This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Game 7 of the NLCS is upon us Tuesday evening. At this point, the players and lineups are largely known, so building a showdown lineup comes down to stars versus balance, and deciding between the usual heroes and unlikely ones.
Ranger Suarez will go for the Phillies. He's been great in the postseason, allowing one run and seven hits across 14.0 innings, striking out 13. Arizona will counter with Brandon Pfaadt, who's flashed brilliance and combustibility. He gave up three runs in 2.2 innings against Milwaukee in the Wild Card Round, but has come back with 10 shutout innings since, allowing just four hits and striking out 11, which includes impressing in Game 3 against Philadelphia. Current Phillies are just 2-for-18 off of him. Both managers will have short hooks, and it'll be all hands on deck to secure 27 outs.
Philadelphia is unsurprisingly favored, and we've got a low total of eight runs. If scoring will be difficult, chasing power may not be the preference. Instead, it may be a better play to avoid taking zeros from any lineup spot.
MVP
Ketel Marte, ARI at PHI ($8,000): Marte is carrying the Diamondbacks, hitting safely in every postseason game. He's 11-for-26 (.423) in this series with four extra-base hits, adding three RBI, two runs and a steal. He's a nice 8-for-18 (.444) off Suarez to boot. Hitting atop the order, he's assured of the most at-bats and figures to see lower usage in this MVP spot than any of the top two or three Phillies. While he likely has less upside, the stability looks nice.
Star
Trea Turner, PHI vs. ARI ($8,500): Given the high salaries, it's difficult to get two top Phillies into your lineup. Bryce Harper is going to be massively rostered, but he's curiously hitless in three of the last four games. I'm backing Turner for a $1,000 discount, again targeting stability over upside, though he has plenty of both. He's hitless in his last eight plate appearances but did go 1-for-2 against Pfaadt in Game 3. He'll get pitches to hit with Harper behind him in the lineup, and benefits from Harper's presence when on base.
Utility
J.T. Realmuto, PHI vs. ARI ($7,500): I don't love the salary here, but Realmuto has been solid all series, collecting six hits (three for extra bases) while adding six RBI and four runs scored. I also think he'll have a lower roster rate given his cost, as others try to squeeze two of the Phillies' big three bats into their lineups.
Lourdes Gurriel, ARI at PHI ($6,500): Gurriel is doing his best to provide the D'Backs with some production from the bottom half of their order. He homered last night and has hits in four straight games, including two doubles. Christian Walker is more expensive but has decent BvP numbers off Suarez, and better season-long splits off lefties to boot. His form is quite poor though, and we likely have to conserve some cap if we're building for balance.
Alec Bohm, PHI vs. ARI ($5,500): Bohm is criminally underpriced Tuesday, so he likely should be in most builds. He hits cleanup, giving him ample run-producing opportunities. He's also got multiple hits in two of the last three games, so his form seems to be just fine after he managed just four total hits in the Phillies' first two series.
