Happy Saturday RotoBallers. I am sorry that I don't have a cool Star Wars theme or a holiday that encourages heavy drinking to tag along like the past two days. Just your normal, boring, beautiful Saturday with a full slate of baseball. FanDuel has split up the games into a three game early slate, and a 12 game main slate starting at 7 PM ET. These picks will be focused on the main slate. The weather looks as if she won't be causing any postponements today, but there certainly could be delays in the MIL-PIT, STL-ATL, and MIA-NYM games. Make sure you take that into effect when considering your pitchers.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel on 5/06/17. The DFS lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options, and of course, value plays.
Let's get Rowdy.
Offensive Stacks
New York Yankees versus Brett Anderson
As a Red Sox fan, I have not enjoyed the Yankees this season- at all. But as a baseball fan how can you not admire the offensive power the Bronx Bombers are showing? Over the last seven days they own the second highest OPS in the league and have hit the most home runs. Their next victim is poor ol' Brett Anderson who just got obliterated in his last start at Philadelphia. Aaron Judge and Matt Holliday both own an OPS over 1.600 against LHP thus far in 2017, so they are must owns today. Starlin Castro and Aaron Hicks are also good plays, and I wouldn't even mind a little Didi Gregorius. It's going to get out of hand early in Wrigley Field today, don't be left out of the fun.
New York Mets versus Odrisamer Despaigne
Why not stay with the same city here? Sitting directly behind NYY in the OPS rankings over the last seven days, even without Yoenis Cespedes, are the New York Mets. Jay Bruce and Michael Conforto have just been on fire. Today they face Despaigne who is filling in for Wei-Yen Chen due to a "tired arm". He has shown promising patches in the past but he is no star, posting a 4.89 ERA and a 1.36 for his career. Even though both cost you $4,000 today, there's no way you can fade the two bash power lefties from the Mets outfield. I wouldn't mind just leaving this stack as a mini duo, but Curtis Granderson also peaks my interest after going yard last night and hitting an absurd amount of fly balls recently.
Also Consider: Texas Rangers versus Chase De Jong
FanDuel DFS Pitchers
So it seems Clayton Kershaw will move up a day in the rotation as he switches places with Brandon McCarthy who tweaked his shoulder lifting weights...Obviously Kershaw is the king of cash games, you don't need me to recommend him. So here are some anti-Kershaw guys for those GPP contests or to pair with the Kid in cash.
Dylan Bundy, BAL vs CWS ($8,200)
Bundy is one of the safer pitchers on the board tonight. He has been excellent in 2017 and may finally be living up to his previous lofty expectations. At Camden Yards this year, he owns a 1.33 ERA while allowing a lowly .228 wOBA. Today he draws a fantastic match-up against the White Sox who rank dead last in OPS against RHP this season. Bundy won't light up the board with strikeouts, but he is a sure-fire bet for a quality start and the win against Dylan Covey and company.
Lance McCullers, HOU at LAA ($8,500)
Don't try to get cute at the P position today when trying to swim against the Kershaw-current, it gets ugly real quick after these two guys. McCullers doesn't have quite as high of a floor as Bundy tonight, but the ceiling is at least 10 stories higher due to his massive strikeout potential. The Angels rank 26th in OPS against RHP in 2017, and have the seventh most strikeouts. Opposing Mike Trout is never relaxing, but just two weeks ago McCullers posted 54 FP against this very crew.
Also Consider: Patrick Corbin, ARI at COL ($6,000)- YOLO Contrarian/GPP
FanDuel DFS Infielders
Ryan Hanigan- C, vs ARI ($2,300)
Not much to say here besides owning a piece of the Coors pie for only $2,300. Hanigan was called up from Triple A due to Tony Wolters going on the disabled list with a concussion. In his first start he hit a bomb and scored 28.2 FP. This pick is assuming he gets the nod today over Dustin Garneau. Due to Tyler Anderson's struggles in 2017 I can see the Rockies placing the defensive veteran behind the plate to try and switch things up.
Also Consider: Alex Avila - C, at OAK ($2,900)
Matt Carpenter - 1B, at ATL ($4,100)
Carpenter is heating up exactly when the Cardinals needed him most. Over the last seven days, he owns an absurd 58.3 Hard%, and a 47 Hard% away versus RHP for the season. He now has scored double digit FP in five consecutive games, three of which were over 20. Last night against ATL he reached base four times and hit a dinger. I am generally pro-Julio Teheran, but Carp is 4-10 with a double and a HR lifetime off the Braves ace.
Also Consider: Justin Bour - 1B, at NYM ($3,000)
Rougned Odor - 2B, at SEA ($3,300)
Odor is currently sitting below the Mendoza line, but I still think his price is too low today considering he's facing Chase De Dong- I mean Jong. All five of Odor's HR this season have come off RHP, and De Jong gave up six ER in just 2 2/3 innings in his first start of the year last week. I like Daniel Murphy and Brandon Drury more today, but if you want Kershaw you gotta make some cuts. This one will do just fine.
Also Consider: Brandon Drury- 2B, at COL ($3,800)
Kyle Seager - 3B, vs TEX ($3,600)
BvP for the win here. Seager has always been a great lefty-on-lefty hitter, and his career numbers against Martin Perez are no exception. Seager is 14-34 with four HR and a double lifetime versus the southpaw who only has earned two QS in six tries in 2017.
Also Consider: Joey Gallo - 3B, at SEA ($3,900)
Elvis Andrus - SS, at SEA ($3,200)
Andrus is going to continue to be my guy until he cools down or he stops facing sub-par pitching. He has racked up five bombs and five stolen bases in just over a month of 2017, with two of those HR coming within the last four games. Plus you already know about the opposing pitcher.
Also Consider: Carlos Correa - SS, at LAA ($3,800)
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Aaron Judge - OF, at CHC ($4,400)
I really like Nelson Cruz as an anchor for the outfield today, but if you can get Aaron Judge against Brett Anderson for $200 cheaper after what he has been doing to the ball recently, you ain't passing that up. I am using Judge anywhere I can fit him today.
Khris Davis - OF, vs DET ($3,600)
Never mind the fact that the man has nine HR against RHP already this year, this is completely due to the Jordan Zimmerman effect. Zim owns a putrid 6.18 ERA in 2017, and has allowed five ER in three of his five starts. Anything under 4K is definitely a value price for this match-up.
Curtis Granderson - OF, vs MIA ($2,400)
As I stated earlier, Grandy is hitting fly balls well above his career average in 2017. This means given the right match-up, those fly balls will translate into trips around the bases. We saw a perfect example of this last night when he took Tom Koehler deep. Today's match-up is just as tasty, and the salary relief can really set the table for Kershaw ownership.
Also Consider: Justin Upton - OF, at OAK ($3,500)
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