FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks (5/5/21): Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice

May 5, 2021

Mike Schwarzenbach highlights the top FanDuel MLB DFS lineup picks for 5/5/21, and a couple of sleepers to consider while building daily rosters.

Happy Cinco de Mayo, Rotoballers. We've got a larger-than-usual 11-game slate on FanDuel tonight and it's loaded with options across the board. There is a trio of hurlers priced above $10,000 in Shane Bieber ($12,200), Yu Darvish ($11,800), and Walker Buehler ($10,000). That doesn't mean paying up for an ace is required to stay competitive, at least in tournaments. Freddy Peralta ($9,000), Brady Singer ($7,400), and Jordan Montgomery ($6,300) all offer strong upside at their particular price point based on how much salary you have left after building an offense, if that's your preferred lineup construction method.

Speaking of offense, there should be plenty of that on Wednesday as well. The Texas/Minnesota game has the highest total on the slate at 9 1/2 runs and both starting pitchers are ones we can attack. I like a game-stack there. Elsewhere the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers will surely be popular facing strong matchups.

I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 5/5/2021. 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!

FanDuel DFS Pitchers

Cash Game/GPP Anchor Play:

Freddy Peralta - MIL at PHI ($9,000)

Man, is it hard to get away from Bieber here. I certainly won't fault anyone for paying up for the super ace, especially on FanDuel where he's almost always a shoo-in to get bonus points for a quality start. That being said, It can be hard to squeeze quality bats into lineups once pitcher salaries get too far over $11k. For my money, give me the young Brewers stud whose floor is almost as high as Bieber's for over $3K less.

Peralta has made five starts this season and has at least seven strikeouts in all of them. He also whiffed six in two innings in his one relief appearance. He's sporting an insane 40 percent strikeout rate through 28 innings. When batters can make contact it's rarely strong as he's got a .137 xBA, .284 xSLG, and a 27.5 percent hard-hit rate which all rank in the top-10 percent of pitchers this season. The Philly lineup has some star power, but they're not an overly daunting unit as a whole. I like Peralta to come close to matching the point totals Bieber and Darvish put up at a fraction of the cost and rostership.

GPP Play

Jordan Montgomery, NYY vs HOU ($6,300)

Monty wasn't a pitcher I initially planned on writing up for this slate, but once the prices came out it became clear he's a strong value at only $6,300. Montgomery was solid in his last start, allowing just two runs in five innings to the Orioles. He only had one strikeout in that start, but he's still sporting a strong 12.1 percent SwStr% and has a 62 percent whiff%. The strikeouts should come around. Houston isn't an easy matchup, but they are worse against LHP as they rank 18th in OPS versus southpaws. This isn't a cash-play, in tournaments however, Montgomery can deliver a strong outing for the third-lowest salary on the board.

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FanDuel DFS Infielders

Matt Olson - 1B, OAK vs TOR ($3,500)

Robbie Ray is throwing the ball well so far this season but he's still Robbie Ray which means there's always the potential for a blow-up outing. Ray has been a three-true-outcomes pitcher for most of his career and the A's are a dangerous team for that as they'll take their walks and have plenty of thump in the lineup. Part of the aforementioned thump comes in the form of Matt Olson who is on a tear to start the season. The slugger is sporting a .290 batting average, a .581 slugging percentage, and a .290 ISO through 25 games. I am not scared of the L/L matchup with Ray and in fact, embrace it as it may keep some of the field off of Olson. Olson already has two homers off lefties this season and should see some right-handed relievers later in the game.

Gleyber Torres - 2B, NYY vs HOU ($2,800)

Torres' salary keeps dropping as the Yankees shortstop is yet to homer this season, a point that is not lost on the Yankees broadcast crew almost every time he steps into the batter's box. While it must be frustrating for a player as good as Torres to stare at a goose egg in the HR column, it's clearly not affecting him as he's been productive in every other way over the past week. Torres has at least nine FanDuel points in six-straight games including last night when he took three walks. That patience will reward Torres with a dinger eventually, maybe even tonight against Luis Garcia.

Matt Chapman - 3B, OAK vs TOR ($3,000)

Another piece of an A's stack. Nothing flashy here other than playing a five-hole hitter riding a seven-game hit streak against a potential gas-can pitcher. He's struggled to a .169 BA versus righties this year, but against the lefty Ray, plug Chapman in as his numbers versus lefties this year are right in line with his excellent career averages.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa - SS/3B,  TEX @ MIN ($2,900)

IKF was in this column yesterday at $3k and had another nice game with a run and an RBI atop the Texas batting order. There's no reason to get away from the 26-year-old in a matchup against Lewis Thorpe and a Twins bullpen that hasn't been good this season. Kiner-Falefa went hitless yesterday but had nine hits in his previous six games and he's striking out under 20 percent of the time. He's got five homers and six steals this season so there are multiple avenues to fantasy success in the game with the highest over/under on the slate.

FanDuel DFS Outfielders

Giancarlo Stanton - OF, NYY vs HOU ($3,700)

I seldom pay up for Stanton but he's too locked in right now to fade. Since April 23 Stanton is batting .477 with an insane .818 slugging percentage. He went 4-for-5 yesterday with two more balls hit over 110 MPH, both of which stayed in the park. That won't always be the case; Stanton is hitting the ball harder than anyone on the planet right now and I'm not getting away from him in this matchup.

Mark Canha OF, OAK vs TOR ($3,400)

We talked in the infielder section about attacking Ray and the top of the A's order should do plenty of damage. Canha is one of the most patient hitters in the game with a 12.7 percent walk rate which has led to a strong .396 on-base percentage atop the A's lineup. He's got 26 runs scored in 30 games this season and is another power/speed threat that will set the table for the Oakland stack tonight. Ramon Laureano at $3,500 is also in play if going for a full-Athletics stack.

Nelson Cruz - OF, MIN vs TEX ($4,000)

This is your friendly reminder that Nelson Cruz CRUSHES lefties. He's got a .962 OPS against southpaws across his fruitful career and already has two dingers off left-handers this season. The Twins are very much in play tonight so if stacking up Twinkies be sure to include Cruz in this matchup, or plug him in as a one-off with the potential to go yard.