Fifteen game Friday to kick off the holiday weekend?! Incredible. We have quite an attractive slate on deck this evening and a special holiday on double-deck. Seriously, take a moment to remember why we have this holiday weekend every year in late May - thanks to all that you do, military and service men and women of this amazing country!

Before we get into my stacks, pitchers and position player selections, I'd like to point out a few Vegas lines worth knowing. These can be particularly helpful when deciding which teams to stack, players to target, and which pitchers to roster or fade entirely. The teams with the highest projected run totals tonight are the Yankees (5.4), Cardinals (5.4), Red Sox (5.4), the Astros (5.2), the Rockies (5.2) and the Phillies (5). With so many aces - or front-end starter types throwing tonight, it's pretty crazy to see so many projections north of five runs. Should make for an interesting night!

As for the teams that are favored most heavily on the moneyline tonight, the Nationals sit atop the list at -235, followed by the Yankees (-173), the Red Sox (-165) and the Phillies (-153). After that, it's quite a sharp drop to the next tier.

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In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel on 5/26/17. The DFS lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options, and of course, value plays. 

 

Offensive Stacks

I usually kick off my nightly research with a focus on pitchers or stacks. They're a great foundation and revealing who you'd like to target in pitching usually reveals who I'd like to attack with stacks and vice versa. There are a ton of potentially lucrative stacking options on deck tonight, so I'm going to throw you a few of my favorites. Of course, the Rockies and Cardinals are in play at Coors Field, but you already knew that so I won't waste my breath and your time explaining why they could win you some money.

 

New York Yankees versus Kendall Graveman 

It's not hard to see why the Yankees climbed the projected run total ladder overnight, but I was hoping they stayed in the middle-tier as they'd have a better shot of going over-looked and under-owned. Nevertheless, I'm not shying away from the Bronx Bombers stack tonight because I think the opportunity is too great and I also love that you can stack them in so many ways - giving you a chance to get your Yankees shares but in a unique lineup sort of fashion. What makes them so attractive? Well, aside from the fact they have a ton of home run capable hitters littered throughout their order and play in one of the most home run producing stadiums, they have the highest projected run total of the night and face a pitcher in Graveman that strikes out very few hitters (5.1 K/9) and it's expected to be pretty humid at first pitch. My favorite Yankee targets are Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Starlin Castro and Chris Carter.

 

Philadelphia Phillies versus Tim Adleman

Strictly from an opposing pitcher perspective, the Phillies have an amazing opportunity here. They don't have a strong enough lineup to warrant risking them in cash play, but the matchup and their power hitting core are begging to be stacked in large field tournaments. Adleman has been a pretty equal opportunity pitcher this year and that he allows left-handed and right-handed batters to hit him hard. Lefties thus far have hit him to the tune of a .372 wOBA and .574 slugging percentage and right-handers own a .500 slugging percentage and 40% hard hit rate. My favorite Phillies tonight are Tommy Joseph, Michael Saunders, Freddy Galvis, Andrew Knapp and Brock Stassi.

 

Miami Marlins versus Jesse Chavez

I'll make this one short and sweet as you probably shouldn't invest all your money here, but I think there's pretty big potential and the leverage you'll have if this pays off will be monumental. The Marlins have really strong right-handed power bats in the middle of their order and I think a mini-stack of two to three guys - always including Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna - has high potential. Chavez has been hit pretty hard this year, allowing 1.79 HR/9, and the right-handed bats have been doing most of the damage, as he's allowed a .379 wOBA and .500 slugging percentage to that group. The HR/9 split for righties jumps up to 2.2 HR/9 and Statcast tells us 39% of batted balls in his right-handed hitter matchups have been hard hit.

 

Also Consider: Baltimore Orioles versus Joe Musgrove

 

FanDuel DFS Pitchers

Max Scherzer - SP, vs SDP ($11,800)

This one just seems too easy. Scherzer should not be priced under 12K in this fantastic matchup, and we should reap the return-on-investment benefits. His opponent, the Padres, are an abysmal offense and they happen to strike out a ton, with their projected lineup for tonight owning a 25% strikeout rate against right-handed pitching. Sherzer's line this season is brilliant, too, with his WHIP sitting under one and his K/9 at 11.3  Scherzer should have little trouble taking care of this Padres team that is projected for a slate-low 3.1 runs. He's a fine play in cash and tournament formats this evening.

 

Chris Archer - SP, at MIN ($10,600)

Archer, beater-of-price-implied-value in four of his last five starts, is in a magnificent tournament matchup tonight. He's a bit pricey, but it's pretty much unavoidable that you'll have to pay up for pitching tonight - and there's a lot of options to choose from. Archer gets the nod from me as my favorite target in tournament formats. After a 2016 campaign that left a lot of believers - myself included - wondering when Archer was going to reach his potential, we've seen a pretty strong answer in 2017. Thus far, he's the owner of a solid 1.1 WHIP and he's done an improved job of keeping the ball in the yard (1.1 HR/9). His swing-and-miss stuff is most certainly back as well, and he's showcasing a very strong 10.55 K/9. He's on the road tonight, but in a great environment for pitchers, and his strikeout upside is extremely high tonight, seeing as this Twins team is no stranger to the K. Their projected lineup tonight has the highest strikeout split of all 30 teams in action tonight at 32%.

 

Also Consider: Jacob deGrom - SP, at PIT ($11,000) - Cash or GPP; Eduardo rodriguez - SP, vs SEA ($8,700) - GPP

 

FanDuel DFS Infielders

Jesus Sucre - C, at MIN ($2,600)

Sucre checks all the boxes for me tonight in what I look for in a catcher on a night with 10+ games - value, power and upside in the matchup. Sucre has been hitting the ball well lately, showcasing some pop with his 40% hard hit rate in the past 15 days. He also has very strong splits against southpaws - .441 wOBA, .279 ISO - and faces a pitcher in Hector Santiago that has been getting absolutely smoked.

Also Consider: Gary Sanchez - C, vs OAK ($3,300)

 

Edwin Encarnacion - 1B, vs KC ($3,700)

There's a lot of players to love today, even more to like and a larger pool still to consider. Edwin is one of my absolute favorites tonight, and that's saying a lot for a Friday with so many players worth my consideration and yours. Encarnacion has excellent splits against right-handed pitching - .380 wOBA, .283 ISO - and has the chance to tee off on Ian Kennedy (who has been getting teed off on by much lesser players in the past few weeks).

Also Consider: Jose Abreu - 1B, vs DET ($4,000)

 

Rougned Odor - 2B, at TOR ($2,900)

On a night with such expensive pitching options - ones you should be paying up for - it's important to find players that package value and upside together with a decently high floor as well. That combo manifests itself best in Odor tonight, with his .327 wOBA and .235 ISO splits. He also has a quality matchup against Mike Bolsinger and he's been squaring the ball up pretty well lately, flashing a 33% hard hit rate over the past 15 games.

 

JT Riddle - SS, vs LAA ($2,500)

I don't want to sound all repetitive, but a lot of what I said about Odor above applies here for Riddle. Riddle, of course, is more of a mystery long term than Odor, who has already somewhat proven at the MLB level, but we're starting to get the early pieces of a sample size we can make draw conclusions from. Riddle has shown flashes of pop against right-handed pitching and he has a good matchup today against a pitcher in Chavez that can be taken advantage of. For the season, Riddle has a .229 ISO and a .457 slugging percentage - both great marks for this position and price point.

Also Consider: Francisco Lindor - SS, vs KC ($3,600)

 

Josh Donaldson - 3B, vs TEX ($3,800)

Is he finally going to be back in the lineup? It's a little early in the morning to tell, but I think there's a good shot he does - and better yet, so do his coaches and team doctor. If you think this is a reach pick, it might be, but this is just too good a spot to pass on. The price is cheap when you consider the upside and the opponent - pitcher AJ Griffin - is incredibly inferior. In 2016, Donaldson had tremendous splits - .430 wOBA and a .277 ISO - which are two of the big reasons why I love him in his (potential) return tonight.

Also Consider: Manny Machado - 3B, at HOU ($3,800)

 

 

FanDuel DFS Outfielders

JD Martinez - OF, at CWS ($3,700)

There's literally no reason to stop riding the JDMART train. Martinez has been on an unbelievable tear since his return and for some reason, he's been under-owned in this stretch. Tonight, he has a quality matchup again against the inexperienced Tyler Danish. For the year, JD is flashing .450 wOBA and .289 ISO splits.

 

Aaron Judge - OF, vs OAK ($4,100)

The Judge is back him in his chambers and he's good a matchup we want to exploit. Judge is a difficult matchup for any with his nearly .400 wOBA split and impressive (see also: massive) .304 ISO splits and I love that he's back in a favorable park in hitting in the middle of the order projected to produce the most runs this evening.

 

Khris Davis - OF, at NYY ($3,600)

On the other side of this Yankees matchup is an Oakland team that has a very favorable matchup as well, though it's not as glaringly obvious. Tanaka has been getting shelled lately and Davis is due right now. He has massive power splits, showcased by his .297 ISO and .537 slugging percentage in 2017.

 

Also Consider: Mark Trumbo - OF, at HOU ($3,400) and Mark Canha - OF, at NYY ($2,400)

 

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