My apologies to everyone, I totally forgot yesterday that it was Free Line Up Friday. To make it up for you I will give you my lineups for the rest of this weekend.
Last night we saw some great games on the diamond. Max Scherzer struck out out 13 in 8 and 2/3rds innings last night against the Padres. Bryce Harper found the long ball last night and now leads the league in home runs. Glover should be thanking Scherzer as he only pitched 1 out and picked up the save in the game.
Tanaka pitched a great game to his standards however he picked up the loss after he went 7.1 innings and only allowed 1 run. That’s a tough pill to swallow as his offense is usually dynamic and should be able to get him that win with only 1 run allowed.
We have a full slate of games this weekend and keep checking back here all weekend for my lineups. Let’s get to it.
Low-Scoring Plays
San Diego Padres @ Washington Nationals- Last night we saw Scherzer take control of the Padres. Tonight isn’t going to get any easier for them as Strasburg takes the mound for the Nats. Right now Strasburg is averaging about a strikeout per inning. I like him to have double digits in this game, assuming he can go 8 innings and and get two strikeouts in at least 2 innings. The Padres are not a good team so it isn’t out of the question that this can happen. Picking some National batters won’t be the worst move, however they are all very expensive so it might alter the rest of your line up.
Targets: Strasburg, Turner, Werth
New York Mets @ Pittsburgh Pirates-The Mets scored 8 runs last night so I like them to stay low tonight for two reasons. The first reason is the Mets offense isn’t powerful enough to sustain high scoring games. The second reason is Gerrit Cole takes the mound for the Pirates. I’ve been saying it all season, Gerrit Cole is a gem just stuck on a bad team. Walker hit two home runs last night, but I like Cole to shut down them down today.
Targets: Cole
Texas Rangers @ Toronto Blue Jays- The Blue Jays have one of the hottest teams in baseball, despite still being in last place they have been climbing their way out of it. However there was a reason they were struggling early this year and it’s because their offense is depleted with injuries. Yu Darvish takes the mound for the Rangers who has one of the best arms in baseball. Look for the Blue Jays to go back to their old ways and get blanked in this one.
Targets: Darvish, Napoli
High-Scoring Plays
Cincinnati Reds @ Philadelphia Phillies-Bronson Arroyo takes the mound for the Reds who is 3-4 on the season with an ERA above 6. Arroyo has thrown 46 innings this season and only has 30 strikeouts, which means the ball will be in play during this game. Eickhoff takes the mound for the Phillies who is 0-5 on the year. The Reds have a better offense as they are the 7th in runs scored in this season. Cincinnati is also 1st in stolen bases so they are always in position to score.
Targets: Hamilton, Votto
Seattle Mariners @ Boston Red Sox-Boston has been red hot, Seattle has been ice cold. Boston has now won 5 in the row as they pass the Orioles who have lost 5 in a row. The Red Sox should stay hot and take this this game from the Mariners. Brian Johnson pitches for the Red Sox who is making his second start of the season. The Mariners just don’t have it right now and are struggling too much for me to take them in this game. At home I like Boston to win. Look for the newly called up Sam Travis in Bostons line up. He is a young stud that plays 1st base. Moreland has been playing well, but if Travis is starting put him in your line up he is cheap and can produce.
Targets: Betts, Bogaerts, Bradley Jr.
My DraftKings Lineup
SP-Greinke-ARI
SP-Cole-PIT
C-Vazquez-BOS
1B-Gonzalez-LAD
2B-Castro-NYY
3B-Headley-NYY
SS-Andrus-TEX
OF-Jones-BAL
OF-Trumbo-BAL
OF-Kemp-ATL
Check out our MLB Breakdown Spreadsheet and our newly-released Pitcher Breakdown Spreadsheet (picks are 12-8-2 using this spreadsheet over the last five days) where you can compare key statistics and numbers for today’s games.