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If you’re looking to go big you might as well go as big as you can. J.D. Martinez ($4,000) is one of the robot’s favorite bats on the day. He’s been one of the few bright spots for the Sox offensively. He’s rocking a great average but his power numbers haven’t followed suite so maybe he’s been a disappointment too. Actually the bot loves the entire Sox outfield which means Mookie Betts ($3,900) and Andrew Benintendi ($3,800) are also great plays as well. Don’t write them off just because Boston has, shall we say, not lived up to expectations thus far. All three are great talents and eventually that talent will win out. Mookie is still one of the best players in the game and Beni is a solid across the board contributor. Just Dong is the highlight for today because chicks dig the long ball. (I'm pretty sure everyone digs the long ball) All it takes is one swing of the bat for him to make your day, especially if his outfield buddies can get on base in front of him. Ship yourself on up to Boston and grab these guys while you can. New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Tue 5/20
ARI | ATH | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHC | CIN | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TB | TOR | WSH | CHW | OAK | TEX
[brid autoplay="true" video="406626" player="10951" title="Fantasy Baseball 2019 Mailbag Week 5"] Yesterday, on the way to the park, Chris Paddack felt under the weather.  Not to confuse people, Paddack had the flu, there's no weather in San Diego.  So, Chris Paddack was touching 100, and I'm not talking about his fastball.  As Paddack made his way to the mound, he'd cough and:  "You rang?"  That's the on-staff hernia nurse.  Well, it's not just the hernia nurse who's on-staff when it comes to Paddack.  Yesterday, he dismantled the Mariners -- 7 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 1 walk, 9 Ks, ERA at 1.67 in 27 IP, getting some swinging strikes that were...Well, one swing by Daniel Vogelbach was the highest pitch generating a swing all year at four-feet and eight-inches aka "an Altuve."  Currently, Paddack sits at 10 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 3.80 xFIP, and, Steamer's rest-of-the-season projections for him are 3.49 ERA with a 10 K/9 in 120 IP, i.e., a top 40 starter in all mixed leagues.  With all his commercials, Justin Verlander can push his Flonase down our throats (noses?), but Paddack pitching is sick -- God bless you!  Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Blue Jays prospect Bo Bichette broke his hand and is scheduled to see a specialist. It looked/sounded painful and my guess is it'll be at least a month before he's playing again. Bichette was a candidate for a 2019 call at some point, so obviously this sets things back quite a bit. Marcus Stroman tweeted "big prayers for my bro" to which Bichette replied "preciate it bro". Bo and Stro are bros bro. There is so much bromance happening in that Twitter exchange I might vomit. Nope, yup. I'm definitely vomiting. We're going to need a new keyboard. Here's what else is happening in the minor leagues...
Good lord -- Curt Schilling and his bloody sock are looking up from hell at the starting pitching landscape and just cackling. There are so many injured SPs this week that I’m going to just give you three solid recommended adds at the bottom of this article. Otherwise, I’d end up recommending Jordan Zimmermann and Homer Bailey. Who would ever add them to their team in a two week period? Me. I did that. Wait -- is Curt Schilling dead?
You already know I had to keep in line with the Easter/Passover puns. I've wanted to discuss Christian Walker's success at the plate this season and now seems like an appropriate time. Walker has been a huge beneficiary of King Goldy getting shipped to St. Louis, as well as a quad injury to Jake Lamb. With the opportunity, Walker has been doing his best Goldschmidt impression. Through 80 PA this season, he is slashing .347/.413/.722 with 7 HR, 13 runs, and 13 RBI. In true Goldschmidt fashion, the first baseman has also flashed some speed by going 3-for-3 in SB attempts. His .462 wOBA is 8th among all major leaguers this season, and his 188 wRC+ is good for 9th in the MLB. Both figures are likely to be unsustainable over a full season, but to be top 10 in both categories after a full month is nothing to sneeze at. His .347 average on a .429 BABIP hints that regression is to come, but he has shown that he should continue to produce at the plate.
I don’t actually have much to say today before getting to the picks, in large part because this FanDuel slate doesn’t really seem that attractive. I won’t ever tell my loyal readers not to play on a certain day, but today’s slate is definitely one of the more unappealing ones I’ve seen in a while. There’s a blatant chalk pitcher and there aren’t that many offenses in particularly juicy spots. There’s also not that many value guys. It’s not so much a “bad” slate, it’s just a boring and unattractive slate. But I know people will want to play, so like any good professional, I will do my job and break it down for you guys. Also, don’t leave Damian Lillard open from 37 feet with your season on the line. On to the picks… New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!
[brid autoplay="true" video="406626" player="10951" title="Fantasy Baseball 2019 Mailbag Week 5"] It had been so long since I drafted Zack Wheeler (7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners (zero walks), 11 Ks, ERA at 4.85) in multiple leagues, and, after so many subpar efforts, I was beginning to forget why I drafted him as my number two.  Was a number two a harbinger of things to come, I asked myself while sitting on the toilet.  His control in previous starts left something to be desired, which is the understatement of the year after:  Christian Yelich's poster is on just a few ceilings in Milwaukee of couples who are trying to have a baby.  And the guys are the ones looking up.  Yesterday, Wheeler pinged up on my iCal, reminding me why I wanted to own him.  If you weren't able to see him or the highlights, he is the first pitcher to throw 100 MPH and pitchslap the opposing pitcher, Zach Eflin (4 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 4.15) with a 100+ MPH exit velocity.  "I'd like to report a Zack on Zach crime."  911 Operator, "Is it a H or K on the first Zack?"  "Get down here!"  If Wheeler pitches like he did yesterday, he's not a number two.  Dot dot dot.  He's a number one!  Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
When acquiring players via FAAB, the mental mind f'ing is both exhilirating and annoying at the same time. Is that bid enough? I really want this player, but everyone is talking and writing about him, so the price will be high. I should probably go up a few dollars. Hmmm, maybe that's not enough. 10? 20? Let's see who else is likely to bid on him. Yeah, probably have to go up 50. But what if that's too much? I could maybe get him for cheaper. Yeah, I'll take it back down. Click. Click. Looks at bid. Click click down. I don't want to end on a whole number though. Click. Click. I always end on 3 or 7. Click. Click. Oh, F it. Click Click Clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick up. YOLO! This happens for in-demand players who are hot or have massive potential. Ryon Healy, on the other hand, is not hot and doesn't have game-winning potential. In fact, he's been dropped in 10.2% of ESPN leagues, to bring his ownership down to 52.2%. He's been so bad that ESPN doesn't even bother fixing the discrepancy in batting average on his player page and team starting lineup page. "Don't sweat it, Tim. No need to fix. Who is going to be searching for Ryon Healy anyways?" Healy was smoking hot to start the season, as he hit two home runs in Japan and opened on a six-game hitting streak. Once the calendar flipped to April, outside of two games, it's been a barren wasteland. Are we Healy done with Ryon?
Rudy and his robots are on vacation this week, which means we won’t have the usual weekly Razzball Commenter Leagues data to go over this week.  Do androids dream of electric beach? I can (and will!) still recap the ‘Perts League and we’ll go over the trades from the week. Next week, we’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming.  In the meantime I thought I’d toss out a friendly reminder about pacing yourself. No, this is not advice for becoming a competitive eater so put away the Sam’s Club industrial jug of mayonnaise.  This is about pacing your innings pitched. Some simple math tells us there are 25 weeks in the season and we need to get to 1400 IP. That means you should be looking at about 56 innings pitched per week in order to stay on track.  In other words, you should be sitting at about 170 IP as of this writing. FanTrax does offer you a glimpse of your current pace if you click the Min/Max button on your team screen. I’m not sure I trust their math though. I followed that calculation last year and with about a month and a half to go had to stream my arse off in just about every league to catch up.  I’m not sure where the breakdown was, but I’m doing my own tracking this season. With any luck, you’re reading this early enough this season that you won’t fall into the same trap.
Sometimes you wake up, and everything is perfect. Other times you wake up and Kris Bryant is awful, Jesus Aguilar has less homers than Jarrod Dyson, and all of your pitching sucks. Has 2019 been a bad dream? Will it ever end? The Fantasy Master Lothario and myself answer these questions and more as we look under the hood of some under-performing stars. Don't be scared, it's the latest episode of the Razzball Podcast!
It has not been a fun ride for Chris Sale ($8,400) owners, but it was encouraging that he was able to average 95 mph on his fastball last time out. This could be the start that Sale finally turns things around, as he faces an abysmal Tigers lineup that has just a .256 wOBA versus left-handed pitching, the lowest mark in all of baseball. Sale is still a risky play, so I'd try to avoid him in cash games, but there's a ton of profit to be made in GPP contests at this price. New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!
[brid autoplay="true" video="406626" player="10951" title="Fantasy Baseball 2019 Mailbag Week 5"] *wavy lines indicating a dream sequence*  It's the winter of 2019.  And I'm wearing pants.  Okay, that's not realistic, but it's a dream sequence, so I'm going to go with it!  Crap, I have to do my rankings.  Quick, rank Gregory Polanco in the top 40 outfielders overall, because you like how he hit more fly balls last year than previous years and think 23 homers is repeatable with maybe more.  Also, he's got some 10-15 steal-speed!  But, since this is a very realistic dream other than the whole pants thing, someone, who you can't remember now, told you Polanco won't be back until June.  Better check the news reports, even though that's rather boring for a dream sequence.  Yup, Polanco's not due back until June.  Frantically, by any man's measure but calmly by yours, move Polanco all the way down so you'll never draft him.  Now fall into a kiddie pool so you wake to think you had a wet dream.  *wavy lines*  Whoa, that dream was crazy in its mundaneness!   So, here we are on April 23rd and Grey doesn't freakin' own Polanco because reports in March were saying he wouldn't be back until a much later date.  *bites stress doll's head off*  I'm good.  Thanks.  Yes, I would own Polanco in every league; he can be a top 40 outfielder.  Yesterday, he went 2-for-4, 2 runs, which was better than Jesus Aguilar's entire season.  Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball: