DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 4/24/21

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Pitchers

Nathan Eovaldi FD - P 8500 DK - SP 8900
Opponent - SEA (Chris Flexen) Park - BOS
FD - 37.75 DK - 20.35

Eovaldi isn’t the first name that might jump out for cash games, but he’s in an excellent spot on Saturday. He comes in as a -190 home favorite against the Seattle Mariners. He’s had an excellent start to the season, striking out more than 9.5 batters per nine and rocking a 2.65 xFIP. Meanwhile, the Mariners have the fourth-worst team wOBA this season and are striking out almost 27% of the time. Eovaldi’s price hasn’t really corrected for how good he’s been this season and this is such a good matchup that he’s got to be in contention for the cash game option on the day.

Drew Smyly FD - P 6700 DK - SP 8200
Opponent - ARI (Madison Bumgarner) Park - ATL
FD - 38.2 DK - 20.79

Smyly is coming way too cheap on this slate and should be a very popular option on both sites. Smyly has only started two games this season but this guy has been excellent for his last 37 innings or so. The xFIP is in the low 3’s over that stretch and is striking out close to ten batters per nine as well. And this season he’s been able to limit the walks really well. The matchup is great against a Diamondbacks team that’s been middle of the pack this season but isn’t projected to have much pop over the long term. The price is too low for the peripherals and there should be more of a price correction on what Smyly has done lately.

I don’t mind Kevin Gausman (FD $9400 DK $7600) at these prices in a matchup against the Marlins.

Catcher/First Base

Paul Goldschmidt FD - 1B 3200 DK - 1B 4800
Opponent - CIN (Wade Miley) Park - STL
FD - 11.85 DK - 8.92

This isn’t a great matchup to target Goldschmidt mostly because Miley, while a lefty, has shown excellent control so far this season and is getting a lot ground balls to start the year. That’s not a great thing, but this is Goldie in a matchup against a southpaw and that has to perk your ears up at least some. This is a guy with a career 1.014 OPS and .423 wOBA in this split for his career. And sure, a lot of that is buying on historical performance rather than his current version. I get that, but he’s also a solid price in the middle of the lineup for the Cards.

Pete Alonso FD - 1B 3600 DK - 1B 5100
Opponent - WSH (Joe Ross) Park - NYM
FD - 12.64 DK - 9.39

Alonso still has the power game in full effect to start this season with four home runs in his first 58 plate appearances. He’s not getting on base at a great clip though which is driving down some of his safety on a day-to-day basis. But I like the matchup against Joe Ross who’s struggled with control over the last couple of seasons and has had an xFIP over 5.00 in that run.

Second Base

Ozzie Albies FD - 2B 3300 DK - 2B 5000
Opponent - ARI (Madison Bumgarner) Park - ATL
FD - 12.57 DK - 9.62

I just can’t quit you Ozzie Albies, even though the Braves might be thinking about it. He’s been dreadful to start the season and Atlanta has moved him down the order some when things didn’t improve. But he has a matchup against Bumgarner who’s stunk over the last couple of seasons at least, with an xFIP in the mid-5’s thanks to an increasing walk rate and lack of the stuff that made him an ace years ago. Those days are long gone now and the Braves are one of the great stacks of the day.

Jeff McNeil FD - 2B 2400 DK - 2B 4500
Opponent - WSH (Joe Ross) Park - NYM
FD - 10.27 DK - 7.9

Like I said with Alonso, this is a good spot for the Mets against Joe Ross and the Nationals. McNeil doesn’t have much power but he makes a lot of contact, putting the ball in play 84% of the time this season. That should play okay against Ross who can’t really dial up the strikeouts and does have some control issues from time to time. McNeil isn’t a middle-of-the-order masher, but I do think he has a higher floor because of his batted ball profile here.

Shortstop

Xander Bogaerts FD - SS 3400 DK - SS 5600
Opponent - SEA (Chris Flexen) Park - BOS
FD - 13.67 DK - 10.35

Chris Flexen isn’t a name we really need to worry about her with a strikeout rate below eight batters per nine and an xFIP in the low 4’s. He’s just your prototypical average arm and that means a guy like Bogaerts is a solid cash play on Saturday. He’s raking this season with an OPS in the mid-900s even though he’s only hit two home runs. He’s BABIP-ing like crazy with that number sitting at .444 which is due for some regression. But he’s still among the elite offensive shortstops in baseball in a good matchup.

Francisco Lindor FD - SS 3300 DK - SS 5000
Opponent - WSH (Joe Ross) Park - NYM
FD - 12.73 DK - 9.67

Notice a theme with these Mets guys? Lindor is a very rich man now though the results haven’t exactly come at the plate yet after signing the huge contract with the Mets. But there’s too much track record to totally sweat it with this guy and he’s really running bad in the luck department with a .205 BABIP on the season. He’s still walking (16%) twice as much as he’s striking out (8%) which is a feat all on its own. We are getting him at something of a discount because of the early season struggles.

Third Base

Rafael Devers FD - 3B 4000 DK - 3B 5600
Opponent - SEA (Chris Flexen) Park - BOS
FD - 14.53 DK - 11.01

You’ll notice some themes around the bats in this article, and that’s on purpose There are just some teams in much more advantageous matchups than others. And the Red Sox are one of them. Devers has the OPS up and over .900 for the season and is showing much more patience at the plate with a 10% walk rate this, nearly double what he did in 2020. Plus he’s gone long six times in his first 80 plate appearances. Against a low-K arm like Flexen this is an ideal spot for Devers.

Austin Riley FD - 3B 2400 DK - 3B 3200
Opponent - ARI (Madison Bumgarner) Park - ATL
FD - 11.36 DK - 8.57

We’ve got some more Braves on the way so don’t think this is the end of the line for this team. Riley is going to hit a little lower in the lineup than we usually like. But he’s coming near punt prices on both sites and that’s going to help pay up for some of his teammates on this slate. If you want to fit a bat like Acuna and some others then you’ll need to roll some dudes on the cheaper side. Riley is one of those options against Bumgarner.

Outfield

Ronald Acuña Jr. FD - OF 4500 DK - OF 6400
Opponent - ARI (Madison Bumgarner) Park - ATL
FD - 16.88 DK - 12.66

Marcell Ozuna FD - OF 3200 DK - OF 5200
Opponent - ARI (Madison Bumgarner) Park - ATL
FD - 14.67 DK - 11.03

This is such a great spot for the Braves against Madison Bumgarner that it’s going to be tough to pass up the top of the order righties on Saturday. Acuna is somehow even better this season than last and has started off this year with a whopping 1.300+ OPS mostly because he’s hitting for a ton of power (seven home runs already) and has been impossible to strike out (14%). He’s heading for an MVP run if things keep up this way. He should have no issues with the corpse of Bumgarner here.

Then there’s Ozuna who has gotten out of the gate all that well to start the season with some truly grizzly OPS numbers. The hard contact rate is way down which is definitely a concern, but it’s still somewhat early in the season. He’s been much better against lefties for his career with a .850 OPS and 129 wRC+ in that split. We are getting him real cheap on FanDuel for a guy who should be hitting cleanup in this matchup.

Alex Verdugo FD - OF 3500 DK - OF 4400
Opponent - SEA (Chris Flexen) Park - BOS
FD - 12.65 DK - 9.74

This is the last Red Sox guy I swear. But we are also about at the end of the article, so there’s that too. Verdugo has moved back and forth between the one and two slots in the Red Sox lineup this season and has paid off in a solid fashion. He has an .871 OPS to start the year and has shown flashes of power (three home runs) and a little speed (two stolen bases). If he’s going to sit in the middle pricing tier at the top of this lineup against Flexen then he’s a near cash game lock on Saturday.

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