FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Tuesday, May 8

Giants at Phillies

Giants Probable Starter – Derek Holland, LHP 

5.70 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 8.70 K/9

Vs LHH – .071 average, .208 wOBA and 20.0 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .230 average, .338 wOBA and 44.0 hard contact rate

It’s a little weird to see the ERA up near 6.00 for Holland because there are plenty of metrics that would suggest that he’s pitched better than that. The lefty sample size is only 17 at-bats but Holland has shut them down so far. The issue for Holland tonight could be his fly ball rate. It’s up over 47 percent and that might not end well in Philly. There’s definitely some righty bats that are interesting in any format tonight and maybe I’ll finally get Rhys Hoskins right. Any time I’ve played him, I’ve missed out on a big game.

Phillies Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Cesar Hernandez, Rhys Hoskins, Aaron Altherr

Secondary Options – Carlos Santana, Maikel Franco, Scott Kingery

Phillies Probable Starter – Aaron Nola, RHP

2.17 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 6.90 K/9

Vs LHH – .217 average, .253 wOBA and 16.2 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .169 average, .207 wOBA and 29.4 hard contact rate

At least for me, the Giants aren’t in play at all tonight. I have a healthy respect for how good Nola is as a pitcher, even though it’s a little weird that his strikeout rate has plummeted. It approached 10.00 per nine last year and now it’s under seven. That certainly makes him a little riskier from a fantasy perspective because strikeouts are so important. The Giants are around the middle of the league in strikeout rate to righties and Nola isn’t someone we’re targeting against and I wouldn’t play him at his price point.

Giants Hitters to Target

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford

Home Run Pick – Rhys Hoskins

Mariners at Blue Jays

Mariners Probable Starter – James Paxton, LHH

4.19 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 13.97 K/9

Vs LHH – .424 average, .533 wOBA and 34.8 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .178 average, .247 wOBA and 33.8 hard contact rate

Paxton is coming off a fantastic performance last time out, going seven innings and striking out 16 batters against Oakland. He’s in a solid spot tonight as the Blue Jays are a righty heavy team and Paxton has done work against them this season. The lefty splits are very out of character for Paxton and I have no real interest in any Jays hitters this evening. Paxton himself is a very solid option and might be my favorite after Corey Kluber, who we’ll get to later on.

Blue Jays Hitters to Target

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Josh Donaldson, Justin Smoak

Blue Jays Probable Starter – Marcus Stroman, RHP 

7.52 ERA, 1.64 WHIP and 8.35 K/9

Vs LHH – .303 average, .363 wOBA and 48.6 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .222 average, .301 wOBA and 46.9 hard contact rate

There is no way I’m playing Stroman today because he has exactly one positive start out of six. Even when he’s going well, he’s such a groundball heavy pitcher, he’s not that usable for daily fantasy. Seattle has a low strikeout rate against righties and they would seem to be a bit of a difficult matchup against Stroman. I likely won’t utilize righty hitters against him tonight but there are some lefties that are very interesting. Seattle could be a stacking option but just beware that Stroman is better than he’s pitched so far. If he’s on his game, he can frustrate an offense for sure.

Mariners Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Dee Gordon, Robinson Cano

Secondary Options – Nelson Cruz, Mitch Haniger

Home Run Pick – Robinson Cano