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FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball (DFS) picks for Sunday, May 1: play the Cubs

By Timothy Finnegan

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Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Reminder: Always double check the lineup card before rosters lock to make sure that a player you've chosen to roster is playing that day, and check the weather to make sure your players won't get rained out of their game.

FanDuel has made some tweaks to their scoring criteria for 2016. Check that out here. FanDuel is also only available to play for money in specific states. See their website for more details to see if FanDuel is playable for cash in your home state.

Sunday's game features tons of high level pitchers: Kershaw, Sale, Syndergaard, Bumgarner, Scherzer, and Price are the aces that go, and the tiers after that feature Hamels, Martinez, Richards, Stroman, Salazar, and Velasquez.

The direction I'm going in is in Chicago. After yesterday's rainout, starters John Lackey ($9,100) and Julio Teheran have been moved to Sunday. A fantasy owner can take advantage of this matchup in two different ways.

Firstly, from the pitching side: playing Lackey against an impotent Braves lineup is a good way to maximize the chances of preventing runs from the pitcher slot. The Braves have a below average strikeout rate against RHP, and their team ISO of .065 is a distant last. With the Cubs excellent lineup, there's a good chance Lackey gets run support and the win today. Lackey's ERA sits at 4.97 at the moment through 4 starts, but his track record plus a below average strand rate and strong strikeout and walk rates are encouraging signs for the future.

From the hitting side, Julio Teheran cannot get production to LHB under control. Since the start of last year, he's allowing a .293/.385/.517 line to lefties with a 6.27 FIP. Notable Cubs that bat from the left side against RHP include Anthony Rizzo, Dexter Fowler, Jason Heyward, and Ben Zobrist. Rizzo ($4,700) specifically has been the most productive: he has hit RHP to a 151 wRC+ and .278 ISO since the start of last year. Fowler and Heyward bat 1-2 in the lineup, with Rizzo and Zobrist at 4-5. Playing Lackey would cap a fantasy owner to three Cubs hitters, since FanDuel only allows a max of 4 players per team to be used. Any of those 4 would be good plays today.

Follow on twitter at @TimFinn521