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We have a tiny little four-game slate tonight on FanDuel, which means we'll want to get creative if we're looking to differentiate in tournaments. It's a little bit of an odd group of games as only one team, the Cardinals, has an implied total over five runs. Thankfully, there are a few non-obvious teams (and pitchers) that we can target tonight as well as a couple of attractive one-offs.
I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 5/29/2021. You can see our DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineup pick for the early slate here as well.
Be sure to also check out all the MLB player news, including late scratches, and the projected and confirmed daily MLB lineups for each DFS slate. You can also check out today's DraftKings MLB DFS lineup picks, and read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports too. Let's get to it!
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FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Cash Game/GPP Anchor Play:
Ian Anderson - ATL vs. NYM (9,000)
Anderson hasn't quite shown the dominant stuff that we saw from him last season, but he has still been very serviceable as a DFS option in the right spots. He put up 46 (vs. PIT), 37 (vs. MIL), 55 (vs. CHC), and 42 (vs. NYY) FD points on separate occasions this year, and he has at least 34 points in each of his last three starts. The Mets have been terrible against RHP this season, holding a .338 SLG (30th), .639 OPS (28th), and a .113 ISO (30th). They don't strike out a ton, but Anderson should have plenty of success here as the Metropolitans are only projected to score 2.9 runs tonight.
Alternate Play(s)
Julio Urias - LAD vs. SFG (11,500)
He's going to cost you and you'll need to get creative with the value bats, but Urias should be worth his salary in this spot. He has exceeded 45 FD points in each of his last three starts and at least 52 FD points in the three starts in which he racked up double-digit strikeouts. Another big outing could easily be in the cards here - the Giants don't strike out a ton against LHP, but they're projected to score just 3.2 runs and Urias has just been too hot to fade here.
GPP Dart-Throw
Justin Dunn - SEA vs. TEX ($6,700)
Dunn is ultra-cheap and he has been solid, compiling a 3.40 ERA (4.82 xERA) and allowing two earned runs or less in seven of eight starts. He posted a nine-strikeout game against the Tigers two starts ago, and he could be in for another high-value outing tonight against the Rangers. Texas holds the third-highest strikeout rate (26.5%) against RHP this season.
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FanDuel DFS Infielders
Evan Longoria - 3B, SF vs. LAD ($2,800)
I don't think people quite realize how well Longoria has been doing this season as his surface metrics (.257/.352/.465 with seven home runs and 22 RBI) definitely don't jump off the page. However, his advanced metrics (see below) and splits against LHP certainly make you take notice. Against LHP, Longoria is slashing .371/.522/.800 with four homers in just 35 AB's. Urias is on fire and has had a great season overall, but he has given up five of his seven homers to RHH and his ERA is much worse (3.83) against that side of the plate.
*via Baseball Savant
Nolan Arenado - 3B, STL vs. ARI ($3,600)
Arenado makes for a top-tier pay-up option tonight on FanDuel. He hasn't been the same force as he was in Coors, which is to be expected, but he's hitting a very respectable .290 AVG and has 11 homers and 35 RBI on the season. Most importantly, he'll be hitting cleanup on the team that has a path to scoring a lot of runs today as opposing starter Seth Frankoff has been lit up to the tune of a 7.27 ERA and 1.73 WHIP over two starts.
Freddie Freeman - 1B, ATL vs. NYM ($3,700)
Freeman has been hot recently as he's averaging 15.84 FD PPG over his last 11 games and has four games between 21.7-35.4 FD points in that stretch. He hasn't hit a homer since 5/18, which just means he's due for one any game now. Taijuan Walker has pitched worse than he 2.05 ERA indicates as he holds a 3.87 ERA and below-average rates in Hard Hit %, BB%, Chase Rate, and Whiff %. He has only allowed one homer this year, but he was a homer-prone pitcher back in the days when he was a full-time starter and Freeman is the kind of hitter who can make pitchers pay for any mistakes.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mookie Betts are great pay-up options.
Tyler O'Neill - OF, STL vs. ARI ($3,000)
O'Neill has been on a bit of a heater as he has two homers over his last four games and four over his last seven. He actually very impressively ranks well in Hard Hit % (87th percentile), Average Exit Velocity (88th), xwOBA (95th), xBA (85th), xSLG (99th), and Barrel % (97th). You'll want to get to some Cardinals bat against Seth Frankoff, who has gotten rocked for two bombs and seven earned runs over 8 and 2/3 innings (two starts).
Mitch Haniger - OF, SEA vs. ATL ($3,700)
Folty hasn't had a great season as he's 1-4 and holds a 4.53 ERA with 11 homers allowed, and his advanced metrics suggest he's due for even more regression moving forward. You have to be pretty bold to stack the Mariners as their lineup is not attractive in the slightest, but Haniger is having a nice season with a .541 SLG (.537 xSLG) and 13 homers. He's also hitting better against RHP this season, slashing .270/.325/.534 with 10 homers in the split.
Tommy Edman - 2B/OF, STL vs. ARI ($2,700)
See O'Neill, Tyler above. Frankoff has been bad enough to want to get to plenty of Cardinals hitters tonight, and Edman will hit leadoff at a cheap price. He had a two-homer, 37.4 FD point output just two games ago and should have ample opportunity to get on base, maybe steal a base or two, and score some runs tonight. Dylan Carlson also looks like a very appealing value play on the Cardinals tonight.
Austin Slater ($2,400) is another great contrarian value play in non-Urias lineups.
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