Fantasy Baseball: DraftKings Early MLB Picks For April 12

Apr 11, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon (19) slides back to first place avoiding a baseball in the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field. The Rockies defeated the Padres 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

DraftKings Early MLB Picks For April 12

Five of the 15 games are in the afternoon today. That gives us a lot more to choose from than yesterday in the early DraftKings tournament. Is it worth paying up for the ace, or is there enough cheap value with other pitchers to chase homers? Let’s check the past stats!

More from DFS

Surprisingly enough, yesterday’s slate had four solid pitching performances.

James Shields

pitched pretty well, but was overshadowed by

Carlos Carrasco

Hector Santiago

gave up only a two run homer through six, but

Matt Boyd

shut out the Twins in that span. There was very little offense on the early slate. If you only had one of the homers, you didn’t place. The money line was at 97.05, which is pretty high considering we only had four pitchers to choose from.

NOTE: these picks are based solely on statistics. Some players have never faced their opponents, or have very little experience against them. I am not saying that none of those are good picks. The highest scorer of the day could be someone with no experience against his opponent. This is based on statistical analysis only. If you have a gut feeling, then by all means, follow that. This is not an exact science. The best lineups usually have a mix of proven stats and hot players. Check out this post from Matt McGarvey for great tips about whether to use a hot player in DFS or not.

For you first time players, if you would like $10 worth of free entry tickets, use this link for the referral bonus! Then continue reading for tips on how to turn that $10 into more!

Next: DraftKings MLB Lineup April 12

Apr 8, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) celebrates his solo home run in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

P: Blake Snell ($7,300): Snell has always been able to rack up the strikeouts, which makes him an enticing option. However, his WHIP is awfully high. It was a bit lower against the Blue Jays in the opener, but he still allowed four runs. So why Snell? Well, Jordan Montgomery is making his major league debut today, which gives Snell a pretty high win potential. The Yankees are hitting .255 against him in his career, but they have just one homer and two runs in 51 at bats! On top of that, Snell has 17 strikeouts, or one every three batters. I’ll take those odds!

P: Danny Salazar ($8,700): I don’t really trust Max Scherzer against the Cardinals. The Redbirds are hitting a modest .244 against him in 90 at bats, but they have two homers and 12 runs scored. These numbers aren’t dominant enough to miss out on the Coors Stack, so I will go with Salazar. He has given up six homers to the White Sox in only 62 at bats, but has only allowed seven runs overall and has 25 strikeouts. That is a great strikeout rate. His win potential is great opposite Derek Holland as well.

C: Jason Castro ($2,500): It can be hard to predict which catcher will start during a day game. If James McCann starts again today, I will find a way to go with him. However, this would seem to line up with his rest day. Gary Sanchez was the only one with a solid history to go off of. With him out, I chose Castro because Chris Gimenez started yesterday, and Castro is averaging 11 DraftKings points per game already!

1B: Jose Abreu ($4,700): Here I go, using a batter against one of my pitchers again, but it’s hard to ignore Abreu’s career stats against Salazar. Abreu is 6-16(.375) with a walk, a double, three homers, and four RBI against Salazar. I am tempted to use Edwin Encarnacion because of his three homers and eight RBI against Derek Holland, but Abreu seems to be swinging the bat a little better right now.

2B: Ian Kinsler ($4,200): Kinsler is 9-28(.321) with three walks, a double, a homer, and three RBI against Kyle Gibson. Miguel Cabrera also has solid numbers against Gibson, but they pale in comparison to Abreu’s against Salazar. J.D. Martinez has hit Gibson hard, but he is still on the DL. I don’t really recommend a Tiger stack, but Kinsler looks like the best of that bunch, and is worth using.

3B: Nolan Arenado ($5,300): I want the Coors Stack today! Luis Perdomo has struggled against the Rockies in his brief career, and today should be no different. Arenado has three hits in eight tries with a walk, a double, two homers, and four RBI. This is a great place to start the stack!

SS: Stephen Drew ($2,800): Drew will be the everyday shortstop for at least the next week with Trea Turner on the disabled list. Most nights he isn’t worth a look, but he has five hits in nine tries against Mike Leake with a double and three RBI. He should get a hand full of points today.

OF: Carlos Gonzalez ($5,200): Most nights, like last night, DFS players have been going Blackmon over CarGo at roughly three times as much. Gonzalez deserves the love here though. CarGo is five for eight with a double, a homer, and three RBI against Perdomo.

OF: Charlie Blackmon ($5,100): That is not to say that Blackmon is a bad pick. He is the leadoff hitter in one of the most potent offenses in baseball. He is also three for eight with a homer and two RBI against Perdomo. If Trevor Story is back in the lineup, he is worth adding to the stack. DJ LeMahieu is 3-7, but has no counting stats against Perdomo if you want to go that way as well.

OF: Adam Eaton ($4,100): I am tempted to go with Stephen Piscotty, who has good career numbers against Max Scherzer, but I will go with Eaton instead, who is off to a hot start this year. He is also 1-3 with a two run homer in his career against Leake.

Next: FanDuel MLB Picks and Pivots - Early Slate

Good luck out there, and check out our picks for FanDuel baseball, along with our NBA, NHL, and EPL picks!