Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftStreet, and DraftKings 5/21/14

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Pitchers

Michael Wacha FanDuel 8700 DraftKings 10300 DraftStreet 22536
Wacha has been so money this season and I suspect he knows it. Dude is racking up some impressive strikeout numbers with over 10 per 9. That's among the top in the league and goes nicely with his sub 3 xFIP. He's definitely the best arm going today from a raw number standpoint. The DBacks are middle of the road against righties which isn't too exciting. They are just ok. That being said, for cash games I think he represents some safety without a price tag that breaks the bank.

Hyun-Jin Ryu FanDuel 7100 DraftKings 8200 DraftStreet 18558
The Mets, while not at the bottom of the league against lefties (more middle of the pack) strike out a ton against them. Close to 25% of their at bats against southpaws end in a strike out. That, my friends, is a lot of whiffing. Ryu comes at somewhat of a discount because he's returning from injury. This would typically make the situation a stayaway for me, but on a night of pitching question marks, I can stomach it. Ryu is a good, not great pitcher who generate K's and limits the walks. Pitching in a ballpark that depresses power helps and this makes a nice midrange option.

Tanner Roark FanDuel 6300 DraftKings 9000 DraftStreet 16366
Cincinnati wasn't that good with Votto around. Without him they look pretty thin and have an abysmal second half of their lineup that is about as light hitting at it gets. Names like Heisey, Cozart and Santiago start popping up and that's before you even get to the pitcher slot. In other words, now is the time to target pitchers facing the the Small Red Machine. Roark has been serviceable in eight starts, striking out about 8 per 9 innings. His xFIP is under 4. and the walks aren't out of control. Not huge upside, but I doubt he gets bombed considering the state of the Reds.

Nathan Eovaldi FanDuel 6600 DraftKings 8800 DraftStreet 17369

His last two starts were rough. But there is nothing in his Pitch F/X profile that suggest he's dealing with any kind of issue. And while the opponents were lackluster, it really isn't enough to scare me off Eovaldi today. The Phillies are near the bottom of the league against righties and we might be buying Nathan at a discount here. He had been striking out batters in droves before those last two starts. Might be a blip and I don't mind buying on the upside.

Kyle Lohse FanDuel 6600 DraftKings 9700 DraftStreet 15055

The Braves are near the very bottom in the league against righties. Only the Padres and the Mets rank below them on the season. A big reason for this is they strike out in bunches, third highest rate in the league. This is really the only reason I'm considering Lohse here and I would only do it in a GPP.

Catchers

Brian McCann FanDuel 3400 DraftKings 3700 DraftStreet 5816
I'll be going back to the McCann vs. righties in good hitters' parks well as often as I can. Samardzija has outperformed his peripherals this year, and while he's still a great pitcher, he's far from a guy who you can't start hitters against.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia FanDuel 2800 DraftKings 3400 DraftStreet 4532
It's a little known fact that Salty sends a cardboard cutout of himself to face left-handed pitching. Cheerfully, Kyle Kendrick is a right handed pitcher, and a mediocre one at that. I prefer the above guys to Jarrod - and not just because of his misspelled first name. The 109 wRC+ against righties is enticing, but the above guys have just a little more to offer.

Also considered: Yasmani Grandal, AJ Pierzynski

First Basemen

Prince Fielder FanDuel 3400 DraftKings 4700 DraftStreet 9459
I'm not exactly going out on a limb here. Chris Young got a left handed hitter out a few seasons ago, but it's been a while. Prince has been turning it on recently, with 6 hits in his last 4 games... and I mean, it's Chris Young. 18 Ks and 17 BBs this year. Pitching in Texas. Come on.

Anthony Rizzo FanDuel 2900 DraftKings 4400 DraftStreet 7156
The system truthfully couldn't be any less impressed with the pitching abilities of one Chase Whitley. Let's not get carried away with some decent AAA performance, the guy was a RELIEVER for most of his time in AAA last year. Rizzo has been a monster OBP machine this year, and he does almost all of his damage against right handers. I think Mr. Whitley's outing is going to be short and sweet, and it's going to involve Rizzo jogging around the bases at some point.

Adam Dunn FanDuel 3100 DraftKings 3900 DraftStreet 5026
With 7 walks and a homer in his last 5 games, what's left of Adam Dunn is still a force to be reckoned with in formats that count for walks. Sprinkle in the right handed Guthrie, who has just 27 Ks in 52 IP this year, and you have a recipe for a potential monster for Dunn. Dunn's weakness is Ks, and Guthrie can't K anyone. Gulp.

Also considered: Ryan Howard, Justin Smoak, Mark Reynolds

Second Basemen

Robinson Cano FanDuel 3700 DraftKings 5100 DraftStreet 8535
Put me firmly in the camp that Cano is back. Tepesch is better than a lot of people realize, but that still doesn't mean he will have any answers for the left handed Cano in the 2nd best hitters park in all of baseball. The ball will be hit hard, and chances for a huge game are high.

Neil Walker FanDuel 3200 DraftKings 4400 DraftStreet 6632
Walker has been... kinda awesome this year. A 125 wRC+ and 9 homers is nothing to sneeze at from the 2b position that only seems to be getting worse and worse as years go by. Walker's appearance on this list, of course, means the Pirates have drawn a right handed pitcher. In this case, it's Chris Tillman. All the post-hype prospect buzz in the world can't escape the fact that Tillman continues to post mediocre peripherals and allow runs. Love Walker here.

Dee Gordon FanDuel 3600 DraftKings 4900 DraftStreet 7642
Gordon is a fascinating player, in that he posts literally the worst split OPS I've ever seen (.485 vs. righties!!) vs. left handed pitching, but provides insane value against right handers. The speed is simply ridiculous, and belies an underrated run-scoring ability. The guy's a fantasy superstar, and I'm sure you can understand why the system thinks he'll perform well against the unknown Degrom.

Also considered: Brian Roberts, Jedd Gyorko

Shortstops

Hanley Ramirez FanDuel 3900 DraftKings 5100 DraftStreet 7716
A lot of people will be rushing out to the Jacob deGrom sweepstakes, and you probably should, too. I mean, his name starts with a lower case letter for crying out loud. Hanley is pretty platoon neutral, so the handedness of young Jacob shouldn't bother him. Seems like a total mismatch on paper.

Everth Cabrera FanDuel 2700 DraftKings 3800 DraftStreet 4478
I recommended Cabrera knowing full well that he would homer and steal a base in Colorado. Okay, I didn't know shit. But! The thing about these steal-first guys is that their downside is rather limited regardless of the park they're playing in. The upside is limited, too, but I like Cabrera for double-ups today.

SS is pretty awful today. Here are a big pile of guys who are all the same, to me: Jean Segura, JJ Hardy, Brad Miller

 

Third Basemen

Kyle Seager FanDuel 3000 DraftKings 4000 DraftStreet 6036
I'm eager for Seager, today. God, that sucked. Anyway, Seager is one of many Ms who loves hitting right handed pitching on the road. His 137 wRC+ in such situations means huge opportunity here - for both his own production, and counting stats related to his teammates performances. Seattle loves to stack lefties against right handed pitching, and Texas (and Tepesch) make a great situation.

Pablo Sandoval FanDuel 2800 DraftKings 4200 DraftStreet 5588
Big (sad) Panda has not been himself this season, striking out more and hitting for less power. But! He's a reverse platoon split guy facing an up and down pitcher in the best hitters' park this side of Mexico City. And, I mean, up and down is sort of a huge compliment to Chacin. The guy has been duh-readful this year - 8 BBs and 7 Ks in 17 IP! Come on, Panda! You can do this!

Pedro Alvarez FanDuel 3100 DraftKings 4100 DraftStreet 5363
You can't call him consistent, but Pedro can absolutely put up numbers against right-handed pitching. He won't be a huge start, but playing him could have huge rewards in a GPP format where you are trying to strike gold.

Also considered: Evan Longoria, Chase Headley

Outfielders

Shin-Soo Choo FanDuel 4000 DraftKings 5100 DraftStreet 7555
All aboard, etc. Choo will be the biggest start of any player today. If you need a reason: It's because Chris Young is A) a righty B) pitching in Texas and C) awful.

Leonys Martin FanDuel 2500 DraftKings 3600 DraftStreet 5031
Martin is not a world-beater at the plate or anything, but he is roughly league average against normal right-handed pitching, and Chris Young! Martin is an incredible bargain, and could absolutely reach base a couple of times and score a run or two before Young is inevitably chased.

Austin Jackson FanDuel 2900 DraftKings 0 DraftStreet 0
The captain of the reverse platoon split all-stars, Jackson has never met a right-handed pitcher he doesn't like. The league-average McAllister will likely have his hands full with the Tigers, and Jackson should be a big part of that.

Jacoby Ellsbury FanDuel 3800 DraftKings 4600 DraftStreet 6959
Like McCann, I don't think you can run from a nice righty-lefty match up because of an opposing pitcher's reputation. Samardzija is good, but he isn't elite, and the bevy of Yankees lefties could absolutely give him a run for his money, with Ellsbury at the helm.

Mike Trout FanDuel 4600 DraftKings 5900 DraftStreet 10200
It turns out that we possibly should have waited before giving McHugh the Cy Young after his first two starts this year. Trout is fantastic against right-handed pitching, and while he hasn't been MIKETROUT this year, he has still been plenty awesome. He chews McHugh up and spits him out - mark my words.

Matt Kemp FanDuel 3600 DraftKings 4800 DraftStreet 7150
Kemp is historically better against lefties, but, Jacob deGrom. Kemp isn't the headlining fantasy talent he used to be, but he's actually shown dramatic improvement against right handers this year. With a near 1.000 OPS and a 179 wRC+, I see no reason to think he can't build upon that success against the young Metropolitan.

Billy Hamilton FanDuel 3300 DraftKings 4100 DraftStreet 6890
The wheels make Hamilton a much safer play than most people realize, and in his young career he's shown a strong preference for right handed pitching. Roark is a nice young pitcher, but Hamilton only needs to get on base once to pay this price and more.

Also considered: Carl Crawford, Matt Holliday, Adam Eaton,

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