This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
A 13-gamer awaits Friday evening, and it is absolutely loaded on the pitchers mound, where six arms sit priced in five-figures. It seemingly forces a pay up given the upside each of them possess, but there could be a few spots to garner upside and still save for bats, where we find plenty of top hitters in favorable spots as well. Lets dive in!
Pitching
If you can afford it, I give a slight edge to Gerrit Cole ($11,000) over Justin Verlander ($11,100) strictly based on the softer matchup against Kansas City. And there's certainly nothing wrong with Brandon Woodruff ($10,300) against a fading and injured Red Sox lineup. But my preferred top arms are Kyle Wright ($10,500) and Alek Manoah ($10,200). Wright has won and earned quality starts in three straight and four of five, doing just what you want him to do tonight; beat a bad team, as his last three outings have been against Washington (twice) and the Angels. He's averaged 35.6 FDP in that stretch, but has room for more, as he showed previously against Arizona, going for 43 FDP. Manoah is just a workhorse, failing to go six innings just twice sine May 8. He's turned in three-straight 40+ FDP outings and faces a Detroit lineup that still ranks last against righties, posting a .261 wOBA, 67 wRC+, .101 ISO and 24.2 percent K rate.
There's always risk in trusting Martin Perez ($9,600), but I actually like him the most in this second tier Friday. The matchup is just too solid to ignore, as the Angels have just an 85 wRC+ and 24.5 percent K rate. His upside seems greater than Miles Mikolas ($9,400) as the Nationals don't strike out as often.
Marcus Stroman ($7,900) has averaged 27.7 FDP across his last three despite working more than 4.1 innings just once. His ground ball tendencies should fair well against a Giants lineup that has a 41.3 percent ground ball rate, giving him a chance at a 4x return at a nice discount from the top tier. Lance Lynn ($7,500) seems more volatile, but there's certainly upside in his matchup against Oakland. He's coming off of a season-high 40 point outing to boot.
Top Targets
I honestly can't remember seeing a bat priced as high as Aaron Judge ($4,900), and he's going to be challenging to fit in if you're paying for pitching too. But take a look at his game logs and you'll see he's an obscene 27.3 FDP across his last seven. That's essentially a pay down pitcher, at some $3,000 less. The matchup with Kris Bubic isn't as grand as you'd expect, with Judge's .373 wOBA against lefties being just fourth amongst regulars, while Bubic has been hit harder by lefties to date.
Freddie Freeman ($4,400) has been far and away the Dodgers' best bat against righties, posting a .415 wOBA, with the next closest being Gavin Lux ($3,000) at .368. Pair him with the Coors Field factor, and there's obvious appeal.
Staying in the same game, Kris Bryant ($3,800) could be overlooked. He hasn't posted huge games consistently, but does have a team-leading .444 wOBA, 176 wRC+ and .283 ISO against lefties. Bryant is 8-for-21 (.381) with a .986 OPS against Julio Urias, who has allowed 12 hits and nine runs across 7.1 innings at Coors' Field this season.
Houston has had Robbie Ray's number, getting him for 10 runs and 18 hits (five homers) in eight innings. Jose Altuve ($4,000) has a .449 wOBA, 201 wRC+ and .391 ISO against lefties, and is 11-for-19 (.579) with a 1.810 OPS in his career against Ray.
Bargain Bats
Toronto bats are surging, so I'd expect their top options to be very popular. It's an incredibly small sample size, but Tigers' starter Bryan Garcia is allowing a .499 wOBA and 1.215 OPS to lefties, numbers that rise to .688/1.753 on the road. The Blue Jays unfortunately are right-handed heavy, but we can fall back on Raimel Tapia ($3,000), who is just two games removed from a massive heater. Cavan Biggio ($2,400) can be a dart throw if in the lineup.
Rhys Hoskins ($3,000) is our normal Phillies play when facing a lefty, but Alec Bohm ($2,700) offers more value, and is seeing it well presently. His .397 wOBA, 156 wRC+ and .216 ISO are similar to Hoskins' .399/158/.275, and he's on a 13-game hitting streak that's seen him collect 12 knocks in his last five outings.
Patrick Sandoval has allowed nine runs and 16 hits across his last 7.2 innings, but that was against Atlanta and Los Angeles, so I don't want to go too crazy on Ranger bats here. Leody Taveras ($3,100) has cooled slightly of late, but still has a .463 wOBA and 209 wRC+ against lefties, while Jonah Heim ($2,700) sits with a .434 wOBA and 189 wRC+.
Stacks to Consider
Cardinals vs. Nationals (Anibal Sanchez): Paul Goldschmidt ($4,400), Nolan Arenado ($3,800), Dylan Carlson ($2,800)
Goldschmidt and Arenado should be back in the Cardinals lineup now that they've returned stateside, and perhaps we get some casual managers ignoring them thanks to the "O" listing next to their names. And we know we're all in on bats against Anibal Sanchez, who is allowing a .609 wOBA and 1.486 OPS to same-handed bats. Goldschmidt had homered in four straight (five times total) before the team went to Toronto, and boasts a .404 wOBA against righties to date. Arenado sits with a .376 wOBA, second best on the team. The third piece is interchangeable, as most other Cardinals don't profile terrifically against righties. Take a peek at their lineup and grab someone hitting in front of these two, likely either Carlson or Tyler Oneill ($2,900).
Pirates vs. Phillies (Bailey Falter): Oneil Cruz ($2,900), Ke'Bryan Hayes ($2,600), Kevin Newman ($2,300)
What on earth am I thinking, trusting Martin Perez and the Pirates on the same day? On a slate this big with so many big targets, we have to get creative to get them all in, and here we are. The target is Falter, who has a 5.18 ERA and 6.18 FIP, allowing a .407 wOBA to lefties and .395 to righties. We'll simply take the top three of this lineup, all priced south of $3,000, and move on. Hayes we know offers no power, but high contact, while Cruz gives us some power upside. The Pirates put up seven runs Thursday in a game started by Zack Wheeler, so there is hope for production.
