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Daily Fantasy Leagues - FanDuel Lineup Picks (5/6)
Please check the posted lineups and weather forecasts for each game before finalizing your lineup.
SP: Tyler Lyons @ ATL ($4200)
Lyons is a sold pitcher. He’s probably a number four starter in most rotations, possibly even a number three. That might not sound impressive, but he should give the Braves trouble tonight. The Braves have struck out 27.3% of the time against LHP this year, and they're in the midst of a seven-game losing streak. Additionally in Lyons's favor: he matches up against the extremely hittable John Danks, and he’s dirt cheap. I think a lot of people will be enticed into going with Robbie Ray for $3000 against HOU. While I understand the appeal, Ray has never been overwhelming, and he doesn't have much experience facing hitters above the High-A level (11 games started in AA and 5 games started in AAA). I think Lyons is the safer value play.
C: Yadier Molina @ ATL (vs. John Danks, RHP) ($3500)
The Cardinals haven’t been particularly strong against LHP over the last couple of years; that is really odd for a predominantly right-handed lineup. Regardless, Yadi loves facing lefties. He’s sporting a 161 wRC+ and a .401 wOBA against LHP since 2012. Danks is worse than the average pitcher. Yadi is my top-rated catcher for tonight’s games.
1B: Brandon Belt @ PIT (vs. Charlie Morton, RHP) ($3100)
Whenever a team is facing Charlie Morton, I run through the list of potential LHH in their lineup. Morton's career splits are staggering-- he’s a well above-average pitcher against RHH, and one of the worst pitchers in the MLB against LHH. Although Belt had been pretty pedestrian his first couple of years, he’s always been a plus hitter against righties. Belt’s a very nice play tonight.
OF: George Springer vs. DET (vs. Robbie Ray, LHP) ($2200)
This is not an endorsement of Springer over the short-term. He’s striking out at an Adam Dunn-sian rate. There really haven’t been a ton of positives in his short big-league career. That said, he gets to face the kind of pitching against which he almost went 40-40 last year. As noted above, Ray has very little experience against quality hitters. It’s very possible that he’s never faced a better hitter than Springer in his life. Since there isn’t enough data, I’ll assume that Spring and Ray will have splits similar to league average, giving Springer an even better matchup. You (literally) won’t find a cheaper player on FanDuel. If you do end up using Tyler Lyons, then it’s possible you don’t need to be conservative with your OF. If you’re left with $3500 for your last spot, by all means, take a more established player like Matt Holliday, Torii Hunter, etc. However, if you’re looking to cut costs somewhere, I think Springer’s a very reasonable high-risk, high-reward play.
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