FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Saturday, May 19
Tigers at Mariners
Tigers Probable Starter – Mike Fiers, RHP
4.23 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 16.3 strikeout rate
Vs LHH – .292 average, .383 wOBA, 45.8 fly ball rate and 35.6 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .235 average, .270 wOBA, 44.8 fly ball rate and 38.2 hard contact rate
Fiers doesn’t have terrible stats from some perspectives but he’s giving up so many fly balls and so much hard contact, it would appear that things are going to get worse for him before they get better. I don’t think righties area terrible play based off of that but I’ll likely stick with lefties. FanDuel moved Dee Gordon back to second base and he’s under $3,000. Gordon only has one steal in the last 10 days but this feels like a great spot to buy low. Kyle Seager is really a great option too as he is bat has started to come to life. $3,500 isn’t a bad price for him.
Mariners Hitters to Target
Elite Options – Dee Gordon, Kyle Seager
Secondary Options – Nelson Cruz, Mitch Haniger, Daniel Volgelbach
Mariners Probable Starter – James Paxton, LHP
3.52 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 32.1 strikeout rate
Vs LHH – .424 average, .521 wOBA, 39.1 fly ball rate and 34.8 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .161 average, .221 wOBA, 47.6 fly ball rate and 34.6 hard contact rate
Paxton is such a weird pitcher when you look at his metrics. First, he’s a big time fly ball pitcher which can sometimes be dangerous. He’s also struggled against lefties so far, although it’s only a 39 at-bat sample size. By the numbers, Leonys Martin would be a good play at just $3,000. I have too much respect for Paxton to play any bats against him. Some players might look at his core of just 25 points in his last start against these Tigers and chase that. I would caution you that Paxton was coming off a no hitter and a 16 strikeout effort in his previous two starts. He threw over 98 pitches in both. I might not play Paxton tonight because he’s kind of in a middle ground of pricing, but I’m not chasing Tigers bats.
Tigers Hitters to Target
Elite Options – None
Secondary Options – Nicholas Castellanos, Leonys Martin
Home Run Pick – Kyle Seager
Sample Lineup
P – Nick Kingham
C/1B – Tucker Barnhart
2B – Dee Gordon
3B – Miguel Andujar
SS – Jose Peraza
OF – Giancarlo Stanton, Kyle Schwarber, Denard Span
Utility – Joey Gallo
I’ll take the price of Kingham all night long tonight. Under $9,000 against the Padres at home is too good to pass up. As I mentioned earlier, we’ll need to keep a close eye on Barnhart to see if he’s playing. Our infield is cheap today but it has a ton of upside for power and stolen bases. Gordon and Pereza could wind up with near 20 points just from that. The rest of the lineup is the exact same way, either chasing home runs with big power bats or stolen bases with Denard Span. It also looks like another slate that has some weather concerns so be sure to start tuned for any updates.
As always, may fortune be on your side and make sure to follow me on Twitter @bucn4life as MLB allows late swap. If there’s a late scratch and/or lineup cards aren’t put in for the late games, this article will always be updated on Twitter ASAP.