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Seven games on tap for the FanDuel main slate, and it should be a great one. We finally have some quality pitching options this time around and there are a few squads with implied totals hovering at or over five runs tonight. Let's get to it.
I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 5/8/2021. 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:
Lance Lynn - CWS vs. KCR ($9,500)
Lynn is my anchor pitcher of the night as he's making his second start returning from the IL. He should be unleashed without a pitch count after he was limited to just 68 pitches last time out, where he put up 18 FD points against Cleveland. He had 46, 70, and 32 FD points in his three prior starts and the upside is sky-high for him against the Royals tonight. While the Royals have been surprisingly above-average at the dish this season, they take a slight step back when facing RHP's (.237 AVG, 23.7% K%) and their implied total is at just four runs against the studly Lynn. Kershaw has been very shaky in two of his last three starts, Javier is overpriced and facing Toronto, and Bundy is facing the righty-crushing Dodgers, so Lynn is the high-end play tonight.
Alternate Play(s)
Ian Anderson - ATL vs. PHI ($7,900)
This is simply too low a price for a pitcher of Anderson's caliber. All of his numbers have taken a step back from his sensational rookie season, but he does still hold a solid 3.27 ERA (3.09 xFIP) and a useable 26.1% strikeout rate. The Phillies have some big bats, but they strike out at the fourth-highest rate (27%) against RHP and rank in the bottom-10 in OBP, OPS, ISO, wRC, wOBA, and wRC+ against righty's. Anderson is averaging 31.8 FD points per game, and that number feels easily attainable here tonight at a very affordable price point.
GPP Dart-Throw
Merrill Kelly - ARI vs. NYM ($6,400)
Kelly is my preferred dart-throw pitching option on tonight's slate if you want to go the save-salary-at-SP-and-spend-up-elsewhere route, which is perfectly viable. He was recently activated off the IL, but it was a COVID-19 contact tracing situation so he should be good to go for tonight. He has recorded at least five strikeouts and over 20 FD points in three of his last four games and while most of his surface and advanced metrics aren't pretty and he has given up five homers, the Mets aren't likely the team to chase him early tonight. They rank dead-last in ISO (.115) and have the eighth-worst OPS (.668) against RHP this season. They don't strike out a ton, but Kelly is a worthy GPP option at this low of a price.
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FanDuel DFS Infielders
Yuli Gurriel - 1B, HOU vs. TOR ($2,900)
Attacking bats against Steven Matz is a solid strategy tonight, especially RHH's as Matz holds a 5.96 ERA and has given up all five of his homers to that side of the plate. Gurriel is a patient hitter who has been crushing the ball all season but especially lately, amassing 41.4 FD points yesterday and exceeding 20 FD points five times since April 21st.
Marcus Semien - 2B/SS, TOR vs. HOU ($3,100)
While I wouldn't be inclined to stack up against Christian Javier tonight, you can certainly take stabs at a few of the potent Blue Jays bats. Semien is cheap and should slot in at leadoff again, giving him some extra opportunity to hit/exceed value. He has outputs of 35.2 and 37.1 FD points over his last six games.
Alex Bregman - 3B, HOU vs. TOR ($3,600)
Sticking with the beating-up-on-Matz theme, enter slugger Alex Bregman. He's hitting .310/.367/.490 with five homers, 18 RBI, and 11.3 FD points per game so far this season. As mentioned, Matz has trouble against RHH's and Bregman is one of the game's best split hitters against LHP. He holds an unbelievable .325 AVG for his career against southpaws, with 39 homers in just 633 at-bats. That averages out to a homer every 16 at-bats or so. Sign a dude up.
Tim Anderson - SS, CWS vs. KCR ($3,800)
We definitely shouldn't be afraid to target White Sox bats against hotshot prospect Daniel Lynch and company. Lynch will be making his second appearance in the bigs after a mediocre showing (4 and 2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 3 K, 3 ER) against Cleveland in his debut. He has shown nice strikeout stuff in rookie/A ball, but the fact that he hasn't pitched above the high-A level should immediately turn a green light on in your DFS brain. There are plenty of shortstops in play today, but Anderson looks like the best one as a part of a White Sox stack or mini-stack.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Yordan Alvarez - OF, HOU vs. TOR ($3,700)
This is an easy recommendation (see above for reasons to target against Matz). Alvarez is still somehow affordably priced and he'll slot back into the cleanup spot in a lineup that should put up a crooked number tonight. Alvarez put up 40.4 FD points with his two-homer night two nights ago and holds high rates in xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, and Barrel %.
Ronald Acuna Jr. - OF, ATL vs. TOR ($4,400)
Getting to some Braves is recommended as the volatile Velasquez will take the mound for at least one more start. He put up a great line against the Brewers in his last outing, but he still holds a weak 4.91 ERA (6.13 FIP, 4.62 xFIP) and is allowing 2.45 HR/9 and a high 15.5% walk rate. Acuna is slashing an incredible .321/.414/.670 and ranks in the top 2% in average exit velocity, hard hit percentage, xwOBA, xBA, and xSLG. He's due for another bomb here tonight.
Nick Solak - OF, TEX vs. SEA ($3,000)
This is a gut call more than anything - Solak has seven homers on the season but he hasn't hit one in the 10 games following his two-homer outburst against the Angels. He has still been productive in that span, though, and he's hitting .289/.364/.484 on the season with an 89th percentile xBA and an 82nd-percentile xSLG. Ljay Newsome isn't a pitcher to fear and it's past time for Solak to get back in the homer column.
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