FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Friday, May 18

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Welcome into the Friday edition of the FanDuel daily fantasy baseball column! We have a full board tonight with a 15 game slate so let’s jump in!

If you wanted to see how a baseball slate looks like when things don’t go well, just take a look at my score from last night. Tyler Skaggs put up a 40 spot for us…and not one other thing went right. We didn’t have a home run in the lineup and two of our big spends got their game rained out. Everything I read said that the Braves game should play so I apologize to those who played them. I did as well and wasn’t trying to lead anyone astray. Let’s dig into this mammoth slate we have on hand for tonight.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – APRIL 25: Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals pitches against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park on April 25, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Dodgers at Nationals

Dodgers Probable Starter – Ross Stripling, RHP

2.20 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 25.4 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .273 average, .276 wOBA, 42.1 fly ball rate and 20.5 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .259 average, .324 wOBA, 33.3 fly ball rate and 34.9 hard contact rate

Stripling is actually at the point where he’s fairly interesting. Tonight may not be the night to use him because it would be tough to get a win against Max Scherzer and he’s got a couple big lefties that can do damage against him. Still, the more he gets stretched out and might be able to hit six innings, the more useful he becomes. If it weren’t for Bryce Harper and Matt Adams lurking, Stripling would have been in play. He’s still a fine GPP option at just $6,000.

Nationals Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Bryce Harper

Secondary Options – Matt Adams, Trea Turner

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

Since the Nationals got rained out on Wednesday, Scherzer is well rested and in position to dominate. There’s absolutely no Dodgers hitters to target unless you’re in a huge GPP tournament. Cody Bellinger is a crazy one-off if you want to go that route but just be prepared for a zero out of him. Scherzer shapes up as the best pitcher on the slate and well worth his price tag. For a 15 game slate, we’re pretty light on ace-quality pitching.

Dodgers Hitters to Target

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – None

Home Run Pick – Bryce Harper