Fansided

FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Friday, May 18

By Adam Strangis

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)
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) /
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SAN DIEGO, CA – MAY 12: Tyson Ross #38 of the San Diego Padres pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals at PETCO Park on May 12, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA – MAY 12: Tyson Ross #38 of the San Diego Padres pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals at PETCO Park on May 12, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /

Padres at Pirates

Padres Probable Starter – Tyson Ross, RHP

3.40 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 26.6 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .266 average, .324 wOBA, 21.1 fly ball rate and 43.1 hard contact rate

Vs RHH -.160 average, .229 wOBA, 33.8 fly ball rate and 38.2 hard contact rate

Ross is simply underpriced on FanDuel tonight. When he’s on the mound, I want to take a look at how the opposing team stacks up against the slider and fastball because those are the two pitches Ross throws about 88 percent of the time. The best Pirates hitter against those two is Colin Moran, who is a fine play this evening. Moran is also third among regulars in wOBA against right handed pitching. Past that, you can use Josh Bell but I’m far more interested in Ross tonight than the Pirates bats.

Pirates Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Colin Moran

Secondary Options – Josh Bell, Francisco Cervelli, Corey Dickerson

Pirates Probable Starter – Ivan Nova, RHP

5.01 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 17.8 strikeout rate

Vs LHH -.333 average, .387 wOBA, 36.5 fly ball rate and 35.3 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .250 average, .312 wOBA, 24.1 fly ball rate and 36.5 hard contact rate

It’s basically the same story from yesterday with the Padres. I’m certainly not pitching Nova, although he is capable of throwing a 3 hit, seven shutout inning effort at any point with his capacity for ground balls. I want the lefty bats from the Padres tonight. That means a play like Travis Jankowski is very attractive tonight since he’s still under $3,00 and should lead off. If you want to play Scherzer, you’re going to need a few guys in this price range. Eric Hosmer is a great play again and Franchy Cordero likely won’t have much ownership. In fairness, nobody outside of Scherzer should be that highly owned.

Padres Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Travis Jankowski, Eric Hosmer

Secondary Options – Franchy Cordero, Raffy Lopez

Home Run Pick – Eric Hosmer

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 12: Khris Davis #2 of the Oakland Athletics hits a home run during an MLB baseball game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. Yankees won 7-6. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 12: Khris Davis #2 of the Oakland Athletics hits a home run during an MLB baseball game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. Yankees won 7-6. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images) /

A’s at Blue Jays

A’s Probable Starter – Brett Anderson, LHP

8.16 ERA, 2.02 WHIP and 11.8 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .313 average, .341 wOBA, 18.8 fly ball rate and 31.3 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .391 average, .475 wOBA, 28.9 fly ball rate and 34.2 hard contact rate

I was at least going to be slightly interested in Anderson tonight since he was coming off starts against the Astros and Yankees. Once you dig into the stats, there’s just no chance you can play him. There’s really not too many bats from the Blue Jays that are a bad play, but I might shy away from Kevin Pillar. He’s a reverse splits guy and struggles with lefties this season. One player that would really be a nice fit could be Luke Maile if he plays. It’s a short sample size but he actually leads the Jays in wOBA against lefties so far.

Blue Jays Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Josh Donaldson, Yangervis Solarte, Luke Maile

Secondary Options – Teoscar Hernandez, Justin Smoak, Curtis Granderson

Blue Jays Probable Starter – Marco Estrada, RHP

5.32 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 18.1 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .234 average, .332 wOBA, 53.3 fly ball rate and 28.3 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .313 average, .402 wOBA, 55.7 fly ball rate and 38.0 hard contact rate

This game could turn into a shootout and while it’s little hard to get too locked into plays this early, Khris Davis and Jed Lowrie seem like close to locked in. At $3,300 and $3,500, it’s hard to turn away from them in this matchup. Some people may just run to the lefties for the A’s but Estrada displays reverse splits. I’ll take my chances with Davis and that fly ball rate to righties. niter Pitcher in this game should be rostered and the bats can fit in with almost any pitcher.

A’s Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Khris Davis, Jed Lowrie, Mark Chana

Secondary Options – Matt Olson, Marcus Semien, Matt Joyce

Home Run Pick – Khris Davis