FanDuel daily picks: Fantasy baseball lineup-June 14
Second Baseman
High-Salary Option: Jose Altuve-Houston Astros (4,100): The Astros are in St. Louis facing their former division rivals the Cardinals. Altuve doesn’t bring a ton of power most of the time, but his average and consistent production make him almost always a good option. He is 19-45 (.422) this month and has a homer, three doubles, and seven RBI. The diminutive second baseman has hit safely in nine of his last ten games and has multiple hits in six of his last eight. When you add in the fact that he is 6-13 (.462) in his career against the Cardinals scheduled starter Jaime Garcia, it’s easy to see why he is one of the bats to build around on tonight’s slate. ∗∗∗∗
High-Salary Option: Robinson Cano-Seattle Mariners (3,900): Cano is almost just as hot as Altuve and brings a little more pop to the plate as he and the M’s visit the Trop tonight. Cano has thrived against the Rays dating back to his days with the Yankees, and he’ll be back to haunt them more tonight. He has started June 16-52 (.308) with three doubles and three homers, so if you can’t scrape together the salary for Altuve or are ok with more risk and more power potential, go with Cano instead.∗∗∗
Mid-Range Option: Joe Panik-San Francisco Giants (3,300): Panik has picked up his batting average 14 points in his past ten games and is hitting .256 on the season after starting June 12-41 with ten runs scored, two doubles, a triple, a home run, and five RBI. He has settled in nicely the the #2 spot in the lineup and is part of a San Francisco lineup that is starting to put up good production at home. They scored 11 runs on the Brewers last night, and they’ll look to keep things moving tonight against Matt Garza. ∗∗∗
Mid-range Option: Jurickson Profar-Texas Rangers (3,000): Since continues to mash the ball since being recalled and is hitting a torrid .340 for the month of June. He hit third yesterday against the A’s but will likely return to the top of the lineup tonight against Eric Surkamp. Profar has had most of his success against right’s since returning to the Majors, but I expect the Rangers to score plenty of runs tonight making Profar a good bet to be in the middle of it.∗∗
High-Value Option: Johnny Giavotella-Los Angeles Angels (2,600): Giavotella went a perfect 4-4 last night with a home run and a double. He has reached base safely in five straight contests and is starting to come around after a slow start. Tonight, he’ll face Ervin Santana as he tries to stay hot against the former-Angel.∗∗
Bonus Bargain Basement Option: Scooter Gennett-Milwaukee Brewers (2,200): Gennett would be a steal at this price if it wasn’t for one thing–Madison Bumgarner. Bennett has been tearing it up and is 11-24 (.458) over the past week with a homer and three doubles. Taking a lefty against Bumgarner is high-risk no matter how hot they are, but if you have to go cheap at 2B, Gennett is the way I’d go. In a weird stat that can be chalked up to sample size, Gennett has only faced Bumgarner twice–once he walked and the other time he connected on a home run. ∗
Next: Third Baseman