Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/10/18

Welcome friends to big league Tuesday. We've got 12 games on the main slate and that's where we'll focus our energy. There are some fantastic pitching options to consider, some value bats, and a game in Coors Field. Where to spend? Join me as we go position by position to narrow down the picks.

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Pitcher

Stephen Strasburg FD 9800 DK 10800
Opponent - ATL (Mike Foltynewicz) Park - WSH
FD - 40.71 DK - 22.2
I'm going to open up this piece the same way Austyn did yesterday, with the starting pitcher for the Washington Nationals. When you've got a one-two punch in your rotation like Scherzer and Strasburg, that's going to happen from time to time. Last night it was Mad Max, so tonight, I'll talk about Stras. Stephen Strasburg finished last season with the eighth best xFIP (3.27) among qualified pitchers. While Scherzer may have the slightest bit of edge in K upside, it's still a strong factor in Strasburg's game as well. With a career 10.43 K/9, he's already whiffing 9.49 through his first two starts of the year. Stras got into a bit of trouble with the long ball against the Mets in his last game, which may scare some folks off. The opening line has the Nationals as -220 favorites, which is the highest money line of the day, so Vegas is pretty bullish here. Stras is hands down the safest option going tonight.

Aaron Nola FD 8500 DK 8200
Opponent - CIN (Homer Bailey) Park - PHI
FD - 37.94 DK - 20.22
If you're one of those folks that are worried about Strasburg, or you just want to go a little cheaper on the hill to pay up for some big bats, then we should take a look at Aaron Nola. Nola hasn't gotten the season off to the start I was hoping he would, but he's still showing plenty of great promise. He allowed just one run on opening day in Atlanta, and a two-run bomb of the bat of Yoenis Cespedes was his only slip up in game two against the Mets. Control issues have bothered him early, as he's walking 4.35 batters per 9 to open the season, which is nearly double his career totals. He'll see his best match-up of the young season tonight against a Reds team ranked 24th overall against RHP to open the campaign with a .286 wOBA. Cincinnati can attack from both sides of the plate equally, but if he can get around lefties Joey Votto and Scooter Gennett, Nola should be able to limit the damage and grab a win here. The real issue is whether Kapler leaves him out there long enough to get it. With just 5 and 5 and a third innings in his first start, we haven't seen him go very deep into games just yet.

Carlos Martinez FD 8700 DK 10100
Opponent - MIL (Brent Suter) Park - STL
FD - 37.21 DK - 19.52
Another cheaper alternative to Stras is C-Mart. Carlos Martinez will toe the rubber in a rematch after dominating the Brewers last Wednesday through 8.1 shutout innings walking away with the win and taking ten K's with him. Martinez scattered six baserunners throughout the start and was in command for the duration following a rough start to the season against the Mets a week earlier. Martinez is coming off of a strong 2017 season that saw him hit a career high in K/9 with 9.53 and a modest 3.63 xFIP. The Brewers are off to a weak start against RHP ranking in the bottom third of the majors with a .291 wOBA and 79 wRC+ and their righty heavy lineup favors Martinez who has limited batters on the right side of the plate to a .265 wOBA over his career. The Cards are -173 favorites and Martinez is looking like one of the safest plays around tonight.

Strongly consider: Jacob deGrom. He's pricier than Nola and Martinez but gets to face a weak Miami lineup in one of the better pitcher's parks in the game.

First Base/Catcher

Chris Iannetta FD 3100 DK 4100
Opponent - SD (Joey Lucchesi) Park - COL
FD - 11.3 DK - 8.48
Ian Desmond FD 4000 DK 5200
Opponent - SD (Joey Lucchesi) Park - COL
FD - 12.79 DK - 9.82
Okay. Let me just save you all the trouble in the comments section. You're going to see a lot of Rockies today. A lot! Pretty much at every position. Our MLB lineup projection system loves them today, and why wouldn't it? Of course they're home, which always boosts the projections. They're also playing the Padres, who are sending Joey Lucchesi to the hill for just his third career start. I promise to try and balance out the Rockies with some cheaper alternatives at the positions, but for now let's talk Ianetta and Desmond. Ianetta has a base hit in four of seven starts this season, and reached base safely in all but one game. His .386 wOBA and 128 wRC+ are in the top ten among catchers to start the season, and even though he hits in the bottom of the Rockies order, he's one of the cheapest ways to gain exposure to the highest projected scoring offense of the night. Then we have Ian Desmond. Desmond hit safely in the first five games of the season before hitting a four game skid. He's holding tight to that cleanup spot and will look to get back on track against the young southpaw. Over his career Desmond's carrying a .335 wOBA against LHP. I expect Desmond to get back on track sooner rather than later, and tonight presents the perfect opportunity.

Ryan Zimmerman FD 2700 DK 3600
Opponent - ATL (Mike Foltynewicz) Park - WSH
FD - 11.19 DK - 8.46
Ryan Zimmerman has struggled at the plate recently which is reflected in the pricing, but the Nats are content with leaving him in the four hole and rightfully so. It's only a matter of time before the player that sported the fourth best wOBA (.387) among qualified first basemen last season while hitting 36 home runs and driving in 108 RBI breaks out in a big way. Today could be that day as he steps into the box against Mike Foltynewicz. Folty was rather terrible last season, as evidenced by his 4.60 xFIP. Though he looked sharp last time around against Washington, fanning eight in 5.1 IP and allowing one run, Zimmerman had that day off and will see Folty for the first time today in his much more hitter-friendly home park.

Albert Pujols FD 3100 DK 3200
Opponent - TEX (Martin Perez) Park - TEX
FD - 10.6 DK - 8.06
A nice alternative to the Coors bats tonight could be an Anaheim stack. The top of the Angels order could be lethal tonight against Martin Perez. The Angels are projected for 5.2 runs tonight, the highest total outside of Denver and we'll touch on Mike Trout and Justin Upton in just a moment but first let's talk cleanup with Albert Pujols. Pujols saw some regression last year, which is to be expected in his 17th season. The 23 home runs were the second-lowest total of his career as was the .286 wOBA. He's still pushing along though and his 18th season is off to a promising start. He's reached base safely in all but three games with four multi-hit performances. Hitting behind the likes of Trout and Upton, and ahead of Calhoun and Simmons creates opportunities for both RBI and runs for Pujols and for the bargain price there's plenty of upside to be had.

Second Base

Kike Hernandez FD 2500 DK 4200
Opponent - OAK (Sean Manaea) Park - LAD
FD - 10.33 DK - 7.82
Kike Hernandez opened the season up with some excitement going 3 for 9 in the opening series against the Giants. After that his bat went a little cold, but thanks to some patience at the plate he has still managed to produce fantasy value by picking up several walks and driving in some runs. Now that the Dodgers are back home Hernandez will look to get back on track against the Athletics. The A's will send southpaw Sean Manaea to the hill tonight and Hernandez loves hitting lefties to the tune of a .367 wOBA against southpaws for his career. The Dodgers have batted Hernandez cleanup over the last couple of games, if that continues he's an absolute steal for the price.

DJ LeMahieu FD 4200 DK 4900
Opponent - SD (Joey Lucchesi) Park - COL
FD - 12.98 DK - 10.14
Our next stop in Coors Field presents us with DJ LeMahieu. LeMahieu has been hot to start the season, reaching base safely in all but one game, and hitting two home runs, both on the road, one in PetCo of all places. Now he's home, and facing a Padres team that is throwing some terrible lefties at the righty-heavy Rockies lineup. Last night it was Clayton Richard, and tonight, Joey Lucchesi. Now to his credit, Lucchesi may not be terrible. It's still too early to tell. He is however still wet behind the ears and receiving a baptism by fire in one of the hardest parks to pitch in. Through his minor league career Lucchesi put up some solid numbers against A and AA bats but this is the big leagues and he's going to have to prove his worth. LeMahieu meanwhile eats left-handed pitching for breakfast with a .520 wOBA against the split to start the season, .349 for his career. It goes without saying I love the Colorado bats tonight, but I really love LeMahieu. Even in games where I fade the Rockies stack, I'll get my exposure here.

Consider: Devon Travis if he's hitting leadoff.

Shortstop

Paul DeJong FD 3100 DK 3900
Opponent - MIL (Brent Suter) Park - STL
FD - 9.93 DK - 7.57
Paul DeJong is off to a nice start to the 2018 season. He struggled during the series with Arizona, but prior to that he had base hits in each of the first six games of the season, with three home runs, five RBI and five runs scored. He went 6 for 11 in the last series against the Brewers in Milwaukee with a home run and five RBI, but Brent Suter missed the Cardinals during that series. He'll draw the start tonight for the Brew crew after making two less than impressive outings against the Padres and Cubs. The southpaw could be just what DeJong needs to get back on track as he's hitting lefties with a .405 wOBA for his career.

Trevor Story FD 4200 DK 4700
Opponent - SD (Joey Lucchesi) Park - COL
FD - 14.73 DK - 11.09
Gather around, it's story time. Trevor Story is yet another right-handed Rockies hitter that loves hitting lefties. Over the course of his career in Colorado Story has a .449 wOBA, and .333 ISO at home against the split. Joey Lucchesi shut out the Rockies through five one-hit innings in PetCo last week, but facing them in Coors is a different animal altogether. This one could get out of hand quickly and you'll want to be sure to have exposure. Story is right up there with LeMahieu among my favorite standalone plays from this game.

Consider: Elvis Andrus.

Third Base

Adrian Beltre FD 3100 DK 3200
Opponent - LAA (Tyler Skaggs) Park - TEX
FD - 11.2 DK - 8.55
Adrian Beltre started out last season on the DL and didn't even reach 100 games over the injury-riddled campaign. He still managed to end the year with an admirable .384 wOBA and 17 home runs. He's already 11 games into 2018 and is still looking like peak Beltre. Tonight he goes against Tyler Skaggs, who despite two nice starts to open 2018, (two earned runs off of eight hits in 11 innings pitched) is still the same pitcher who managed to put together just two wins in 16 starts last year with a 4.49 xFIP. Beltre enjoys hitting lefties (.464 wOBA, 192 wRC+ in 2017) and should definitely be considered as a value option at the hot corner.

Nolan Arenado FD 5400 DK 5500
Opponent - SD (Joey Lucchesi) Park - COL
FD - 16.42 DK - 12.37
You didn't think I was going to cover all these Rockies bats and not give some love to Nolan Arenado did you? Arenado is one of the priciest of the Coors Field plays, and likely one I'll only use in a Rockies stack if I can find a cheap pitcher I like enough to run with them. Arenado opened the season with a home run in Chase Field, and though he's had some good outings since then he really hasn't proven to be worth the salary commitment to this point. That could change tonight. 85 of Arenado's 145 career home runs have come in Coors Field, and 29 of those off of lefties in spite of having far fewer plate appearances against them. His career wOBA is .401 against the split. The man loves playing at home and the Padres are going to make it awfully easy on him and his teammates throwing these subpar southpaws their way. Sandwiched between LeMahieu and Desmond, Arenado is a top play and could be a huge part of a Rockies stack.

Consider: Matt Duffy if you need a little extra savings.

Outfield

Justin Upton FD 3900 DK 4300
Opponent - TEX (Martin Perez) Park - TEX
FD - 12.92 DK - 9.68
Mike Trout FD 5200 DK 5500
Opponent - TEX (Martin Perez) Park - TEX
FD - 16.19 DK - 12.06
Sure, Mike Trout is going to cost you more than even some of the Coors guys, but that's to be expected, still, I mentioned earlier the idea of an Anaheim stack to go contrarian to Coors and you'd be foolish to stack the Angels without Trout. Plus it's still an easier stack given the cost of the other guys surrounding him in the lineup. Justin Upton, for example, is cheaper than 1-5 of the Colorado lineup and is off to a rockin' start. Through his first ten games of the season, Upton is sporting a .388 wOBA and 158 wRC+ with three home runs and a .308 ISO. He's posted double-digit FanDuel points in five games so far and two of his last three going into last night. Then there's Mike Trout, I don't know what I can tell you that you don't already know. He's like Russell Westbrook in the NBA, we've covered him in these articles so many times there's not much left to say. Like Upton, he's homered three times already and has a .355 wOBA. These two are key parts of a solid stack, one I'll definitely throw into some tournaments.

Tommy Pham FD 3200 DK 3400
Opponent - MIL (Brent Suter) Park - STL
FD - 11.51 DK - 8.74
Dexter Fowler FD 2800 DK 3100
Opponent - MIL (Brent Suter) Park - STL
FD - 11.46 DK - 8.68
Here's another duo in the outfield to consider that comes much cheaper. The top two hitters in the Cardinals lineup will go up against Brent Suter, who has allowed a .326 wOBA to right handers over the course of his career. Both Pham and Fowler got off to a quiet start to the season before finally coming around, and both had a fantastic series against the Brewers in Milwaukee last week. Look for more of the same tonight on their home turf. Though Pham has been better at the plate so far, Fowler has more than made up the difference one on the basepath and has put up some equally impressive statlines. If it's value you're looking for in the outfield, then look no further.

Randal Grichuk FD 2200 DK 3200
Opponent - BAL (Andrew Cashner) Park - BAL
FD - 10.47 DK - 7.91
Randal Grichuk was given the night off yesterday to clear his head. The former Cardinal has just two hits in 34 AB to open up his first season with the Jays. So why is he here? Quite frankly, he's cheap. He allows for pricier SP options and plenty of Coors bats. Priced at the minimum he doesn't have to do much, and maybe the day off helps him sort things out. One of his two base hits was a round-tripper, so the power is there. He could break loose in a big way against Andrew Cashner, who is coming off a career-high xFIP (5.30) in 2017 and although he looked better against the Yankees his second time out, he got rocked in his debut against the Twins this season allowing 4 ER off 6 hits in 5 IP. Once again, Grichuk is cheap. We make our money in DFS by picking up guys who are in slumps, not by running away from them.

Consider: Gerardo Parra because because you can never have enough Rockies bats.

Thanks for reading everyone. As always, feel free to drop any questions or comments below, and good luck out there tonight! Cheers!

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