Fansided

FanDuel Lineup and picks for Wednesday, April 18th

By Adam Strangis

FORT MYERS, FL - MARCH 11: J.D. Martinez #28 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after flying out to right field during the first inning of the Spring Training game against the Baltimore Orioles at Jet Blue Park on March 11, 2018 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)
FORT MYERS, FL - MARCH 11: J.D. Martinez #28 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after flying out to right field during the first inning of the Spring Training game against the Baltimore Orioles at Jet Blue Park on March 11, 2018 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 6: Tim Beckham #1 of the Baltimore Orioles at bat against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium on April 6, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 6: Tim Beckham #1 of the Baltimore Orioles at bat against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium on April 6, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images) /

Second Base, High End Spend

Early

Jonathan Villar, $3,000

N/A

Second base isn’t that exciting for the early slate as DJ LeMahieu seems pretty overpriced not in Coors and facing a righty. Villar is on the better side of his splits to start with and Tyler Mahle is giving up a .412 wOBA to lefty hitters in his career. Villar will always have a chance to show off his speed if he gets on and it certainly seems like he’ll find his way on base at least once today.

Main

Jose Altuve, $4,400

.313/.313/.500 with 0 HR in 16 at-bats

Anytime Altuve isn’t the highest salaried second baseman, it’s going to catch my eye. I wouldn’t say Altuve is a priority for me tonight because the Astros offense has had its quiet moments so far. Also, even though Mike Leake isn’t a good pitcher, he generates a ton fo ground balls. I’m not sure what the ceiling is, but Altuve is one of those hitters that it matchup proof.

Mid-Range

Early

Tim Beckham, $2,600

.250/.250/.500 with 0 HR in 4 at-bats

Beckham has been putrid so far this year but he gets to face lefty Matthew Boyd, who is giving up an absurd 62.5 fly ball rate so far this season. His strikeout rate is under 4 batter per nine innings and his hard contact rate is at 35 percent. Beckham has always hit lefties well and the small sample size for this season has been no exception. The strikeout rate will always be high but Beckham has the power to pay off this after noon.

Main

Howie Kendrick, $3,200

.125/.125/.125 with 0 HR in 8 at-bats

The Mets are throwing Steven Matz tonight and he’s seen better results than normal so far. However, He’s also giving up a .370 wOBA to right handed hitters so farad Kendrick is hitting well to star the year. Are you going to get a home run? Probably not but Kendrick has RBI potential hitting somewhere behind Bryce Harper and potentially Anthony Rendon.

Value

Early

Depending on the lineup cards, I can’t see the need to go under Beckham as of right now.

Main

Ketel Marte, $2,500

.500/.750/1.000 with 0 HR in 2 at-bats

I would like this play a lot better if Marte was on the right side of his splits. However, if the goal is to fit both Cole and Red Sox in the same lineup, sacrifices will have to be made. Marte is one spot that you could look at due to his cheap salary and if he’s hitting near the top of the lineup, he’s got a chance to profit at this price point.