DraftKings Early MLB Picks For April 19

We have four day games today on travel day. The early DraftKings tournament still has two pitchers priced over $10,000. Are either one of them worth using? Is the prospect of rain at Wrigley enough to scare me off? Let’s check out some past stats to see what we are up against!

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The money line held steady at 114.3 last night. My lineup was undone by terrible pitching in one, and lack of Nolan Arenado in the other.

The winning lineup was also steady at 200.9 points. Luis Severino helped, but it was Arenado and the Ohio stack that won it for him.

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 16

P: Kyle Hendricks ($10,200): Felix Hernandez has only faced two Marlins, one of which is his former teammate Ichiro Suzuki. They have eight strikeouts in 17 at bats. I will take the longer history with Hendricks even though he has struggled to start the year. The Brewers are only hitting .171 against Hendricks in 82 at bats with only two homers and five runs while striking out 31 times. Hendricks is not known as a strikeout pitcher – he only has nine in three 2017 starts – but history says he can rack some up here.

P: Edinson Volquez ($8,300): I really wanted to go cheaper at pitcher so I could stack Cubs against tomato can Tom Milone, however, I couldn’t find an alternative that was guaranteed not to kill my lineup. I also didn’t want to redo the entire lineup if the game is rained out. That said, Milwaukee is a 20 minute flight, so they could delay it all afternoon if they wanted to. Keep an eye on the weather if you stack Cubs. Volquez has held the Mariners to a .222 average over 54 at bats with one homer and six runs, but only has eight strikeouts. However, I am going to play on his career 2.29 ERA in three starts at Safeco Field and hope for the best.

C: Chris Stewart ($2,400): I want Francisco Cervelli, but he will likely get the afternoon off since last night was his fifth straight start. Cervelli had pounded Michael Wacha, but Stewart will have to do. He is 2-7 with a double and a RBI off of Wacha. Cervelli is 4-11 with a homer and five RBI. So it goes….

1B: Matt Carpenter ($4,500): Keep an eye on the lineup to make sure that Carpenter is in it. He has missed the past two games with a sore toe. If Carpenter is in there, I want him in my lineup. He is 10-26(.385) with three walks, a double, three homers, and five RBI off of Gerrit Cole. If Carpenter is out again, I will move to Ryon Healy, who has homered off of Martin Perez in his career.

2B: Rougned Odor ($4,400): Odor is 2-7 against Jesse Hahn. Both hits are doubles, but he has no other counting stats…..yet. This is a good matchup for the Rangers here. They are hitting .310 in 71 at bats against Hahn as a team.

3B: Kyle Seager ($4,300): Seager is 3-9 with a walk, a homer, and three RBI against Edinson Volquez. I know he is my second pitcher. I also know that a homer only takes two points away form Volquez and counts at 14 for Seager. I can live with that.

SS: Addison Russell ($4,000): Russell has only faced Tommy Milone twice, but he has a single and a double off of him. There is a lot of potential for him here. I couldn’t afford Bryant, but Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward also have good numbers despite the lefty on lefty matchup.

OF: Nomar Mazara ($3,800): Mazara already has three hits in six at bats against Hahn with a homer and two RBI. He looks like a bargain today!

OF: Mitch Haniger ($3,800): This isn’t based off of anything besides Haniger’s hot start and the money I had left. I’m not delusional enough to think that Edinson Volquez is going to pitch a shutout. The Mariners will get something out of him. I just hope its Haniger and Seager that get it.

OF: Khris Davis ($4,200): Andrew McCutchen‘s numbers against Michael Wacha are ridiculous, but I am really worried about his early season swoon. I will pivot to Khris Davis and his 6-13(.462) average against Martin Perez. He also has two walks, two doubles, a homer, and four RBI against Perez in his career.

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!