FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Friday, May 11

Giants at Pirates

Giants Probable Starter – Andrew Suarez, LHP

3.06 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 9.17 K/9

Vs LHH – .130 average, .136 wOBA and 33.3 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .300 average, .377 wOBA and 60.0 hard contact rate

This game will garner some headlines because it’s the return to PNC Park for former face of the franchise Andrew McCutchen. We’ll get to that in a minute but the Pirates offense is a little interesting tonight. I don’t have much faith in Suarez being a solid major leaguer. One of the better cheap options on the evening is Sean Rodriguez. He’s crushing lefties so far this year and should bat near the top of the lineup. Jordy Mercer is also a nice punt and one player that might go under the radar is Francisco Cervelli. He’s hitting for quite a bit of power against lefties even if the average isn’t terribly high. Starling Marte rounds out my interest in the Bucco bats tonight.

Pirates Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Francisco Cervelli, Starling Marte, Sean Rodriguez

Secondary Options – Jordy Mercer, David Freese

Pirates Probable Starter – Jameson Taillon, RHP

4.42 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 7.36 K/9

Vs LHH – .239 average, .283 wOBA and 24.5 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .267 average, .313 wOBA and 25.4 hard contact rate

It’s been a strange season so far for Taillon. He’s not someone I’m interested in playing because his strikeouts have vanished. Taillon has struck out nine batters in his last 14.2 innings. The Giants are top five in strikeout percentage to righty pitching but Taillon hasn’t shown enough upside in that department. At the same time, I won’t be playing too many San Francisco bats. It’s not a great park for hitters and for his flaws, Taillon can easily go seven innings and give up just a run or two. I might have a share or two of McCutchen just due to the narrative of him returning to PNC Park.

Giants Hitters to Target

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Andrew McCutchen, Buster Posey, Brandon Belt

Home Run Pick – Sean Rodriguez

Rays at Orioles

Rays Probable Starter – Jake Faria, RHP

4.15 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 7.79 K/9

Vs LHH – .173 average, .302 wOBA and 41.0 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .227 average, .288 wOBA and 37.9 hard contact rate

Faria is usually a pitcher I’ll have some interest in but that will not be the case tonight. I want zero to do with him in Camden Yards with a 42.3 percent fly ball rate. At the same time, I’m not using Baltimore bats in cash probably at all. They’re just so inconsistent it’s hard to peg them on a nightly basis. This is a spot where you either stack Baltimore or just forget about them totally with the exception of Manny Machado. He’s in play every night.

Orioles Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Manny Machado

Secondary Options – Chris Davis for GPP’s, Jonathan Schoop, Trey Mancini, Mark Trumbo

Orioles Probable Starter – Kevin Gausman, RHP

3.30 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 7.42 K/9

Vs LHH – .236 average, .333 wOBA and 29.3 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .221 average, .278 wOBA and 37.0 hard contact rate

After getting rocked in his first start of the season, Gausman has gone six straight starts giving up three earned runs or less. The strikeouts aren’t anything to write home about and the Rays lefties are of mild interest because Gausman is giving up a fly ball rate of 45.6 percent. Tampa is about average across the board against righties so Gausman is just a GPP options, as are the Rays lefty bats.

Rays Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Brad Miller

Secondary Options – Mallex Smith, Denard Span

Home Run Pick – Brad Miller