FanDuel MLB Expert Survey: Saturday, May 25th
Want to know who Notorious is definitely paying up for in MLB DFS today? Wondering which value play STLCardinals84 is eyeing most? You’re in luck. Our daily fantasy sports experts will answer a handful of questions to help you make crucial lineup building decisions for tonight’s contests. NOTE: Surveys for early slates will be posted when there are four or more early games.
Saturday, May 25th – Main Slate
Who is your favorite hitter for cash games?
STLCardinals84: Freddie Freeman
MrTuttle: Trevor Story
BigT44: Raimel Tapia
Who is your favorite hitter for tournaments?
STLCardinals84: David Dahl
MrTuttle: Alex Bregman
BigT44: David Dahl
Who is your favorite pitcher for cash games?
STLCardinals84: Hyun-Jin Ryu
MrTuttle: Tyler Skaggs
BigT44: Hyun-Jin Ryu
Who is your favorite pitcher for tournaments?
STLCardinals84: David Price
MrTuttle: Mike Soroka
BigT44: Mike Minor
Who is your favorite cheap pitcher for cash games?
STLCardinals84: Tyler Skaggs
MrTuttle: Tyler Skaggs
BigT44: Tyler Skaggs
Who is your favorite cheap pitcher for tournaments?
STLCardinals84: Tyler Skaggs
MrTuttle: Kyle Freeland
BigT44: Tyler Skaggs
Who is your favorite salary saver on the board?
STLCardinals84: Keon Broxton
MrTuttle: Keon Broxton
BigT44: Keon Broxton
Who is your top contrarian play on the board?
STLCardinals84: Nick Markakis
MrTuttle: Mookie Betts
BigT44: Kolten Wong
Which player are you most afraid of having little to no exposure to?
STLCardinals84: Cody Bellinger
MrTuttle: Cody Bellinger
BigT44: Joc Pederson
Which high-priced pitcher will you have little to no exposure to in tournaments?
STLCardinals84: Mike Minor
MrTuttle: David Price
BigT44: David Price
Which high-priced hitter will you have little to no exposure to in tournaments?
STLCardinals84: J.D. Martinez
MrTuttle: Joey Gallo
BigT44: Cody Bellinger
What’s your sneaky home run call of the day?
STLCardinals84: Daniel Murphy
MrTuttle: Rafael Devers
BigT44: Tyler Flowers
What’s your favorite overall team stack?
STLCardinals84: COL
MrTuttle: COL
BigT44: COL
What’s your favorite sneaky team stack?
STLCardinals84: LAA
MrTuttle: BOS
BigT44: ATL
Which useful trend or statistic stuck out most during your research?
STLCardinals84: I set out this morning to try to figure out what is behind the 2019 surge from Mike Minor. I still think he’s been extraordinarily lucky, but there might be something to it. His pitch mix has been much different this year, as his fastball usage is down from 49% last year to 42% this year, while his curveball/changeup usage have combined to go from 27% to 43%.
MrTuttle: While the Texas Rangers have killed right-handed pitching this season (23.9% strikeout rate; 114 wRC+) they have had much less success against lefties (28.1% strikeout rate; 86 wRC+).
BigT44: Baltimore gives up as many bombs as anyone and goes to the friendly comfines of Coors Field so they are really putting my No Coors Rule to test this weekend. Last night the 2 beasts Story and Arenado did the heavy lifting but tonight it might be the whole unit.
What is your hot take of the day?
STLCardinals84: Tyler Skaggs ends up being the highest scoring pitcher on the slate.
MrTuttle: Kyle Freeland ends up being the highest scoring fantasy pitcher on the slate.
BigT44: Rockies hit 7 bombs from 7 different guys
Who is your top overall pitcher (when considering price, matchup, projected ownership, etc.) on the board and why?
STLCardinals84: Hyun-Jin Ryu – This is a tough call on a main slate with only a few quality pitchers. Ryu almost has to get the nod out of respect for his high floor, good matchup, and elite 2019 numbers. He has a 1.52 ERA and an xFIP in the mid-twos, his walk rate sits at an absurd 1.9%, his swinging strike rate sits at a career-best 11.8%, and his strikeouts are well above league average. The Pirates aren’t a great offense against LHP, and all this screams to play Ryu here. The only risk, as always, is the ever present risk of quick hook from his manager. I like Skaggs as a value tonight, but he’s much more of a risk/reward option. Ryu is the top play.
MrTuttle: Tyler Skaggs – Hyun-Jin Ryu is the “top” pitcher on the slate in terms of raw projection and matchup but it’s Tyler Skaggs that I find myself using in more of my builds because of his price tag. Salary relief at the pitching position is important on a slate where Andrew Cashner is pitching in Coors and Skaggs offers a $3,600 discount from Ryu on FanDuel and a $3,900 discount on FanDuel. Salary savings aside, Skaggs is still a strong overall option as he gets a home matchup against a Rangers squad that has been much worse against left-handed pitching this season (28.1% strikeout rate; 86 wRC+).
BigT44: Ryu has to be considered the top guy which is crazy because I don’t really like him all that much. However, pitching is super ugly tonight and there just isn’t much out there on a short slate. I dont see pitching winning this slate anyways though so I have no issue going with a cheap guy like Skaggs.
Who is your top overall hitter (when considering price, matchup, projected ownership, etc.) on the board and why?
STLCardinals84: Freddie Freeman – As tempting as it is to list someone from the Coors Field game as the top overall bat of the night, I’ll opt for Freddie Freeman. He is on fire rght now with six home runs in his last nine games, and this is a great matchup against Dakota Hudson. The St. Louis starter has allowed a .439 wOBA and a 43% hard contact rate to lefty bats this season, and he will likely struggle against a locked-in middle of the order lefty. Expect Freeman to do some damage here.
MrTuttle: Trevor Story – Andrew Cashner in Coors? Oh baby. It just so happens that behind Cashner is one of the league’s worst bullpens as they have the highest xFIP (5.16) in the league by a wide margin and have already given up 111 HRs. Story went yard twice last night, including a walk-off, and couldn’t ask for a much better follow up matchup.
BigT44: Oh Baby Dahhhhhhhl is my guy tonight and he isn’t going to be sneaky by any means. He gets the splits in his favor and is in a great spot to have a big breakout game. No one in Coors will be sneaky but it won’t matter when they score double digits with a bunch of bombs tonight.
Saturday, May 25th (Early Slate)
Who is your favorite hitter for cash games?
STLCardinals84: Christian Yelich
MrTuttle: Juan Soto
BigT44: Pete Alonso
Who is your favorite hitter for tournaments?
STLCardinals84: Pete Alonso
MrTuttle: Bryce Harper
BigT44: Carlos Gomez
Who is your favorite pitcher for cash games?
STLCardinals84: Patrick Corbin
MrTuttle: Patrick Corbin
BigT44: Patrick Corbin
Who is your favorite pitcher for tournaments?
STLCardinals84: Charlie Morton
MrTuttle: Carlos Carrasco
BigT44: Carlos Carrasco
Who’s your favorite cheap pitcher for cash games/tournaments?
STLCardinals84: Jhoulys Chacin (Cash) / Sandy Alcantara (GPP)
MrTuttle: Andrew Suarez
BigT44: Andrew Suarez
Who is your favorite salary saver on the board?
STLCardinals84: Matt Adams
MrTuttle: Matt Adams
BigT44: Wilson Ramos
Who is your top contrarian play on the board?
STLCardinals84: Whit Merrifield
MrTuttle: Francisco Lindor
BigT44: Rajai Davis
Which high-priced hitter will you have little to no exposure to in tournaments?
STLCardinals84: Trea Turner
MrTuttle: Jean Segura
BigT44: Trea Turner
Which high-priced pitcher will you have little to no exposure to in tournaments?
STLCardinals84: Carlos Carrasco
MrTuttle: Charlie Morton
BigT44: Carlos Carrasco
Which player are you most afraid of having little to no exposure to?
STLCardinals84: Bryce Harper
MrTuttle: Christian Yelich
BigT44: Christian Yelich
What’s your sneaky home run call of the day?
STLCardinals84: Kevin Cron (if he starts); otherwise Marcus Semien
MrTuttle: J.D. Davis
BigT44: Adeiny Hechavarria
What’s your favorite overall team stack?
STLCardinals84: OAK
MrTuttle: WAS
BigT44: NYM
What’s your favorite sneaky team stack?
STLCardinals84: NYM
MrTuttle: DET
BigT44: PHI
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