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Just a 10 game slate for May 11th, but with no day games scheduled there’s plenty of options for your FanDuel lineup.
The pitching options – save for a really expensive Zack Greinke ($10,300) – are underwhelming to say the least. It’s not so much that the caliber of pitchers today are poor, it’s just that the ones that initially catch my eye are ones whose matchups I'm not a big fan of. With that in mind, I’m going to try and find some value and high upside plays to target for tournaments in addition to the two cash game pitching plays below.
DFS Starting Pitchers To Consider for FanDuel
Gerrit Cole – SP – Pirates ($9,000)
The one semi-expensive pitcher I’ll be playing in cash games is Pirates righty Gerrit Cole as he takes on the Phillies in Pittsburgh. The Phillies have been walking out some laughable lineups and they average an MLB worst 2.81 runs per game. Cole has done an excellent job of inducing ground balls (59.6%), striking batters out (9.84 K/9) and he’s given up just two home runs in more than 35 innings of work.
Jon Lester – SP – Cubs ($9,100)
So Lester hasn’t been the Lester of old we were accustomed to watching in Boston over the years, but he hasn’t been as bad as his ERA or W-L record would suggest. The 2.75 FIP mark and the fact he’s given up just one earned run while striking out 10 in his last 14 innings of work reveal there is reason to be optimistic. Maybe he was experiencing “dead arm” after all. Tonight he takes on a Mets team at Citi Field that really struggled to hit left handed pitching. They’re slugging .364 against and have scored just 19 runs on lefties all season.
CC Sabathia – SP – Yankees ($7,300)
This is that “ high upside with low cost” type of play I went digging for. Yes, decreased fastball velocity CC comes with increased risk, but hear me out first. The game is being played away from home run friendly Yankee Stadium, the Rays are hitting .235 as a team against left-handed pitching and they strike out in 21.8 percent of their at-bats, sixth worst in the majors.
DFS Infielders To Consider for FanDuel
Stephen Vogt - C - Athletics ($3,500)
He is an absolute must at this point when facing right-handed pitching, and does so today against Rick Porcello. He's usually slotted in the fourth or fifth spot in the lineup as well, so I like his chances to see ducks on the pond this evening.
Other Catchers to Consider: Yasmani Grandal - C - Dodgers ($3,000)
Jose Abreu - 1B - White Sox ($3,400)
My favorite first baseman on the board today. He faces Wily Peralta - prone to giving up the long ball - in a home run friendly park. With this weather, there's also a good chance the roof is closed this evening at Miller Park. Oh, and for whatever reason, Abreu excels in the righty-righty matchup. I like his chances to go deep tonight.
Manny Machado - 3B - Orioles ($3,600)
Manny has really gotten into a groove lately after a slow start. Machado, like Jose Abreu, is one of those rare types that excels in the same-handedness matchup. He's hitting over .300 versus righties and under .200 versus left-handers. All five of his home runs have come facing righties. He's a good play in Camden Yards tonight.
Other Infielders to Consider: Freddie Freeman - 1B - Braves ($3,800), Neil Walker - 2B - Pirates ($3,000), Howie Kendrick - 2B - Dodgers ($3,200), Mike Moustakas - 3B - Royals (2,800), Alcides Escobar - SS - Royals ($2,600), Ian Desmond - SS - Nationals ($2,900)
DFS Outfielders To Consider for FanDuel
Bryce Harper - OF - Nationals ($5,100)
Harper's price is a bit ridiculous, but you could say the same thing about what he's done to baseballs recently. He's always been a threat to go deep, but now more than ever he's putting great wood on the ball. Harper faces Josh Collmenter tonight, and he's one of my favorite pitchers to pick on. I have a feeling Bryce wont go easy on him in the desert.
Hanley Ramirez - OF - Red Sox ($3,900)
Hanley is just crushing left-handed pitching this season - .421 batting average, four home runs - and you'd be a fool not to play him against Scott Kazmir this evening.
Starling Marte - OF - Pirates ($4,000)
Marte doesn't have jump-off-the-page type splits against right-handed pitching, but he has been heating up of late with a .343 batting average in the month of May. Call this one a hunch if you'd like, but I think he and his teammates can get to Colby Lewis early and do some damage.
Other Outfielders to Consider: Mookie Betts - OF - Red Sox ($3,300), Lorenzo Cain - OF - Royals ($3,400)
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