FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Wednesday, May 16

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Welcome into the Wednesday edition of the FanDuel daily fantasy baseball column! We have a small five game slate full of aces this evening so let’s get going.

It’s kind of funny how daily fantasy works out some days. Leading into last night’s slate, I didn’t feel great about the slate in general and wound up cancelling some of my entries. It just seemed like a hard slate to figure out, especially with weather concerns everywhere. The lineup wound up going over 180 points on the backs of the Tigers we played, Joey Gallo and Jean Segura stealing four(!) bases in one game. You never project that when you play a stolen base guy but we will take it for sure. Today is a split slate and I picked the evening to analyze because if the pitching that was available. I’ll be happy to help anyone with an early lineup on Twitter, just ask me @bucn4life. Let’s get into the five game slate!

WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCTOBER 12: Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals pitches during Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs at Nationals Park on Thursday, October 12, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

Yankees at Nationals

Yankees Probable Starter – C.C. Sabathia, LHP

2.23 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 18.8 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .182 average, .251 wOBA, 42.9 fly ball rate and 21.4 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .233 average, .277 wOBA, 37.0 fly ball rate and 30.0 hard contact rate

I’ve switched from listing K/9 as a metric as in doing my research, I feel like strikeout percentage might be more indicative of how a pitcher is pitching. It might seem crazy, but I do have mild interest in Sabathia. The Nationals have not rated well against lefties so far this season, ranking 24th or worse in average, OPS, ISO and wOBA. One of the lefty mashers that is typically in the lineup for Washington is missing as Ryan Zimmerman is on the disabled list. Anthony Rendon is scary but Bryce Harper has a wOBA of just .309 against southpaws so far. Sabathia is strictly a GPP play since we have at least three bona fide ace options tonight, but he’s a solid pivot for sure.

Nationals Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Anthony Rendon

Secondary Options – Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, Michael A. Taylor

Nationals Probable Starter – Max Scherzer, RHP

1.69 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 40.4 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .188 average, .269 wOBA, 58.0 fly ball rate and 27.4 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .132 average, .172 wOBA, 35.3 fly ball rate and 50.0 hard contact rate

This matchup is going to be a blast to watch, daily implications aside. Scherzer is one of the best pitchers in baseball with Gerrit Cole being the other one in the main conversation. The Yankees lineup is loaded with power hitters up and down. I actually don’t think Scherzer is the best play here because of his fly ball rate. It’s 51.3 to all batters so far this season and that has to be a little scary when facing off against the Bronx Bombers. I think this side of the game is risky in cash, but a Yankee stack centered on the lefties in their lineup could be very sneaky. Didi Gregorius leads all Yankee hitters with a fly ball rate of 51.6 percent against righties. Gary Sanchez isn’t far behind. Just be prepared to possibly see plenty of zeroes from the Yankee hitters.

Yankee Hitters to Target

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Didi Gregorius, Brett Gardner, Aaron Junge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez

Home Run Pick – Anthony Rendon