Daily Fantasy Baseball Notes: FanDuel, DraftKings hitter sleepers for June 1 – Sporting News

It’s another afternoon with day baseball on the MLB schedule, so daily fantasy baseball players should take advantage of the early opportunities to play in a FanDuel or DraftKings contest. As always, we have plenty of stats to help you put together the best lineups.

With four lefties among the starters in the four early games, there are some nice potential stacks, including the A’s and Indians. The evening games feature stacking opportunities from the Red Sox, Orioles, Nationals, Marlins, Pirates, Astros, Rays, Dodgers and both teams (Reds and Rockies) playing in Colorado. In other words, you can build your team around a lot of different value plays tonight, so expect to see many people paying up for an ace and going with sleepers in their lineups.

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Daily fantasy baseball picks

AFTERNOON GAMES

Red = 1B; Orange = 2B; Yellow = 3B; Green = SS; Blue = OF; Purple = C

Normally, OF Ryan Braun is a no-brainer against a lefty like Jaime Garcia, but Garcia has actually been better against righties in his career and has limited Braun to eight hits (six singles) in 51 career plate appearances. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who’s really struggled against lefties since the start of last season (.613 OPS), has also been limited by Garcia (.587 OPS in 38 plate appearances).

We know 2B Brian Dozier crushes lefties, so fire him up against Sean Manaea, who’s allowing a .343/.393/.585 line to righties in his brief MLB career.

A’s 3B Danny Valencia (.882 career OPS vs. LHPs; 1.250 this year) and SS Marcus Semien (.823; .813) are always great options against a lefty, especially one as inexperienced as Pat Dean. You can also try OF Khris Davis, who’s slugging .600 against southpaws this year.

You gotta like lefty-killers SS Francisco Lindor (.962 OPS vs. LHPs this year), OF Marlon Byrd (.953) and 1B Mike Napoli (.813) against Cole Hamels today, but 2B Jason Kipnis (.544) and 1B Carlos Santana (.678 since the start of last season; .390 this year) aren’t worth using.

EARLY EVENING GAMES

Red = 1B; Orange = 2B; Yellow = 3B; Green = SS; Blue = OF; Purple = C

It’s only a 91-inning sample, but lefties have sure liked hitting against Mike Wright (.331/.398/.544). Give bumps in value to 1B David Ortiz, 3B Travis Shaw, OF Jackie Bradley Jr., and even catcher Blake Swihart.

Since the start of last season, Joe Kelly has been decent against lefties (.253/.322/.401) and downright bad against righties (.302/.379/.479). That’s obviously good news for OF Adam Jones, 2B Jonathan Schoop, and 3B Manny Machado, all of whom actually hit better against righthanders.

Just in case you were thinking about using 1B Ryan Howard tonight, keep in mind he’s 1-for-18 with 11 Ks in his career against Max Scherzer.

Nationals OF Jayson Werth is ripping lefties this year (1.164 OPS), which is what he’s done most of his career (.932). Get him in your lineup against Adam Morgan. While you’re at it, give extra consideration to catcher Wilson Ramos, 3B Anthony Rendon, and 1B Ryan Zimmerman, all of whom have good histories against lefties. If you want a reverse-platoon play, you can press your luck with 2B Daniel Murphy, who, despite a shaky history against southpaws, has a .918 OPS against them this season.

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It’s a very small sample, but 1B Edwin Encarnacion has seen the ball well against Masahiro Tanaka in his career, going 7-for-16 with two doubles and a homer.

In 191 major league innings, Aaron Sanchez has limited righthanded batters to a .172/.242/.215 line. The Yankees can throw out an almost entirely lefthanded lineup against him, but 2B Starlin Castro will be the one righthanded guy forced to deal with Sanchez’s nastiness.

Whenever the Marlins face a lefty, you have to imagine the eyes of OF Marcell Ozuna and OF Giancarlo Stanton light up. Both have OPS’s over 1.000 against southpaws this season and have regularly hit well against them in their careers. We also like 3B Martin Prado, catcher J.T. Realmuto and even 1B Chris Johnson as value plays against Jonathon Niese, and OF Christian Yelich is a good reverse-platoon play (.304 average vs. LHPs since 2014).

Adam Conley is an odd pitcher, as he’s a lefty who’s greatly struggled against lefthanded hitters in his 119-inning major league career (.337/.438/.450). We still like some of the Pirates’ usual band of lefty-killers (OF Andrew McCutchen, OF Starling Marte, SS Jordy Mercer, catcher Francisco Cervelli, 3B Jung-ho Kang), but it’s probably not a great idea to go for a big stack. Opting for a reverse-platoon play like OF Gregory Polanco, who actually has a solid .836 OPS vs. LHPs this year, is a smarter move.

Dodgers OF Kike Hernandez (career .964 OPS vs. LHPs) has really slowed down after a hot start (even against lefties), but we’ll still take our chances with him today against Jon Lester. Fellow OF Trayce Thompson (.956) is an even better play, and SS Corey Seager (.881) is a nice revere-platoon option, especially when you factor in that Lester is slightly worse against lefthanded hitters.

Mike Bolsinger has struggled a bit against lefties in his 171.2 innings (.296/.374/.450), so give extra consideration to OF Jason Heyward and 1B Anthony Rizzo today.

We know the Astros like hitting against lefties, particularly 2B Jose Altuve, OF George Springer, SS Carlos Correa, and catcher Evan Gattis, all of whom have career OPS’s over .800 against southpaws. They make for a good stack against Robbie Ray, who’s issuing a .288/.390/.480 line to righthanded hitters this year.

Even if certified lefty-killer Steve Pearce (elbow) doesn’t play, Tampa still features several guys who can give Danny Duffy trouble. Don’t be afraid to use OF Brandon Guyer (career .838 OPS vs. LHPs), OF Steven Souza Jr. (.842) and 3B Evan Longoria (.916), and if you’re really daring, you can go with OF Mikie Mahtook, who’s posted a .951 OPS vs. LHPs in 47 major league games.

John Lamb in Colorado alert! Getting Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado in your lineup is almost a must, and SS Trevor Story and OF Ryan Raburn are also great plays against a lefty. Honestly, though, you can feel free to stack any and all Rockies against Lamb, including OF Charlie Blackmon, who has an .864 OPS vs. LHPs this season.

LATE EVENING GAME

Red = 1B; Orange = 2B; Yellow = 3B; Green = SS; Blue = OF; Purple = C

Mariners OF Nelson Cruz (career .923 OPS vs. LHPs, .962 this year), catcher Chris Iannetta (.861; .879), and OF Franklin Gutierrez (.839; .868) are great options against Christian Friedrich.

* Stats as of 5/31