MLB DFS Picks: FanDuel Top Plays and Strategy for Friday, July 25

Shota Imanaga against the White Sox is an ideal anchor for your Friday FanDuel MLB DFS lineups.
MLB DFS Picks: FanDuel Top Plays and Strategy for Friday, July 25

FanDuel is offering a busy 13-game Friday slate with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EDT. Only five arms are valued in five-figures and only three more are at least $9,000. While it's not incredibly top-heavy, the pitching options fall off the cliff as we decrease in salary - so securing an ace is preferable.

The Orioles (-198), Cubs (-184) and Rangers (-172) represent the slate's heaviest favorites, and conveniently where I'm targeting pitching. We've got double-digit run totals in Yankees-Phillies and Red Sox-Dodgers while our low number is the Mets-Giants at 7.5. Early weather has rain possible in New York and possibly some outbound winds, with nothing else immediately worth monitoring.

Pitching

Shota Imanaga, CHC at CWS ($9,700): As always, use the elite hurlers at your leisure for potentially lower roster percentages in GPPs with Nathan Eovaldi ($10,100) standing out, though Imanaga looks to be the perfect blend of valuation, form and matchup. He's ramped up in five starts since returning from injury, including three straight quality outings and 46 FDP from each of the last two. The White Sox also come with an elevated 25.8 percent K rate. 

Dean Kremer, BAL vs. COL ($9,000): Kremer has been excellent at home having recorded a 2.00 ERA, 3.60 FIP and .211 BABIP. He's not a huge strikeout performer at 7.2 per nine, but that can play up in this matchup as the Rockies fan at a 26.6 percent clip while also listing a league-worst 78 wRC+ off righties. Kremer has posted 30 or more fantasy points during six of his last seven appearances with a ceiling of 52.

Zebby Matthews, MIN vs. WSH ($7,800): As the intro stated, I'm really not interested in second or third-tier pitching on Friday. Washington doesn't strike out much at only 19.7 percent against righties, yet their 99 wRC+ ranks 23rd, so there's a path to some clean innings for Matthews. And he's shown elite swing and miss stuff having fanned 12.1 per nine. He hasn't notched a quality outing this season and the Rockies hit him in his only start since coming back from injury. But with improvement in Matthews' second appearance, 30-plus fantasy points are possible with five innings, five strikeouts and minimal damage.

See which projected starters are going and when with RotoWire's Probable Pitchers page!

Top Targets

Will Warren has seemingly solved pitching to lefties in Yankee Stadium's short right porch as the splits say to target against him on the road. But overall, he's still allowing a .372 wOBA and .860 OPS to opposite-handed bats. I'm starting my offensive builds around Kyle Schwarber ($4,300) and Bryce Harper ($3,800).

With the high run total in New York and possible outbound winds, it makes sense to target both sides of this matchup. Philly's Taijuan Walker doesn't have targetable splits, but a plethora of BvP plays are available on the Yankees. Aaron Judge ($4,900) is 4-for-13 with four homers, Jazz Chisholm ($3,700) is 7-for-15 with three doubles and five walks, and Giancarlo Stanton ($3,200) is 4-for-12 with a home run and a double.

Bargain Bats

I've often repeated Corey Seager ($3,200) in this section. He remains undervalued, and Joey Wentz isn't going to last long Friday to provide two ABs against him and two-plus others facing a beleaguered bullpen. Seager has also produced a solid .373 wOBA, 142 wRC+ and .286 ISO against lefties.

Keider Montero is getting torched by lefties having given up a .491 wOBA and 1.161 OPS on the road. Toronto doesn't carry a lot of options, so see how they line up. Addison Barger ($3,100) and Nathan Lukes ($2,700) stand out while Joey Loperfido ($2,500) has a homer ceiling if starting.

Baltimore has been woeful versus lefties all year, though facing Kyle Freeland still feels like we should at least consider a right-handed bat. Ramon Laureano's ($3,300) salary feels too high, but he's in solid power form. Coby Mayo ($2,300) is my dart throw should he start.

Stacks to Consider

Athletics at Ryan Gusto (Astros): Nick Kurtz ($3,900), Lawrence Butler ($3,000), Tyler Soderstrom ($2,900)

Gusto enters with a 5.29 home ERA while allowing 1.5 HR/9, a .388 wOBA, and .897 OPS to lefties. This is an anti-BvP stack as the current A's roster is 0-for-13 off Gusto with six strikeouts, but we'll target those struggles against lefties for a stack with some potential value/salary relief. Kurtz is a great individual play as he heads into Friday on an 11-game hitting streak while going deep five times during that stretch and collecting multiple hits seven times. Butler and Soderstrom aren't in great form, so we're really leaning on Gusto's lefty struggles. Soderstrom is second on the club against lefties with a .367 wOBA and 133 wRC+ while Butler remains modestly above-average at a 109 wRC+. They hit near enough to each other in the order for correlated production.

Rays at Nick Martinez (Reds): Junior Caminero ($3,600), Chandler Simpson ($3,000), Jonathan Aranda ($3,000)

Martinez doesn't list clear targetable splits, yet does have a 4.68 home ERA (4.24 xFIP) and doesn't miss bats at only 6.7 Ks per nine. Caminero is dialed in with hits in seven straight and 10 of 11 while homering five times. Simpson has been elevated to leadoff spot. And while there's no power potential, he's an on-base, run and steal threat ahead of Caminero. Aranda has been streaky, but appears in a decent groove with four hits from his last three after an 0-for-13 stretch. He also boasts a .395 wOBA and 156 wRC+ off righties.

Try our FanDuel MLB Lineup Optimizer to discover more expert recommendations, customize the player pool, set exposure percentage and mass-enter DFS lineups.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Chris Bennett plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: k30kittles, DraftKings: k30kittles.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bennett covers baseball, college football and college basketball for RotoWire. Before turning to fantasy writing, he worked in scouting/player development for the Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos. He's also a fan of the ACC.
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