Mark Teixeira Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

J.A. Happ has seen his strikeout rate drop over the last month (18.4%), though he did fan eight Mariners in his last start. He continues to strand runners at a high rate (80%), causing his 3.28 ERA to run nearly a run below his league average estimators right around four. He’s in a nice spot at home against a low power offense (10.0 HR/FB on the road and vs LHP), but the Yankees don’t strike out a lot (18.7% vs LHP). While he should be fine, the cost seems a bit excessive, especially on DraftKings ($10.1K) for a pitcher with marginal peripherals. For the Yankees, Gary Sanchez (122 wRC+, .362 ISO vs LHP career) remains a monster and the top catcher at a high price. As far as potential punt plays go, there may be a couple here. Billy Butler (106 wRC+ vs LHP this season) has a 164 wRC+ over the last week for $2.7K or less out of the cleanup spot, while Mark Teixeira (104 wRC+, .155 ISO vs LHP) looks to finish his career strong (152 wRC+ last seven days) at $2.8K or less.

Yovani Gallardo went seven innings for just the second time this season in his last start, but with just three strikeouts. Sporting his lowest GB rate since 2008 (42.8%), Yankee Stadium becomes an especially dangerous park for him, though the Yankees don't have much left in the way of LH power with perhaps their top bat in that department on the bench tonight in Brian McCann. Gallardo has no real platoon split this year, splitting his 11 HRs nearly even as well with batters from both side around a .350 wOBA. We all know the reason McCann is benched (though it's surprising he's not the DH here) though. Gary Sanchez is the most popular Yankee these days and for good reason. He has a 207 wRC+ at Yankee Stadium and a 287 wRC+ with a .517 ISO vs RHP, bumping up to 332 wRC+ and 52.6 Hard% over the last week. His cost is increased, though still not enormous, but so has his popularity (see our Projected Ownership page, which has him above 10% on either site on a full slate). Fade him at a weak position at your own risk in cash games right now. As for the rest of the lineup. Mark Teixeira is tied for the lineup lead among LHBs with a .153 ISO vs RHP this season. He costs less than $3K on either site because he also has a 60 wRC+ against them.

The youth movement is very well underway in the Bronx as both Jacoby Ellsbury and Mark Teixeira will be watching from the Yankees dugout today.. With that said, things don't set up too well for them this afternoon as they own just a .306 team wOBA against left-handed pitching this season and J.A. Happ has been the biggest bright spot in the Blue Jays rotation this season and has mowed down this New York team in all three prior meetings this season. Somewhat surprisingly, it's Didi Gregorious that leads New York with a .382 wOBA against left-handed pitching but we were hoping to see him hit a bit higher in the order than #6. Gary Sanchez gets a rare chance to hit cleanup this afternoon, giving him a major fantasy boost.

Over his last few starts, Carlos Carrasco has only been striking out 13% of batters which has led to a ballooned xFIP of 5.34. Surprisingly, he has fared almost equally well against LHBs and RHBs, possessing an xFIP of 3.68 versus LHB and an xFIP of 3.81 versus RHB. The Yankees have not been great for most of the year, but Mark Teixeira, Brett Gardner, and Jacoby Ellsbury do all have wRC+ totals above 138 over the last week.

Josh Tomlin has increased his strikeout rate to 21.7% over the last month, but his ERA has increased too because only two pitchers have allowed more than his 25 HRs and while the Yankee offense is broken, they can still pop the ball up over that right field wall. The interesting thing is that Tomlin has a pronounced reverse split (LHBs .251 wOBA, RHBs .338 wOBA since last season), though batters from both sides have a hard hit rate a bit above 32%. Strangely, the Yankees don't have a single batter in the lineup with a wRC+ above 107 or ISO above .186 vs RHP this season. Mark Teixeira does have a 192 wRC+ and 58.3 Hard% over the last week. The man who just announced his retirement on MLB Network could serve as a bargain First Base play for those paying up for a Coors matchup without a significant First Base play. He costs $3K or less on either site.

Doug Fister has a 3.42 ERA that's nearly a run and a half below his estimators with a low strikeout rate that makes him unusable for daily fantasy purposes. He has dominated RHBs (.238 wOBA – 3 HRs – 56.6 GB%), while LHBs have continued to scorch him this season (.367 wOBA – 12 HRs – 38.9 GB%). The Yankees have eight LHBs in the lineup tonight, though only a couple can be considered above average, which may be why they are only projected for 3.9 runs. Carlos Beltran (124 wRC+, .211 ISO vs RHP since 2015) is the bat you want here, less than $4K on either site, as is every bat in this lineup. Mark Teixeira has just a 56 wRC+ vs RHP in an injury riddled season, but still a .175 ISO. He costs less than $3K on either site.

Yovani Gallardo has eight walks and just four strikeouts over his last two starts. His 40.4 GB% is his lowest since his rookie season of 2007, while his 29.0 Hard% is on his career mark, but the Yankees have been able to turn lesser hit hard rates at home and against RHP into a 13.1 HR/FB each with the short RF porch. They'll have plenty of opportunities to park baseballs there tonight with Gallardo's 5.8 SwStr% this season. They're projection of five runs is third best on the slate and LHBs have a .349 wOBA against Gallardo since last season. While every single one of them appears playable tonight, the two biggest bargains are Carlos Beltran (123 wRC+, .206 ISO vs RHP since 2015), who has an identical wRC+ at home over that period and costs just $3.7K on DraftKings (he's the top overall bat in the lineup too, though more costly on FanDuel) and Mark Teixeira (118 wRC+, .273 ISO vs RHP since 2015) at just $3.2K or less on either site. He has struggled to find his footing against RHP in between injuries this year though with just a 46 wRC+ and .150 ISO.

Cole Hamels generally ends up with strong numbers, but is very unpredictable start to start. In fact, this year, with a 2.79 ERA, he has estimators closer to four with a career high 9.1 BB%. He still holds some upside in a not so terrible spot (Yankees 87 wRC+ vs LHP) and could be considered on two pitcher sites with some tight pricing tonight, though an $11.3K cost on DraftKings makes him a bit of a risk. He's also allowed 15 HRs this year, so a few Yankees bats at reduced prices might be interesting here. Carlos Beltran (152 wRC+, .329 ISO vs LHP this year) costs $3.7K on either site. Alex Rodriguez (121 wRC+, .235 ISO vs LHP) can still hit lefties and costs under $3.5K. Mark Teixeira (82 wRC+, .066 ISO vs LHP this year) is off to a rough and injury riddled start, but homered last night and costs just $2.2K on DraftKings.

J.A. Happ has struck out more than five just once this season, though his K% (18.7) and SwStr% (9.3) are up a bit in May. He's done it mostly through stranding runners at a career high 80.9% rate, which is not something we should expect to continue. With a below average strikeout rate and nothing in his profile that might indicate skills that should keep his ERA below four, Happ could navigate this weak lineup, but may not provide players with much upside beyond his moderate price tag. The Yankees are without three of their every day bats (one of them right-handed), though Happ hasn't shown an overly large platoon split since last season. Mark Teixeira (112 wRC+, .075 ISO vs LHP this season) is below $3K on either site now, but has not hit for any power this year. Austin Romine might be the sneaky low priced catcher in this lineup in the 7th spot. He has a 125 wRC+, .171 ISO vs LHP since last season, both marks he's slightly improved upon in limited opportunities this year.

Carlos Beltran did not play on Sunday due to a sore shoulder but is back in the lineup against Marco Estrada. Beltran has a 94.7 mph aEV in 14 batted balls against Estrada since last season. He's tagged Estrada for three home runs in 27 ABs and has a .360 wOBA, 128 wRC+ over the past week. Mark Teixeira officially returns to the lineup after pinch-hitting last night, he had been out the past five days with a neck issue. Teixeira has 93 mph aEV in 7 batted balls against Estrada and also has three home runs in 11 ABs since last season. A-Rod has been struggling since returning from injury and will get the day off on Monday. The Yankees currently have the 2nd lowest run projection (3.82) of the 14 team yet to play today, making them only GPP targets and too risky to trust for cash games.