DraftKings Early MLB Picks For April 16

Happy Easter to everyone! While us mortals are feasting on ham, our friends in uniform are playing some afternoon baseball! Well, 18 of the 30 teams are. We only have one ace. Is he worth paying for? Let’s check out the past stats! They did us well yesterday!

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The money line in the early tournament yesterday sat at 118.15. I had a couple of scratches in the early lineup, but thanks to late swap being allowed again, I was able to pivot to Pedroia and Santana in one lineup to finish well above the money line. I went to Eric Thames in the other lineup and also finished well above the money line despite a terrible abbreviated start from Brandon Finnegan.

The winning lineup was all the way up at 217.1 DraftKings points. The gamble on Marco Estrada worked as did his stack against Justin Verlander and adding Eric Thames. Let’s try to win some more again today!

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 Late Lineup 1

P: Carlos Carrasco ($8,800): Carrasco’s numbers aren’t that great against the Tigers, but a large part of that is because of J.D. Martinez. If you take out J.D.’s numbers, the Tigers are still hitting a solid .248 against him, but they have only two homers and 11 runs in 161 at bats with 39 strikeouts. Matt Boyd shut down the Twins in his last outing, but I’m a little scared of using him against a Cleveland team that put a nine spot on Justin Verlander yesterday.

P: Gio Gonzalez ($8,000): Gio is off to a sizzling start this year with a 1-0 record and 0.69 ERA in two starts. His career numbers against the current Phillies team are pretty good too. The Phils are hitting a measly .195 in 159 at bats with just three homers and only seven runs to go with 42 strikeouts.

C: J.T. Realmuto ($3,800): Realmuto was out sick yesterday, but the Marlins seem confident that Realmuto will be in the lineup today. That’s a good thing for us. He is 5-12(.417) with a pair of RBI against Matt Harvey. Oddly enough, there aren’t a ton of past stats going on with the nine games this afternoon. This will have to do!

1B: Anthony Rizzo ($4,800): Rizzo has a single, two homers, and three RBI in five at bats against Taillon already. Taillon has pitched well this year, but he faces a tall order at Wrigley, even though the ball isn’t flying out of the Friendly Confines a whole lot yet.

2B: Yangervis Solarte ($3,400): Solarte has four singles and two RBI in just five at bats against Bartolo Colon. Colon is off to a slow start this year. So are a lot of pitchers, but none of the others are 43 years old. There could be cause for concern. Not for us DFS players though! It could be stack material against Colon.

3B: Manny Machado ($4,400): Machado is 7-24(.292) with two walks, a double, a triple, two homers, and three RBI against J.A. Happ. There are three Orioles that have taken Happ deep more than once. One is Chris Davis, who is only 4-18 overall. The other is in my outfield!

SS: Asdrubal Cabrera ($3,600): Cabrera is off to a good start this year and against Dan Straily. Cabrera is 2-3 with a single, a double, and a pair of RBI against him. Straily is off to a rough start. I have a feeling that the Mets are going to make it quite a bit worse.

OF: Eric Thames ($4,000): Thames is hotter than anyone in baseball right now. He is also in a hitter’s park and facing a pitcher – a right handed pitcher – making his major league debut. You will be fighting high ownership in this one, but I’m not going to bet against Thames right now.

OF: Mookie Betts ($5,200): Betts is the catalyst of one of the better offenses in the league against a pitcher that may get lit up. I’m going to spend the money and see what happens.

OF: Adam Jones ($3,800): Jones is 9-35(.257) with a walk, two homers, and three RBI against Happ in his career. This has been a low scoring series thus far. That could change in the finale.

Next: DraftKings Early Lineup 2

P: Jon Lester ($11,300): Lester’s numbers against Pittsburgh aren’t great, but they are good. The Pirates are hitting a solid .254 off of Lester in 134 at bats, but they have only three homers and 11 runs. They have also struck out 31 times. Lester also has a 2.74 career ERA at Wrigley Field with 241 strikeouts in 241 innings. I like those odds.

P: Dylan Bundy ($7,900): Bundy dominated the Blue Jays in his first start of the year. That should come as no surprise. The current Jays team is now hitting a pathetic .118 in 34 at bats with a dozen strikeouts, no extra base hits, and just one run scored. Happ has below average career numbers against the Orioles as well. This is looking like a great place to start Bundy.

C: Travis d’Arnaud ($2,900): d’Arnaud walked the Mets off in the 16th two nights ago. He was rewarded with two days off. He should be fresh and good to go against a struggling pitcher. I’ll take those odds as well.

1B: Miguel Cabrera ($5,000): Cabrera is 10-31(.323) with three walks, a double, a homer, and three RBI against Carlos Carrasco. Cabrera is starting to come around after a slow start. He may not be Triple Crown caliber anymore, but he is still one of the best hitters in the league.

2B: Javier Baez ($3,500): Baez isn’t always assured a lineup spot yet, but he should have one today against Jameson Taillon. The Cubs hit Taillon hard last year in their game against him. Baez had a single and a home run in his two at bats, and could be a good option to save some money this afternoon.

3B: Yunel Escobar ($3,100): Escobar is 3-10 with four walks and a solo homer in his career against Ian Kennedy. For those of you looking to go cheaper at first base, Albert Pujols has socked three homers against Kennedy and is worth using as well.

SS: Freddy Galvis ($3,200): Galvis is the only Phillie that has been able to get anything against Gio Gonzalez. Galvis is 9-35(.257) with a walk, two doubles, two homers, and three RBI against Gonzalez. The rest of the team is 22-124 with a homer and four RBI.

OF: Adam Eaton ($4,100): Eaton has three hits in six at bats already against Jerad Eickhoff with a solo home run. Eickhoff’s numbers against the rest of the team are pretty good, but he hasn’t quite figured out Eaton yet.

OF: Justin Upton ($4,800): Upton is only 2-9 against Carrasco, but he does have a solo homer against him. This is a way of hedging my bets in case Carrasco blows up my first lineup.

OF: Billy Hamilton ($4,200): Hamilton is a blistering 5-10 with two doubles, a triple, and a solo home run against Wily Peralta in his career. if he is on base that much, Hamilton can really throw a wrench into Peralta’s game plan. I like the thought of Hamilton running wild all day.

Next: DFS Strategy - Take Your Game to the Next Level

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