FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Monday, May 7

Twins at Cardinals

Twins Probable Starter – Fernando Romero, RHP 

*All stats from one start* 0.00 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 7.94 K/9

Vs LHH – .100 average, .146 wOBA and 16.7 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .333 average, .425 wOBA and 75.0 hard contact rate

Romero did a bang up job in his first major league start, not allowing a run to the Blue Jays and striking out five. He also walked three and the Cardinals have a decent walk rate against righty pitching. I’m not willing to go back to Romero tonight against St. Louis. It’s not wise to read a ton into the splits from just one start but the righty bats for the Cards could be interesting tonight. Tommy Pham might miss the game, which would mean Harrison Bader would be a great play at just $2,700. He can steal bases and that skill set is so valuable on FanDuel.

Cardinals Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Harrison Bader, Jose Martinez

Secondary Options – Marcell Ozuna, Jedd Gyorko, Paul DeJong

Cardinals Probable Starter – John Gant, RHP 

*All stats from three innings of relief* 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP and 3.00 K/9

No hits or walks allowed in 2018

There isn’t much track record to go on with Gant as he only has 70 innings under his belt. The Twins offense was no-hit through six innings yesterday before they put a couple of runs on the board. Logan Morrison continued to stay hot yesterday and he’s still only $3,000 which has him firmly in play. Eduardo Escobar seems pricey but all he does is keep producing. This could quietly be a pretty solid spot for the Twins tonight after they were very popular yesterday against James Shields.

Twins Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Logan Morrison, Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler

Secondary Options – Brian Dozier, Joe Mauer

Home Run Pick – Paul DeJong

Astros at A’s

Astros Probable Starter – Dallas Keuchel, LHP

3.98 ERA , 1.23 WHIP and 6.91 K/9

Vs LHH – .244 average, .324 wOBA and 27.3 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .239 average, .317 wOBA and 23.9 hard contact rate

There’s about a zero percent chance that I’ll be using Keuchel tonight at nearly $9,000. He’s been pretty mediocre so far and his strikeout rate is down to its lowest point since 2014. The ground ball percentage is also down and the home run per nine is way up at 1.67 and if Keuchel has neither factor working for him, that’s bad news. The A’s actually have a pretty good offense even though most people don’t realize it. Oakland just saw Keuchel about two weeks ago and lit him up for six runs in seven innings. Now they get him at home. I’m not sure how much exposure to the A’s I’ll have but Khris Davis and Jed Lowrie stand out, even at their price points.

A’s Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Khris Davis, Jed Lowrie

Secondary Options – Matt Chapman, Marcus Semien

A’s Probable Starter – Brett Anderson, LHP

*All stats from one start* 2.84 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 5.68 K/9

Vs LHH – .200 average, .244 wOBA and 40.0 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .231 average, .294 wOBA and 33.3 hard contact rate

Anderson may have had a successful first start against Seattle but I’m still totally on board with Astros tonight. They’re about average against lefties at this point of the season but the top part of this order is built to smack lefty pitching. They do strikeout more than their fair share but Anderson isn’t a big strikeout artist. There are times when playing batters against a ground ball pitcher can be a little scary but that fades away when it’s a mediocre pitcher against a good offense. As always, Houston is expensive and it might be a little tough to play a bunch of them with the chalky pitcher in the next game. They remain one of the better stacks of the night.

Astros Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Jose Altuve, George Springer, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman

Secondary Options – Brian McCann, Evan Gattis

Home Run Pick – Carlos Correa