Daily Fantasy Baseball News and Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 6/1/15

Welcome to the daily MLB updates and news article. We'll try and update it right up to line-up locks with as much information as comes across our desks. Let's get to it!

Last night's picks can be found here, so you can wrap your mind around what you need to be looking at before lineups lock today.

By the way - we keep our projection system updated with all of the batting lineup changes as they occur throughout the day right up until lineup lock. Every day. If you want access to that system so you can cut out a lot of the research element, click the button below!

What We Know

We've got another split slate ahead, with four early games and 11 more tonight. That in-between 6:10 Eastern first pitch in Cleveland could make things tricky for the early slate, as it's all but guaranteed we'll have to guess the lineup before lock, but both slates hold ample opportunities for value. Let's get to it.

Personnel

• April darling Jeremy Hazelbaker will get the start over Randall Grichuk and hit sixth for the Cardinals today.
• Yoenis Cespedes is getting the day off for the Mets. Juan Lagares will start in CF and is slotted in the No. 6 spot in the order.
• David Wright remains out with a neck issue, and a DL stint is still possible for the Mets 3B. In the meantime, Ty Kelly is starting at 3B and hitting seventh today.
• Miguel Sano has been placed on the DL with a hamstring issue. Max Kepler has been recalled to take his spot on the roster.
• Matt Duffy is expected to return to the Giants lineup tonight after pinch hitting on Tuesday.
• Cameron Maybin was removed from Tuesday's game with a hand issue. He's considered day-to-day for now.
• Steve Pearce re-aggravated an elbow injury and was pulled from Tuesday's game. He's expected to sit tonight.
• Royals rookie Brett Eibner had to be carted off the field Tuesday with an ankle injury. It looks like he'll join a growing list of KC players on the DL.
• Yasiel Puig was scratched from Tuesday's lineup due to a hamstring issue. There's been no update on his status yet today.
• Brandon Phillips was scratched from Tuesday's lineup and is considered day-to-day with a foot injury.
• Austin Jackson is sitting again for the White Sox with a toe injury. J.B. Shuck will play CF and bat sixth.
• Jackie Bradley Jr. is taking paternity leave and was replaced on the roster by Rusney Castillo.
• Bryce Harper sat Tuesday after getting hit by a pitch on the knee in Monday's game. He's day-to-day for now.
• Giancarlo Stanton was out for the seventh straight game Tuesday due to a lingering oblique issue. A DL stint doesn't appear imminent, so he could return any day.

Tournament Stacks

Colorado Rockies
Did you witness last night's game? The family of Jon Moscot probably wishes they hadn't, because this is what happens when bad pitching meets the thin Denver night: Seven HRs, seven doubles, 19 hits, five walks, 17 runs. Just for the Rockies. Obviously weird things can happen in a single game. See Seattle's home run derby off of James Shields on Tuesday for evidence thereof. But while last night's Colorado carnage was on the extreme-ish end of the spectrum, that kind of thing is always in play at Coors Field when somebody trots a Quad-A dude out to the mound. Which brings us to John Lamb. Really. Lamb. As in the mild beast most associated with the sacrificial slaughters of antiquity? Clearly the baseball gods have sense of humor. Lamb actually put up really good K numbers in 10 starts last year, but still got knocked around. What's weird is that while he posted strong strikeout rates in the minors, his 10.5 per 9 in 2015 was actually his highest number since High-A ball. Less weird is the fact that the whiffs have regressed dramatically in 2016 and Lamb is getting hammered in every way imaginable five starts this season, resulting in a 6.85 ERA that's backed up by a 5.70 xFIP. Also noteworthy: Cincinnati's bullpen is awful and overworked after logging six innings Tuesday, so it could get ugly again tonight.

St. Louis Cardinals
I hate to run back the same picks two days in a row, but the choices here are pretty obvious. If you're playing the late slate you've actually got a few non-Coors options, but for the day games, it's hard to get away from the Cards. Their numbers aren't as gaudy as what you'll find in Colorado, but we'll take 14 hits and 10 runs any day. Of course, they won't get to pick on Wily Peralta today, but 23-year-old Zach Davies is no great obstacle at this point in his career. After a solid showing in his first big-league action last year, he's backslid somewhat in 2016, posting a 4.49 xFIP through eight starts. That number is skewed by three ugly outings to start the season, but even with Davies performing respectably over the last month or so, he's in a tough spot today because the Cardinals lead the NL in wRC+, wOBA and ISO against RHP. Factor in a hitter-friendly park and we're betting on a short outing for the Brewers youngster today.

Sneaky Pitcher

Sean Manaea

Oh, brother. It's not usually this much of a struggle to find a slightly under-the-radar starter with a favorable matchup. The projection system isn't exactly over the moon for Manaea, but it does have him pegged as the top option from a points/$ standpoint. That's probably because unlike us, it doesn't have eyes and hasn't watched the rookie flounder his way to a 7.03 ERA through his first six starts. Sometimes that actually works in the system's favor, though. What it sees in this matchup is pitcher-friendly venue and a Twins team that's been terrible against LHP this year, despite the fact that they can roll out a lineup full of righties. They're actually the worst team in the AL (by a pretty sizable margin) in wRC+, wOBA and OPS in the split. Is that enough to tempt you to take a chance on Manaea? Personally, I think it'll be tough, especially on the early slate where you can find affordable bats in good spots. But the A's are a slight favorite, so I could see chasing the win with a tournament lineup on a site like FanDuel where Ws are extra valuable.

The "Every Lineup" Guys

Max Scherzer

There are some good arms going today, but the projection system has Scherzer against the Phillies pegged as the clear pick. The Nationals ace hasn't quite been his dominant self in 2016, but he's probably not quite as far off as his 4.05 ERA would have you believe. He's still the same high-strikeout, fly-ball pitcher he's always been, and while the walks are up this year, the bigger problem is that too many of those fly balls are ending up in the bleachers. That should normalize over time, and is a big reason his xFIP is still sitting at a solid 3.36. That's important, but the opposition is perhaps the biggest reason we're leaning toward Scherzer over Felix Hernandez, Jon Lester and Jacob deGrom. The Phillies were the surprise team of the NL East through the first few weeks of the season, but their anemic offense is starting to catch up with them. They rank better than only the Braves and Padres in the metrics that matter, and with Adam Morgan taking the hill today, Vegas has the Nats installed as the biggest favorite on the board. That's most crucial on FanDuel and other sites that value the win similarly, but in this matchup, Scherzer comes with the upside/safety combo that should make him a great play on all sites and in all formats today.

Nolan Arenado

Arenado is awesome and everybody knows it. He hit 42 bombs last year as a 24-year-old and is well on his way to meeting or surpassing that total this season. But he might be even better than we think. He's always been a good contact hitter, but his strikeouts are way down this year, while the walks are up. In fact, the two numbers are almost even (23Ks, 22 BBs) through 218 plate appearances in 2016. He's been especially great against lefties, with a .427 wOBA and .636 slugging, raising his career numbers in the split to .370 and .523. As with Scherzer, that's an elite blend of high floor and high ceiling, and that's not even taking poor John Lamb into account.

One other note: There are big differences between DraftKings and FanDuel pricing so the optimal lineups are looking quite different.

These are players that show up in each of the top 10 lineups as produced by our lineup optimizer. This doesn't necessarily mean that they're "safe," it just means that their projected weighted-mean point total is a solid building block for a great lineup foundation today.

Good luck out there today! If you want access to all of our numbers, get started with a free trial below of our lineup optimizer, on us!