This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Pitcher
Jon Gray, COL at SF ($7,800) – For the same price, Francisco Liriano can be used and he'll be a great GPP play as a pitcher who will likely be less than 5% owned. Gray seems safer tonight given the shift from an extreme hitter's park to an extreme pitcher's park. The matchup against Madison Bumgarner isn't ideal when looking for the win, but a quality start with 5+ strikeouts here seems like a reasonable expectation. Over two starts last season in San Francisco, Gray held them to only 4 earned runs over 12 innings and struck out eight.
Catcher
Welington Castillo, BAL at TOR ($2,800) – The aforementioned Liriano was awful in his first outing and there's a chance that will carry over to tonight. Liriano gave up a .339 wOBA to right-handed hitters last season while Castillo had a .367 wOBA against southpaws. There's some good history for Castillo here, as he's gone 6-for-19 against Liriano (1.132 OPS), including two home runs.
First Base
Trey Mancini, BAL at TOR ($2,400) – This is just a case of playing the hot hand after Mancini homered twice yesterday in Boston. He's got the plus righty-vs-lefty split working in his favor and the ballpark is optimal for hitters in Toronto.
Second Base
Jonathan Villar, MIL at CIN ($3,300) – This isn't a crazy pick as he comes in as the top player at the position on the main slate. However, he's shown a big level of hit-or-miss to start the season. In nine games, he has zero fantasy points in five of them but has 19.2 or more in the other four. This is a favorable hitter's park and Bronson Arroyo is a good pitcher to target against.
Shortstop
Marcus Semien, OAK at KC ($2,700) – Semien has been given the leadoff spot and has done well with eight walks and four stolen bases early on. The power is still there (27 home runs last season), so the spike in walks and stolen bases could add another dimension to his game. Last season, Semien had a .343 wOBA against left-handed pitching and today gets Jason Vargas who has allowed a .324 wOBA to right-handed hitters for his career.
Third Base
Wilmer Flores, NYM at MIA ($2,700) – It's always a good time to use Flores whenever the Mets are facing a southpaw. He's been used in the cleanup spot on these occasions and had a .455 wOBA against left-handed pitching last season. Wei-Yin Chen has a career .334 wOBA vs right-handed pitching, as well, making this a good spot for Flores.
Outfield
Aaron Judge, NYY vs TB ($2,500) – At this point it's tough to fade Judge given his last three games (multi-hit efforts with a home run in each) scoring 34.9, 21.7 and 31.4 fantasy points. Matt Andriese of the Rays struggled on the road last season, giving up a .326 wOBA to right-handed hitters, and he also served up five home runs over two starts (10 innings) at Yankee Stadium last season.
Jacoby Ellsbury, NYY vs TB ($3,100) – With Brett Gardner likely to miss tonight's game after the collision at first base Wednesday, it would make sense for Ellsbury to move into the leadoff spot. While there won't be as many RBI opportunities there, the chance to get on base and run will increase. He's had a strong start to the season, reaching base every game and scoring at least 9.2 fantasy points five times.
Adam Jones, BAL at TOR ($3,700) – Jones has a hit in all seven games this season, including two home runs, and has plated a run in every game except one. Tonight he's got a good matchup in a hitter's park in Toronto and has gone 8-for-21 against Liriano in his career, including three home runs, good for a 1.238 OPS.
