This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
PITCHER
Joe Ross, WAS at PHI, ($7,200):Clayton Kershaw ($12,800) is very expesnive and it makes a lot of sense to save over $5K and go with Ross (Zack Greinke at $10,400 in Petco seems like the logical high-priced option). The Phillies don't have much of a lineup beyond Maikel Franco, as they had five field players in their lineup yesterday who are hitting .217 or less. They also had the second-worst team wOBA against right-handed pitching (.297) mark last season and didn't make any big additions to their lineup in the offseason. Ross is a pitcher with a lot of upside and should get plenty of run support.
CATCHER
Stephen Vogt, OAK vs. KAN, ($2,400): Vogt has gotten off to a slow start but that shouldn't be a concern so early in the season. He's been batting cleanup and should be near that spot Friday. Vogt hit extremely well against right-handed pitching at home last season, finishing with a .331 wOBA, a very respectable number for a catcher.
FIRST BASE
Justin Smoak, TOR at BOS, ($2,300): Smoak is a great option near the minimum price if the choice is made to use a$10,000+ starting pitcher. Smoak smoked right-handed pitching last season to the tune of a .356 wOBA and there's another trend working in his favor tonight: on top of being tied for the highest over/under for the night (nine runs), Smoak has gone 7-for-16 off Rick Porcello, including three home runs.
SECOND BASE
Rougned Odor, TEX vs. BAL, ($2,900): Odor was one of the young players who improved drastically over the second half of last season as evidenced by improving his wOBA 39 points from the first half to .350 over the second half. Odor's opponent Friday, Vance Worley, didn't have a huge sample for a starting pitcher but surrendered a .346 wOBA to opposing lefties last season. Texas is a slight favorite at home in another game that sports an over/under of nine, suggesting a team total around five runs.
THIRD BASE
Adonis Garcia, ATL at MIA, ($2,200): Garcia is at a great price considering he's only $200 more than the minimum and has been hitting cleanup for Atlanta. While that doesn't mean as much on an 0-9 team, he does have a favorable matchup going for him Friday. While it was only 58 at-bats last season, Garcia had a .412 wOBA, which included five home runs. He'll get Wei-Yin Chen in Marlins Park, a stadium that became more of a hitters' park during the offseason when they brought in and lowered the fences.
SHORTSTOP
Jose Iglesias, DET at HOU, ($2,200): As is the case most nights, shortstop seems to be a good place to pay up. However, if a cheap, contrarian option is needed, Iglesias is worth considering. He gets a tough matchup against Dallas Keuchel, but he has hit southpaws hard dating back to last season, sporting a.386 wOBA last year vs. left-handed pitching, and Keuchel's wOBA was 67 points higher against right-handed hitting than left-handed ones.
OUTFIELD
Randal Grichuk, STL vs. CIN, ($2,500): After a mini-slump to start the season, Grichuk's bat has woken up over the last four games, going 5-for-10 with seven runs, five RBI, three walks, two doubles, a stolen base and a home run. He's been hitting fifth in the order and now gets Tim Melville, a rookie making his second start. Over his last two seasons in the minors, Melville had ERAs of 4.63 and 5.50, respectively, showing he's far from being any type of prospect. In addition, Grichuk had a .386 wOBA against right-handed pitching at home last season.
Mitch Moreland, TEX vs. BAL, ($2,700): Getting players from the TOR/BOS and TEX/BAL games would be wise considering they both have the highest expected totals. Like Odor, Moreland is in a great spot as a left-handed batter in Arlington and has been hitting in the middle of the order. The good news with Moreland is that he's had at least three fantasy points in every game this season but hasn't broken through for a big game…yet. Thursday night he finished with 12 points, his best of the season, and his .376 wOBA against right-handed pitching from a season ago could indicate an even bigger night Friday.
Brett Gardner, NYY vs. SEA, ($2,900): Gardner is coming off an 0-for-9 showing in Toronto but a return to the hitter-friendly confines of Yankee Stadium should be exactly what he needs. He gets a home matchup against righty Nathan Karns, and Gardner posted a lofty .381 wOBA against righties in Yankee Stadium last year. 12 of Gardner's 16 home runs came at home as well, and while he doesn't run as much as he used to, he can be penciled in for 20 stolen bases this season, putting that in play tonight.
Editor's note: an earlier version of this article showed Justin Smoak facing Clay Buchholz instead of Rick Porcello. It has since been corrected.
