This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
We have 15 MLB games on this second Friday of the season, with 13 of them included in the late-night offering on FanDuel. We have a few games with really large favorites and a lot of teams are rolling out their ace tonight. Only three games have run totals over 7.5, so this looks like a day for pitching. Finding the right bats tonight might be the difference between winning and losing. With so many low scores expected and heavy Vegas pitching favorites, maybe the right move is to pay for the bats that can get you some fantasy points and slot in your pitcher at the end with the remaining salary.
Starting Pitcher
Bartolo Colon, NYM ($8,400) – Colon is at home against the Marlins, who are rolling out Martin Prado in the cleanup spot. They have the second most strikeouts in the league so far against right-handed pitching. Citi Field is one of the better pitcher's parks in the majors, and Colon is a -138 favorite against David Phelps in a game with a Vegas total of only seven. He tends to pitch deep into games and somehow manages to strike out five to eight batters a game. He had a monster start against the Marlins late last season where he put up about 18 FanDuel points. If he can go seven innings again with seven strikeouts and limit the Marlins to two runs, he should be able to return a solid 16 points to your team and be one of the better value options on the day.
Catcher
Jonathan Lucroy, MIL ($3,500) – Lucroy hit over .300 against left-handed pitching last year. He will likely bat second again in the order, which puts him in a position to score some runs with a few big bats behind him. He gets a solid matchup against Jeff Locke, who gave up a .275 batting average to right-handed hitters last season in over 100 innings. It's a solid match up for Lucroy, who is reasonably priced and in a good spot on Friday.
First Base
Freddie Freeman, ATL ($3,500) - Freeman gets to go up against Drew Hutchinson in Toronto, which has one of the best hitter's parks in baseball. Hutchinson struggled with left-handed power bats last year, giving up 17 home runs to batters from that side of the plate, which is about one every five innings. Freeman is the 14th-most expensive first baseman on FanDuel on Friday and has huge homerun upside. A good splits matchup, a good hitter's park, and a low price all entice me to look his way.
Second Base
Jonathan Schoop, BAL ($2,700) – Schoop has been red hot with six hits in his last 18 at-bats including three home runs. He'll face Joe Kelly on Friday, who is not a high strikeout pitcher and actually has reverse splits, which means right-handed batters give him more trouble than lefties. Schoop is still hitting lower in the order, but the park, pitcher and recent performance lead me to believe he can make value.
Shortstop
Troy Tulowitzki, COL ($4,800) – No one in their right mind will pay $4,800 to take a hitter against Clayton Kershaw in Dodgers Stadium, but that is exactly why it makes sense for a tournament play. Tulo is 68-for-193 since 2013 against left-handed pitching with 14 doubles and 13 home runs. Kershaw is off to a horrid start, as he has been knocked around multiple times already. The position as a whole is devoid of any great plays, so why not spend up on the best hitter who has a proven track record. Sometimes there's value in paying up when others will not be and I think this is the case with Tulo against Kershaw.
Third Base
Kelly Johnson, ATL, ($2,400) – Anyone who is left-handed and has some pop makes sense to roll out against Drew Hutchinson at home due to his splits and park factor. Kelly Johnson is not quite as nice of an option as Freddie Freeman, but the same reasoning applies. Johnson is now hitting fifth in the order to break up the righties and lefties. That gives him prime placement and a chance to drive in some more runs. He is very cheap, has a lot of upside, and he makes sense to use for salary relief reasons.
Outfielders
Michael Cuddyer, NYM, ($3,000) – Cuddyer is one the best right-handed bats the Mets have left. He hits in the middle of the order and has a high average along with a knack for driving in runs. David Phelps is going to be on the mound for the Marlins and he is another guy with reverse splits. Right-handed batters hit much better against him than lefties do, and Cuddyer hits right handed pitching pretty well. It seems to be a good fit to create some upside. He is not a huge home run threat playing in Citi Field, but he could string together a few hits, RBI and runs to help make it worthwhile.
Adam Jones, BAL ($4,900) – Jones also gets to hit against Joe Kelly and his reverse splits. Jones bats cleanup for Baltimore, who will be in Fenway Park, and looking to stay hot. He has a six-game hitting streak, going 12-for-21 with four home runs. Jones hits right-handed pitching well and Kelly struggles against right-handed batters, so this is a tailor made match up. In a game with a high expected run total, Jones will likely be involved in some of the scoring. Kelly is also not a strikeout pitcher, so it should limit the downside risk for Jones.
Josh Reddick, OAK ($3,300) – One thing Reddick does really well is hit bad right-handed pitching for power. He had a .280 batting average with 12 home runs in 264 at-bats against them last year. He hit third in the order Tuesday against a right-handed pitcher and now that he is back from injury, I expect him to be in that spot moving forward. On Friday, he gets Jeremy Guthrie, who allowed a .297 batting average with 19 home runs to left-handed batters in 2014. If you take one of the best hitters against weak right-handers and put one of the worst right-handers against a power lefty bat, what do you get? At only $3,300 for Friday I think you get an excellent value play opportunity with upside and a nice floor.
