Welcome into the Friday edition of the FanDuel daily fantasy MLB column! As usual for Friday, we have a massive 14 game slate so let’s into it.
We had another solid night on Thursday on the back of a very low owned Lorenzo Cain and Ian Kinsler. I’ll be totally honest, Kinsler was just a fill in that worked with the rest of the lineup. I didn’t have any feeling toward him before lock other than hoping he didn’t goose egg our squad. Fortune was on our side last night and hopefully we can carry it into the Friday night monster slate!
Mets at Phillies
Mets Probable Starter – Steven Matz, LHP
4.23 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 10.08 K/9
Vs LHH – .200 average, .278 wOBA and 0.0 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .204 average, .326 wOBA and 43.3 hard contact rate
Matz is coming off his best start of the season that came against the Rockies and you never really know what you’re going to get with him. His strikeout rate makes him at least a little interesting but it’s hard to see a path to success against this Phillies lineup. They are mostly average against lefties but the have good individual hitters. Rhys Hoskins has cooled down a little bit from his white-hot start but he’s still a solid play tonight.
Phillies Hitters to Target
Elite Options – Rhys Hoskins, Aaron Altherr, Cesar Hernadez
Secondary Options – Maikel Franco, Carlos Santana, Odubel Herrera
Phillies Probable Starter – Jake Arrieta, RHP
3.15 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 5.08 K/9
Vs LHH – .204 average, .240 wOBA and 18.6 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .197 average, .274 wOBA and 17.0 hard contact rate
This side of the game is pretty easy to break down. Arrieta is not usable in daily because of his lack of strikeouts. He has to be perfect to rack up any points. Ground balls and limited hard contact is great but you don’t get a ton of fantasy points for that. I also want no Mets hitters. If Arrieta doesn’t get blown up, he’s going to frustrate New York to no end. This side of the game is an easy fade on this large of a slate.
Mets Hitters to Target
Elite Options – None
Secondary Options – Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Conforto
Home Run Pick – Cesar Hernandez
A’s at Yankees
A’s Probable Starter – TBA
As of this writing, the A’s have not announced their starting pitcher. The smart money is it will be Kendall Graveman and if that’s the case, literally any Yankee bat you want is in play. We’ll see who it ends up being before making the final call, but New York could potentially be in a smash spot. They’ll crush Graveman for sure.
Yankee Hitters to Target
Elite Options – TBA
Secondary Options – TBA
Yankees Probable Starter – Sonny Gray, RHP
6.00 ERA, 1.76 WHIP and 8.18 K/9
Vs LHH – .239 average, .322 wOBA and 38.9 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .303 average, .375 wOBA and 34.0 hard contact rate
I likely won’t play him but Gray might be turning his season around at least a little bit. He’s put together two quality starts in a row in Houston and against Cleveland, both of which are good offenses. Oakland has a much better offense than people think and do possess one of the lowest ground ball rates against right handed pitching. Gray has been getting raked by righties this year so if I play any A’s, it will be righty power bats.
A’s Hitters to Target
Elite Options – Khris Davis, Jed Lowrie
Secondary Options – Marcus Semien, Matt Chapman
Home Run Pick – Any Yankee feels like a cop out, so I’ll take Jed Lowrie