It’s a full slate of night games Tuesday with all 30 teams in the mix. Don’t forget to check the weather around the nation before setting those lineups. Here are some value picks for FanDuel leagues in tonight’s action.
For reference throughout the season, be sure to bookmark our overview of MLB Park Factors and how to Use Weather to Your Advantage in MLB DFS. Also, check out our GPP and Cash Games Primers to learn more about different daily fantasy game types specific to MLB.
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Pitcher
Michael Fulmer (DET): $9,100 @ TAM
Fulmer heads into Tampa Bay with a 2.25 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP in two starts. That’s bad news for a Rays team that leads the majors in strikeouts with 139. Fulmer, the AL Rookie of the Year in 2016, had two wins, posted a 0.64 ERA and had 21 strikeouts against the Rays last season. Only the Royals had more Ks (23) than the Rays when Fulmer graced the mound. The Rays’ hitters batted only .156 against Fulmer over those two starts which gives me great confidence to use Fulmer as my main man in both cash and GPP plays Tuesday.
Catcher
Brian McCann (HOU): $3,000 vs. LAA
At age 33, McCann still comes through for fantasy owners. He produces a steady average for season-long leagues and makes DFS players happy with clutch RBIs. Speaking of a long history, McCann and pitcher Ricky Nolasco have faced each other an astonishing 68 times. McCann has a lifetime .338 career average against the righty and knocked eight homers and 26 RBIs. Wow! I’m not seeing too many reasons not to take this match-up.
First Base
Eric Thames (MIL): $3,400 @ CHC
Fantasy players were keeping a close eye on the progress of Thames, who returned to the majors after being crowned a home run hero in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) where he spent the last three seasons. KBO pitchers tend to throw more off-speed stuff than we see in the majors, but seeing more fastballs hasn’t been much of a negative for Thames so far this season. He is batting .368 with six home runs so far. Left-hander Brett Anderson takes the ball for the Cubs. It was thought that Thames would sit vs. southpaws, but after two solid starts and two home runs against opposing lefties, he should be in the Brewers’ lineup. Anderson did pitch OK his last start, but walked four. He throws his fastball about 56% of the time, but it only maxes out at between 89 to 91 mph. I think Mr. Thames can handle that.
Second Base
Logan Forsythe (LAD): $3,400 vs. COL
Kyle Freeland was smacked around his last time out giving up six runs and striking out only two in 4.1 innings. The lefty will face Forsythe and the Dodgers in front of hometown fans. Forsythe is batting .450 this season against southpaws in 20 at-bats. He should be up in the order with some big bats to follow and knock him in. Go cheap with Logan at second, and that frees up some $$$ for bigger bats elsewhere or better pitching in your cash games.
Third Base
Mike Moustakas (KC): $3,300 vs. SFG
Despite a decent start last time out, Matt Cain has pitched a total of 33 games over the last three years and has a cumulative ERA of 5.20 over those injury-riddled seasons. Nothing has convinced me that this trend won’t continue for Cain. Keeping that in mind, Cain will face the Royals at Kauffman Stadium and Moustakas, who likes knocking around right-handed pitching. Moose is batting .303 against righties with four bombs. He has never faced Cain, but my guess is it won’t be a pleasant introduction.
Shortstop
Zack Cozart (CIN): $3,100 vs. BAL
No one could have predicted that the Reds, in all their rebuilding glory, would lead the pack in the NL Central. Cozart has been one of the shining stars of this young team. He is batting .478 with 11 hits at home and .452 vs. right-handed pitching. Interleague play brings Ubaldo Jimenez and the Baltimore Orioles to town to hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark. Jimenez gave up five earned runs in just 4.1 innings last time he took the mound. Right-handers are hitting .435 off of him so far this season, and Cozart is batting 1.000 off of Ubaldo in two at-bats.
Outfielders
Jay Bruce (NYM): $3,500 vs. PHI
Well, I don’t know if he is a Phillie-killer, but Jay Bruce has a .352 average against the City of Brotherly Love over the last three seasons. He has had a good start in his first full season with the Mets, batting .344 vs. right-handed pitching. With the absence of Clay Buchholz, the Phillies will go with righty Zach Eflin tonight. He posted a 5.54 ERA in 61.1 innings pitched in 2016. Bruce has four homers against righties this year and is looking for more. Eflin could be the next victim.
Max Kepler (MIN): $3,300 vs. CLE
The Twins are off to a good start as they are in second place in the AL Central. One reason for their success is a 24-year-old from Berlin, Germany. Kepler is batting .400 over his last seven games and has 13 hits in the month of April. He is a scrappy player who finds a way on base and ways to score. He did knock a homer off Josh Tomlin last time he faced him. Tomlin would love to have a restart to his season as he gave up seven earned runs in his last appearance. He has a super inflated ERA of 18.47, and you can bet Max and the Twins won’t take it easy on him.
Carlos Beltran (HOU): $3,100 vs. LAA
After many injury-plagued seasons, no one could have guessed that Beltran would be playing at age 39, but he has surprised us with a string of decent seasons over the last five years. Though he hasn’t homered yet, Beltran is off to a decent start batting .283, with 13 hits and five RBIs. He will come to the plate in front of Astros’ fans and face a familiar foe in Ricky Nolasco. Sure, we usually don’t like to take much stock in batter vs. pitcher stats, but Beltran has faced Nolasco 51 times and has a lifetime .353 batting average against him with 18 hits. He has also walked six times vs. the righty. With this Astros’ lineup, the chances of Beltran scoring when he gets on base are favorable.
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Kevin McGuire is a correspondent for FantasyPros. For more from Kevin, check out his archive, his site Fantasy McGurk and follow him @FantasyMcGurk.
