Daily Fantasy Baseball News & Updates for FanDuel & DraftKings - 8/16/16 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! START YOUR FREE TRIAL! What We Know We've got a full 15-game slate tonight, plus an early game at Wrigley if you just can't wait. The main slate holds loads of intriguing matchups, including a solid pitching menu and some of the best hitter's parks baseball has to offer. Personnel Ryan Braun is taking a seat in the early game. He'll be replaced in LF by Kirk Nieuwenheis, who's hitting sixth. Willson Contreras is also on the bench today, as Miguel Montero mans the backstop spot for the Cubs. Welington Castillo went nuts last night with four hits after being activated from a stint on the paternity list then bereavement list. In much better news, Castillo said his wife and baby are both doing fine after complications during the birth. Shin-Soo Choo left last night's game and is likely headed back to the DL. The Rangers are expected to call up Ryan Rua to fill his roster spot today. Billy Hamilton left last night's game with a knee issue. He's considered day-to-day for now. Miguel Cabrera was forced out of last night's game and is considered day-to-day with a biceps issue. Buster Posey missed his second straight game Monday due to back tightness. He's day-to-day until further notice. Brett Gardner sat again last night and hasn't played since fouling a ball off his ankle on Friday. Keep an eye on the Yankees lineup before plugging him in yours. Brandon Phillips, who is dealing with a pair of leg injuries, sat out last night's game. He's day-to-day for now. Tournament Stacks Washington Nationals You know the drill. It's Coors Field, and both offenses are in play, but it's the Nats who are our pick to go off tonight. They'll be facing the mediocre Chad Bettis, who, admittedly, has been pretty respectable over the last two months. Since June 15, he's gone at least six innings in nine of his 11 starts and has really only been blown up in a couple of...

Daily Fantasy Baseball News & Updates for FanDuel & DraftKings - 8/11/16 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! START YOUR FREE TRIAL! What We Know Another noon start opens up a six-game early slate today, followed by a four-gamer tonight dominated by pitching. Lineups are rolling in, so let's get to it. Personnel Ryan Braun is taking a seat in Milwaukee's series finale with the Braves. Kirk Nieuwenhies will start in LF and hit fifth. Yasmany Tomas will sit for the third straight game as he continues to deal with a neck issue. Socrates Brito will be in RF, with Brandon Drury in LF. Curtis Granderson is getting the day off and will be replaced by Alejandro De Aza atop the Mets lineup. Matt Kemp is getting the day off for the Braves. Jeff Francoeur will be in LF, with Nick Markakis in RF. X-rays came back negative on David Ortiz's shin after the slugger fouled a ball off of his leg last night. Nonetheless, he's expected to be out tonight after he had to be helped off the field. Mookie Betts also left last night's game due to a calf issue and is considered day-to-day for now. Francisco Cervelli left last night's game with a wrist issue and it would be a surprise to see him back out there today. We're still waiting for the Pirates lineup as of this writing, though. Jose Bautista is back on the DL for the Blue Jays with a knee injury. That leaves Toronto short-handed in the OF, as Ezequiel Carrera is still working his way back from an Achilles injury.   Tournament Stacks Texas Rangers If you've read today's picks column, you probably knew this was coming. The projection system is all over the Rangers bats today, and Vegas agrees with the optimism, putting Texas as the highest total on the board today. As we mentioned in the picks, it's not all about picking on Chad Bettis—but that's definitely part of the equation. He's a league-average guy, and the new Rangers lineup has potent bats throughout. Equally important is the park,...

Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel & DraftKings - 8/11/16 We've got a pair of light slates on tap with six day games followed by four more tonight, and each come with their own set of challenges and opportunities. Let's get to it.   Now’s your chance to get DFSR Pro with MLB Optimal Lineups, Projections and Player Cards. Or try a free trial of our base package with projections for every player. While the seasons overlap, you'll get access to our tools for the NBA and NHL as well! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. A quick heads up - we post an updates article every day in the early afternoon, EST, to catch everyone up on how things are changing as a result of whatever news has come through. We also have great talks in the comments of that article. Hope to see you there!   PITCHER Noah Syndergaard FD 10500 DK 11800 Opponent - ARI (Shipley) Park - @NYM FD - 40.07 DK - 26.06 He's on a string of so-so starts, but on the early slate, he's still the clear choice today. Such is the power of the strikeout in DFS. And even though Syndergaard has been less than dominant lately, he continues to fan guys at an elite rate, which serves to raise both his floor and his ceiling. Meanwhile, even though the results haven't been quite what we've hoped for recently, the peripheral stats are still nice. In addition to missing bats, he continues to limit hard contact and coax a solid ground-ball rate, while only giving up a homer about every other start. That's about as good as you can ask for. The one area of concern is his elevated walk rate in his last five starts. But that's kind of the thing. It's five starts, and his control has been so stellar otherwise, he's still surrendering fewer than two walks per nine on the season. Maybe he's lost his command, maybe he's showing signs of fatigue, maybe he has some nagging injury we don't yet know about. Or maybe it's just five so-so starts. Whatever the case, we like his odds to return value today against a Diamondbacks team that ranks 23rd in MLB for wRC+ while striking out more than 23 percent of the time against RHP. Jon Lester FD 10200 DK 10300 Opponent - STL (Martinez) Park - @CHC FD - 36.32 DK - 23.85 By comparison to the early slate, we're sitting on a mountain of...

Daily Fantasy Baseball News and Updates for FanDuel and DraftKings - 8/10/16 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! START YOUR FREE TRIAL! What We Know We've got a full day of baseball ahead, with three early games featuring a noon start and a solid 12-game slate tonight that's light on aces but heavy on decent arms and offenses in good spots, so opportunities for all kinds of action abound. Let's get to it. Personnel Giancarlo Stanton is out today after being removed from last night's game due to a hip issue. Denard Span is sitting today. That'll move Eduardo Nunez to the leadoff spot, while Gregor Blanco is filling in in CF and hitting eighth. Bryce Harper sat again last night as he continues to deal with a lingering neck issue. Consider him day-to-day until further notice. Gregory Polanco returned the Pirates lineup last night in style, blasting a three-run homer. He had missed the last week with a shoulder injury. After sitting for nearly a week, Cameron Maybin has been placed on the DL with a thumb injury. Yasmany Tomas was scratched last night due to a neck issue. He's considered day-to-day. X-rays were negative on Carlos Gonzalez's tweaked ankle, but it's unclear when he'll be able to return to the Colorado lineup. Ketel Marte has been activated from the DL after sitting for three weeks with mononucleosis. Scott Schebler was pulled last night with a calf issue. He's a good bet to get the day off with the Reds facing a lefty tonight. Geovany Soto was activated from the DL last night. Carlos Perez was sent down in the corresponding move. Tournament Stacks Chicago Cubs It'll be interesting to see where the Vegas line settles on this one. The Cubs have opened as a massive favorite, but as usual, there's no over/under posted as of this morning, as oddsmakers wait to see which way the Wrigley winds will blow. Forecasts are calling for a breeze in from right, which isn't ideal, but considering the matchup, we're still feel fine about loading up on Cubs bats...

Daily Fantasy Baseball News & Updates for FanDuel & DraftKings - 8/4/16 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! START YOUR FREE TRIAL! What We Know We've got a pair of mid-sized slates today with a five-gamer starting just after noon Eastern, followed by seven tonight. Both come with a nice variety of offenses in good spots, but pitching looks pretty dicey tonight. Let's get to it. Personnel Cameron Maybin is out of the lineup today after suffering a jammed thumb last night. Lorenzo Cain is taking a day off and will be replaced in CF by Billy Burns, who's hitting eighth. Zack Cozart is out again as he deals with a finger injury. Ivan DeJesus will continue to fill in at SS and hit second. Carlos Gonzalez left last night's game after turning an ankle. X-rays came back negative, however, and he's considered day-to-day for now. J.D. Martinez returned from the DL last night and homered off of Chris Sale to lift the Tigers to a win. X-rays came back negative on Hanley Ramirez's wrist and he's expected to avoid a DL stint. Consider him day-to-day until further notice. Troy Tulowitzki missed another game on Wednesday. He hasn't played since suffering a chip fracture in his thumb on Sunday, but the Blue Jays are still hopeful he won't require a trip to the DL. Andrew McCutchen is expected to sit again tonight. Though no injury has been reported, the struggling star has been on the bench for the last two games. Francisco Cervelli missed last night's game and is going through concussion protocol after taking a pitch off the helmet Tuesday. Josh Harrison was also out last night for the Pirates. He hasn't played since suffering a leg injury on Sunday and is considered day-to-day. Byron Buxton sat out last night. He injured his knee on Sunday, but the smoking-hot Twins obviously have done just fine without him. Tournament Stacks St. Louis Cardinals It's an interesting pair of slates we've got here today, because while we've got lots of offenses in good spots, there's not one that jumps out...