FanDuel baseball lineup and picks for Friday, March 30

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CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 18: Javier Baez #9 of the Chicago Cubs celebrates after hitting a home run in the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game four of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field on October 18, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

2B, High-End Spend

Second base is a little weird today. The only player that qualifies as a big spend is Houston stud Jose Altuve. You can almost never go wrong with him, but he’s at least $1,000 more than any other option. He gets Doug Fister, which should scare exactly nobody. Past Altuve, all other options are mid-range to values.

Mid-Range

Javier Baez, $3,400

0 career at-bats vs. Caleb Smith

Whenever the Cubs are facing a lefty pitcher, our eyes will turn to Javier Baez. He’s typically going to be affordable because despite all his tools, he’s never put it together for a full season. In 134 at-bats against lefties last season, Baez hit .315 with a .934 OPS. That’ll definitely play for this price tag. We don’t have a ton of data on Caleb Smith, the Miami starter. What we do know is he’s a three pitch player, mostly leaning on a four-seam fastball. He also throws a changeup and a slider. Baez is just alright against the off speed pitches but he owns fastballs. He may not be the most disciplined batter we’ll play this year, but he carries plenty of upside against a pitcher making just his third big league start.

Secondary Option – Josh Harrison, $2,900

Value

D.J. LeMahieu, $2,800

It’s more than feasible to build a Rockies stack today and if you go that route, LeMahieu is a good way to get cheap exposure to this game. This isn’t just chasing his home run from yesterday, either. Sure, he’s likely not going to bring the power again as he only hit eight homers last season. However, you’re not paying a steep price for him because of that factor. You’re just hoping for a couple base knocks and a run or two, which can easily happen against Robbie Ray at Arizona. He also carried a big OPS versus lefties last season.

Secondary Option – Scott Kingery (if he starts), $2,500