Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 5/28/16 Evening Slate

 

Most of the real interesting action is taking place on the afternoon slate of things. This is a mini-evening slate. We will run through some quick plays you can consider here and be sure to check out our afternoon value plays article here.

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PITCHER

Noah Syndergaard FD 11500 DK 13000
Opponent - LAD (Maeda) Park - @NYM
FD - 41.42 DK - 24.29
Thor's mighty expensive on this slate, but I think you can happily pay up for him in the hopes he drops the hammer down. (Like what I did there?) Syndergaard's been nothing short of spectacular this season and is giving Kershaw a run the "whaaaa?" department when it comes to his peripherals. He's sporting a stupid 8.4:1 K:BB ratio and putting down more than 11 batters per nine. He only opened at a -144 against the Dodgers which strikes me as low even with Maeda taking the mound against him. LA is in the bottom third of the league against righties this season and Thor could go nuts. Very tough to fade his FD price though DK gets steep.

Zack Greinke FD 11000 DK 11100
Opponent - SD (Vargas) Park - @ARI
FD - 38.8 DK - 22.01
Really more of a DraftKings play here as I think you happily spend the extra $500 up to Syndergaard on FanDuel. But on DK Greinke's considerably cheaper on a slate featuring some not-so-enticing options further down the salary tier. Greinke's starting to see that early season run bad turn in his favor and he's sitting at a solid 3.36 xFIP. The ballpark is geared toward hitters, but I love the matchup against the Padres who're striking out a quarter of the time against righties this season. Greinke's a heavy -200 favorite though it's chewed up some by the run line.

Consider Dallas Keuchel on the cheap against the Halos.

CATCHER

Welington Castillo FD 2900 DK 3400
Opponent - SD (Vargas) Park - @ARI
FD - 9.88 DK - 7.6
Chris Herrman FD 3200 DK 3600
Opponent - SD (Vargas) Park - @ARI
FD - 5.2 DK - 4.75
Depending on who is in the lineup today, I think you can consider either if they're hitting in and around the middle of the lineup. Herrman strikes me as a little expensive though he would have the platoon in his favor. Castillo will occasionally get in there against righties though it's his much worse platoon split. Neither are punt plays like you'd want to see out of catcher here, but the pick'ens are slim at the position on this slate.

 

FIRST BASE

Prince Fielder FD 2900 DK 3700
Opponent - PIT (Nicasio) Park - @TEX
FD - 12.72 DK - 9.7
The Rangers open as one of the highest run lines on the slate and I love the discount we're getting on Fielder. Sure, he's struggling this season. The BABIP is in the basement thanks to some bad luck and also the shift put against him. But he's also looking at a career low in Hr/FB% even though the LD% has improved and the rest of his batted ball profile looks normal. Nicasio's decent, but so is much of the rest of the slate.

Consider Paul Goldschmidt who's still coming at a discount on FanDuel.

 

 

SECOND BASE

Brian Dozier FD 2700 DK 3200
Opponent - SEA (Miley) Park - @SEA
FD - 9.19 DK - 7.26
Oof, is he ever struggling this season. Dozier's whimpering to right around a .600 OPS on the season, just brutal. Though I do think there's some hope here. He should be in the two hole against the lefty Miley and that's been his dramatically better career split. Dozier's put up a career .832 OPS against lefties with a .359 wOBA. Bad luck's been a big part of his struggles with a .217 BABIP on the season. It's led to poor numbers and close to punt prices on both sites. If he's near the top of the order then this is an easy play for my in the evening and allows cap room to fit the bigger arms.

Consider Jean Segura

 

SHORTSTOP

Eduardo Nunez FD 3000 DK 3100
Opponent - SEA (Miley) Park - @SEA
FD - 8.3 DK - 7.21
Here's to hoping he sticks in the leadoff slot for the Twins. I suspect he's there tonight at least again against the lefty Miley. Nunez's been decent this season with an OPS over .800 and some speed if he can get on base which he doesn well enough I suppose. The Twins aren't expected for many runs tonight and Nunez's price isn't in the basement anymore. But considering I wanted to just write "skip" for shortstop an move on with my life, he'll do well enough from a plate appearance expectation perspective.

 

THIRD BASE

Jacob Lamb FD 3400 DK 4200
Opponent - SD (Vargas) Park - @ARI
FD - 12.1 DK - 9.52
He should be in the middle of the lineup tonight against the righty and you can tell we are targeting D-Backs on this slate. Lamb's putting together an excellent season with an .866 OPS thanks in large part to increased patience at the place. His 11% walk rate is excellent and he's cut down on his career K rate, reducing it from 24% to 19%. Those are great signs and he's a top play at third today.

Luis Valbuena FD 2800 DK 3500
Opponent - LAA (Weaver) Park - @LAA
FD - 9.19 DK - 6.95
Man, this slate just feels gross. The Astros come in to LA as favorites though the overall line on the game is low thanks, I'm suspecting, to the ballpark. It doesn't play much in the way of power though the Astros do get to face Jered Weaver who throws trash. Weaver has an xFIP over 5.00 on the season and his fastball tops out in the high 80's. He stinks. The 'Stros are righty heavy though Valbuena's handled this split fine enough over the last couple of seasons with an OPS around .800. I don't mind him and some other Houston bats in that I do think the opening line here is a little low.

Consider Trevor Plouffe and Adrian Beltre

 

OUTFIELD

Bryce Harper FD 3800 DK 4800
Opponent - STL (Wainwright) Park - @WSH
FD - 13.3 DK - 10.24
The FanDuel price is dumb at this point and I think he's a must play over there. Sub $4K makes him in play against just about everyone but the most elite of arms. Wainwright is not that. Harper's struggled in the power department over the short term though he did annihilate a ball the other night against Leake. On DraftKings he doesn't fall into the same value tier and I think you can avoid him if you're paying up for two big arms. But don't hem and haw at all about FanDuel. Easy call over there.

Mitch Moreland FD 2900 DK 3400
Opponent - PIT (Nicasio) Park - @TEX
FD - 11.31 DK - 8.65
He should be in the middle of the order against the righty Nicasio and I think you can take a shot on him considering the park and Texas' run line. Moreland's struggled this season and he's striking out more than his career average. Not a great sign, but the price is depressed because of the early season struggles.

Strongly consider Michael Bourn if he's hitting near the top of the lineup against the righty.

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