FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Friday, May 4
Blue Jays at Rays
Blue Jays Probable Starter – J.A. Happ, LHP
3.50 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 12.50 K/9
Vs LHH – .128 average, .133 wOBA and 20.8 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .255 average, .342 wOBA and 30.2 hard contact rate
This is going to be a difficult call on whether to pitch Happ at all tonight. He’s been lights out almost every time out this season and is coming off of two straight 50+ FanDuel point performances. Yet, he’s got a tough matchup ahead of him. Coming into the season, DFS players picked on the Rays with lefty pitchers because of the 2017 stats. Well, the Rays are a lot better against them this season. They’re above average in every offensive category. Happy himself can struggle with righties and the Rays went with eight righties when they faced a lefty on Tuesday.
Rays Hitters to Target
Elite Options – C.J. Cron
Secondary Options – Wilson Ramos, Carlos Gomez
Rays Probable Starter – Andrew Kittredge, RHP
6.23 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 4.85 K/9
Vs LHH – .176 average, .255 wOBA and 30.8 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .351 average, .416 wOBA and 26.5 hard contact rate
The starting pitcher isn’t as relevant today for the Rays as they’re expected to go with a bullpen day. This isn’t a game I want to attack to hard because the Jays played over 20 innings of baseball yesterday and have to be a little worn out. If you want to go this route, I’d likely stick with the bigger names that are right handed and leave it at that.
Blue Jays Hitters to Target
Elite Options – Josh Donaldson, Teoscar Hernandez
Secondary Options – Yangervis Solarte, Aledmys Diaz
Home Run Pick – C.J. Cron
Giants at Braves
Giants Probable Starter – Chris Stratton, RHP
3.90 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 7.52 K/9
Vs LHH – .200 average, .279 wOBA and 37.7 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .222 average, .303 wOBA and 41.0 hard contact rate
These aren’t numbers that we would usually go after in a big way but the Braves are going to have one of the best offenses in baseball the rest of the way. There isn’t a huge difference in the splits for Stratton and I’m happy this game is in Atlanta, not San Francisco. Sun Trust Park leans a bit towards lefty hitters but it’s not like the righties in the Brave lineup are slouches. Stratton isn’t in play for me at all tonight.
Braves Hitters to Target
Elite Options – Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna, Nick Markakis
Secondary Options – Ozzie Albies, Johan Carmago
Braves Probable Starter – Mike Foltynewicz, RHP
2.53 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 10.97 K/9
Vs LHH – .169 average, .283 wOBA and 35.9 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .250 average, .317 wOBA and 31.6 hard contact rate
It’s an interesting clash in stats for this game because Foltynewicz has been a little bit worse against righties. His strikeouts have jumped up but his walks have as well. The Giants have been fairly dreadful against righty pitching this year and Foltynewicz has a fair price point. One mark against him is he doesn’t get to six innings very often. Nobody rates all that well from the Giants tonight except for one underrated first baseman.
Giants Hitters to Target
Elite Options – Brandon Belt
Secondary Options – Buster Posey, Andrew McCutchen
Home Run Pick – It’s always Ronald Acuna from here on out. I’ll be wrong on a lot of days but I love this kid. No, seriously it’s Freddie Freeman.