What is going on GF2 fans?! After a slight hiatus from writing content, I’m back giving you guys all the daily fantasy advice you can handle! I would say that out of the big three sports to pick from in DFS, baseball is easily the most difficult. So, for opening day, we’re going to cover a few of what I think are the best pitching and stacking options for your lineups. For this slate, we’re going to be looking at a decent 9 games. I’ll be considering the usual elements such as weather, over/under, and batter versus pitcher matchups. Without further ado, here is the first MLB Draftkings DFS article to kick off the new season!
Pitchers
Kenta Maeda (MIN) $8,300 @MIL
Maeda is in a decent spot for this opening day start here against the Brewers. Looking at a small sample size, he has allowed these current Milwaukee players a meager .215 batting average with a 18:9 K:BB. Last season, for the Twins, Maeda put together some nice numbers over 66.2 innings pitched. He had an ERA of 2.70, 0.75 WHIP and 80:10 K:BB. I think Maeda can easily be one of the top pitching options for Thursday afternoon!
Max Fried (ATL) $7,500 @PHI
This could be a very interesting mid-priced option for this slate of games! Fried finds himself as the Opening Day starter against a Phillies squad that he’s had success against in the past. Over his career against Philadelphia, Fried holds a .221 batting average with a 22:8 K:BB. He’s no ace by any means but in this matchup, he could be a very useful asset to your DFS squads. This spring training, Fried has been attacking batters off the rip, throwing first-pitch strikes to 12 of the 15 batters he faced in his most recent spring-training outing.
Madison Bumgarner (ARI) $7,100 @SD
At 31-years-old, Bumgarner’s best days are behind him. He especially had a rough start to his career with Arizona last season. But with altered pitching mechanics, it seems Bumgarner is in line for a bounce-back 2021 campaign starting on Opening Day. Over his career versus the Padres, Bumgarner has allowed a .214 batting average with a 28:18 K:BB. With his velocity looking much better this offseason, I’m hoping Madison surprises us all on Thursday afternoon!
Stacking Options
Cubs Lefties vs. Chad Kuhl
Kuhl seems to be a stellar option to stack against for this slate, especially against the Cubs’ lefties. Over his career, he’s allowed a .317 batting average and a .976 OPS to these Chicago hitters as a whole. Guys such as Anthony Rizzo, Ian Haps and Justin Heyward could all be viable options hitting atop the order for Chicago.
Reds Lefties vs. Jack Flaherty
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This seems like a really good spot to get some Reds batters into our lineups! In 66 total at bats, the current Cincinnati hitters have earned a .303 batting average and a .946 OPS versus Flaherty. Guys such as Joey Votto, Mike Moustakas, Eugenio Suarez and even Jesse Winker are all viable options in my opinion.
Braves Righties vs. Aaron Nola
Typically I’m not looking at same arm pitchers versus batters as one of my top stacking options but this one is slightly intriguing. Ronald Acuna, Marcell Ozuna and Travis d’Arnaud all sport an above .300 batting average versus Nola with a combined 7 home runs. I know, Nola is one of the higher priced pitching options on the slate but this could be a decent little contrarian play if you want to get crazy.
Hopefully, this advice helps you guys win a little cash for this first afternoon of baseball! It feels good to be back on the GF2 team and I wish you all nothing but luck this season! Thanks for reading!
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