Opening Day 2016: Free MLB DraftKings DFS Lineup Help and Advice 4/4

We’ve been waiting for this day for months, and it’s finally here: Opening Day 2016  ⚾ ⚾ ⚾  After tirelessly watching NBA League Pass and play-by-play, spring is finally in the air and it’s baseball season again!

Here’s the games we’re looking at today on DraftKings:

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MIN @ BAL      ☔

HOU @ NYY    ☔  Postponed

WAS @ ATL     ☀️

BOS @ CLE      ☁️

SF @ MIL         ☁️

SEA @ TEX      ☀️

PHI @ CIN       ⛅

 

Pitching 

Dallas Keuchel $9,000 @ NYY     Postponed

A surprisingly low price tag for last year’s AL Cy Young award winner, Dallas Kuechel. Keuchel’s fastball doesn’t even reach 90 miles an hour, but he’s still able to make the best hitters in baseball look absolutely lost at the plate. Keuchel dominated most every team he faced last year but especially took it to the next level against the Yankees and their plethora of left-handed bats. Keuchel won all 3 contests against New York last year(2 of them on the road), striking out 28 batters in 22 innings and only giving up 12 hits in those 22 innings. Last year lefties batted just .176 against Keuchel and the Yankees lineup is filled with lefty bats.

 

Max Scherzer $12,300 @ ATL

The biggest decision you’re going to have to make on Opening Day is: Are you paying up for Mad Max or not?  It’s a tough decision but on DraftKings(and especially FanDuel) the rule of thumb is: Always pay up for pitching, especially pitchers who get a lot of strikeouts. Last year Scherzer struck out an incredible 276 batters and he’s taking on 2015’s worst offense in the majors: The Atlanta Braves. Just look at their projected opening day lineup:

1. Ender Inciarte
2. Erik Aybar
3. Freddie Freeman
4. Adonis Garcia
5. Nick Markakis
6. Hector Olivera
7. A.J. Pierzynski
8. Jace Peterson
9. Pitcher’s spot

On paper, Atlanta’s lineup is probably the worst lineup in baseball, the Braves are really going to struggle to score runs again this season, which makes Scherzer a ? for cash games today at pitcher-friendly Turner Field.

 

Hitting

MLB is the most infuriating & unforgiving daily fantasy sport by far, the Mike Trouts, Bryce Harpers, and Paul Goldschmidts of the world will get you zero fantasy points about 1/3 of the time. The most effective strategy for cash games I’ve found is to pay up for pitching and then mix in 2 stacks(to avoid one totally flopping and killing your entire line)

George Springer $4,100 @ NYY    Postponed

Joe Girardi has been very critical of Masahiro Tanka in recent weeks, saying he “needs to see something” from Tanaka very soon. Tanaka gave up 17 home runs at Yankee Stadium in 2016 and has really struggled in spring training, posting a 7.36 ERA in 4 starts in Florida. George Springer provides fantasy production in multiple different ways, stealing bases, hitting home runs. He’s a steal tonight for $4,100 facing a righty in Yankee Stadium.

 

Jose Altuve $4,000 @ NYY    Postponed

It’s hard to argue that Jose Altuve is not the best second basemen in baseball right now. Last year Altuve hit .324 with 15 HR and 38 stolen bases, but for some reason, DraftKings has him listed as just the 6th most expensive 2nd basemen on the slate today. Altuve is an excellent daily fantasy player, he’s extremely consistent and has one of the lowest floors of any hitter in the league. Altuve is the perfect cash game 2nd baseman tonight against the Yanks.

 

Colby Rasmus $3,200 @ NYY     Postponed

Colby Rasmus flew under the radar last year, but quietly had an excellent season for the Astros, hitting 29 home runs(4 of which came in the postseason). Rasmus will most likely start the season as the ‘Stros cleanup hitter behind Altuve, Springer, and Correa, not bad company to have hitting in front of you. As a team, the Astros hit the 2nd most home runs in the Majors last year and they’re playing in hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium today against a pitcher who has struggled at keeping the ball in the park. An Astros stack is by far our favorite stack for cash games today.

 

Buster Posey $4,700 @ MIL

The catcher position is extremely weak today, so it’s best just to pay up for Posey in cash games. Wily Peralta takes the mound for the Brewers today and Posey has had excellent success against him in his career, going 6 for 11 off Peralta with a couple of walks as well. Miller Park is extremely friendly to right-handed batters, in fact, there were more home runs  hit in Miller Park in 2016 than any other stadium. It’s hard to justify taking any of the mid-tier/lower-tier catchers on the slate today, so we suggest paying up at catcher and look for value elsewhere. (A Giants stack is intriguing, but their entire lineup besides Pagan is $4,000+)

 

Bryce Harper $4,500 @ ATL

If you’re paying up for Scherzer, it’s hard to build a solid lineup around him with his $12,300 price tag, so a Nationals stack could be sneaky against Julio Teheran and the Braves. All Nationals players are cheap today due to the fact that they’re playing at pitcher-friendly Turner Field. Murphy, Zimmerman, and Werth are all under $3,500, and Harper’s price tag is just $4,500, which is probably the cheapest we’ll see him all season. Bryce is 10 for 23 lifetime against Teheran with 3 home runs, he will be high owned, but for good reason.

 

 

Travis Shaw $3,100 @ CLE

The Red Sox have named Shaw their starting 3rd basemen on Opening Day which sends Pablo Sandoval and his $95 million contract to the bench. Shaw had an excellent spring training, batting .333 with 2 home runs and actually ended the 2015 season on a 7 game hitting streak. DraftKings didn’t anticipate Shaw starting, so his price tag is cheap and he’s a lefty playing at Progressive Field, one of the easiest parks for lefties to hit big flys. Shaw was extremely consistent last year and he should be hitting in the 5 or 6 hole for the Sox come Monday.

 

Our Cash Lineup: Had to scramble due to HOU @ NYY being Postponed

P	Corey Kluber	Bos@Cle	0.0	$8,600
P	David Price	Bos@Cle	0.0	$9,800
C	Devin Mesoraco	Phi@Cin	0.0	$3,200
1B	Joey Votto	Phi@Cin	0.0	$4,600
2B	Brandon Phillips	Phi@Cin	0.0	$3,800
3B	Miguel Sano	Min@Bal	0.0	$4,900
SS	Zack Cozart	Phi@Cin	0.0	$3,100
OF	Bryce Harper	Was@Atl	0.0	$4,500
OF	Nelson Cruz	Sea@Tex	0.0	$4,700
OF	F. Gutiérrez	Sea@Tex	0.0	$2,800

(Credit Tykes.co for images)

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