tonight as he has an incredible profile against Corbin's sinker/slider combo.
Julio Rodriguez - OF, SEA vs. Taylor Hearn ($6,000 DK, $3,800 FD)
Another pricy hitter here, but I couldn't resist suggesting J-Rod in this matchup. Perhaps our FD players might find it easier to stomach his salary over there. Either way, I can get on board with the ROY (it's already over, people) against the lefty Hearn, who will be serving as the bulk reliever behind Matt Bush. J-Rod has .394 wOBA and .297 ISO against LHP this season, this kid can flat-out rake.
Josh Naylor - 1B/OF, CLE vs. Drew Hutchison ($3,800 DK, $3,200 FD)
Naylor went deep last night and is having a really productive season so far as the Guardians cleanup hitter. Despite missing some time with an injury, he has already slugged 12 home runs in the first half of the season. We get some nice dual eligibility with him on FD and a relatively cheap piece of the Cleveland run total here against the woeful Drew Hutchison and his 6.2 xFIP. Hutchison is the definition of hittable and basically just a placeholder for Detroit as so many of their usual starters are injured.
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
Here are my top stacks for tonight (in the order in which I like them)
- Atlanta Braves (5.7 implied run total) vs. Patrick Corbin (4.27 xFIP)
- Seattle Mariners (4.7 implied run total) vs. Taylor Hearn (4.72 SIERA)
- Houston Astros (4.7 implied run total) vs. Cole Irvin (4.52 SIERA)
It's hard for me not to go after Atlanta here, even if Corbin has been a bit better lately because that Nationals bullpen is just so very bad. I like the Houston and Seattle righties quite a bit in their matchups, and I'm not too keen on Coors' stacks given that the pitchers in that game are respectable.
I hope I gave you a head start on your research today and I wish you the best of luck! If you ever have questions about DFS or fantasy baseball, my DMs are always open and I appreciate you taking the time to read my picks today.