This article will likely evolve into a little more (in fact we already have a change from yesterday), but is intended to bring you the fastest look in the industry at the slate’s games. It may be daily, it may not. It all depends on time and how much data I can pull together in an efficient manner. But, it should be a game by game breakdown of the quickest snippits available…..

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First, an overall view of our games today, where they are played, Vegas view, run line, relevant weather (like a stop light….green is go, yellow is caution, and red is avoid), and start times.

Road Team Home Team Ballpark Vegas Line Run Line Wx Time Houston Astros at New York Yankees Yankee Stadium HOU-125 7u-10 XX 1:05 PM ET Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Indians Progressive Field CLE-105 6.5u-05 XX 1:10 PM ET New York Mets at Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium NYM-115 7.5o-15 XX 4:15 PM ET St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates PNCPark PIT-105 7u-10 XX 7:05 PM ET Detroit Tigers at Miami Marlins Marlins Park DET-110 7.5o-15 XX 7:10 PM ET Toronto Blue Jays at Tampa Bay Rays Tropicana Field TB -125 8o-20 XX 7:10 PM ET Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers Rangers Ballpark TEX-118 9u-20 XX 8:05 PM ET San Francisco Giants at Milwaukee Brewers Miller Park SF -135 8u-10 XX 8:10 PM ET Colorado Rockies at Arizona Diamondbacks Chase Field ARI-155 8.5o-15 XX 9:40 PM ET Chicago Cubs at LA Angels of Anaheim Angel Stadium CHC-120 7o-20 XX 10:05 PM ET Chicago White Sox at Oakland Athletics O.co Coliseum CWS-110 7.5u-30 XX 10:05 PM ET Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres Petco Park LAD-130 6.5u-15 XX 10:10 PM ET

** How do I read that “run line” column? I’m so glad you asked. First you look at the left number. That represents the total runs Vegas believes will be scored. Then, you look at the letter. An “o” means Vegas favors it actually going over that number. A “u” means Vegas favors it going under that number. The dash is a minus sign, but let’s just treat it as a placeholder. The right number is how certain Vegas is that the run total will go over or under their prediction. A 20 means you need to lay 120 to win 100. A 30 means you need to lay 130 to win 1oo. For example, 7u-10 means Vegas believes both teams will score 7 combined runs, they are leaning on it actually being a little less than 7, and they are about 5050 on their decision since you only need to lay $110 to win $100 if you take the “under.” Another example, 8o-20 means Vegas thinks there will be 8 combined runs, they are actually leaning towards more, and they are a little more confident so they are making you lay $120 to win $100 if you take the “over.”

Here is how I’m going to tell you to quickly analyze this chart.

1- Look for a pitcher in a great spot. You want a pitcher AT HOME, with a green Vegas line, a red run total, and green weather. After that, you are on your own to decide which of them to want to roster. I typically like high K/9 guys going against teams prone to striking out. If I really have to break a tie, I’m looking at a big ballpark that favors pitchers.

2- For hitters, I’m looking for ballparks I know are hitters’ paradises. There are articles available on Google for you there. Soon we will have one here, too. But, quickly, Miller Park is one. Great American Ballpark is another. Chase Field is a great one. Petco is NOT. I’m looking for close games with no dominant starting pitchers. I’m looking for pitchers with high ERAs (over 5 if I can find them). I want a green run total. I want green weather, but am less concerned about it than when spotting pitchers.

THE SLATE TODAY IS BROKEN ON FANDUEL INTO TWO SLATES. EARLY ONLY (FIRST 3 GAMES) AND MAIN (REMAINING 9 GAMES). I AM FOCUSING ONLY ON THE MAIN SLATE TODAY….

STL @ PIT – Remember the Cardinals can’t hit lefties diatribe? Well, it continues. They make soft-tossers like Niese look like legends. Vegas thinks this will be under 7 runs total. I’m fading all Cardinal bats. I’m not necessarily rostering Niese because his K totals aren’t great. But, I’m not expecting the Cardinals to do much to him, either. Wacha might be in play, but probably not a top choice on the slate. I’m largely off PIT bats in this one, too. With 9 games from which to choose, I just don’t have to force anything.

DET @ MIA – Verlander is a pitching candidate and Giancarlo Stanton is always in play. But, I’m not looking too deeply into this game, either. There are much better offenses on this slate and neither pitcher scares the bujeezus out of the other team. I will say Ian Kinsler has a decent track record vs Chen, so he’s in play, too.

TOR @ TBR – Series closes out here, I believe, since this is their 3rd game. Odorizzi is normally a decent play but not facing TOR, even though none of the Jays have a stellar track record against him. Again, with large slates, you just don’t have to gamble as much. The Jays are fine plays pretty much top to bottom any slate, so you won’t see me comment in much detail on them often. The Rays, however, are in a pretty nice spot. I’d gladly stack a few with their team total of 4.25. (Anything over 4 gets my attention)

SEA @ TEX – Yet another stackable game, especially after seeing a couple ding-dongs come out of that park yesterday. If you watched the pod, you watched my brain fall out of my ears when Al and Keith told me the wind blowing IN from right center creates a jetstream effect that actually carries balls OUT to right. I love that shit and we saw some balls go out exactly in that fashion yesterday. Maybe a repeat, maybe not, but the power hitters in this game are in play for me. Neither pitcher is rosterable based on a combination of talent and the offenses they are facing. Talent alone doesn’t often produce fantasy gold. It can be contrarian, but it ain’t gonna be chalk.

SFG @ MIL – Yeh, I caught some hell for stacking those Giants yesterday and claiming the called shot, but hell……..just because it was an easy stack doesn’t mean everyone listened. Maybe you will today……MIL sucks! I hate to bash on my boy Sconnie, but those are his words, not mine. I’m looking to pound their pitching all freaking year long……especially when MIL is at home. Load up Giants bats again. It won’t always work because it’s baseball, but if at first you don’t succeed……try, try again. MIL bats will go through spurts. Wait for one first….then, jump them at home for some cheap gold.

COL @ ARI – Look…..Keith knows Rockies. He called them last night. I didn’t wanna believe since I wasn’t around for the Miracle Mets. And, I know ARI is a great ballpark to hit in, but still. I tip hats when due. It was a great call vs Greinke. I know he didn’t specifically say they’d crush Zack Attack, but he didn’t say they would come out flat, either. Just load up on this game. Goldschmidt is in a decent bounceback spot after last night’s robbery of my Christmas toys. He won’t put up a lot of crappy games. He’s almost always in play, too. The question will be what ARI can surround him with so other teams have to pitch to him. Side note – Shelby Miller’s criticism in STL was that he lives “up in the zone.” Up in the zone is NOT what you want to see in a homerun paradise. I was looking at Rockies for today’s game before yesterday started. This is the game I expect the launch pad to get active. O/U of 9?! Yeh…..Vegas agrees. Chalky, but load up on a few.

CHC @ LAA – If you watched last night, you saw the Cubs are for real. The o/u of 7.5 might be low again and we might not need the Angels to contribute to hit that over. Heaney doesn’t scare me in the least. Lester is totally rosterable, and honestly has the best matchup on paper today in terms of his own ability to strike hitters out and the propensity of the Angels to swing at air. For combo of price and matchup, I’m likely going here with my pitcher today.

CWS @ OAK – I still don’t like these teams yet on either side of the ball. For one, I don’t follow them all that hard. For two, OAK is a cheap source of value ONLY when they are hitting. For three, we don’t need that value yet with pricing suppressed around the league. For four, we have better options on this slate. For five……I just wanted to show my mom I can count to five. She be so proud.

LAD @ SDP – Jeez alooo no one saw that outburst coming. Serves me right for texting Keith that Puig is regressing, too. Yikes. I still don’t like the ballpark. I still don’t like rostering against Kazmir or Shields. They aren’t barnburners or anything, but you just don’t need to roster against them until you are desperate for mediocre matchups…..which we aren’t. I don’t know that either pitcher is in play for me, though. I’m just off the game again.

Ok….let’s add in who we are targeting…..

Pitchers (in order) – Lester >>>>> Shields and Verlander, maybe Kazmir or Wacha, but I pretty much wanna puke past Lester.

Offenses (to stack) – Rangers, Giants, Rays, Rockies, Diamondbacks…..possibly Mariners.

That’s honestly enough to cash you tonight. You just don’t have to overthink this stuff. It’s a round ball hitting a round bat in almost random fashion at 9 dudes highly trained to go get it before it hits the ground. Shit happens. Dudes in great spots fail. It’s called baseball…….and I still love it.

Quick enough for you? You barely got to react before it either you were in the dirt or the ball was in the catcher’s glove. Hence……………..#ChinMusic!!