Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks: Rankings, lineup advice for Friday, July 21

Tony Fortier-Bensen

Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks: Rankings, lineup advice for Friday, July 21 image

Friday’s slate of games offers no shortage of great daily fantasy baseball picks with many can’t-miss starters, including Max Scherzer and Chris Sale, both just racking up strikeouts and consistently going deep into games. 

Carlos Martinez would also be a great option, but he plays the lone day game at 2:20 ET. In two starts against the Cubs, he’s 1-0 with two quality starts and 17 strikeouts. Alex Wood, as always, is a high-quality option at home against the Braves.

But if you want to stand out from the crowd, you could go in a number of different directions. Aaron Nola has been on fire as of late with five straight quality starts and faces a struggling Brewers team with the second most strikeouts against righties. Nola just brushed them off in his last start with seven strikeouts over six innings of two-run ball. The Rangers-Rays game featuring Yu Darvish and Alex Cobb should also be low scoring with a bunch of strikeouts.

MORE DFS: Friday's LineupLineup Builder

If you really really want to differentiate, Paul Blackburn, Jeff Samardzija and Trevor Cahill are boom-or-bust options. In his three career outings, Blackburn posted quality starts all three times, and Samardzjia and Cahill go to battle against each other for the second time in six days. Both went six innings and had eight strikeouts in that, with Cahill picking up the win and Samardzjia getting the loss.

Daily Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Pitchers

Rank Pitcher Team Opp
1 Max Scherzer, RHP WSH @ARI
2 Chris Sale, LHP BOS @LAA
3 Carlos Martinez, RHP STL @CHC
4 Alex Wood, LHP LAD vs ATL
5 Yu Darvish, RHP TEX @TB
6 Aaron Nola, RHP PHI vs MIL
7 Ervin Santana, RHP MIN vs DET
8 Alex Cobb, RHP TB vs TEX
9 Jake Arrieta, RHP CHC vs STL
10 Zack Godley, RHP ARI vs. WSH
11 Jeff Samardzija, RHP SF vs. SD
12 Paul Blackburn, RHP OAK @NYM
13 Ricky Nolasco, RHP LAA vs BOS
14 Trevor Cahill, RHP SD @SF
15 Ian Kennedy, RHP KC vs CWS
16 Mike Fiers, RHP HOU @BAL
17 CC Sabathia, LHP NYY @SEA
18 Matt Garza, RHP MIL @PHI
19 Trevor Bauer, RHP CLE vs. TOR
20 Marco Estrada, RHP TOR @CLE
21 Jaime Garcia, LHP ATL @LAD
22 Anibal Sanchez, RHP DET @MIN
23 James Shields, RHP CHW @KC
24 Jeff Hoffman, RHP COL vs. PIT
25 Steven Matz, LHP NYM vs. OAK
26 Homer Bailey, RHP CIN vs MIA
27 Andrew Moore, RHP SEA vs NYY
28 Trevor Williams, RHP PIT @COL
29 Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP BAL vs HOU
30 Jose Urena, RHP MIA @CIN

Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks: Friday, July 21

This section is brought to you courtesy of Fantasy Alarm's Daily Fantasy Baseball Playbook. Along with the DFS Playbook, Fantasy Alarm's team of award-winning (and major DFS contest-winning) writers provide all the tools and analysis you need to dominate your DFS contests -- stats, Hitting and Pitching Coaches, Optimal Lineups, Lineup Builder, Ownership Forecaster, and much more. Go pro with Fantasy Alarm and take advantage of all the tools and full analysis.

Today might be one of the toughest slates of the season. We have 14 games on the main slate with some of the best pitching options taking the mound tonight and iffy weather expected in Colorado. If you are not trying to take down a large GPP tonight, it's best to split the slate up tonight over trying to figure out the right roster contruction for the ful slate.

Make sure to keep an eye on the weather in Colorado (and possibly a few other places) where rain may play a role tongiht. Also, with the large slate tonight and some top pitchers going, the Playbook is a mix between the elite hitting options, as well as potentital salary relief options. There are still players very much in play who did not make the Playbbok. Good luck! -- Ben Scherr

                                                                         
Pos  Player Matchup Opp. SP FD DK Y! Analysis
SP Chris Sale (L) BOS@LAA Ricky Nolasco (R) $11800 $13400 GO PRO !  
SP Alex Wood (L) ATL@LA Jaime García (L) $10200 $11800 GO PRO !  
SP Max Scherzer (R) WSH@ARI Zack Godley (R) $11600 $12700 GO PRO !  
SP Yu Darvish (R) TEX@TB Alex Cobb (R) $9700 $10600 GO PRO !  
SP Aaron Nola (R) MIL@PHI Matt Garza (R) $9100 $8400 GO PRO !  
SP Mike Fiers (R) HOU@BAL Ubaldo Jiménez (R) $8400 $7500 GO PRO !  
SP Trevor Cahill (R) SD@SF Jeff Samardzija (R) $8600 $8300 GO PRO !  
C Salvador Pérez (R) CWS@KC James Shields (R) $2900 $3600 GO PRO !  
C Brian McCann (L) HOU@BAL Ubaldo Jiménez (R) $2700 $3700 GO PRO !  
C Yasmani Grandal (B) ATL@LA Jaime García (L) $2900 $3500 GO PRO !  
C Héctor Sánchez (B) SD@SF Jeff Samardzija (R) $2200 $2300 GO PRO !  
C J.T. Realmuto (R) MIA@CIN Homer Bailey (R) $2800 $3200 GO PRO !  
1B Joey Votto (L) MIA@CIN Jose Urena (R) $3900 $5000 GO PRO !  
1B Cody Bellinger (L) ATL@LA Jaime García (L) $3700 $4900 GO PRO !  
1B Eric Hosmer (L) CWS@KC James Shields (R) $3400 $3900 GO PRO !  
1B Carlos Santana (B) TOR@CLE Marco Estrada (R) $3100 $3900 GO PRO !  
1B Justin Bour (L) MIA@CIN Homer Bailey (R) $3300 $4600 GO PRO !  
2B Dustin Pedroia (R) BOS@LAA Ricky Nolasco (R) $3700 $4100 GO PRO !  
2B Daniel Murphy (L) WSH@ARI Zack Godley (R) $3700 $4900 GO PRO !  
3B José Ramírez (B) TOR@CLE Marco Estrada (R) $3700 $4500 GO PRO !  
2B Whit Merrifield (R) CWS@KC James Shields (R) $3000 $3900 GO PRO !  
2B César Hernández (B) MIL@PHI Matt Garza (R) $3000 $3300 GO PRO !  
3B Nolan Arenado (R) PIT@COL Trevor Williams (R) $4800 $5600 GO PRO !  
3B Mike Moustakas (L) CWS@KC James Shields (R) $3200 $3600 GO PRO !  
3B Eugenio Suárez (R) MIA@CIN Jose Urena (R) $2800 $3900 GO PRO !  
3B Cory Spangenberg (L) SD@SF Jeff Samardzija (R) $2800 $3500 GO PRO !  
3B Matt Chapman (R) OAK@NYM Steven Matz (L) $2200 $2000 GO PRO !  
SS Trevor Story (R) PIT@COL Trevor Williams (R) $3900 $4400 GO PRO !  
SS Zack Cozart (R) MIA@CIN Jose Urena (R) $3300 $4300 GO PRO !  
SS Stephen Drew (L) WSH@ARI Zack Godley (R) $2300 $2900 GO PRO !  
SS J.T. Riddle (L) MIA@CIN Homer Bailey (R) $2000 $2700 GO PRO !  
SS Alcides Escobar (R) CWS@KC James Shields (R) $2600 $2800 GO PRO !  
OF Bryce Harper (L) WSH@ARI Zack Godley (R) $5000 $5500 GO PRO !  
OF Gerardo Parra (L) PIT@COL Trevor Williams (R) $3900 $4500 GO PRO !  
OF Josh Reddick (L) HOU@BAL Ubaldo Jiménez (R) $2900 $4400 GO PRO !  
OF Melky Cabrera (B) CWS@KC Ian Kennedy (R) $3000 $3900 GO PRO !  
OF Brandon Moss (L) CWS@KC James Shields (R) $2300 $2700 GO PRO !  

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Tony Fortier-Bensen