RADIO
Welcome to another full-slate Saturday of MLB DFS. Today we have a five game Early slate, with a fat juicy 10 game Main slate. Unfortunately, there are quite a few weather concerns on the forecast. CWS-DET, CIN-STL, SEA-CLE, MIN-KC, and LAA-TEX all have decent chances of rain and/or thunderstorms at game time. So today will be one of those- check the weather app/site multiple times before lineup lock kind of days. However, if something does go awry, all three west coast games should be nice and dry for a late-swap pivot.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel on 4/29/17. The DFS lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options, and of course, value plays.
Let's get rowdy.
Offensive Stacks
Milwaukee Brewers against Jaime Garcia
Who the heck wants to face the Brew Crew right now? Over the last seven days, MIL owns the sixth highest OPS in the league. It's like watching a HR derby every night with this squad. Today they draw a match-up with southpaw Jaime Garcia in front of the home crowd. Garcia has not been good on the road this season and against LHP this year, the Brewers have the second best OPS. Braun and Thames are costly but are must-haves today even despite Brauns lowly career numbers versus Garcia. Luckily the rest of the RHB on the team are very affordable and you get to pick from a plethora of options including Jonathan Villar, Hernan Perez, Keon Broxton, Domingo Santana, and even whatever hot catcher they roll out there.
Also Consider: Washington Nationals against Zack Wheeler (if you can afford it)
FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Yu Darvish - SP, vs LAA ($10,300): Cash, Weather dependent
This is such a sweet match-up for Darvish, but unfortunately we have to be very cautious when using him in Cash contests today. Like I mentioned in the intro, there is serious weather concerns in Arlington tonight. But if the forecast clears up between now and lineup setting time, all systems go for Yu. The Angels rank in the bottom five of the league in OPS over the last seven days, against RHP, and on the road in 2017. They also have amassed the seventh most strikeouts against righties this season. It's the perfect storm, but hopefully only metaphorically of course. During his last outing against Mike Trout and company on the 13th of April, Darvish earned 61 FP. If you do roll the dice here and the game is postponed, the late swap option would allow you to pivot to another solid option in Brandon McCarthy ($8,000) as the Dodgers host the Phillies.
Steven Wright - SP, vs CHC ($7,600): GPP/Contrarian
Okay so we know for a fact Steven Wright should not be rostered when facing the Orioles. But other than that, knuckle-ball pitchers are about as unpredictable as the sport gets. Wright did pitch a decent game against the Rays in-between the two Baltimore duds, earning 38 FP. Today the Sox are at home against the defending world champions. Wright's ownership percentages will be next to zero. The Cubs have a lot of young bats, and are very prone to strikeouts, which could lead to a long night against the knuckle ball. Tournaments are taken down by some bold picks. Today, Wright could be that pick.
Also Consider: Danny Salazar vs SEA ($10,100); Phil Hughes at KAN ($6,300)
FanDuel DFS Infielders
Robinson Chirinos - C, vs LAA ($2,600)
Keep playing the hot hand until it cools down or the price goes up. Over the last seven days Chirinos owns the highest wRC+ of any catcher in the league and has smacked three bombs. On the season he is hitting .364. He was out of the lineup last night which gives a little glimmer of hope that he's back in for today's contest against Jesse Chavez.
Ryan Zimmerman - 1B, vs NYM ($3,600)
What has gotten into Zimmerman this year? If it weren't for Bryce Harper and Eric Thames, this would be the hottest story of April. Zim is hitting .384 with eight bombs and 21 RBI. The FP from his last four games are: 22, 15, 35, and 41 respectively. Today he faces Zack Wheeler who he took deep just this past Sunday. Against RHP for the season he owns a .672 SLG and a 40% hard hit percentage. If you want some exposure to one of the hottest offenses in baseball today, Zimmerman is a great choice.
Josh Harrison - 2B, at MIA ($3,000)
Harrison hasn't been getting much attention, but he has nine hits in his last five games. He is becoming a must-start against lefties, but today faces RHP Dan Straily who is coming off a 14 strikeout gem, hopefully keeping Harrison's ownership percentage very low. For his career against Straily, he is 4-12, but more importantly has two HR. The RHP split difference knocks him out of my cash consideration, but I like Harrison for a low-cost GPP play today while he's on a hot streak.
Aledmys Diaz - SS, vs CIN ($2,900)
I am very excited about this pick today. Bronson Arroyo is basically a bag of bones out there on the mound at this point in his career, and has given up six long balls in his four starts this year to go along with a 6.86 ERA and 1.65 WHIP. Diaz has only faced Arroyo three times in his career, but left the yard twice. This might be the best value on the board today, don't miss out.
Miguel Sano- 3B, at KAN ($3,500)
Sano has enjoyed an incredible start to the 2017 season, hitting .297 with seven HR thus far. He has left the stadium in two of his last three games and today faces Jason Hammel. Hammel has been horrendous, posting a 5.80 ERA and 1.85 WHIP across four starts. At this price and against this pitcher, Sano can be used in all contests today.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Yasmany Tomas - OF, vs COL ($3,600)
When Tomas faces a southpaw, he automatically enters my DFS consideration. When he is playing at Chase Field facing a southpaw, he automatically enters my lineups. Today he squares off against Tyler Anderson who has surrendered a league-leading 20 ER in the first month of 2017, which accumulates to an eye-popping 7.11 ERA. Get Tomas anywhere you can fit him today.
Khris Davis - OF, at HOU ($3,600)
Few players in the league have hit the ball harder against RHP this year than K Davis. He is rocking a 51.4 Hard% against righties to go along with a blistering .345 ISO. He left the yard twice last night in the series opener with the Astros, and todays pitcher Joe Musgrove (5.91 ERA, 1.56 WHIP) doesn't have the stuff to prevent it from happening again today.
Carlos Gonzalez- OF, at ARI ($2,800)
CarGo won't be hitting .211 for much longer, and if BvP has anything to do with it, he certainly won't be after tonights bout with Zack Greinke. For his career, CarGo is 13-34 with four HR, a double, and a triple against the right hander. That is good for a 1.240 OPS. I am not the world's biggest supporter in using BvP statistics, but for $2,800 I will gladly take the chance in Chase Field.
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