FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Sunday, May 20

2 of 7

MESA, AZ – FEBRUARY 28: Jed Lowrie #8 of the Oakland Athletics bats against the Chicago Cubs during the spring training game at Sloan Park on February 28, 2018 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

A’s at Blue Jays

A’s Probable Starter – Daniel Mengden, RHP

3.75 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 16.9 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .206 average, .239 wOBA, 44.3 fly ball rate and 40.0 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .302 average, .361 wOBA, 28.6 fly ball rate and 38.0 hard contact rate

Mengden is an odd case today. On the surface, you want to attack him because he appears to be just an average pitcher on his best day. You can’t use him because he doesn’t strike anyone out. This will be his tenth start of the season and he’s only given up four or more runs twice. Maybe this is a spot where Mengden gets lit up but this is a larger slate. I’m not sure I want to put my chips on the Blue Jays offense. If you want to go for it, the duo of Kevin Pillar and Teoscar Hernandez fit the bill of having a high wOBA against righty pitching while being a righty hitter. You’re chasing the reverse splits if you want Blue Jays.

Blue Jays Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Kevin Pillar

Secondary Options – Teoscar Hernandez, Josh Donaldson

Blue Jays Probable Starter – Joe Biagini, RHP

7.98 ERA, 1.84 WHIP and 15.3 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .317 average, .399 wOBA. 25.0 fly ball rate and 48.5 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .318 average, .377 wOBA, 21.1 fly ball rate and 26.3 hard contact rate

The Oakland A’s stack might end up being the chalk of the day because Biagini has not been good at all in his three starts this year. The A’s have a good offense and the main targets are the normal three suspects for Oakland. Jed Lowrie’s price is back up but not high enough to deter me. He leads the A’s in wOBA against righties, followed by Matt Olson and Khris Davis. Biagini hasn’t been giving up a ton of fly balls but I’m still going to side with Oakland in this spot. If you need a salary saver, Dustin Fowler could be an option. He’s only had one big game so far but he’s dirt cheap.

A’s Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Jed Lowrie, Khris Davis, Matt Olson

Secondary Options – Dustin Fowler, Marcus Semien

Home Run Pick – Jed Lowrie

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 29: Noah Syndergaard #34 of the New York Mets pitches in the second inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on Opening Day at Citi Field on March 29, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

Diamondbacks at Mets

Diamondbacks Probable Starter – Clay Buchholz, RHP

Season Debut

Raise your hand if you knew Clay Buchholz was still playing baseball. Now put your hand down because you’re a liar. I legitimately didn’t know Buchholz was still kicking around and I’m not sure where I want to go here. I’m not using Buchholz for sure, even at the minimum for a pitcher. The Mets just don’t have a very good offense. I’m not going to start too far from the beaten path here. Michael Conforto is sort of coming around and is at a good price. Other than that, I’d probably limit myself to Asdrubal Cabrera and Brandon Nimmo. Maybe I’ll miss the boat but I just don’t feel good loading up on Mets today too much.

Mets Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Asdrubal Cabrera, Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto

Secondary Options – None

Mets Probable Starter – Noah Syndergaard, RHP

3.14 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 28.0 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .270 average, .307 wOBA, 26.1 fly ball rate and 26.1 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .235 average, .295 wOBA, 29.2 fly ball rate and 23.6 hard contact rate

It’s so weird to not want to play Syndergaard but that might be where I’m at. He’s been good so far this year but there’s been plenty of starts that he hasn’t been worth the five digit price tag. He has one start where he hasn’t given up a run and even then he went 5.1 innings. The Arizona offense hasn’t been very good so far this year and that does tempt me. I haven’t had much luck playing Thor so far this year. He’s yet to cross 40 points any time I’ve played him. To me, it’s either play Thor or run from this matchup.

Diamondbacks Hitters to Target

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Paul Goldschmidt, Jake Lamb

Home Run Pick – Jake Lamb