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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TORONTO, ON – APRIL 28: Joey Gallo #13 of the Texas Rangers bats in the fifth inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on April 28, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Joey Gallo
TORONTO, ON – APRIL 28: Joey Gallo #13 of the Texas Rangers bats in the fifth inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on April 28, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Joey Gallo /

Rangers at White Sox

Rangers Probable Starter – Cole Hamels, LHP

3.48 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 25.1 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .278 average, .338 wOBA, 54.5 fly ball rate and 36.4 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .277 average, .271 wOBA, 30.8 fly ball rate and 48.1 hard contact rate

I really don’t like the fact that I’m thinking about playing Hamels as my pitcher tonight. He’s not someone I usually like to play but he’s pitching better than I thought possible in 2018. Here’s the biggest reason that I’m considering Hamels – the White Sox lead MLB in strikeout rate to lefty pitchers. Additionally, they rank 29th in average, 27th in OPS, 14th in ISO and 27th in wOBA. They have two good hitters to worry about against lefties in Jose Abreu and Tim Anderson. They also carry a strikeout rate of over 24 percent. I can’t figure out this side of the game yet but the numbers lean towards Hamels.

White Sox Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Jose Abreu

Secondary Options – Tim Anderson, David Palka

White Sox Probable Starter – James Shields, RHP

5.44 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 13.5 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .202 average, .291 wOBA, 38.2 fly ball rate and 26.1 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .267 average, .317 wOBA, 41.9 fly ball rate and 37.5 hard contact rate

Some of these numbers would make you think Shields is actually having a relatively decent season. He’s not and the thing that catches your eye is his home run rate is way down compared to last year. That’s not going to continue as Shield didn’t suddenly get better at not giving up bombs at this point in his career. I don’t care what the splits say tonight. I’m playing Joey Gallo. A pitcher with a low strikeout rate and a history of giving up home runs like free samples at the grocery store is a great matchup for Gallo. Other than Gallo, I’d stick with Nomar Mazara and Shin-soo Choo.

Rangers Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Joey Gallo, Shin-soo Choo, Nomar Mazara

Secondary Options – Rougned Odor, Jurickson Profar

Home Run Pick –  Nomar Mazara and Joey Gallo

ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 16: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim warms up in the ondeck circle during the third inning of a game against the Houston Astros at Angel Stadium on May 16, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 16: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim warms up in the ondeck circle during the third inning of a game against the Houston Astros at Angel Stadium on May 16, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Rays at Angels

Rays Probable Starter – Chris Archer, RHP 

5.64 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 22.8 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .310 average, .384 wOBA, 27.7 fly ball rate and 36.9 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .250 average, .316 wOBA, 44.7 fly ball rate and 47.4 hard contact rate

Archer got rocked his last time out, giving up six runs over seven innings in Baltimore. He’s had a terrible season so far and the recipe for picking hitters against Archer seems to be simple. You want to find the hitters that rate well against the fastball and slider, as Archer throws one of those two pitches about 88 percent of the time. It’s a nice bonus if that hitter is left handed and that lands us on Shohei Ohtani, who is a plus against both pitches. The player that ranks the best is Andrelton Simmons. Until Archer proves he’s pitching better, he’s an attackable player.

Angels Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Andrelton Simmons

Secondary Options – Zack Cozart, Justin Upton

Angels Probable Starter – Tyler Skaggs, LHP

3.07 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 25.0 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .176 average, .234 wOBA, 35.1 fly ball rate and 35.1 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .261 average, .301 wOBA, 30.2 fly ball rate and 37.9 hard contact rate

It’s been an interesting season for the young pitcher for the Angels. He’s firmly in play tonight as He’s only had one bad start all season. Now, Tampa definitely is not the black hole against lefties that they were last season. That also doesn’t mean that Skaggs can’t throw a good game here. C.J. Cron is one of the hitters that can do some major damage as the rest of the lineup is mostly not power hitters. Oddly enough, the wOBA leader against lefties for the Rays is Denard Span, who is a lefty himself.

Rays Hitters to Target

Elite Options – C.J. Cron

Secondary Options – Denard Span, Wilson Ramos

Home Run Pick – Shohei Ohtani