This article is part of our FantasyDraft MLB series.
FantasyDraft is back, and better than ever with a completely revamped look. It's smooth, there is a lineups page, and the navigation has been improved significantly.
With that, FantasyDraft has been running MLB contests for a few weeks and has a very interesting and unique product.
In MLB DFS, most sites require a catcher, each infield position and three outfielders. Some have utility slots, some have one pitcher and others have two. FantasyDraft is a combination of it all, but with it's own unique twist.
Make sure to click over to FantasyDraft to check out the scoring/rules and available contest types.
FantasyDraft's roster construction is as follows: two pitchers, three infielders (any catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, and/or shortstop), three outfielders, and two utility spots.
This flexibility allows for a very high likelihood of unique lineups, creating disparity in tournaments.
Speaking of tournaments, FantasyDraft has over $6,000 in guaranteed contests for Friday, so be sure to get your lineups in soon before they fill!
FantasyDraft offers their tournaments at a benefit to players, because there is a multi-entry cap on tournaments. This allows just a few lineups per player to be entered, making for a more level playing field in terms of how many entries one player owns.
The two big tournaments for Friday's slate are:
$2,500 Called Up - $25 Entry
$2,500 Line Drive - $5 Entry
This weekend's contests have a larger payout zone on FantasyDraft, meaning you have an even better chance of cashing than in regular contests. In the $5 tournament, 139 entries are paid out. That is a percentage of 25 percent, or five more than most tournaments pay.
Each week, RotoWire will provide picks and analysis for players to target on FantasyDraft or your DFS MLB lineups.
Pitcher
Of course, Clayton Kershaw and Jose Fernandez are excellent plays on Friday, but most lineups will deploy one (or both) of them. Fernandez is the top pitcher on the board because of the matchup, with Kershaw behind him.
Lance Lynn, STL, $17,600
Lynn will pitch against the Mets on Friday, giving him a top-tier matchup as a right-handed pitcher. Lynn is 6-5 with a 2.90 ERA this season, and he has been one of the top right-handers in the National League to this point.
He is known to be a fastball pitcher, meaning that he throws a lot of them. This is very evident, as he has thrown the "old number one" 83.5 percent of the time this season, which is high even for his standards.
The old adage is that any major league hitters can hit a fastball, but that is just how Lynn has been successful this season, with his fastball. Lynn throws downhill, making it hard for opposing batters to hit him, which is evident considering his low hard hit rate of just 24 percent.
The Mets are hitting just .235 against right-handed pitching this season, 29th in baseball. In addition, they are slugging just .358 which means not only are the Mets not hitting the ball often, but when they do it's only for singles. This correlates well with Lynn's successes, as he does give up a lot of hits, but limits the damage.
With most players being on Kershaw and Fernandez, Lynn's ownership level will be low. He makes for a great tournament play, especially considering his matchup and price point.
Infield
Kendrys Morales, KC, $7,600
Morales and the Royals face John Danks on Friday, which benefits Morales greatly. Danks has given up a .311 batting average and a .547 slugging percentage to right-handed hitters this season.
Morales, a switch hitter, will be batting from the right side, where he has been excellent this season, hitting .307.
Considering Morales' ability to hit from the right side, and Danks struggles to right-handed batters, the Royals designated hitter makes for an excellent play at only $7,600.
Outfield
Melky Cabrera, CWS, $7,600
Cabrera has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball in July, registering a hit in all but one game this month. He is hitting .350 in the last 10 games, and he's currently slotted into the third or fourth spot in the White Sox lineup most nights.
On Friday, Cabrera faces Chris Young, who is one of the top fly ball pitchers in baseball. Young is a pitcher to target hitters against because fly balls translate to home runs, which is what we target in daily fantasy baseball.
Young has allowed a 55.6 percent fly ball rate, but only has a home run to fly ball ratio of 6.9 percent, which is his lowest in six seasons. With imminent regression coming, it is a good time to target hitters against him.
In addition to the fly ball problem, Young has allowed left-handed batters to hit seventy points higher than right-handed batters. With Cabrera being a left-handed batter who has had success against right-handed pitchers this season (.276 batting average) it makes for a great matchup.
Play of the Day
Jason Kipnis, CLE, $8,100
Kipnis has been one of, if not the, top second basemen in baseball this season. He is hitting .323 with six home runs, 10 stolen bases, and he has averaged the second-most fantasy points per game among those eligible at the position.
His price on FantasyDraft is over $2,000 less than the top infielders available, making him a bargain considering his normal output.
Kipnis faces Mike Leake, who has given up a .446 slugging percentage to left-handed hitters this season and has allowed left-handed batters to hit .275 against him in his career. Kipnis leads off for the Indians, which makes him an excellent play in cash games, and a sneaky cheap play in tournaments as well.
