Fantasy Baseball: Target These 5 Hitters Plus a Judge-ment Call

Your Fantasy Baseball Rundown for Monday 5/15

The sun is shining and the weather is getting warmer, so the ball should be flying around the parks too. This past weekend had five teams averaging seven runs or more per game (Twins, Rangers, Yankees, Rays, Cardinals). Below are some juicy matchups for Monday’s action.

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Target These Hitters for DFS

Paul Goldschmidt – Last year’s NL MVP continues to hit and leads the Cardinals with a .313 batting average. Over his last ten games he is 16-for-45 (.355), with 4 doubles, 3 HR, 9 runs, 7 RBI, 2 walks, and a pair of stolen bases. Not only does Goldy have seven hits off of Peralta, five of them have been for extra bases.

Nolan Arenado – On 5/2 Arenado’s average sat at .233, but over his last ten games he’s raised his average more than 20 points, going 14-for-44 (.318) over that stretch. Like Goldschmidt, he’s contributed in various ways, adding 9 runs, 12 RBI, 1 double, 1 triple, 4 HR, 3 BB, and a stolen base. Arenado had a nice weekend series in Boston, collecting seven hits and homering in all three games, so in addition to his success against Peralta, he appears to be locked in right now.

Freddie Freeman – Since the fourth game of the season Freeman’s average hasn’t dipped below .280, and currently sits at .302. He’s 7-for-15 over his last four games, including 2 doubles, 2 HR, and 6 RBI. And get this – he’s scored at least one run (nine total) in seven straight games! Pablo Lopez has been really good his last two starts, but Freeman saw him a bunch (31 at-bats) while they were both in the NL East, so he’ll know what to expect.

Marcus Semien – It took a few weeks for Semien to get going this season with his average sitting at .212 on 4/12, but he has since picked it up and is slashing .341/.545/.990 in the month of May. He’ll contribute across categories, especially in this run-producing Texas lineup that leads the MLB in runs per game, even collecting seven stolen bases on the year. Morton has been solid but by no means dominant, so we’ll see if Semien can continue his success.

Christian Yelich – In a list full of MVPs and near-MVPs, here’s another. Yelich got hot this weekend against the Royals, going 6-for-11 with three home runs and five RBI. Like the others he’ll chip in some stolen bases as well, with 9 swipes on the season. Flaherty has not been good this year, giving up 3-10-4-3-4 earned runs in his last five starts, with a 9.45 ERA in three home starts versus 4.50 in five road starts.

Honorable mentions:

Pete Alonso – 13-for-37, ***5*** HR off Patrick Corbin

Bryce Harper – 9-for-24 off Alex Wood

Trea Turner – 6-for-17, 2 HR off Alex Wood

Start vs Sit

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Start Kyle Tucker: I know, I know, over Judge? But here’s the case for Tucker – he’s 3-for-5 in his career against Jameson Taillon, including a home run and a walk. Additionally in all six of his plate appearances, he has not struck out at all against Taillon. Taillon is surrendering a .333 average to lefties in his five starts versus .225 to righties.

Sit Aaron Judge: This is not for the faint of heart, but Judge is 1-for-16 with 6 strikeouts against Alek Manoah. Coming off an All-Star campaign in ’22, Manoah hasn’t been nearly as effective this year, but Judge also doesn’t hit particularly well recently at Rogers Centre (8-for-34, .235 in ’22). Judge-ment: Sit. (this is a DFS recommendation, for season-long leagues you are playing Judge in your lineups!)

Notable Player Adds

Whether it’s season-long or DFS, keep an eye on these two, they could help your lineups:

Matt McLain, the Reds’ number five prospect per mlb.com, gets the call to the show. Through 38 games in AAA, he’s slashing a scorching .348/.710/1.184 with 12 HR, 40 RBI, and 30 runs scored, adding 10 stolen bases. He also walked 29 times in 173 plate appearances.

Christopher Morel was called up by the Cubs last week and has contributed immediately. He’s 8-for-21 (.381) in five games, with 3 HR, 6 RBI, and 5 runs scored. He’s also added a stolen base. Two of the last three games had Morel in the leadoff spot for the Cubs, so there could be additional opportunities for him to get at-bats and provide multi-category contribution.

Betting Angle

Braves @ Rangers over 9 total runs (-120 on FanDuel)

Arenado/Freeman to get a hit parlay (+103 on FanDuel)

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