Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, and DraftStreet 4/10/14

A short slate in hoops means all eyez are on Baseball today. Should be increased action on a day that's relatively tough - this means big money for those who pick wisely.

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A little note about baseball picks

If you're coming over from basketball - welcome. If you're a lifelong fantasy baseball player, welcome. I want to give a quick heads up about how we are going to do our baseball picks.

Unlike basketball, contextual information matters very little baseball. Guys rarely take days off, and "playing well recently" means almost nothing. Playing time hardly ever changes (unlike in basketball where guys can increase their opportunities by 50% on a coach's whim), and when it does, it's fairly obvious.

So, we're going to be giving picks each day without huge write-ups. The only thing that changes about a player in a given day (for the most part) is the park he's playing in and the pitcher he is facing. Most of the other stuff is noise, unless a player has drastically changed his position in the lineup. For pitchers, all that really matters is who they are facing, which park, and if they've been recently injured.

We cool?

Let's do it.

Pitchers

Danny Salazar FanDuel 6900 DraftKings 0 DraftStreet 19555
While I don't love the ballpark, I DO love the match-up. The White Sox were dead last in the league in OPS against right handers last year, and strike out frequently against them as well. The Indians should also crush Danks, so I think Salazar's a beautiful play.

Dan Straily FanDuel 6000 DraftKings 8700 DraftStreet 15451
The Twins are among the very worst teams in the AL against right handed pitching, and Straily is absolutely capable of producing the W here. A cheap play that could easily produce 12+ FP and save you money to spend on hitters.

Randall Delgado FanDuel 4600 DraftKings 6700 DraftStreet 7682
My sneaky play of the day - Delgado's major weakness (the homer) is mitigated by pitching in San Francisco, and the opposing pitcher (Vogelsong) couldn't escape with a win when being spotted an 8 run lead his last time out. Not expecting huge numbers, mind you, but several innings and a win would easily pay these paltry salaries.

If you're desperate to spend, like many daily fantasy baseball players, I like Strasburg better than Lee or Dickey

Catchers

Dioner Navarro FanDuel 2500 DraftKings 2600 DraftStreet 6478
Even a somewhat small-ish sample last year, Dioner just destroyed lefty pitching. He's definitely not a 1K OPS guy against southpaws (about 780 OPS for his career). But this is still significantly better than when he faces righties. His prices are near minimum and has a great matchup against Keuchel.

Yan Gomes FanDuel 3000 DraftKings 3700 DraftStreet 6737
Gomes, like some of his Original American teammates below, is a guy I like grabbing against lefties. I won't do it every time, but today his price is perfect against Danks - with a couple other advantageous Tribe prices for some interesting stacking options.

Tyler Flowers FanDuel 2400 DraftKings 3800 DraftStreet 3060
Flowers has gotten out of the gate hot and definitely got to boost his numbers with an early look at Coors Field. Our system's been on him from Jump Street and still likes his chances against Salazar today.

First Basemen

Nick Swisher FanDuel 3100 DraftKings 3700 DraftStreet 5371
Just as a note: I'll be running Swisher out anytime he's facing a lefty that's not in the upper echelon of pitchers. Take a guess where Jordan Danks ranks? Swisher OPS'ed over 900 last year against southpaws. There are some other Indians to pair with him as well.

David Ortiz FanDuel 3900 DraftKings 4500 DraftStreet 7150
Went yard yesterday (hope you took our pick!) and remains one of the elite hitters in all of baseball. Is a bargain across the industry with a depressed price against Pineda. Pineda, to me, is a guy still on the journey back. I wouldn't avoid hitters against him yet. I won't overextend into some other Red Sox, but that short porch in right is calling me with Ortiz.

Paul Goldschmidt FanDuel 4900 DraftKings 5300 DraftStreet 8884

Great price DraftStreet, and serviceable elsewhere, Goldschmidt should eat Vogelsong's lunch.

Second Basemen

Ryan Raburn FanDuel 2300 DraftKings 2800 DraftStreet 4554
Doing baseball picks is getting weird, because it's hard to type the same things in different ways each day. Raburn kills lefties, Danks is a mediocre lefty in a great hitter's park. Indians stack for the win today.

Aaron Hill FanDuel 3400 DraftKings 4700 DraftStreet 5456
Hill prefers lefties, but I still love him against Vogelsong. He doesn't have as dramatic a platoon split as some, and the guys around him (Prado and Goldschmidt) love hitting right handers. Love Hill for a little bit of everything today.

Jason Kipnis FanDuel 4000 DraftKings 5000 DraftStreet 6621
Another Indigenous Persons player who can't get enough of left handed pitching in good hitters' parks.

Shortstops

Chris Owings FanDuel 2800 DraftKings 3100 DraftStreet 6472
One of the weirder guys in the world - in his brief time in the majors he has an OPS nearly 400 points higher against righties. Super small sample, but Owings should see nice opportunity in this game alongside his other friends in the worst uniform in baseball.

Asdrubal Cabrera FanDuel 3100 DraftKings 3800 DraftStreet 5621
You could play every Indian against Danks today, and do pretty well for yourself. The system is screaming, and jumping up and down. Cabrera doesn't really care about handedness, but his boys do, and their care means his increased opportunity.

Ian Desmond FanDuel 3700 DraftKings 4000 DraftStreet 6607
The system is impressed with Desmond's chances against Koehler. This is largely because Desmond is good, whereas Koehler is quite bad.

Third Basemen

Carlos Santana FanDuel 3500 DraftKings 4600 DraftStreet 6324
You notice an Indians theme today? If you didn't it means you're a skimmer, and you should be ashamed of yourself. Like his teammates, Carlos is better against lefties, with a 375 wOba against them last season. He also likes lousy lefties, like Danks.

Martin Prado FanDuel 3000 DraftKings 3600 DraftStreet 5874
I like the idea of putting him with Goldschmidt, Owings, and Hill today. Very nice price against a guy in Vogelsong that won't be mowing down the order in succession. Prado isn't much for the long ball, but he makes plenty of contact which helps with a guy like Vogelsong. And in San Francisco, guys who don't rely on homers for their value get a boost.

Brett Lawrie FanDuel 2900 DraftKings 3700 DraftStreet 5559
I know he burned you last night if you took him on our recommendation, but again, baseball is about patience. Lawrie is mired in an early season slump which will keep some early DFS people away from him. Time to buy low. He isn't this bad of a hitter and the Jays could turn the order over an extra time tonight.

Outfielders

Starling Marte FanDuel 3600 DraftKings 4300 DraftStreet 7751
Marte rips up lefty pitching, last year to the tune of more than a 1000 ops over about 150 plate appearances. That probably isn't noise. DFS baseball requires patience and picking spots. This is a great one with a guy who started slow but busted out against the Cubs the other day. Now he faces Travis Wood, a lefty and should stand to have a day.

Jose Bautista FanDuel 4800 DraftKings 4800 DraftStreet 8794
Dallas Keuchel is a terrible lefty pitcher. Jose Bautista is a fantastic hitter off of lefties. He has started the year well and I like this matchup because Dallas isn't a K guy. Should be plenty of contact today for the Jays.

Bryce Harper FanDuel 3900 DraftKings 4400 DraftStreet 6985
Harper has really struggled out of the gate. Fine by me. The price stays in check and we keep playing him on the upside. Going to weather some downturns in the baseball market from time to time. Playing guys in slumps is tough, but it also represents the best time to snag value.

Andrew McCutchen FanDuel 4500 DraftKings 4400 DraftStreet 8676
Stacking some righty Pirates today isn't the worst idea in the world against Woods. McCutchen and Marte pair nicely.

Ryan Braun FanDuel 4200 DraftKings 5500 DraftStreet 9241
Not the ideal matchup, but Lee hasn't been CLIFF LEE so far this year, and Braun is back into full beast mode. Philly is still a nice park, and Braun could do plenty against Lee even if his team mates do not.

Grady Sizemore FanDuel 2800 DraftKings 4500 DraftStreet 5423
I like him in the same way I like Ortiz - solid lefty/righty play in a great hitters' park vs. a guy still on the comeback trail.

B.J. Upton FanDuel 2500 DraftKings 3600 DraftStreet 3715
Upton has been pretty uninspiring, but the price is getting downright ridiculous. Mejia is a pretty decent young pitcher, but BJ could pay this price in one swing.

Christian Yelich FanDuel 3300 DraftKings 4300 DraftStreet 5895
Obviously the match-up is pretty terrible, but Yelich is a legit righty-masher, and Strasburg's velocity down. This is less a credit to Yelich, and more a condemnation on the rest of the OF options today. Lots of good options above - I'm taking one of those.

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