Keep in mind, I am doing my analysis and these recommendations during the middle of the night, so weather could be a concern in a number of games today. The weather in Kansas City has been rough over the last few days, there was a delay in the Rockies/Giants game and there was the potential for some rain in both Milwaukee and Cleveland. Obviously you’re smart enough to check before you make your selections, but I figured I’d say something just in case. Now let’s look at the data and make some picks.
| vs L | vs R | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Team | Hand | H/A | Opp | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | AVG | SwStr% | ERA | xFIP | WHIP | GB% | FB% | GB/FB | wOBA | wOBA | FD | DK | Aces |
| Noah Syndergaard | NYM | R | H | LAD | 60.1 | 11.34 | 1.34 | 0.45 | 0.224 | 14.9% | 1.94 | 2.00 | 0.98 | 56.3% | 25.0% | 2.25 | 0.265 | 0.228 | $11,500 | $13,000 | $7,800 |
| Zack Greinke | ARI | R | H | SD | 64.2 | 8.07 | 1.81 | 1.11 | 0.276 | 10.8% | 4.59 | 3.36 | 1.31 | 47.2% | 30.2% | 1.57 | 0.339 | 0.323 | $11,000 | $11,100 | $7,400 |
| Madison Bumgarner | SF | L | A | COL | 66.1 | 10.45 | 2.71 | 0.81 | 0.213 | 11.0% | 2.17 | 3.37 | 1.12 | 41.8% | 38.8% | 1.08 | 0.208 | 0.289 | $10,500 | $10,800 | $7,200 |
| Danny Salazar | CLE | R | H | BAL | 54.1 | 11.10 | 4.31 | 0.50 | 0.180 | 13.0% | 2.32 | 3.41 | 1.12 | 51.6% | 35.7% | 1.44 | 0.228 | 0.266 | $9,500 | $10,600 | $6,850 |
| Yu Darvish | TEX | R | H | PIT | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | $8,700 | $9,700 | $6,950 |
| Gio Gonzalez | WAS | L | H | STL | 53.1 | 7.93 | 2.19 | 1.01 | 0.236 | 8.9% | 2.87 | 3.82 | 1.18 | 48.4% | 35.7% | 1.36 | 0.257 | 0.290 | $8,600 | $9,300 | $6,550 |
| Wei-Yin Chen | MIA | L | A | ATL | 54.2 | 7.41 | 1.98 | 1.32 | 0.281 | 8.4% | 4.61 | 3.88 | 1.34 | 39.6% | 36.7% | 1.08 | 0.290 | 0.340 | $8,600 | $8,800 | $5,800 |
| Rick Porcello | BOS | R | A | TOR | 57.0 | 8.53 | 2.05 | 1.11 | 0.226 | 7.3% | 3.47 | 3.74 | 1.09 | 45.3% | 36.5% | 1.24 | 0.260 | 0.343 | $8,600 | $11,000 | $6,000 |
| Kenta Maeda | LAD | R | A | NYM | 52.0 | 8.31 | 2.60 | 0.87 | 0.214 | 13.0% | 3.29 | 3.97 | 1.08 | 43.3% | 39.7% | 1.09 | 0.256 | 0.282 | $8,400 | $8,800 | $6,750 |
| Juan Nicasio | PIT | R | A | TEX | 42.1 | 9.14 | 3.61 | 1.28 | 0.245 | 8.0% | 4.46 | 3.89 | 1.35 | 41.4% | 36.2% | 1.14 | 0.408 | 0.253 | $8,300 | $6,500 | $6,150 |
| Carlos Rodon | CHW | L | A | KC | 52.1 | 8.77 | 3.27 | 1.38 | 0.274 | 8.2% | 4.47 | 3.70 | 1.47 | 49.4% | 29.7% | 1.66 | 0.241 | 0.354 | $8,000 | $7,700 | $6,300 |
| Kyle Hendricks | CHC | R | H | PHI | 46.1 | 7.38 | 2.33 | 0.39 | 0.214 | 8.1% | 3.30 | 3.34 | 1.06 | 58.1% | 22.5% | 2.59 | 0.267 | 0.252 | $8,000 | $9,300 | $6,050 |
| Wade Miley | SEA | L | H | MIN | 56.0 | 6.59 | 2.09 | 1.45 | 0.262 | 10.1% | 4.50 | 4.20 | 1.23 | 42.4% | 37.1% | 1.14 | 0.284 | 0.339 | $7,900 | $9,100 | $5,850 |
| Marcus Stroman | TOR | R | H | BOS | 69.1 | 5.97 | 2.47 | 0.52 | 0.236 | 8.1% | 3.89 | 3.78 | 1.17 | 61.6% | 22.7% | 2.71 | 0.304 | 0.260 | $7,600 | $6,000 | $6,450 |
| Yordano Ventura | KC | R | H | CHW | 48.2 | 6.29 | 6.10 | 1.11 | 0.231 | 7.5% | 4.81 | 5.72 | 1.56 | 46.7% | 38.7% | 1.21 | 0.338 | 0.321 | $7,600 | $6,700 | $6,100 |
| Dallas Keuchel | HOU | R | A | LAA | 62.1 | 7.65 | 3.75 | 0.87 | 0.292 | 9.8% | 5.92 | 3.72 | 1.59 | 56.5% | 21.2% | 2.66 | 0.322 | 0.362 | $7,600 | $6,300 | $6,600 |
| Michael Pineda | NYY | R | A | TB | 49.2 | 10.15 | 2.72 | 1.81 | 0.306 | 13.9% | 6.34 | 3.53 | 1.59 | 45.4% | 33.6% | 1.35 | 0.397 | 0.384 | $7,600 | $8,500 | $6,100 |
| Jesse Hahn | OAK | R | H | DET | 24.1 | 3.33 | 2.59 | 1.85 | 0.287 | 6.7% | 4.07 | 4.63 | 1.40 | 56.5% | 25.9% | 2.18 | 0.381 | 0.321 | $7,500 | $6,500 | $5,300 |
| Adam Wainwright | STL | R | A | WAS | 57.2 | 5.46 | 2.65 | 0.78 | 0.301 | 6.9% | 5.77 | 4.55 | 1.54 | 40.6% | 31.5% | 1.29 | 0.342 | 0.362 | $7,400 | $6,000 | $6,350 |
| Jered Weaver | LAA | R | H | HOU | 52.1 | 5.50 | 2.06 | 1.89 | 0.312 | 9.6% | 5.33 | 5.19 | 1.51 | 29.1% | 46.2% | 0.63 | 0.390 | 0.373 | $6,900 | $6,900 | $5,750 |
| Jerad Eickhoff | PHI | R | A | CHC | 53.2 | 7.21 | 1.84 | 1.17 | 0.251 | 8.8% | 3.86 | 3.80 | 1.19 | 42.7% | 34.1% | 1.25 | 0.358 | 0.271 | $6,800 | $6,400 | $5,650 |
| Ubaldo Jimenez | BAL | R | A | CLE | 50.2 | 7.82 | 4.80 | 0.89 | 0.304 | 7.7% | 6.04 | 4.34 | 1.78 | 52.8% | 25.5% | 2.07 | 0.398 | 0.348 | $6,800 | $6,200 | $6,050 |
| Matt Moore | TB | L | H | NYY | 51.0 | 8.65 | 2.82 | 1.59 | 0.282 | 10.8% | 5.47 | 3.89 | 1.45 | 43.3% | 34.4% | 1.26 | 0.372 | 0.337 | $6,700 | $6,100 | $5,950 |
| Cesar Vargas | SD | R | A | ARI | 32.1 | 7.52 | 3.62 | 1.11 | 0.276 | 9.2% | 3.34 | 3.93 | 1.48 | 55.2% | 26.0% | 2.12 | 0.283 | 0.397 | $6,500 | $5,700 | $5,750 |
| Phil Hughes | MIN | R | A | SEA | 48.2 | 4.99 | 1.66 | 1.66 | 0.281 | 6.0% | 5.55 | 4.70 | 1.32 | 37.7% | 40.1% | 0.94 | 0.375 | 0.331 | $6,400 | $5,200 | $5,200 |
| Alfredo Simon | CIN | R | A | MIL | 36.1 | 6.69 | 4.21 | 2.23 | 0.367 | 7.9% | 10.16 | 5.36 | 2.15 | 48.6% | 31.2% | 1.56 | 0.470 | 0.417 | $6,300 | $5,100 | $5,600 |
| Chase Anderson | MIL | R | H | CIN | 49.0 | 7.16 | 2.94 | 2.20 | 0.265 | 7.4% | 5.33 | 4.50 | 1.39 | 38.8% | 41.4% | 0.94 | 0.315 | 0.402 | $6,100 | $7,100 | $5,500 |
| Matt Boyd | DET | L | A | OAK | 4.2 | 3.86 | 5.79 | 0.00 | 0.143 | 11.6% | 0.00 | 5.17 | 1.07 | 58.3% | 25.0% | 2.33 | 0.000 | 0.295 | $5,200 | $5,900 | |
| Eddie Butler | COL | R | H | SF | 27.2 | 5.53 | 0.98 | 0.98 | 0.252 | 7.1% | 3.58 | 4.00 | 1.08 | 44.4% | 33.3% | 1.33 | 0.323 | 0.281 | $5,100 | $4,900 | |
| Aaron Blair | ATL | R | H | MIA | 21.1 | 3.38 | 5.06 | 0.42 | 0.329 | 6.7% | 7.59 | 5.87 | 1.88 | 36.8% | 32.9% | 1.12 | 0.432 | 0.319 | $4,800 | $6,300 | $5,400 |
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Noah Syndergaard, NYM – He’s clearly the best pitcher on the board and he’s facing a struggling Dodgers team that has a .302 wOBA against righties that ranks just 25th in the league. That number has dropped to .288 over the last seven days and includes a 20.7-percent strikeout rate and a woeful .111 ISO. Thor’s hammer trumps Dodgers bats in this one.
Zack Greinke, ARI – He seems to have overcome his early-season struggles and now has four quality starts in his last five outings, including back-to-back wins in which he allowed just four runs over 15 innings with a 14:1 K:BB. Now he gets the Padres who have a .266 wOBA with a 24.6-percent strikeout rate against righties this season which includes a .255 wOBA and 23-percent K-rate over the last seven days.
Danny Salazar, CLE – The Orioles normally do some damage to right-handed pitchers, but they’ve been slumping something fierce lately. They’ve posted just a .285 wOBA over the past week, but where this match-up really lights the fire for DFS owners is Salazar’s 11.10 K/9 facing the Orioles’ recent 32.8-percent strikeout rate.
Wei-Yin Chen, MIA – The Braves gave lefty Adam Conley a bit of a tough time yesterday, but Conley is one of those hurlers with reverse splits so the southpaws give him trouble right back. That’s not the case with Chen though, so the Braves’ .257 wOBA and 23.5-percent K-rate against lefties is very much in play. He may have had some trouble with the Rays his last time out, but before that he manhandled the Brewers and Phillies to the tune of a 2.92 ERA with an 18:2 K:BB over 12.1 innings.
Kenta Maeda, LAD – He’s going to have trouble getting run support with the Dodgers facing Syndergaard, but he should be able to hold his own against a Mets lineup that has just a .305 wOBA with an ugly 28.8-percent strikeout rate over the last seven days. I wouldn’t use him on his own in Fan Duel, but as a second cash game pitcher on Draft Kings or Fantasy Aces, he’s got some decent upside.
Kyle Hendricks, CHC – It’s so aggravating that he doesn’t go deep into games (he’s only pitched into the seventh inning twice this season), but similarly to Maeda, he can make for a nice No. 2 starter on DK or Aces. The Phillies have just a .289 wOBA against righthanders this season and that number drops to .285 with a 23.1-percent strikeout rate and 76 wRC+ over the last seven days.
Wade Miley, SEA – The Twins beat up on King Felix yesterday, but hey…this is Wade freaking Miley we’re talking about. Ok, just kidding. Miley isn’t really a guy you want to rely on, but with the Twins posting a .261 wOBA with a 60 wRC+ (both rank 29th in the league) against southpaws, I’ll throw a buck at him for a GPP tourney. There’s even some strikeout upside with the Twins fanning 23.5-percent of the time and minimal concern for the long ball as Minnesota also has just a .087 ISO mark.
Matt Boyd, DET – You want a dart? Here’s a true dart. Boyd’s 4.1 big league innings this year don’t tell us anything and his numbers last year look pretty weak, but if you track the growth we’ve seen in the minors from 2015 to this season, Boyd looks like he’s learning to pitch a whole lot better. The A’s are sitting on a .286 wOBA against lefties this season but over the last seven days, they’ve been downright atrocious with their .248 wOBA, .575 OPS and 29th-ranked .107 ISO.
Ah yes, and a hearty welcome back to Yu Darvish. COngrats on the return from Tommy John surgery, but no, I will not be using him against the Pirates his first time out.
Player News
Daulton Varsho picked up three hits, three RBI and a homer in a win over the Angels on Thursday.
Varsho has only played in seven games this year, but they’ve been seven good ones. He’s homered three times already, and his slugging percentage is a remarkable — and entirely unsustainable — .727 over 22 at-bats. Varsho has been a mediocre offensive player in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, but it’s possible at the age of 28 he’s having a breakout campaign. Far from a guarantee, but possible.
Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in a loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday.
Ward, 31, gave the Angels a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer off Chris Bassitt in the first inning. He’s now gone deep in two of his last three games, and it ‘improves’ his slash to .181/.224/.391. Ward has been one of the most hot/cold players players in the sport over the last few years, so fantasy managers who can afford to make some roster moves may want to look at Ward while the going is good.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. picked up three hits and scored twice in an 8-5 win over the Angels on Thursday.
Guerrero also drew a walk. It gives the first baseman multiple hits in back-to-back games, and it’s the third time in May that he’s reached that mark. That’s helped raise his average from .268 to .295, and the only thing fantasy managers can be disappointed with is his .432 slugging percentage. That number should continue to climb as the season unfolds, but Vladdy Jr. has had some inconsistent seasons when it comes to power production.
Chad Green picked up his first save of 2025 with a scoreless ninth against the Angels on Thursday.
Green got the save after Jeff Hoffman worked in back-to-back games — and struggled — in the first two contests against the Angels. He struck out two and looked the part while needing just nine pitches to get through the inning. Hoffman should remain the closer, but Green is on his tail if the struggles were to continue.
Chris Bassitt allowed five runs — four earned — while working six-plus innings against the Angels on Thursday while picking up a win.
Bassitt allowed three runs over the first two innings on a pair of homers, but settled down over his next four frames. He came out to work the seventh, but ended up being charged for two more runs after leaving the contest. The 36-year-old veteran has forged a 3.35 ERA and outstanding 49/8 K/BB ratio over the first quarter of the season, but this wasn’t him at his best. He’ll get the Rays next week if the rotation order stays the same for Toronto.
José Soriano allowed three runs over five innings while not factoring in the decision Thursday against the Blue Jays.
Soriano left with a 4-3 lead, but it was erased quickly after his departure. The 26-year-old was not exactly dominant in his outing with eight hits allowed and four free passes, but he did strike out six to help balance things out a smidgen. Soriano takes an even ERA of 4.00 into a scheduled start against the Padres in San Diego on Tuesday. There should be better options for that one.