FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Thursday, May 3

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 01: Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves in action against the New York Mets at Citi Field on May 1, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Atlanta Braves defeated the New York Mets 3-2. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

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SAN JUAN, PR – APRIL 17: Francisco Lindor #12 of the Cleveland Indians reacts as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the fifth inning of the game against the Minnesota Twins at Hiram Bithorn Stadium on Tuesday, April 17, 2018 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

Blue Jays at Indians

Blue Jays Probable Starter – Jaime Garcia, LHP

5.40 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 9.45 K/9

Vs LHH – .321 average, .511 wOBA and 52.4 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .260 average, .373 wOBA and 40.4 hard contact rate

The splits look like we should be targeting lefty hitters against Garcia as they’ve been reversed for Garcia this season. I would caution against that slightly as they are way outside his career normals which are a .264 average and a .312 wOBA. The Indians have plenty of bats that could be interesting and I’m wondering if Edwin Encarnacion has any big swings left after he hit three bombs yesterday. Cleveland is an attractive option today as their offense finally exploded yesterday. Jose Ramirez should be back in the lineup after sitting out on Wednesday. Garcia isn’t exactly an imposing matchup although he does strikeout his share of hitters.

Indians Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Edwin Encarnacion

Secondary Options – Michael Brantley, Rajai Davis, Brandon Guyer

Indians Probable Starter – Carlos Carrasco, RHP

3.08 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 7.58 K/9

Vs LHH – .217 average, .242 wOBA and 23.1 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .203 average, .275 wOBA and 27.8 hard contact rate

Carrasco is a very underrated pitcher but I’m not sure I want to use him today. His strikeout rate has seen a significant drop from last year. The Blue Jays rate very well against righties, ranking in the top 10 in OPS, ISO and wOBA against the handedness this year. Carrasco also left his last start with back tightness. It’s not hard to envision a scenario where it flares up again. For this reason, Carrasco is best served as a GPP option instead of a cash game option. Even though Carrasco comes with some risk, I wouldn’t be using a bunch of Blue Jays hitters in anything other than a GPP game. This could be one spot where we shy away because Carrasco *should* pitch well. If he doesn’t, you should have some nice leverage with Blue Jay hitters in a tournament.

Blue Jay Hitters to Target

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Teoscar Hernandez, Curtis Granderson

Home Run Pick – Jose Ramirez