FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Saturday, May 26

Blue Jays at Phillies

Blue Jays Probable Starter – Jaime Garcia, LHP

6.28 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and 21.4 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .261 average, .391 wOBA, 50.0 fly ball rate and 38.9 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .287 average, .393 wOBA, 43.8 fly ball rate and 41.3 hard contact rate

Garcia is coming off a short stint on the disabled list and he’s walking into a rough spot today. Philly has quite a few good hitters against lefties and I wouldn’t shy away from a lefty like Odubel Herrera in this spot. Rhys Hoskins is actually cheaper than Herrera because he’s been a little quiet lately. He’s a great buy low option, relative to what his price normally is. Carlos Santana and Cesar Hernandez are both in play as well but are at the higher end of the price spectrum for their ability.

Phillies Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Odubel Herrera, Rhys Hoskins, Aaron Altherr

Secondary Options – Cesar Hernandez, Carlos Santana

Phillies Probable Starter – Aaron Nola, RHP

2.37 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 23.0 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .252 average, .279 wOBA, 25.3 fly ball rate and 20.3 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .193 average, .232 wOBA, 33.8 fly ball rate and 31.5 hard contact rate

Nola is going to be one of the more popular pitchers on this slate due to name recognition and the fact most of the pitchers today aren’t very good. I have eyes on another guy as an alternative later on but I also can’t fault anyone for playing Nola. I always seem to play him when he scores the least amount of points. Toronto does have a top 10 strikeout rate but also carries the third highest ISO against righties. If you want to try your luck with a lefty with some power, Justin Smoak and Yangervis Solarte are the best bets. Curtis Granderson continues to be cheap at the top of the lineup but I think it’s Nola or nothing from this side of the games.

Blue Jays Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Justin Smoak, Yangervis Solarte, Curtis Granderson

Home Run Pick – Aaron Altherr

Royals at Rangers

Royals Probable Starter – Ian Kennedy, RHP

5.30 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and 21.0 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .284 average, .337 wOBA, 42.0 fly ball rate and 38.6 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .294 average, .379 wOBA, 38.1 fly ball rate and 41.6 hard contact rate

Kennedy is not in a park that you want to be giving up a lot of fly balls as Texas is very hitter friendly. It doesn’t appear that we should be too worried about the splits here. One thing to note is the 7-2 home run ratio for righty/lefty hitters against Kennedy this year. I feel like I’ve said this a lot lately but Joey Gallo is in a great spot tonight and it’s hard to turn away from him in GPP’s at just $3,200. The other top options against Kennedy include Nomar Mazara and Shin-soo Choo. Kennedy isn’t in the best spot on paper but he could strikeout a few more hitters than normal.

Rangers Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Nomar Mazara, Shin-soo Choo

Secondary Options – Joey Gallo, Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Rangers Probable Starter – Bartolo Colon, RHP

3.51 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 16.4 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .216 average, .275 wOBA, 33.8 fly ball rate and 39.2 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .224 average, .312 wOBA, 32.0 fly ball rate and 42.7 hard contact rate

This just feels like the spot where Colon trolls everyone and throws a quality start. There’s no earthly reason that a 45 year old husky man who throws an 89 MPH fastball should be successful in the majors right now. Yet, here we are and I’m not taking a lot of chances with the Royals hitters today. If you want to attack Colon, you stick to the big four – Salvador Perez, Mike Moustakas, Whit Merrifield and Jorge Soler. I’m probably not going to play Colon but he’s in the mix for a GPP option like a lot of pitchers are.

Royals Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez

Secondary Options – Whit Merrifield, Jorge Soler

Home Run Pick – Nomar Mazara