Strategies

FanDuel MLB Lineup for Tuesday October 6th

Fanduel MLB $5 contest 728X90

The postseason action is about to get started in Major League Baseball allowing FanDuel owners a few more opportunities to cash in. The only difference for FanDuel owners is the fact these tournaments over lap two days and not the typical one day action we all love. That being said the two day action won’t slow us down from taking part in the action.

For the first round of FanDuel action for the playoffs fantasy owners will have the opportunity to build lineups from the first round wild card action. The first contest gets started tonight at 8:08pm ET as the Houston Astros make a trip out East to take on the New York Yankees.

The second contest of the two features the Chicago Cubs traveling to take on division rivals the Pittsburgh Pirates. Unfortunately for these two teams they both play in the National League Central with the St. Louis Cardinals who finished with an Major League Best 100 wins.  Outside of the Cardinals the Pirates and Cubs had the second and third best record in all of baseball.

Now since the action is limited to just four teams the options will be limited for owners to build their lineup around including on the mound. That being said all four options are solid plays but the big question is which one of them will not be used in as many lineups.

One of those options is National League Cy Young candidate Jake Arrieta who will take the mound for the Cubs tomorrow night. Arrieta has been brilliant over the entire season but more importantly over the second half. That includes dishing out eight fantasy starts of at least 17 fantasy points over his last ten starts with three of those going for over 20.

Only downside to using Arrieta in our FanDuel lineup is the fact his salary sits at $12,700 as well as we expect to be used in a high percentage of leagues/tournaments tonight.

Here is our MLB FanDuel lineup for the opening round of the Wild Card action.

Starting Pitcher – Gerrit Cole ($10,000): In the end we went with the cheaper option as we expect this game to be played around the starting pitching. While we could have went with Arrieta and felt just as good with our decision.

Catcher – Evan Gattis ($3,300): We tossed around both Gattis and Brian McCann for this spot. In the end we went with Gattis tonight against Masahiro Tanaka playing in a hitters ballpark in New York. Gattis had posted positive fantasy points in nine of his last ten contests to end the season.

First Base – Gregory Bird ($3,000): Since we went with Cole that limited to avoid the Cubs first baseman Antony Rizzo. Bird has been a bright spot for the Yankees this season since arriving on the scene.

Second Base – Jose Altuve ($3,400): Altuve is the top option among all second baseman in the Wild Card round. Entering the post season, Altuve posted four straight fantasy contests with at least three points while posting four games with at least 6.5 fantasy points over his last ten games.

Third Base – Luis Valbuena ($3,00): We elected to go with the Astros stack in hopes of a bad start from the Yankees starter. Valbuena provides us with a power option who finished with 25 home runs during the regular season.

Short Stop – Jordy Mercer ($2,400): Needing a cheap option we took a gamble on the Pirates short stop. In the end if Arrieta throws another shutout this play could come back to haunt us but we only had four options to choose from.

Outfielder – Dustin Ackley ($2,500): Despite being filled in at the outfield position we expect Ackley to get the start at second base for the Yankees tonight against the Astros. Ackley posted three games over his last six contests with at least 5.25 fantasy points.

Outfielder – Andrew McCutchen ($3,800): In the end despite his matchup we like McCutchens history against Arrieta. In his career the Pirates outfielder is eight for 23 with two extra base hits and three walks.

Outfielder – George Springer ($3,600): Springer was red hot to finish the regular season posting at least two hits in six straight games as well as eight of his last ten games. Over the last six games Springer has four doubles, two home runs, four runs batted in and six runs scored.