This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
We've got baseball back after a brief absence, with the Astros set to take on the Rays in the first game of the ALCS. The Astros got two days off while the Rays sat for just one, though both starting pitchers should be well-rested. Astros starter Framber Valdez last pitched Tuesday in Game 2 of the ALDS, while Blake Snell saw action Monday against the Yankees in Game 1 of that series.
With just one game Sunday, FanDuel's contest will be different from the typical multi-game slate. Your lineup will contain six players, all of whom must be hitters. The positions of those hitters do not matter. One of those hitters will be designated as your "MVP" and will earn double points. Another is designated your "Star" and will earn 1.5 times his point total. You must select at least one player from each team, but you're under no obligation to select more than one. I'll be shaking up the format for this single-game slate by highlighting a few top-tier candidates for the MVP and Star spots along with some cheaper options to round out your lineup.
MVP Candidates
George Springer ($9,500): While Blake Snell may be a bigger name than Framber Valdez and edged him out in ERA this season with a 3.24 versus 3.57, Valdez leads in both FIP - 2.85 to 4.35 - and xFIP - 2.94 to 3.06 - as his excellent 60.0 percent groundball rate compared to 49.2 for Snell helps make up for the Astros' ace 4.6-percent lead in strikeout rate at 31.0. With that in mind, I'd be perfectly happy building an Astros-based lineup here. Springer comes in as the go-to top option, as his salary suggests. He led all qualified Astros hitters with a 146 wRC+, the product of a .265/.359/.540 slash line, and his 14 homers led the team by five. He's also swung the bat well in the postseason by hitting .291 with a pair of homers, five runs and five RBI.
Carlos Correa ($7,500): If you want to stick with the hot hand, Correa is the top option. He disappointed during the regular season with a modest .264/.326/.383 slash line good for just a 97 wRC+. Statcast suggests Correa more or less got what he deserved, giving him a .255 xBA and a .404 xSLG. He's been on another level during the postseason by going 10-for-20 with four homers and 12 RBI. The shortstop now carries a career playoff slash line of .271/.342/.533 and has hit 15 homers over 56 games.
Randy Arozarena ($7,000): Arozarena represents the Rays' most expensive right-handed bat and will earn the platoon advantage against Valdez, making him the best choice for those looking to build a Rays-based lineup. He only received 76 plate appearances for the Rays during the regular season, but certainly made the most of them by hitting .281/.382/.641 with seven homers while adding four steals. Arozarena only improved in seven postseason games with a .444/.500/.926 line supplemented by seven homers. He doesn't come with much of a track record as he's yet to reach 100 regular-season plate appearances, but that's seemingly built into the valuation as a more established player who posted similar numbers would surely come in with a higher salary.
Bargain Bats
Aledmys Diaz ($4,500): Diaz isn't a particularly exciting player, but he is quite cheap. He'll likely be the lowest-priced Astro in the starting lineup, and including him will be necessary for a Houston-based lineup leading with the expensive Springer. Diaz's lopsided .241/.254/.483 season slash line was good for a nearly average 97 wRC+, though he's produced as an above-average hitter over the course of his five-year career by posting an overall 109 wRC+. Statcast sent mixed signals about his performance, saying he significantly underachieved his .276 xBA but significantly overachieved his .394 xSLG. In any case, Diaz really doesn't have to do much to be worth including here, as he's primarily interesting for his salary.
Mike Zunino ($4,000): Zunino is very much a tournament play, as the most likely outcome is that he goes hitless in this game considering his .147 batting average this season and .182 mark over the last three seasons combined. But if he does happen to make a bit of contact, there's a decent chance it goes over the fence. More than a quarter of Zunino's hits over the last three seasons - 25.4 percent - have been home runs. Compare that to the top player on the slate - Springer, a power hitter himself, who has hit homers in 22.5 percent of his plate appearances during that same span. Zunino has performed according to expectations thus far in the playoffs, going 3-for-19 with 12 strikeouts, with two of those three hits being homers.
Mike Brosseau ($5,000): There's no guarantee the hero of ALDS Game 5 against the Yankees even starts this contest, though Brosseau certainly made a great case for himself with his 10-pitch at-bat against Aroldis Chapman that ended with a series-winning solo homer. His .302/.378/.558 season slash line was certainly inflated quite a bit by his .412 BABIP over a small sample of 98 plate appearances, but he doesn't have to hit close to that level to justify his low valuation. Brosseau has only received sporadic opportunities so far this postseason, but he's made the most of them by going 4-for-8 with a homer.
