We have ten games tonight with the first pitch at 7:05 PM EST. Today’s slate of games is highlighted by J.D. Martinez and the Boston Red Sox, taking on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo. The highest implied run totals tonight sit with the Tampa Bay Rays (5.7), Toronto Blue Jays (5.6), and the Cincinnati Reds(5.6).
We may see some rain in Atlanta for the Braves vs Padres with the chances of rain between 48 and 35 percent during the expected period that the game will be played, so keep an eye on that game as there could be delays or it could be postponed.
Here is a selection of today’s Core Players 50-50 MLB DFS lineup for 7/18/21 (using DraftKings Values)
| Pitcher | Kyle Gibson | $9,000 | ||
| Pitcher | ||||
| Catcher | ||||
| First Base | ||||
| Second Base | Josh Rojas | $4,300 | ||
| Third Base | J.D. Davis | $4,800 | ||
| Short Stop | ||||
| Outfield | Randal Grichuk | $4,600 | ||
| Outfield | Tommy Pham | $4,200 | ||
| Outfield |
Kyle Gibson – P ($9,000) – Gibson has largely defied the odds. He has kept the ball inside the ballpark, and while he doesn’t strike a lot of betters out, he has brought his walk numbers down substantially. He will be facing a Tigers team that has won three straight, but I won’t expect the Tigers to continue to win a lot of games.
Josh Rojas – 2B/OF ($4,300) – Coming out of the break Rojas has three doubles and a stolen base. He will be facing a Pirates starter who has an ERA over 5.5 so this should be a good opportunity for him to keep his streak going.
J.D. Davis – 3B ($4,800) – Davis had a big game on Saturday with three hits and two home runs, highlighting the type of offence that he can bring. He will be hitting in the cozy hitting confines of Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati tonight, so don’t be surprised if he has another big game.
Randal Grichuk – OF ($4,600) – The Blue Jays are coming off a weekend where they scored a lot of runs and Grichuk was a big part of that. In the three games, he hit two home runs and had three hits. The Blue Jays are at home against the Red Sox tonight in Buffalo where they have done lots of damage.
Tommy Pham – OF ($4,200) – Over the weekend Pham had eight hits, a home run, a double and a steal. All of this is to say that Pham continues to play really well for the Padres. Pham will face a left-handed starter tonight, which he hasn’t hit as well, but that will be offset by him playing in a nice hitters part in Atlanta.
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The Pitchers
Shohei Ohtani ($8,700 DK) Outside of one bad start against the Yankees, Ohtani has been very good as a pitcher in the first half. He has given up more than one run just once in his last six starts, and he has averaged 6.5 strikeouts per start with the exception of the Yankees start.
Yu Darvish ($8,800) – Darvish will come off the injury list tonight to face a Braves lineup, that seems to be missing Acuña right now. If Darvish can keep the ball in the park, he is typically not giving up a lot of runs and he is capable of striking out ten or more batters which gives him some nice upside.
Tony Gonsolin ($8,200) – While Gonsolin isn’t a big innings eater he doesn’t give up a lot of runs. The Dodgers look to be working to build up his innings, so if he can get past the five-inning mark, then he should exceed his cost and be a good value today.
The Value Players
Jacob Stallings – C ($3,500) Stallings had two multi-hit games over the weekend, which included a home run. Stallings is well priced heading into the game tonight had has been one of the best hitting catchers over the last few days.
Eric Hosmer – 1B ($3,900) – Hosmer looks to be well on his way to turn around his poor first half. In the two games, he played he had a double, a home run, and a steal to go along with four hits.
Paul DeJong – SS ($3,700) – DeJong has hits in three straight games, and six total over the weekend which was capped off with a home run yesterday. When DeJong is hitting well he is often hitting for power so this could be the low point in his cost.
Dylan Carlson – OF ($3,700) – Carlson continues to be in a good position to put up numbers. He is leading off for the Cardinals, and the team is starting to show signs of life at the plate which could allow us to start seeing good games from Carlson even when he isn’t hitting home runs.
The Stacks
Tampa Bay Rays – The Rays can be a tough read when you stack. They are very platoon heavy though which allows you to get some players at a discount. I would look to Brandon Lowe, Ji-Man Choi and Wander Franco as a primary stack, which you should be able to fit in without too much trouble.
Toronto Blue Jays – The Blue Jays are probably the toughest teams to stack. At best you can get one of Vlad, Semien or Bichette, and then mix them in with some of the lower-cost players, but the other way you can go that will work much easier is taking the middle of their order, with Springer, Grichuk and Teoscar Hernandez, which is expensive but won’t break the bank.
St. Louis Cardinals – The Cardinals are a team that has had some rough patches this month, but some of their hitters are starting to come to life. We talked about DeJong and Carlson, but you should also look at getting Goldschmidt in as he has been hot, and you can also get Tyler O’Neill under 4k also.
Go win your lineup and tell us how you did. Twitter (@FantasyDFSX) is a good place for that.
