Fansided

FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Thursday, April 5th

By Adam Strangis

TORONTO, ON - MARCH 29: Brett Gardner
TORONTO, ON - MARCH 29: Brett Gardner /
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LAKELAND, FL – MARCH 07: Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers bats during the Spring Training game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on March 7, 2018 in Lakeland, Florida. The Blue Jays defeated the Tigers 6-5. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
LAKELAND, FL – MARCH 07: Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers bats during the Spring Training game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on March 7, 2018 in Lakeland, Florida. The Blue Jays defeated the Tigers 6-5. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

Catcher/First Base, High End Spend

Early

Miguel Cabrera, $3,900

.371/.423/.686 with 4 HR in 70 at-bats

I was pretty bummed I couldn’t use Cabrera yesterday when the Tigers game got postponed. Fortunately, he gets another gas can today with James Shields. He’s a flat out awful pitcher to the tune of a 5.23 ERA. Miggy should be able to do some damage today as he’s gotten off to a fast start. If any of that wasn’t enough. check out this tweet from industry veteran Vlad Sedler. Play Miguel Cabrera today.

Late

Joey Votto, $3,700

.667/.667/.667 with 0 HR in 3 at-bats

Even though Votto typically starts fairly slow, this price is still pretty fair for his potential(especially in the RBI department, but we’ll get to that). Votto is simply too cheap against a team he usually gets the best of and Pittsburgh is in the bottom half of the league in ERA. Hopefully Votto can shake his early season doldrums in Pittsburgh.

Mid-Range

Early

Joey Gallo, $3,600

0 at-bats vs. Daniel Mengden

Going on 2017, Mengden has a very low ground ball rate. If players can get the ball in the air along with a hard contact rate of 26 percent, those factors can lineup pretty well for a home run hitter like Joey Gallo. So far, he’s having about the season most thought. He’s striking out a lot but his average is actually up just a little bit. Gallo is always risk/reward and I’ll take a chance against a pitcher who can’t generate ground balls. It’s a little pricey for a mid-range option but it wouldn’t surprise me if Gallo found the seats twice.

Late

Willson Contreras, $3,200

.400/.500/.600 with 0 HR in 5 at-bats

The Cubbies catcher represents an interesting test about what type of stats you believe in. Do you buy into his career numbers vs. lefties which include a .289 average, .889 OPS and a .374 wOBA? Or do you believe in his awful track record at Miller Park, which includes a .149 average and a .415 OPS? I’ll tend to side with the more predictive numbers, which are the career OPS and wOBA myself. Contreras is great against lefties.

Value

Early

Wellington Castillo, $2,700

.000/.000/.000 with 0 HR in 1 at-bat

If I can attack Jordan Zimmermann at a cheap price, I’m going to at least consider it. Castillo is better against lefties but Zimmermann has nothing left. He’s a poor pitcher and Castillo can easily pay off his price tag.

Late

Manny Pina, $2,600

0 career at-bats against Jon Lester

If you decide to punt this spot, you could do worse than Pina at home. Jon Lester did not look good at all in his first start of the season. Pina does have reverse splits, meaning he’s typically better against righties. This one boils down to how much you trust Lester, who doesn’t look like the same pitcher and hasn’t for a while now.