Welcome back to the Daily Double Switch here at the Fantasy Fix. For those who aren’t yet Daily Fantasy baseball players at DraftKings, head over there via this link and join. DraftKings gives you $50,000 to draft eight hitters (one at each position) plus two pitchers. If you follow that link they’ll give you sign-up bonuses for joining, which is pretty cool.

Let’s take a look at today’s slate, and see where we can exploit the matchups! You can find me on twitter @RyNoonan if you have player specific questions.

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 Game times and Weather

We have a full schedule of night games, which is always ideal when constructing your daily lineups. We get started on the east coast, with the 7:05 pm EST games, and weather looks to be mostly a non-issue today. Some thunderstorms are expected in the Midwest, but nothing that scares me away from any game in particular. If you’re completely risk-adverse in regards to weather, watch the forecast in Chicago, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

Stacking options

There are so many ways to skin this proverbial Daily Fantasy Sports cat, and a very popular way to construct your DraftKings lineup is by stacking your roster with multiple players from one or two teams. Today, doesn’t offer any obvious stacks to me, but I like the Royals and Brewers today. It’s always smart to look at who Draftkings prices as the worst pitcher for the day, and see if the numbers match up. The Rockies Tyler Matzek is that guy, and he faces the first place Kansas City Royals in the thin air of Colorado. The Brewers face left-hander J.A. Happ at home, where I expect Happ’s issues with the long ball will continue today.

Pitchers

Picking the right pitchers in daily games is crucial. Depending on the specific game you’re playing, it’s extremely difficult to finish in the money if you swing and miss here. It’s also important to pile up the strikeouts, and few do that better than Stephen Strasburg ($10,200). He’s coming off a dominate outing, has averaged 22.9 FPPG over his last nine starts, and faces the NL’s worst road team in the Diamondbacks. Max Scherzer ($12,700) is always appealing, especially with his ability to strike hitters out, but he’s a bit pricy for me today. Last time out he had 14 punch-outs, but so did today’s Brewers starter, Mike Fiers ($8,500). The $4,200 we save here is invaluable when building an offensive lineup. Pirates starter Francisco Liriano ($10,400) is a strong start today as well, against a Braves team that strikes out in 22.6% of it’s at-bats.

Catcher

Catcher is always one of the places I’ll look save a few bucks. With that said, I love the matchup that Jonathan Lucroy ($4,500) has today. I’m still unlikely to use him though, due to that price. After getting Sunday off, I expect Travis d’Arnaud ($3,100) to be back in the lineup today, and he’s a great value play.

 First baseman

Anthony Rizzo ($4,600) has to be one of the most improved players in the game this season, and has to be considered a National League MVP candidate despite the lack of Cubs success. Rockies first baseman Justin Morneau ($4,400) has strong career numbers against James Shields, but Morneau’s recent neck issues keep me away. I’ll stay in Colorado and feast on Tyler Matzek, Billy Butler ($4,100) has come alive of late, and is in the middle of a lineup that I’m expecting to score quite often tonight.

Second baseman

Jonathan Schoop ($2,900) has returned big profits for me over the past few weeks, and he’s still under $3,000. I’d prefer to use him at third base today though, because I’m looking to get Rickie Weeks ($3,000) in at second base today. He’s hit J.A. Happ well in the past, but my guess is manager Ron Roenicke won’t notice this and he’ll start Scooter Gennett instead. If so, use Schoop in his place.

 Third baseman

As noted above, Schoop is an option here, but my first choice is Adrian Beltre ($4,400). Few things have gone well for the Rangers this season, but you’d have to say that Beltre’s continued elite consistency is one of them. He’ll take Marlins starter Jarred Cosart deep tonight.

 Shortstop

When in doubt, go to Colorado. It’s a good mantra for both pot heads and daily fantasy players. With the injury to Troy Tulowitzki, Josh Rutledge ($2,900) should get consistent playing time down the stretch, and makes for an interesting play today at home. If you have money to burn, Starlin Castro ($4,100) makes for a strong mini-stack if you’re using Anthony Rizzo at first base.

Outfielder

As is typically the case, we have options galore in the outfield today. More than likely, you have money to spend big here as well. I want Josh Willingham ($4,300) to keep my stack of barrel-chested Royals going, and he’s swinging a home bat of late. So is Angels lead-off man Kole Calhoun ($4,800). He can beat you in many ways, and is facing young Red Sox starter Allen Webster, whom Calhoun saw just last week. I really like Jose Quintana, but not today against Adam Jones ($4,800) and the Orioles. If you’re a stack-heavy player, than the Brewers Khris Davis ($3,700) and Carlos Gomez ($4,700) make sense.

Good luck today! We’ve been winning quite a bit lately, so find me on twitter and let’s celebrate your success!

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