It’s Friday! We have a decent main slate for FanDuel tonight with a lot of great match-ups to take advantage of. Mostly everyone is going to start Gerrit Cole after his hot start which leaves the opportunity to go in another direction on a value play to gain a contrarian advantage in tournament play. Weather will be an issue for the White Sox vs. Twins and it is in real danger of being canceled due to weather, which is unfortunate because there was a lot of great value in that game. You are going to want to stack all the Red Sox you can against Chris Tillman and fit in all the Nationals you can against lefty Kyle Freeland. In order to do that you are going to have to find value in some positions so you can afford to get the players you want. So without further ado, let’s take a look at some great value options that will allow you to get an edge on the competition.
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Pitcher
Lance Lynn (MIN): $7,400 vs. CWS
This was a great match-up with a lot of strikeout potential for Lynn against the swing-happy White Sox, but the weather forecast makes it seem unlikely that this game will occur so we have to move on to….
Jordan Montgomery (NYY): $7,200 vs. DET
The Detroit Tigers are slugging just .306 as a team to go with an abysmal .207 batting average so far this season. That seems like a good enough reason to pick on them to be honest. The Tigers have a couple very strong right-handers in their lineup such as Miguel Cabrera and Nick Castellanos, but in 2017 the left-handed Montgomery held righties in check with a 23.2% strikeout rate and only a .386 slugging percentage. It is also nice to have the Yankees offense behind you for run support. I imagine most FanDuel lineups are going to feature Gerrit Cole on Friday night, so if you want to set yourself apart and save some cash for hitters then Montgomery could be a good play.
Catcher/First Base
Mitch Moreland (BOS): $2,400 vs BAL
Chris Tillman has given up nine earned runs while striking out only three and walking eight in nine innings this season. If that weren’t enough he has surrendered a 32% hard contact rate with only 5% swinging strikes. Time for batting practice? Friday is the day to stack your Red Sox, but for the sake of “value” we are going to take a look at some sneaky low priced players for the day. Mitch Moreland is going to play after Hanley Ramirez was hit on the hand in last night’s game. The lefty is 4-for-12 against Tillman and has been traditionally successful against right-handed pitchers, sporting a career 36.4% hard contact rate. By the way, if you think it’s unfair to pick on Chris Tillman based upon a small sample size from this season he had a 14%K rate and 11% walk rate with a 37.7% hard contact rate and a 2.32 HR/9 rate in 2017. Tillman is just not good and Moreland looks like a great value in the main slate.
Second Base
Ian Kinsler (LAA): $2,900 vs. KAN
Ian Kinsler led off last night’s game with a home run in his return from the DL. He is facing Royals’ pitcher Jason Hammel whom he has gone 6-for-17 with two home runs and three walks in his career. Hammel has a 8.3% soft contact rate this season. That means that almost everything is getting hit hard. You typically don’t get a talent like Kinsler for this cheap against a sub-par pitcher so we will take advantage of the discount and happily toss him in our lineup today at $2,900.
Third Base
Tim Beckham (BAL): $2,800 vs. BOS
Eduardo Rodriguez did not look particularly sharp in his return against the lowly Rays allowing five hits, two walks, and a home run. The right-hander did strike out seven and he is very talented, but if we are looking at value, we are going to bank on him still working out the kinks tonight vs. the Orioles. Tim Beckham is 2-for-7 with a home run and a walk against Rodriguez and held a .246 ISO against lefties on the road last season. Would it surprise me for the Orioles to get shut down? No. Will they strike out a ton? Probably. However, the value is there to take a shot on a couple of the Orioles because the likelihood of a blowup from Rodriguez vs. the power-hitting Orioles is there as well.
Shortstop
Brandon Crawford (SF): $2,200 vs. SDP
Full disclosure I’m not super excited about this pick and I would have preferred to go with Eduardo Escobar, but since that game is likely going to be snowed out the best value option left is the veteran Brandon Crawford. Left-handed hitters have gotten to Tyson Ross so far this year with six hits and a home run and is working his way back from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. This is more of a desperation pick than a value pick, though, and shortstop is a position you should likely spend your cash on Friday night.
Outfield
Gerardo Parra (COL): $2,800 vs. WAS
Parra is 5-for-14 with two doubles and a home run against right-hander Tanner Roark. Lefties have also hit Roark pretty hard in the early going with a .402 wOBA and two home runs. The price seems right to take a flyer on Parra for only $2,800
