FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Monday, May 14

CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 29: Cleveland Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) reacts as he sees on a scoreboard replay that Seattle Mariners outfielder Ben Gamel (16) dropped a ball he was called out on during the seventh inning of the Major League Baseball game between the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians on April 29, 2018, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. After a replay review Ramirez was awarded second base and 2 runs batted in. Seattle defeated Cleveland 10-4. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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Welcome into the Monday edition of the FanDuel daily fantasy baseball column! We have a medium sized eight game slate on tap so let’s jump in!

Sunday was a great day as our lineup went over 172 points and that even included a fat zero from Jose Altuve. He was the only part of our Astros stack that didn’t pay off but Kyle Schwarber picked up the slack with…two stolen bases, which is weird to say with a power hitter like Schwarber. The other part of the lineup that paid off handsomely was Sean Newcomb. He outscored ace Corey Kluber by three points for about $3,000 less. When you hit on picks like that, the odds really increase to make some money. Let’s get into the task at hand which is the eight game slate for tonight.

BOSTON, MA – MAY 1: Jorge Soler #12 of the Kansas City Royals hits a three run home run against the Boston Red Sox during the thirteenth inning at Fenway Park on May 1, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Rays at Royals

Rays Probable Starter – Ryan Yarbrough, LHP

4.30 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 8.23 K/9

Vs LHH – .226 average, .384 wOBA and 33.3 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .185 average, .227 wOBA and 26.6 hard contact rate

Yarbrough himself is really not a target on a one pitcher site like FanDuel as he has yet to go past five innings pitched in any game. Maybe we get word about a pitch count before the game gets rolling but I still wouldn’t be all that fired up to play him. There’s two Royals hitters that really stand out above the pack and my favorite might just be Whit Merrifield. He’s destroying lefties this year with an average over .375 and a wOBA of .452. $3,500 seems like a steal. Jorge Soler is also a very attractive target and probably carries a little more power potential with a lower floor. His wOBA against lefties is over .500 this year.

Royals Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Jorge Soler, Whit Merrifield, Mike Moustakas

Secondary Options – Salvador Perez(elite if you roll with a Royals stack), Alex Gordon

Royals Probable Starter – Eric Skoglund, LHP

6.34 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 7.71 K/9

Vs LHH – .235 average, .406 wOBA and 50.0 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .264 average, .328 wOBA and 48.2 hard contact rate

Skoglund pulled a surprise out of his hat in his last start when he actually hit the quality start mark in Baltimore. Granted, it still wasn’t a good start and it won’t stop me from targeting him. There’s every chance that he’s an abject disaster and the Rays might not garner a ton of ownership tonight. It does help both pitchers that they’re in Kauffman Stadium. It’s still a pair of mediocre to poor starters on the mound tonight and the hitters are what we want from this game.

Rays Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Wilson Ramos, C.J. Cron, Denard Span

Secondary Options – Matt Duffy

Home Run Pick – Jorge Soler and C.J. Cron