DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 5/16/21

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Pitchers

Lance McCullers Jr. FD - P 8400 DK - SP 9600
Opponent - TEX (Kyle Gibson) Park - HOU
FD - 38.53 DK - 20.81

This is a good spot for McCullers facing off against the Rangers on Sunday. He’s opening as a -173 home favorite which represents some of the better win odds on the slate. Texas has been a middling offense on the season, but they are striking out 26% as a team which bodes well for McCullers’ upside. He’s striking out 10.4 batters per nine at a 29% rate. The walks are still a little of a concern, something he’s struggled with most of his career. But in terms of talent, he’s one of the better pitchers on this main slate and should be a top cash option.

Dylan Cease FD - P 7400 DK - SP 7400
Opponent - KC (Brady Singer) Park - CHW
FD - 33.05 DK - 16.72

The Royals rank 22nd in team wOBA on the season and though they don’t strike out at higher volume, there also isn’t all that much pop in these bats. Cease opens as a -150 home favorite here and he’s really spiked his K rate on the season, striking out 32% of opposing batters and putting down seven or more in each of his last three games. This hasn’t always been part of his profile, but he’s throwing the fastball more and can get it up to over 96MPH. I like the matchup for the righty on Sunday.

Catcher/First Base

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. FD - 1B 3800 DK - 1B 6000
Opponent - PHI (Chase Anderson) Park - TOR
FD - 12.73 DK - 9.66

He’s having a breakout season and is priced as such. But man is he ever a tough fade here on Sunday. The young superstar is sitting with an OPS right around 1.000 for the season, easily the best mark he’s seen in his time in the majors. He’s walking (17%) more than he’s striking out (16%) and is just one of the tougher outs in the game right now. We are going to be getting into some more Blue Jays in short order, but know that the Toronto stacking begins with Vlad-y.

if Rowdy Tellez (FD $2200 DK $3300) moves up at all in the lineup then he’d be a lock at these prices.

José Abreu FD - 1B 3800 DK - 1B 5400
Opponent - KC (Brady Singer) Park - CHW
FD - 11.71 DK - 8.86

The White Sox are a little pricey on this site but they get a good matchup against Singer who strikes out more than a batter per inning but also has an xFIP in the mid-4’s. Abreu isn’t as good this season as he’s been over the last couple in the OPS department. Some of it is because the BABIP is running about 40 points lower than his career averages. But the 46% hard contact rate is the best of his career and there’s room for upside.

Second Base

Marcus Semien FD - 2B 3400 DK - 2B 5500
Opponent - PHI (Chase Anderson) Park - TOR
FD - 13 DK - 9.85

Cavan Biggio FD - 2B 2400 DK - 3B 4500
Opponent - PHI (Chase Anderson) Park - TOR
FD - 11.27 DK - 8.42

The Blue Jays, without George Springer, continue to hit Semien in the leadoff spot and that makes him a value play here. It’s a righty-righty-matchup, but we can live with that considering Chase Anderson is one of the worst arms going on the slate. Semien has the OPS up to around .800 on the season which we will take and his major issue is the strikeout. But that’s less of a concern against Anderson who’s putting down batters less than 19% of the time.

Meanwhile, Biggio also qualifies at second base though he does hit a little lower in the order than Semien. The results haven’t been there for Cavan this season with an OPS under .700 on the year. That’s some cause for concern though he does maintain an excellent walk rate at 15%. He’s coming very cheap on FanDuel which puts him in play even if he’s hitting in the 6th-7th slot in the order.

Shortstop

Bo Bichette FD - SS 3700 DK - SS 5400
Opponent - PHI (Chase Anderson) Park - TOR
FD - 13.9 DK - 10.67

As I said, we are probably going to be stacking some Blue Jays on this slate and I don’t mind going 1-2-3 in the order. Bichette is locked into the two-hole behind Semien and has continued to flash the tools that make him one of the budding stars in the league. The 23-year-old has an .800 OPS on the season with the power-speed combination we love in fantasy. He already has eight home runs and seven steals. Like Semien, the issue is the strikeout for him, but that’s of less concern against Anderson.

Xander Bogaerts FD - SS 3600 DK - SS 5700
Opponent - LAA (Jose Quintana) Park - BOS
FD - 13.68 DK - 10.36

Bogaerts gets the lefty Quintana on Sunday which has the Red Sox as a team looking like a decent stack except they are a little expensive. Xander is having close to an MVP season through the first couple of months of the year. His OPS is close to 1.000 this season with eight home runs already. He is tough to strike out and is actually even better against lefties for his career. For his career, he has a 132 wRC+ and .372 wOBA against lefties. Quintana isn’t a gas can, but he’s struggled to start the season.

Third Base

Yoán Moncada FD - 3B 3500 DK - 3B 4700
Opponent - KC (Brady Singer) Park - CHW
FD - 11.22 DK - 8.49

It’s not going to be all Blue Jays for this main slate on FanDuel and DraftKings and I do think the White Sox are in play. Moncada is slowly starting to pick things up this season with an OPS creeping towards .800 thanks to an excellent .380 on-base percentage. He’s taking enough walks to even out the strikeout rate some and probably isn’t getting back to the power spike we saw two seasons ago. But that’s okay at these prices considering the White Sox are fine hitting him in the middle of the order.

Evan Longoria FD - 3B 2900 DK - 3B 3600
Opponent - PIT (Undecided) Park - PIT
FD - 9.34 DK - 7.12

It’s unclear who the Pirates are going to run out there to start on Sunday meaning only good things for the Giants. Some of the San Fran bats will be good to save a couple of dollars on this slate. Longoria is having a turn-back-the-clock season to start off 2021 with a .805 OPS and four home runs already to start. It’s a great sign from the 35-year-old who definitely appeared like he was on the downslope of his career. But he’s coming cheap on both sites and is still hitting in the middle of the Giants’ lineup.

Outfield

Teoscar Hernández FD - OF 3000 DK - OF 4400
Opponent - PHI (Chase Anderson) Park - TOR
FD - 12.77 DK - 9.6

How many Blue Jays is too many on this main slate? We might have to find out against Chase Anderson. Teoscar has flashed real power in the last couple of seasons wth 47 home runs in his last 750 plate appearances. The strikeout rate is real, but that also keeps his pricing somewhat in check. I love him in this matchup and he’s a reasonable price on both sites.

Mike Tauchman FD - OF 2400 DK - OF 3100
Opponent - PIT (Undecided) Park - PIT
FD - 11.29 DK - 8.57

Tauchman has gotten some leadoff looks for the Giants in recent games which would make him a plug-and-play on Sunday if that was the case again. He’s not all that good of a hitter. So that’s the bad news. But if he’s at the top of the lineup at these very cheap prices then we almost need to have a look at him in cash games because of the plate appearance expectation alone.

You can play Mike Yastrzemski (FD $3000 DK $5600) on FanDuel at that price as well. He’s a little steep on DraftKings though.

I don’t mind Andrew McCutchen (FD $2900 DK $4200) against the lefty Robbie Ray.

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