RADIO
Mark Strausberg highlights the top FanDuel MLB DFS lineup picks for 5/6/21, and a couple of sleepers to consider while building daily rosters.
Good morning RotoBallers! Another no-no yesterday! And having come from an unlikely source (John Means), it makes me wonder what we might get from Gerritt Cole today. Because Cole might be one of the most dominant pitchers in the American League. But the ownership on Cole is never going to be as low as it was on Means yesterday. Even if Cole does pitch a no-hitter for your DFS entry, it will likely give you very little ownership leverage.
For the record, I don't think Cole is pitching a no-hitter today. But as his seasonal fantasy owners will attest, we have something to be excited about approximately every five days. Similar to how you can look forward to my articles nearly twice a week, right? Wink emoji, wink emoji.
Should Cole be in your lineups today? Read below to find, as I provide you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 5/6/2021. 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. The main slate is an early one, so with less time to make decisions, let's go there now.
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FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Anchor Play 1:
Gerrit Cole - NYY vs HOU ($12,300)
Nearly $2K more than the next closest pitcher? That seems a little steep, right? Danny Duffy and Brandon Woodruff might not be on the same level as Cole, but they have been excellent so far this season as well. That two grand of extra salary is a lot to pay even for a pitcher with a 0.73 WHIP, five wins, and 62Ks. Plus, he's playing the Astros, one of the better offenses in the league, right?
Wrong.
The Astros have the sixth-fewest HRs and the sixth-fewest walks. Not that I expect Cole to add much to that total. He has only three walks all year and a K:BB ratio of nearly 20x! That kind of ratio I am willing to pay for. Furthermore, do you really want to be sitting there in your cash games as the only one without Cole?
Just keep this in mind before you pivot away from Cole:
Gerrit Cole’s 12 strikeouts tonight pic.twitter.com/9GfBvz7iXr
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 1, 2021
Anchor Play 2/Potential Alternate Play
Nathan Eovaldi, BOS vs DET ($9,600)
Eovalid might be a very popular pick, so I am reluctant to call him a GPP play. However, Cole will likely garner a very large percentage as the big dog of the night. Duffy and Woodruff will also be popular options, thereby keeping Eovaldi at least at a reasonable percentage. His match-up alone is going to draw a lot of attention.
The Tigers are batting a sub-Mendoaian .199 as a team. They are the only team in the league averaging less than three runs a game. The good news for Detroit fans is that they are not the worse team in strikeouts...they are only the third worst. All these combine for a great match-up even for an average pitcher. But just from his four wins, 3.63 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and his 8.39 k/9 stats, we know Eovaldi is better than average.
But I dug a little deeper and it turns out Eovaldi has actually been better than his actual. He's been a been unlucky. He has a .327 BABIP, which is clearly higher than the "typical" .300 and much higher than Eovaldi's career .309 BABIP. Furthermore, his xERA and xFIP are both lower than 3.63 ERA, meaning we should start to see even better games from Eovaldi. I got a hunch this Tiger game will be one of them.
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FanDuel DFS Infielders
William Contreras - C, ATL at WSH ($2,200)
We need to find some cheap hitters, especially if you spend up for Cole. Few are cheaper than Contreras. I'd give you his stats, but since he has only 10 at-bats, let's just say his stats skew a little on the ridiculous side right now. He is currently hit .400, which matches his total from last year, when he also only had ten at-bats. He's not going to hit .400, but he does have a knack for making contact. He did hit .285 in the minors.
Furthermore, I have serious questions about the 37-year old Jon Lester. He was once a dominant pitcher. But he hasn't a WHIP below 1.30 in five years. If Lester can regain that form, it will be a nice story. But I'm willing to bet against him until he proves me wrong and that starts with an easy cheapie.
Contreras is not the only Atlanta player I like tonight.
Ozzie Albies - 2B ATL at WSH ($3,200)
FanDuel seems to have him locked at $3200 and that's fine by me. Albies stumbled out of the gate, but he now has a hit in ten straight games. He's up to five homers too and against the aforementioned Jon Lester, I think Albies continues to make up for his slow start.
Josh Donaldson - 3B, MIN vs TEX ($3,100)
Josh Donaldson at $3100 might seem like a head-scratcher. He's likely gone unnoticed by many. Yet, Donaldson is a great leverage play who still gives us a high floor. In 17 games this year, Donaldson has failed to score fantasy points in only two of them. And squaring off against Jordan Lyles and his 7.39 ERA I like Donaldson to have another decent night.
Trea Turner - SS, WSH vs ATL ($3,800)
If I'm attacking Lyles and his 7.39 ERA, you think I might be inclined to do the same with Drew Smyly and 8.05 ERA? I think Smyly might actually improve his stats against the Soto-less Nats. But Turner is one of the few Washington bats putting up All-Star calibre numbers. Tuner is batting .314 along with seven stolen bases and seven homers. So he's not quite on pace for a 40/40 season:
Trea Turner is on pace for 39 HR and 39 SB this season.@treavturner // #NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/a0PnQHigFl
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 6, 2021
39/39 is pretty good. Fade Turner tonight at your own risk.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Nelson Cruz - OF, MIN vs TEX ($3900)
If I'm going to start Donaldson, you think I might be interested in starting Cruz? I'll let Cruz's .304 average and eight homers answer that question.
The counter-argument is that Cruz has been fairly quiet against Texas so far this year. Fine. But to that I simply say small size and that means he due. Big time. Cruz easily hits double-digit fantasy points on Thursday.
Willie Calhoun - OF, TEX at MIN ($2,700)
But there are some attractive bets in the opposing dugout of that game too. If you are not aware how good Calhoun has been lately, do yourself a favor and go check it out. I'll wait.....
Done? Good. And now you know why he'll be part of my Tuesday lineup.
Alex Verdugo - OF, BOS vs DET ($3,100)
I love me some Ronald Acuna tonight. Definitely a stud outfielder I would play, especially to complete the Atlanta stack. But that's a very costly bat and one you probably can't afford if you go with some of the more expensive arms. But a Boston stack is not a bad idea either. And Verdugo has been winning me some serious money lately.
Double-check his status, as he has been battling a back issue. But Verdugo has 13 games this year already scoring double-digit fantasy points. If healthy and at this price, he's an easy start.
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