Friday is here once again and there is much excitement in the air for everyone to kick back and unwind after a long week of work. What better way to relax than to take in some good old fashioned baseball to kick off the weekend on a Friday evening? The entire league will be participating tonight, making for a plentiful pool of players to choose from for fantasy managers. Let’s quickly scan some possible players to target that can make a positive difference in someone’s roster this evening.
Create Optimal DraftKings lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool 
Second Base
Eric Sogard (TOR): $3,800 vs. OAK
The Toronto Blue Jays will be hosting the Oakland Athletics who have been a very inconsistent team this season, to say the least. Sogard has been very effective for Toronto’s offense lately, hitting for a .318 average, batting in six runs, and obtaining a stolen base in his last five games played. The Athletics will also feature Mike Fiers on the mound, who has struggled in his last three starts, allowing six runs in each separate contest. Sogard looks to be a good candidate to start tonight.
Shortstop
Andrelton Simmons (LAA): $4,100 @ KC
Simmons will be facing off against a very suspect Kansas City pitching staff during this series, which is always a great sign for fantasy managers looking for some high-powered offensive production. The Royals have allowed the sixth-most runs to offenses this year, currently giving up 5.28 per game. Furthermore, in his previous 30 at-bats, Simmons has batted 0.333, including four doubles, four RBIs, and only two strikeouts. All signs point to Simmons having another productive night at the plate as he tries to get his squad back on track after a tough series with the Yankees.
Jose Iglesias (CIN): $3,000 @ STL
Despite playing on a low-scoring offense such as the Reds, who only average 3.48 runs per game this season, Iglesias has been playing well recently. In his last six games, Iglesias has possessed a 0.318 batting average, along with a couple of RBIs and three runs scored as well. The Reds will also be visiting their division rivals, the Cardinals, who will be presenting a struggling Miles Mikolas tonight. In four of his first five starts, Mikolas has allowed three or more runs, which bodes well for the entire Cincinnati lineup.
Outfield
Josh Reddick (HOU): $4,200 vs. CLE
Reddick has been playing some phenomenal baseball recently and his fantasy stock value will continue to rise if he keeps it up. In his most recent six games played, Reddick is batting a jaw-dropping 0.524, along with a 0.583 OBP, four RBIs, and seven runs scored. Houston will also be hosting Cleveland this evening and while it is usually not advisable for managers to start players going against Corey Kluber, this may be the time to go against this conventional wisdom. Kluber has struggled heavily lately, giving up 10 runs in his last 9.2 innings pitched. Stick with Reddick when the price is still reasonable for him.
Pitcher
Carlos Rodon (CWS): $8,100 vs. DET
The last time Rodon went against the Tigers, he pitched six solid innings, allowing only one run off of three hits. Detroit has not been a very productive team on offense either, only averaging 3.30 runs per game. Rodon also currently has a 2.89 ERA along with a 1.11 WHIP in his first five starts of the regular season. He looks poised yet again to thrive against a weak Detroit Tigers lineup tonight.
Daniel Norris (DET): $6,900 @ CWS
Much like his opponent, the last time Norris faced the White Sox he pitched five solid innings and only allowed a pair of hits and no runs to earn his first win of the 2019 campaign. Chicago sits just within the bottom 10 in terms of runs scored (4.78/game), causing this to be an interesting pitching showdown between both starters tonight. Norris also has a slightly better ERA than Rodon’s (2.70), which would make him possibly the better option to stick with considering he is also a little more affordable too. Either pitcher is a fine option and it should be a fun pitching duel for fans interested in those types of matchups.
Create Optimal DraftKings lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | SoundCloud | Stitcher | TuneIn
Matthew Catalano is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @MatthewCatala16.
