Fansided

FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Thursday, May 17

By Adam Strangis

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - MAY 06: Kevin Pillar (11) of the Blue Jays hits a line drive during the MLB regular season game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays on May 06, 2018, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - MAY 06: Kevin Pillar (11) of the Blue Jays hits a line drive during the MLB regular season game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays on May 06, 2018, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Welcome into the Thursday edition of the FanDuel daily fantasy baseball column! We have a nice sized nine game slate on our hands tonight so let’s get going.

Last night was another super annoying chalk night for us. Chris Sale came in at monster ownership, which is not a surprise but so did a good chunk of our offensive players. We had about four guys that weren’t super highly owned and they couldn’t get the job done. If you follow me on Twitter, I really didn’t like that slate at all and recommended you play light. That’s exactly what I did so last night wasn’t a major loss and I hope it wasn’t for you either. We have a larger than normal slate tonight and the chalk shouldn’t be too bad.

PITTSBURGH, PA – MAY 11: Andrew Suarez #59 of the San Francisco Giants reacts as Starling Marte #6 of the Pittsburgh Pirates rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run in the first inning during the game on May 11, 2018 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Justin Berl/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – MAY 11: Andrew Suarez #59 of the San Francisco Giants reacts as Starling Marte #6 of the Pittsburgh Pirates rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run in the first inning during the game on May 11, 2018 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Justin Berl/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Padres at Pirates

Padres Probable Starter – Eric Lauer, LHP

8.27 ERA, 2.14 WHIP and 17.9 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .267 average, .281 wOBA, 36.4 fly ball rate and 25.0 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .377 average, .483 wOBA, 37.5 fly ball rate and 51.0 hard contact rate

The Buccos are once again in a favorable spot tonight as they draw the rookie Lauer, who has really struggled in three of his four starts. We definitely need some righty bats tonight from the Pirates and the best news is a lot of them are very cheap. Of the four players who have the highest wOBA against lefties so far, the most expensive one is Francisco Cervelli at $3,100. We’ll have to wait to see how the lineup shakes out but I plan on having plenty of Pirates tonight.

Pirates Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Francisco Cervelli(Elias Daiz if he sits), Sean Rodriguez, Jose Osuna, Max Moroff

Secondary Options – Starling Marte, Josh Bell, David Freese

Pirates Probable Starter – Chad Kuhl, RHP

4.17 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 21.9 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .276 average, .407 wOBA, 44.6 fly ball rate and 39.7 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .245 average, .305 wOBA, 32.9 fly ball rate and 33.8 hard contact rate

You can make the argument that a game stack of Pirates righties and Padres lefties could be a GPP route to go tonight. Kuhl has long seen a significant split depending on the batter he’s facing and the Padres do have some lefties they can throw at him. Now, maybe they’re not the best lefties but they can still do some damage against the Bucco righty. Since pitching isn’t that expensive tonight, we can go basically anywhere we want. Franchy Cordero and Travis Jankowski really grab the eye at their price points. Eric Hosmer is a fine play, but I have a hard time firing over $3,700 for him.

Padres Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Franchy Cordero, Travis Jankowski

Secondary Options – Eric Hosmer

Home Run Pick – Franchy Cordero