Happy Friday my fellow RotoBallers! We're kicking off the weekend today with a completely full state. Yes, all 30 teams are taking the field just so that we have a full allotment of pitchers and hitters to choose from. Very nice of them! In all honesty, we do have a juicy slate - and it's not just because no teams have the day off. We have a ton of aces on the bump and a handful of teams with run projections that I'd consider attractive for stacking (teams with 5+).
Before we get into the player selection and rationale, let's see what we can derive from Vegas. The heaviest moneyline favorites tonight - helpful when choosing pitchers in cash games and, alternatively, those who should be avoided - are the Dodgers (-218), followed by the Tigers (-180) and the Cubs at -169. The teams with the high run projections that I alluded to above - anything north of five - are the Reds, Tigers and Red Sox. The Braves and Yankees just miss the cut, but not by much as they currently sit at 4.9 each.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel on 6/2/17. The DFS lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options, and of course, value plays. Let's get to it, shall we?
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Offensive Stacks
Detroit Tigers versus Derek Holland
Anyone that has read a column or two or mine knows that I A) love to stack these Tigers and B) love to pick on Derek Holland. Let's start with Holland first - honestly, he hasn't been bad this season in terms of production, but Statcast data tells us he's giving up a 37% hard hit rate - which is a very attractive figure for us Tigers-backers. As for the Tigers, who currently have the highest run total projection of the day at 5.2, they're an attractive team to stack because 1-6 in their order all have pop and with the exception of Miggy, they're almost always moderately priced. There are also four hitters with ISO splits against southpaws above .200 - which you don't see too often. I've got my eyes on J.D. Martinez, Justin Upton, Miguel Cabrera and John Hicks. Jose Igelsias at just $2,200 is an incredible value as well, seeing as he hits lefties much better than he does right-handed pitching.
Also Consider: Miami Marlins versus Pat Corbin
FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Stephen Strasburg - SP, at OAK ($11,200)
Believe it or not, Strasburg has the best Statcast data of the day – and that’s no small feat when Kerhsaw and a handful of other aces are on the bump. Strasburg looked great in his most recent performance and there are a number of reasons to roster him today. In the past 15 days, he's allowed a hard hit rate of just just 17%. He also owns a solid 1.1 WHIP, a really strong 0.8 HR/9 and perhaps what is most attractive is the opponent, the Athletics. They are striking out a ton and their projected lineup owns a 31% K rate against right-handed pitchers this season. This matchup screams high strikeout potential.
Also Consider: Dallas Keuchel - SP, at TEX ($10,300)
FanDuel DFS Infielders
Yasmani Grandal - C, at MIL ($3,300)
My man Evan Gattis has great splits tonight - something I lean on and trust heavily in projections - but he does face Yu Darvish. If you're willing to go contrarian, he's in a good spot. If you want a safer play with similar upside, look to the Yasmanian Devil as he gets a park upgrade, faces a subpar pitcher, and has been smashing the ball - 40% hard hit rate in the past two weeks to go with his .383 wOBA split.
Justin Bour - 1B, vs ARI ($3,500)
All recent numbers taken into consideration, this is a very modest price for Justin Bour. He's found his groove lately and yet his price actually is $100 lower than it was 10 days ago. Nonetheless, I like this spot for him tonight due to fantastic splits - .435 wOBA, .327 ISO - and an incredibly high hard hit rate over the past 15 days at 58% - a figure that is incredibly rare.
Robinson Cano - 2B, vs TB ($3,600)
Not to sound like a broken record, but this, too, is a really moderate price tag for someone with Cano's skills and recent production. Cano has been a victim of some batted ball luck, but he's connecting a ton with barrels and owns a very impressive hard hit rate over the past half-month of 44%, but that's not all. He also owns splits that are attractive at any position but even more so at second base - .381 wOBA and a .238 ISO.
Mike Moustakas - 3B, vs CLE ($3,000)
Moose remains criminally under-priced and underrated. He has a juicy matchup today against Josh Tomlin, who he's had great success off in the past. I'm not really a BVP guy, but I stumbled across a stat that said he has had 5 extra-base hits (two home runs) in 24 at-bats against Tomlin, so I thought I'd mention. He also has great splits and has been producing well of late near the top of this Kansas City order. For the year, he's posted a .355 wOBA and .261 ISO.
Trevor Story - SS, at SD ($3,000)
The guys at FanDuel must have been feeling generous today with these value priced elite hitters. Story has an attractive matchup despite the negative park shift thanks to his massive splits - .421 wOBA and a .373 ISO.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Giancarlo Stanton - OF, vs ARI ($4,100)
I'll take 100% of Giancarlo shares tonight with this relatively low price (for a player of his stature) with a great matchup on paper. Giancarlo has been crushing left-handed pitching this season, posting a tremendous .439 wOBA split to pair with a monstrous .385 ISO. Those numbers jump off the screen and I have a feeling the ball will be jumping off Giancarlo's bat tonight.
Jorge Bonifacio - OF, vs CLE ($2,900)
He's burned me before, but I'm going back to the Bonifacio well. He showed flashes of greatness in the middle of May but his production has cooled a bit since. That said, batted ball luck and Statcast data tell us he's been a bit unlucky in that time - a stretch in which he owns a very impressive 44% hard hit rate. He's got an attractive matchup against home run prone Josh Tomlin, and what makes it more appealing is his splits against right-handed pitching are very impressive - .403 wOBA and a .308 ISO.
Corey Dickerson - OF, at SEA ($4,300)
Dickerson is one of the hottest hitters in the game right now. He keeps on producing and the spike in price is justified. I really like this spot for him because I think he'll go a little overlooked in tournaments due to the price and negative park shift to Seattle. Don't let it sway you, though, is he's really valuable tonight and faces a pitcher in Christian Bergman that has allowed over a .500 wOBA in the past 15 days. Dickerson sports really good splits against right-handed pitching as well with a .263 ISO and .544 slugging percentage.
Also Consider: Steven Souza - OF, at SEA ($3,900)
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