DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Thursday, 4/15/21 Oof, how about that Wednesday slate? Things were running smoothly in the MLB season before that, and then the COVID stuff went crazy on the league. That's inevitably going to happen, though, and it's even more frustrating when there's questionable weather all across the country. That's likely going to be the case again here, and it'll be key to monitor weather reports before submitting lineups. Much like most Thursdays, we have games spread throughout the day. We're going to focus on the night slate beginning at 7ET, though, so let's go ahead and get into it! Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB and NBA optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Julio Urías FD - P 9600 DK - SP 10100 Opponent - COL (Austin Gomber) Park - LAD FD - 45.08 DK - 23.77 This makes me sad to say as a lifetime Rockies fan, but this honestly might be one of the worst lineups in baseball. Even with Nolan Arenado last season, they finished dead-last in hard-hit rate, exit velocity, and xwOBA. That's certainly been the case in the early going, with the Rockies having four combined runs over their last four games. That's even less surprising when you see that this team traditionally struggles on the road, posting the worst road OPS in baseball last season. All of that makes Urias hard to avoid, with the southpaw averaging 19.4 DraftKings points per game, the highest total of any pitcher on this slate. Not to mention, the Dodgers enter this matchup as a massive -300 favorite. Rich Hill FD - P 7700 DK - SP 9000 Opponent - TEX (Jordan Lyles) Park - TB FD - 34.98 DK - 18.39 It's always just a matter of health when it comes to this guy and when he's on the mound, Dick Mountain is an uphill climb for opposing hitters! In fact, he's got a 3.01 ERA and 1.06 WHIP dating back to 2015. That's a long time to maintain numbers like those, and he even has a 25 percent K rate in that span as well. You might be worried that he's starting to lose it at his age, but a 1.10 WHIP and 9.9 K/9 rate through two starts would indicate that he's just fine. The best part about using him is this matchup, though. Texas just got no-hit last week and currently ranks 21st in OPS and 28th in total strikeouts. They're also traditionally worse against lefties, and that's bad news against a funky southpaw...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday 4/14/21 Happy Hump Day baseball fans. Buckle up as we have another full day of baseball on tap and I got you covered with my top plays at each position for both slates. Let's get started. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Early Corbin Burnes FD - P 10400 DK - RP 9600 Opponent - CHC (Jake Arrieta) Park - MIL FD - 39.29 DK - 21.26 The decision at pitcher is fairly easy on the early slate as Corbin Burnes checks almost every single box. He is finally getting a chance to be a full-time starter and showing management it was the right decision as he has been elite allowing just two hits, striking out 20 and walking zero through two starts, and has an insane 18% swinging-strike rate to go with it. He now faces a Cubs team that ranks dead last in runs scored(29), wOBA(.264), and wRC+(66) to start the season with an ugly 29% K rate. Lock Burnes into your player pool in all formats. Main Charlie Morton FD - P 8500 DK - SP 7600 Opponent - MIA (Nick Neidert) Park - ATL FD - 37.77 DK - 20.3 On the main slate, I love the PTS/$ value with Charlie Morton who is a -200 favorite tonight. It has been a good start to his career as Brave as he comes into tonight with a 3.27 ERA and even better 2.85 xFIP and posted a 12:3 strikeout to walk ratio. He also faces a Marlins team, who before their breakout last night, were tied with the Cubs for last in runs scored(29) and bottom 10 in almost all other offensive categories. Morton is in play for me in all formats tonight. Also Consider: Dustin May(LAD) who was lights out in his first start and is the biggest favorite(-275) on the slate Catcher/First Base Early Jared Walsh FD - 1B 3500 DK - 1B/OF 4700 Opponent - KC (Brad Keller) Park - KC FD - 11.09 DK - 8.32 It was close between Walsh and Vladdy for the top spot on the early slate but Walsh gets the nod with the big discount on FanDuel. Even with Rendon in the lineup, he has hit 5th or higher in the order in all nine of his starts with hits in seven of those, four being multi-hit efforts. He has also taken advantage of the excellent hitters in front of him by driving in nine...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Tuesday 4/13/21 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Welcome back baseball fans. I am back for article one of three for me on the week and man did I luck out with pitching after a few of the slates over the weekend. Let's jump in and have a look at a few of my favorite plays at each position for the main slate on Tuesday. Pitchers Trevor Bauer FD - P 11000 DK - SP 10200 Opponent - COL (Antonio Senzatela) Park - LAD FD - 46.53 DK - 25.32 Bauer has been everything the Dodgers hoped for as he has been electric to start the season. He has struck out 10 in both starts and backed it up with a 14% swinging-strike rate and the best part is he hasn't been subject to the "Dodger pitch count" going 96 and 110 pitches and getting into the 7th inning in both starts. Tonight he faces the Rockies for a second time and I love the matchup as the Rockies are 25th overall with a 75 wRC+, a stat I love as it is park-adjusted. With Bieber facing a much more dangerous White Sox offense, Bauer is easily my top pitcher on this slate and a great play in all formats. Stephen Strasburg FD - P 10400 DK - SP 8400 Opponent - STL (Jack Flaherty) Park - STL FD - 36.82 DK - 19.95 This play is more of a price mismatch more than anything as he is the 3rd most expensive option on FanDuel but 6th on DraftKings. While that doesn't seem like much, getting a pitcher of Strasburg's talent in mid $8K range is highway robbery. He looked great in his first start, returning from a 2020 injury, going six innings allowing just one hit while striking out eight and walking just two. While the Nats are slight underdogs here, the Cards offense has actually been slightly below average to start the year with a .219 average, .299 wOBA, and 90 wRC+. Strasburg is my favorite SP2 on DraftKings tonight. Catcher/First Base Max Muncy FD - 1B 3200 DK - 1B 5200 Opponent - COL (Antonio Senzatela) Park - LAD FD - 13.6 DK - 10.02 The Dodgers are in a great spot tonight and sit atop the implied run rankings in our system. It is very tough to play more than one of them on DraftKings at their prices but on FanDuel there are a couple...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for 4/12/21 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Tyler Glasnow FD - P 10700 DK - SP 10400 Opponent - TEX (Dane Dunning) Park - TB FD - 43.93 DK - 24.66 Tyler Glasnow has been on a slow-speed breakout for the last couple of years, blending an off-the-charts K rate with mediocre control and poor health. Well, he's healthy so far this season, and he's also walking just 1.5 batters per nine innings. The Rays are the biggest favorite on the slate against the Texas Rangers, who have struck out in a whopping 28.8% of their plate appearances this season. Glasnow blends upside and floor, here, and I like him in any format. Zack Greinke FD - P 9800 DK - SP 10200 Opponent - DET (Casey Mize) Park - HOU FD - 36.74 DK - 19.13 Two weeks into the season is often the best time get value on guys not quite performing up to their historical levels, and while Greinke's ERA looks pretty good, the strikeouts have to be somewhat concerning. After all, he's a 37-year-old starter who hasn't had a big heater in years, so what's going on? Well, Greinke's fastball is actually a hair faster than it was last year, so I'm not inclined to panic just yet. His control is as good as ever, and the line-up behind him means the Astros are huge favorites here. The hapless Tigers have a .276 wOBA this season (including a .266 OBP!), and I like Greinke as a relatively cheap ace-level pitcher here. Freddy Peralta FD - P 7600 DK - SP 7700 Opponent - CHC (Adbert Alzolay) Park - MIL FD - 34.13 DK - 18.5 Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm wondering if Peralta is cheaper than he'll be at any point in the season going forward. We know the Brewers were planning on stretching him out this year, and in his last start he threw 91 pitches over 5 innings en route to 8 Ks and 0 ER against these same Cubs. While Chicago has been a scary match-up in the past, their .270 wOBA so far is absolutely dismal. While that should head back in the right direction at some point, they aren't the scary line-up of the past, and Peralta makes for an interesting upside play here. Catcher/First Base Keston Hiura FD - 1B 2500 DK - 1B 4300 Opponent - CHC (Adbert Alzolay) Park - MIL FD - 10.87 DK -...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 4/11/21 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Matt Shoemaker FD - P 7800 DK - SP 6900 Opponent - SEA (Chris Flexen) Park - MINFD - 35.43 DK - 18.22 Sunday has maybe the worst collective group of pitching on a larger slate that you’ll ever see. Almost all of the arms are mediocre at best and downright bad at worst. Shoemaker is a -175 home favorite against the Mariners which is about as good as you’ll find here. He had a solid first start of the season in his first outing, and last season struck out a little more than eight batters per nine. Again, on this slate that’s a good number. The Mariners are a weak-hitting squad throughout and get especially bad near the bottom of the lineup. We need to take what we are given here on Sunday and load up on bats against all of the bad arms. Trevor Williams FD - P 8000 DK - SP 8300 Opponent - PIT (JT Brubaker) Park - PITFD - 31.78 DK - 15.76 As I said, pitching is total garbage on this main slate of Sunday MLB action. It’s a total pit of bad arms and we are going to need to tread lightly. Williams had a solid first outing of the season, going six innings, striking out six, and walking two. He was able to tick up his strikeout rate last season to almost eight batters per nine, a better number than his career averages. And there’s some chance getting a new look with the Cubs will change some of his approach this season as well. He’s coming in as a -152 road favorite against the very weak Pittsburgh Pirates and that’s about as many superlatives as we can give any pitcher on this slate. Consider Dylan Cease (FD $6300 DK $7200) Catcher/First Base Paul Goldschmidt FD - 1B 3800 DK - 1B 5300 Opponent - MIL (Brett Anderson) Park - STLFD - 12.13 DK - 9.12 Goldschmidt hasn’t provided the returns the Cardinals wanted when they traded for him two years ago, that much is for sure. The power disappeared last season when he hit only six home runs. But this is still a guy with eye-popping career numbers against lefties. He’s put up a career OPS over 1.000 in that split with a crazy .424 wOBA. I still like him in this spot against the southpaw Brett Anderson and he is a...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 4/10/21 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Afternoon Jacob deGrom FD - P 11000 DK - SP 10300 Opponent - MIA (Trevor Rogers) Park - NYMFD - 47.33 DK - 26.98 It’s pretty easy to make the case for one of, if not *the* best pitcher in baseball when it comes to cash games. That’s the story with deGrom who has been at the top of the mountain over the last few years when it comes to guys taking the mound. He’s been striking out more than 11 batters per nine over the last three seasons with xFIP firmly under 3.00. He rarely issues walks and has as much K upside as anyone in the game. The Mets are -260 home favorites against the Marlins on Saturday and deGrom is the clear cash play on both sites. The DraftKings price is especially palatable. Strongly consider Julio Urías (FD $10000 DK $9500) against the Nationals. Evening Chris Paddack FD - P 6900 DK - SP 9200 Opponent - TEX (Jordan Lyles) Park - TEXFD - 34.03 DK - 18.76 Paddack struggled in the first game of the season, allowing three earned runs in four innings and walking (3) as many as he struck out. One game does not a pitcher make though and he’s been very good through his first 200 or so major league innings. Paddack has struck out more than a batter per nine and kept solid control, allowing only two walks per nine in that stretch. He’s a -164 road favorite against the Rangers who are striking out 28% of the time to start the season. The team wOBA is solid, but the K’s are going to normalize quicker than that number and I don’t think this is that scary of an offense. Ian Anderson (FD $8600 DK $8900) is going to be a tough fade here though the matchup is a little worse against the Phillies. That being said, this guy has massive K upside, striking out more than 11 batters per nine in his first 37 major league innings. Catcher/First Base Afternoon José Abreu FD - 1B 3900 DK - 1B 5400 Opponent - KC (Mike Minor) Park - CHWFD - 12.28 DK - 9.29 Abreu has raked the last couple of seasons and in 2020 put up a .987 OPS over 262 plate appearances. Some of that was a little run hot with the BABIP, but not much. He’s hit lefties really...