ESPN's staff of fantasy baseball experts give their best DFS lineup advice for Tuesday, including sleeper picks and the players around which they're building rosters.
Tuesday's panel features ESPN's Eric Karabell, Leo Howell, Joe Kaiser and Tristan H. Cockcroft.
Building blocks
Eric Karabell: Jimmy Nelson, SP, Milwaukee Brewers
While White Sox lefty Chris Sale will be my first choice, I’ll aim to save some money on the next pitcher and Nelson, facing the beleaguered Braves lineup, should continue his success. Nelson flirted with a no-hitter in his last outing against the Cubs and while I have long-term concern about the final four months due to the mess around him, a low BABIP, high strand rate and pedestrian K rate, he’s good enough for Tuesday.
Leo Howell: Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels
An elite hitter in Arlington with the platoon advantage? Sign me up. Trout takes on Texas lefty Martin Perez today, who has shut down fellow left-handers but allowed decent numbers to righties on the season. Trout is arguably the best player in baseball and is more than capable of handling a surprisingly good young southpaw, and it doesn’t hurt that he’ll take his swings in a hitter-friendly ballpark. Trout is heating up lately, boosting his OPS from .909 at the end of last month to .981 as of today. He has 20 runs and 18 RBIs in May to go along with four steals.
Tristan H. Cockcroft: Jeff Samardzija, SP, San Francisco Giants
I want to take Chris Sale but am unwilling to pay up to get him facing what’s not a top-shelf matchup, but Samardzija stands out for a bit cheaper price facing arguably the best matchup in baseball: A righty against a traveling Padres team. These Padres rank among the bottom five in wOBA and strikeout rate in road games, and among the bottom five in those categories against righties (and dead last in the former in that split). Samardzija has four consecutive quality starts with a 24.8 percent strikeout rate in May, one of them against these very Padres, and two of them in much more hitter-friendly venues (Chase Field, Great American Ball Park) than where he’ll pitch Tuesday.
Joe Kaiser: Robinson Cano, 2B, Seattle Mariners
The Mariners are at home Tuesday, a place where they aren’t nearly the same club as they are on the road. But they do face a right-hander in Oakland’s Kendall Graveman, and that means good things for their plethora of left-handed hitters. Their best, Cano, is 4-for-6 with two doubles and a walk in his career against Graveman, and is long overdue for a long ball after going homerless in his past 13 games.
Sleepers
Eric Karabell: Tommy Joseph, C/1B, Phillies
Check out the top catchers on Tuesday’s slate and it’s not pretty. In fact, each come from the Angels-Rangers game and most people wouldn’t have a chance trying to guess them. Joseph doesn’t face the easiest matchup with Justin Verlander, but he’s cheap, will be hitting fourth or fifth and has actually been far tougher on left-handed hitters the past few seasons. Use Joseph at catcher.
Leo Howell: Jonathan Schoop, 2B, Baltimore Orioles
Schoop and the Orioles take on right-handed Doug Fister of the Astros tonight, and while that doesn’t look like a positive for the young second baseman on the surface, it’s better than you might think. Schoop has better numbers against same-handed pitchers this season, and last season the difference was massive (.892 OPS versus righties, .573 versus lefties). On a night when Baltimore should score a handful of runs, the power-hitting second baseman could be a cheap way to get in on the action.
Tristan H. Cockcroft: Tommy Joseph, 1B, Philadelphia Phillies
Minimum-salary first baseman on FanDuel, $2,900 bargain catcher-eligible on DraftKings and likely a five-hitter? I don’t care if his matchup is Justin Verlander. He's a no-brainer.
Joe Kaiser: Brandon Drury, 3B/OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
Drury remains priced cheaper than $3,000 on both DraftKings and FanDuel, and as long as that’s the case, he’s a great cheap option who hits well against both lefties and righties. If he’s in the lineup against Pittsburgh lefty Francisco Liriano, he’s worth considering if it means paying up at other positions such as pitcher tonight.