We have a nice slate of pitching today and finding key batters will be more difficult than we’ve been used to. The chalky plays yesterday mostly worked out and Woodruff was a monster that overshadowed a solid game from Gerrit Cole. The NBA’s return is overshadowing baseball today but there are still some fun contests, albeit smaller than we’re used to. Good luck today and game on.
DraftKings uses this scoring:
| Hitters | |
| Single | +3 Pts |
| Double | +5 Pts |
| Triple | +8 Pts |
| Home Run | +10 Pts |
| Run Batted In | +2 Pts |
| Run | +2 Pts |
| Base on Balls | +2 Pts |
| Hit By Pitch | +2 Pts |
| Stolen Base | +5 Pts |
| Pitchers | |
| Inning Pitched | +2.25 Pts |
| Strikeout | +2 Pts |
| Win | +4 Pts |
| Earned Run Allowed | -2 Pts |
| Hit Against | -0.6 Pts |
| Base on Balls Against | -0.6 Pts |
| Hit Batsman | -0.6 Pts |
| Complete Game | +2.5 Pts |
| Complete Game Shutout | +2.5 Pts |
| No Hitter | +5 Pts |
Fanduel uses the following:
| Hitters | |
| Single | +3 Pts |
| Double | +6 Pts |
| Triple | +9 Pts |
| Home Run | +12 Pts |
| Run Batted In | +3.5 Pts |
| Run | +3.2 Pts |
| Base on Balls | +3 Pts |
| Hit By Pitch | +3 Pts |
| Stolen Base | +6 Pts |
| Pitchers | |
| Inning Pitched | +3 Pts |
| Strikeout | +3 Pts |
| Win | +6 Pts |
| Earned Run Allowed | -3 Pts |
| Quality Start | 4 Pts |
Yankees(-225) V Orioles(+188) 7:05 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| J.A. Happ | $10,400 | $8,600 | 4.91 | 1.30 | .280 | .345 |
| John Means | $5,800 | $5,800 | 3.60 | 1.14 | .235 | .314 |
When the Yankees went out of their way to sign a mediocre lefty in JA Happ to pitch in the AL East, most normal baseball fans just wondered why. The Orioles have actually hit him hard and could be a cheap team to stack. Renato Nuñez is a top play today and you can pair him with Hanser Alberto or Jose Iglesias.
John Means was an Allstar last year and is a pretty good pitcher. Arm fatigue slowed his progress as he was supposed to be the opening day starter. He has done very well against the Yankees but given his arm troubles and the hefty bats in the Yankees lineup, we will pass on playing him today. If you play Yankees, look for righties like DJ who are hot right now.
Indians(+100) V Twins (-115) 7:07 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Shane Bieber | $9,800 | $10,700 | 3.28 | 1.05 | .288 | .273 |
| Jose Berrios | $10,200 | $9,000 | 3.68 | 1.22 | .301 | .300 |
Shane Bieber is one of the best pitchers on the slate but the Twins offense has been better. They have actually hit him very well and they look unstoppable. Eddie Rosario, Miguel Sanyo, and evening Jake Cave have great numbers and will look to continue their dominance in this matchup.
Jose Berrios floundered against the White Sox in the opener and the Indians have a similarly talented offense. Carlos Santana has hit him well but he has had success against the rest of the lineup. There are likely better pitchers to target, as well as better offenses.
Red Sox(+138) V Mets(-162) 7:07 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Martin Perez | $8,100 | $6,100 | 5.12 | 1.52 | .260 | .353 |
| Steven Matz | $8,100 | $7,800 | 4.21 | 1.34 | .339 | .321 |
Martin Perez looked bad to start the year but the Mets offense is capable of making any pitcher look competent. Cespedes will likely be swinging for the fences here but this matchup is boring from both sides for fantasy.
Steven Matz is making his first career start against the Red Sox. He is a very solid pitcher when he is on and his debut showed fluid mechanics. We would normally target Sox batters against a lefty but they have looked lost at the plate here and we believe Matz can hold them in check again.
Rays(+122) V Braves (-140) 7:10 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Ryan Yarbrough | $7,400 | $6,700 | 4.13 | 1.00 | .298 | .265 |
| Max Fried | $8,900 | $7,000 | 4.02 | 1.33 | .280 | .326 |
Ryan Yarbrough is a very solid pitcher, but he happens to be a lefty with limited K potential who is facing a very competent Braves lineup. He is a better real life pitcher than fantasy pitcher. Acuña has been a disappointment so far this year, maybe this can be his breakout?
Max Fried was a strong pitcher last year but was pretty meh in his debut. His strikeout stuff is not dominant and the recent success from the Rays offense makes this a place we’d prefer to ignore.
Royals(-148) V Tigers(+128) 7:10 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Brady Singer | $6,800 | $7,200 | 3.47 | 1.24 | – | – |
| Ivan Nova | $5,400 | $6,300 | 4.72 | 1.45 | .347 | .355 |
Brady Singer looked fantastic against the Indians in his debut and the Tigers’ offense is a significant downgrade from them. He may have rough patches but his strikeout upside is there and the opposing offense should help him a bit. He’s playable in all formats.
Ivan Nova is not a good pitcher and we saw the Royals show some life at the plate yesterday. Whit Merrifield is one of our top options of the day yet again as he should continue his great play here. Stacking around him gets more complicated and it’s probably best to ride hot bats like Franco.
Mariners(+185) V Angels(-225) 9:40 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Marco Gonzales | $6,300 | $5,900 | 3.99 | 1.31 | .343 | .300 |
| Dylan Bundy | $8,200 | $8,200 | 4.79 | 1.35 | .330 | .328 |
Marco Gonzalez and the Angels lineup are well acquainted and he’s usually outmatched in this setting. Mike Trout and David Fletcher would be where we start here but they have a stackable team in this matchup.
Dylan Bundy has had limited exposure to the Mariners in his career but his new approach in his debut is what we care about. His offspeed pitches dominated his strategy and he was less reliant upon his fastball that was frequently blasted out of the park during his Orioles tenure. We like this trend and see him as having good upside here.
Dodgers (-157) V Diamondbacks(+135) 9:40 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Ross Stripling | $8,400 | $8,400 | 3.47 | 1.15 | .298 | .289 |
| Robbie Ray | $7,100 | $7,900 | 4.34 | 1.34 | .272 | .337 |
Ross Stripling gets the nod again here, against a Diamondbacks team that has had more success against him than most teams. Nick Ahmed and David Peralta should lead the charge here.
Robbie Ray is always interesting for DFS because he is a strikeout machine. He tends to give up runs in most of his starts but he has surprisingly done very well against the Dodgers. His debut was not pretty, but a large part of that was likely due to him being left in too long by the manager as he tired. This is a high risk, high upside option that should be low owned.
Padres(-182) V Giants(+155) 9:45 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Dinelson Lamet | $9,200 | $9,200 | 4.07 | 1.26 | .318 | .297 |
| Kevin Gausman | $6,100 | $6,200 | 5.72 | 1.42 | .329 | .333 |
Dinelson Lamet’s velocity looked fantastic in his first start and he was missing bats easily. We all love to pick on the Giants offense and this is a phenomenal spot for Lamet. He will likely be one of the chalk pitching options today with good reason.
Kevin Gausman gave up more runs than strikeouts in his first appearance and that’s certainly not what we want to look for in a fantasy arm. The Padres offense can be rather hit or miss but this is a day where they should be able to get a lot of balls in play and put together some strong innings.
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