Sean Mannion Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Kellen Mond and Sean Mannion will have a "50-50 split" at QB in Sunday's Preseason Week 1 game.

Kirk Cousins has been placed on the COVID list, while Sean Mannion has been activated from the COVID list and is expected to start Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers. With Sean Mannion at quarterback, all Minnesota pass-catchers will see a decrease in expected production. It is likely that the Vikings try to ride their run game more making Dalvin Cook a stronger play on the showdown slate.

Ameer Abdullah and Sean Mannion have both been elevated from the practice squad to the active roster ahead of Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Niether should play a very important role as Abdullah will be the 3rd running back behind workhorse Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison, and Mannion will backup Kirk Cousins.

The Vikings are reportedly planning to rest several of their starters in the final game of the regular season. The team has not made an official announcement, but Kirk Cousins and Dalvin Cook are both reportedly being rested. QB Sean Mannion would get the second start of his career, the other coming back in 2017 with the Rams. At RB, Mike Boone and Ameer Abdullah would be the Vikings top backs.

The last time Sean Manaea faced the Boston Red Sox, a no-hitter was the result. Yet, the Red Sox still have a 4.97 implied run line that's second best on the board tonight for the rematch at Fenway, a much more positive run environment. Manaea proceeded to throw seven strong innings at Houston immediately following that outing, but has allowed eight runs in 11.2 innings with just eight strikeouts over his last two starts. At $9.6K on DraftKings, he would seem over-priced here with an ERA well below estimators due to a .186 BABIP and 84.3 LOB%. That does not make him a bad pitcher and still perhaps not one to go over-board against, but the primary lefty-mashers are certainly in play here. J.D. Martinez (212 wRC+, .463 xwOBA, .414 ISO, 54.4 Hard% vs LHP last calendar year) seems a value at any cost against southpaws. Mookie Betts (173 wRC+, .414 xwOBA, .298 ISO) joins him above 20% Barrels/BBE overall this season. Xander Bogaerts (110 wRC+, .133 ISO) is hitting more balls in the air this season, resulting in 15.4% Barrels/BBE overall. Hanley Ramirez (92 wRC+, .215 ISO) is the only other RHB batter in the lineup above a .140 ISO against lefties since last season. Right-handed hitters have a .348 xwOBA and 41.1 GB% against Manaea since last season.

Similar to Monday, Tuesday's pitching is not just strong at the top, but has some high upside arms at mid-range prices too. The most expensive of those and maybe the best is Patrick Corbin ($9-9.5K). His breakout started over his last 20 starts of 2017 (23.7 K%, 51.3 GB%, < 30 Hard%). He's now struck out 20 of 48 batters faced this season (17.8 SwStr%) and gets a major park upgrade in San Francisco tonight. Theoretically, the Giants are supposed to be much better against LHP this year, but with a league leading 184 PAs so far, they've generated a 15.7 K-BB% and 75 wRC+ against them. Aaron Nola hasn't started very srong and has been held below 90 pitches in each of his starts, but has a league average SwStr rate (9.7%), a ground ball rate above 50% and a 0.0 Hard-Soft%. The matchup should be winnable against a banged up Cincinnati offense and the slow start has kept his cost down below $9K. Sean Manaea has efficiently used 189 pitches to throw 15.2 innings through two starts. While his strikeout rate remains league average, his SwStr rate is up even further (12.7%) and he’s walked just one guy! He continues to have contact issues against RHBs (37.5 Hard%, 43.8 GB% through two starts) and the matchup is not great against the Dodgers, but they are still without Justin Turner and he costs right around $8K on either site. Aaron Sanchez (11.2%) and Tyler Skaggs (13.4%) have both greatly increased their SwStr% through two starts and are facing strikeout prone, but also powerful offenses in dangerous parks. Sanchez, at least, is expected to have the platoon advantage for the most part against a predominantly right-handed Baltimore lineup. He has a career 60.3 GB% against righties. The Orioles have a 29.2 K% and 2.9 Hard-Soft% against RHP so far.

While there are pitchers with more upside, Kyle Hendricks is the plug and play against the Marlins tonight. That didn't work out so well on Opening Day, but Hendricks' 83.9 mph aEV is lowest on the ball. His ability to manage weak contact with a 50% ground ball rate and above average strikeout rate (21.6%) has allowed him to keep an ERA (3.03) well below his estimators, though a strand rate above 80% each of the last two years is still primed for regression. Players looking for a cheap pitcher (especially on DraftKings), who may be off most radars can consider Jhoulys Chacin in an advantageous position in San Diego, where he pitched last year. He has some extreme platoon splits (RHBs 15.4 K-BB%, 3.23 FIP, 2.6 lower aEV and 58 point wOBA last three years) and holds runners well, while the projected San Diego lineup only has one real left-handed threat (Hosmer). Sean Manaea is another high upside, high risk arm. He had just a league average 20.2 K% last year, but an 11.4 SwStr% and strong secondary pitches suggest the potential for more. The Angels had a surprisingly league low 77 wRC+ against LHP last season despite having the best right-handed hitter on the planet. With Justin Upton (137 wRC+, .244 ISO vs LHP career) for a full season along with some other right-handed additions, it should be a tougher lineup to navigate this year, but still not entirely without holes. Right-handed batters did rake against Manaea last year (.347 wOBA, 36.9 Hard%), so if considering taking a shot with him, players may want to hedge with some offensive exposure too here.

All things being equal, Sean Manaea (in Seattle) and Brandon McCarthy (in San Francisco) would normally be top pitching selections on this slate. However, they are the top two priced pitchers on DraftKings and neither has thrown a major league pitch in May due to shoulder issues. While that's scary enough on it's own, only Manaea threw a rehab outing that lasted all of 18 batters, while McCarthy has started a total of 14 games over the last two calendar years and exceeded 91 pitches just once in five April starts. It would be prudent to expect shorter outings (perhaps five innings or 75-85 pitches) with heavy bullpen usage in these games, not something to take into account just for pitcher usage, but if considering offensive selections in opposing lineups as well. While batters like Brandon Belt, Buster Posey and Nelson Cruz are strong both RH & LH pitchers, the Dodgers' bullpen should be considered elite with a 29.5 K% and 2.92 SIERA that both rank only behind the Astros. The Oakland bullpen is a bit more vulnerable with a 20.3 K% and 3.94 SIERA that both rank 23rd in the majors and a .312 wOBA allowed to RHBs that's worse than their .300 wOBA when facing LHBs. While RHBs have a .319 wOBA (34.2 Hard%) against Manaea since last season as well, Nelson Cruz (185 wRC+, .325 ISO vs LHP since 2015), at least theoretically (individual pitchers vary of course), should not suffer much from multiple PAs against the Oakland bullpen.