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We have a full slate of games Tuesday, May 12th, but not a single one will be played in daylight. The part of me that wants to neglect my day job and watch MLB.tv weeps, but the DFS fanboy part of me loves having a wealth of lineup options. Rejoice and be glad.
DFS Starting Pitchers To Consider for FanDuel
Chris Sale ($9,600) vs the Brewers
The Brewers got after Jeff Samardzija last night, but that wont be the case with Chris Sale on the bump this evening. Sale has only looked like his normal ace-self in three of his five starts this season, but Milwaukee is the perfect team to get back on track against. Against left-handed pitching, the Brew Crew is slashing a paltry .208/.251/.386 line. Even in his poorer starts this season, Sale racked up a solid number of strikeouts and his opponent tonight strikes out in 22.8 percent of their at-bats against lefties. He's the most expensive pitcher on the board, but I think he's safe play for cash games.
Collin McHugh ($8,800) vs Giants
McHugh may not possess the high strikeout potential Chris Sale has tonight, but he's facing a pretty weak lineup in his home park. With the way his teammates have been smashing right-handed pitching - their .422 team slugging percentage is 7th in the majors against RHP - I think he'll be in line for the win, too. The Giants hit for an okay average (.260) against righties, but they do so with little pop (.381 slugging) and have scored the second least amount of runs in the majors this season at 74. McHugh has been really solid this year (4.71 K:BB ratio, 4.74 FIP) with the exception of being a little too home run prone, but I feel safe playing him in either cash games or tournaments tonight against San Francisco.
Other Pitchers to Consider: Edinson Volquez ($8,500); Chris Archer ($8,700)
Offenses to Target for FanDuel Stacking
Royals LHB versus Nick Martinez
If you take the time to sift through the splits, you'll find the Royals own some of the best marks against right-handed pitching of any team. They own a .322 team OBP, .422 slugging percentage, and they put the ball in play a ton, as evidenced in part by their 16.7% strikeout rate. A few of the Royals I'm targeting are Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon, who should be hitting fourth and sixth in the lineup, respectively. The top of their order does a great job of getting on base and I think Hosmer and Gordon will clean up nicely in Texas.
Nationals versus Rubby de la Rosa
This one may be a popular play tonight considering the Nationals are the hottest team in baseball and they face Rubby de la Rosa, who by no fault of his own, is Rubby de la Rosa. In all seriousness, the kid has pretty good strikeout stuff (9.24 K/9) and at 26 years old, he's not a lost cause and has a chance to put it all together. But it's not going to be tonight. Not against this Nationals lineup that is murdering baseballs with Bryce Harper leading the charge. In the month of May, Nats have gone deep 14 times and own a .298 batting average. I'm targeting Bryce Harper, Yunel Escobar, Denard Span and Wilson Ramos.
Others to Consider: Rockies RHB vs CJ Wilson; Padres RHB vs James Paxton; Astros LHB vs Chris Heston
DFS Catchers To Consider for FanDuel
Wilson Ramos - C - Nationals ($2,900)
As I mentioned above, I think Ramos fits in nicely as part of a Nationals stack tonight.
Evan Gattis - C - Astros ($3,400)
A bit pricier than Ramos is, but I also think he could be a part of a great stack this evening. Astros hitters annihilate right-handed pitching with the heavy lefty lineup of theirs.
DFS Infielders To Consider for FanDuel
Chris Davis - 1B - Orioles ($3,500)
I try to ignore BvP (batter versus pitcher) stats to a certain extent because they are not really predictive of future success, but with that said, I can't ignore when hitters hit for power and average over a decent sample size. Davis has that going for him tonight, having taken Mark Buehrle deep twice in 25 at-bats while hitting for a .320 average. He's also priced well below a lot of other first baseman tonight.
Eric Hosmer - 1B - Royals ($4,000)
The Hos will cost you tonight, but with five first baseman priced higher than he is and an excellent opportunity for his teammates to get on base ahead of them with the match-up they have, I think he's a good play in any format.
Yunel Escobar - 3B - Nationals ($2,600)
Escobar has been swinging a hot bat as of late and I'm a little surprised at how cheap he can be had tonight. I plan on stacking the Nationals' hitters in a few tournaments tonight, and Escobar will be a key piece in several of them.
Jose Altuve - 2B - Astros ($4,600)
He does happen to be the most expensive second baseman on the board tonight, but for two good reasons. The first is that he is Jose Altuve, the second is that he and his teammates are facing Chris Heston. Heston has a (.375/.412/.563) slash line when facing left-handed hitters.
Nolan Arenado - 3B ($3,700)
Call this one a hunch if you'd like, but I think Arenado and the rest of the Rockies' right-handed hitters chase CJ Wilson tonight.
DFS Outfielders To Consider for FanDuel
Jacoby Ellsbury - OF - Yankees ($4,300)
Okay, so there are a few batter versus pitcher matchups I can't ignore in cash games today. Jacoby is one of them. For whatever reason, he sees the ball out of Chris Archer's hand better than most, as he is 10-for-15 lifetime against him with a dong to boot.
Bryce Harper - OF - Nationals ($5,200)
Harper will be a real popular play tonight, so be mindful of that. I think his best values come as a part of your outfield in cash games and in tournaments, only if you're stacking other Nationals hitters, too. (And you should be.)
Wil Myers - OF - Padres ($3,600)
Outfielders are as pricy tonight as I can remember in the past few weeks. I think Myers offers the upside a lot of the others do, but he can be rostered without breaking the bank. The Padres lineup is right-handed and power heavy, and I like Myers chances to get on and score some runs in Seattle.
DFS Chat Room (Expert Q&A Tonight (5/12) at 6PM EST)
