Yahoo DFS Baseball: Friday Picks

Yahoo DFS Baseball: Friday Picks

This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.

STARTING PITCHER

Lance Lynn, MIN vs. BAL ($37) : Lynn's 5.49 ERA is lackluster, but his 4.47 FIP is a little more encouraging. He has a .349 BABIP that seems likely to go down. Plus, his home ERA is an entirely palatable 2.70. As for the Orioles, they have a .227 batting average and .290 OBP, both worst in the majors.

Gio Gonzalez, WAS vs. MIA ($35): Gonzalez has a 3.02 ERA at home, and he's been pitching better in the National's home park for the last three seasons. The Marlins are in the bottom four in runs scored, and their .361 slugging percentage is lowest in the league.

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CATCHER

Chris Iannetta, COL at SEA ($13): Iannetta has a career .347 OBP, impressive for a catcher, and this year his OBP is .351. He also has seven homers in 56 games after hitting 17 in 89 games last season. Felix Hernandez is going to start for the Mariners, even though he hurt his back recently, but the team wouldn't miss him if he couldn't take the mound. The erstwhile King Felix has a 5.11 ERA and he's only averaged 89.2 MPH on his fastball.

FIRST BASE

Brandon Belt, SFG vs. STL ($17): Belt is slashing .297/.391/.510, all career bests. He also has a robust 1.022 OPS at home. John Gant has a 4.49 ERA, even though he's spent the bulk of his career pitching in relief. Indeed, half of his outings this season have been in relief as well.

SECOND BASE

Cesar Hernandez, PHI at PIT ($15): Hernandez has averaged 7.0 fantasy points per game, top five among second basemen. He already has eight homers, one off of his personal best set last season. Trevor Williams has a 4.32 FIP, close to his career number of 4.20. He also tends to struggle against lefties, and since Hernandez is a switch hitter, he can take advantage of that.

THIRD BASE

Jake Lamb, ARI vs. SDP ($16): Lamb is struggling a bit, but he's still a guy who has averaged 29.5 home runs over the last two years. He's only 27, so the power should still be there. Plus, Arizona is well-known as a hitter's park, which should help over time. San Diego's rookie starter Joey Lucchesi has a 4.61 FIP and has allowed 1.55 homers per nine innings.

SHORTSTOP

Andrelton Simmons, LAA vs. LAD ($12): Simmons has a slash line of .316/.375/.447, all career highs. His numbers may regress, but the 28-year-old has shown himself to be a legitimate bat. He also has six homers and five stolen bases, and had double-digits in both last year. Kenta Maeda has a 3.36 ERA, but on the road that number is 4.30.

OUTFIELD

A.J. Pollock, ARI vs. SDP ($21): In the one season Pollock was able to play over 140 games he joined the 20/20 club. This year, he's only played in 43 games but has 11 homers and nine stolen bases. He's one of those "good, when healthy" players, and he's just gotten healthy again. As previously noted, Joey Lucchesi has a 4.61 ERA in his limited career.

Bryce Harper, WAS vs. MIA ($17): Harper's .215 batting average (fueled by a .222 BABIP) is puzzling, but he still has an .840 OPS with 21 home runs. The power remains, and that bodes well in this matchup. Dan Straily has a career 4.80 FIP and has allowed 1.48 homers per nine innings on top of that.

Michael Brantley, CLE vs. OAK ($16): Speaking of guys who are good when healthy, Brantley is the poster boy for such players. He's averaged 7.3 fantasy points per game and has a .306/.353/.488 slash line. Paul Blackburn has a 6.46 ERA, which is bad, but on the road his ERA is 7.20, which is even worse somehow.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Chris Morgan plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: cmorgan3, DraftKings: cmorgan3.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Morgan
Chris Morgan is a writer of sports, pop culture, and humor articles, a book author, a podcaster, and a fan of all Detroit sports teams.
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