5 Daily Fantasy Baseball Studs for 5/4/16

In daily fantasy baseball, pitchers are the cornerstone of your lineups. It’s important to spend wisely at the position; if your pitchers fail, your lineup is doomed.

In any slate, it’s also important to select the correct top-priced hitters. Luckily for us, some top bats have excellent matchups today.

Let’s take a look at the FanDuel studs for today’s main slate.

Pitchers

Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins

$10,800 on FanDuel

2015 was a bit of a lost year for Jose Fernandez, as he spent the first half of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery and missed time in the second half with a biceps strain.

But in 2016, Fernandez has been spectacular.

He’s posted a 12.56 strikeouts per nine (K/9), up from his career average of 10.50. His swinging strike percentage has also jumped, up two full points from his career average to 13.20 percent.

While he’s been great overall in his career, he’s been even better at home:

Tonight, he’s a -170 Vegas favorite at home versus the Diamondbacks. Arizona can be a difficult matchup, as they're ninth in baseball in team ISO versus right-handed pitching, but Fernandez is still the best pitcher on the slate.

Drew Smyly, Tampa Bay Rays

$8,700 on FanDuel

Smyly has enjoyed a wonderful start to his 2016 season.

His career-best 10.64 K/9 has been aided by his 13.4 swinging strike percentage, up two full points from 11.4 percent a season ago.

Is it because he’s using his changeup more? Last season, Smyly threw it just 3.4 percent of the time. In 2016, he’s kept opposing hitters off balance by tripling his changeup usage to 10.8 percent.

Tonight, he faces a Dodgers team that ranks 24th in wOBA versus left-handed pitching (0.291) and 26th in wRC+ (78). At just $8,700, Smyly’s price just hasn’t caught up with his 2016 production.

Hitters

Mark Trumbo, OF, Baltimore Orioles

$3,700 on FanDuel

Mark Trumbo used to be pretty good hitting left-handed pitching -- last season, he hit them for a .237 ISO and .363 wOBA. Now? He’s superhuman versus them.

So far this year against lefties, he’s incredibly hit five home runs in 27 at-bats for an outrageous .593 ISO. While those numbers are obviously unsustainable, they show Trumbo’s power potential.

His opponent tonight, CC Sabathia, was terrible versus right-handed batters last year, allowing 25 homers, a .197 ISO, and a .370 wOBA.

In Trumbo’s price range, it’s tough to find a better bet for a multi-home run game.

Byung Ho Park, 1B, Minnesota Twins

$3,500 on FanDuel

Byung-Ho Park has acclimated himself to the MLB very quickly. After blasting more than 100 home runs over the last two seasons in Korea, he’s continued his power tour in America. Versus right-handed pitching so far, he’s smashed six home runs en route to an elite .338 ISO -- it helps that his hard-hit percentage versus them is 46.5 percent.

He’ll face Michael Fiers tonight, who's basically the inverse pitching version of Park -- Fiers has allowed a .300 ISO, four home runs, and 48.8 hard-hit rate to right-handed hitters. And it’s not just a small sample issue -- he allowed a .200 ISO and 14 homers last year.

Park is continually underpriced and underowned, so take advantage while it lasts.

Justin Bour, 1B, Miami Marlins

$3,000 on FanDuel

Need a cheaper first base option today? Look no further than Justin Bour.

He’s already hit three home runs versus right-handed pitching this season, continuing his excellence from a year ago when he posted a .249 ISO and .359 wOBA.

Tonight he’ll face Rubby De La Rosa, who we’ve recently discussed on numberFire. De La Rosa has been solid this year, allowing just three extra base hits to left-handed batters. However, it’s difficult to ignore his 2015 season when he couldn’t stop any lefties -- last year, they recorded a .255 ISO, .404 wOBA, and 20 home runs.

Trust the bigger sample for de la Rosa and roster Bour tonight.