DraftKings MLB Picks For April 21

We have our second full 15 game slate of the week in the main DraftKings tournament. There are four pitchers that cost five figures. Are any of them worth using? Are there some bargain hitters out there who could have a big game? Let’s check out the stats.

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The money line in the big tournament yesterday was all the way down to 95.8 DraftKings points. We can probably count on one hand the number of times the winning lineup will be under 100!

I still fell short due to James Paxton and Carlos Martinez struggling. Of course, three donuts in each lineup from hitters didn’t help matters.

The winning lineup was only down a little to 176.9 DraftKings points. That is a huge discrepancy between the winner and the money line! The winner used Stephen Strasburg and Noah Syndergaard for the foundation and avoided chalk plays with the exception of Eric Thames. Travis Shaw and Taylor Motter were huge here, as was taking Jarrod Dyson over Mitch Haniger.

Four of the games have rain forecasted for some or all of the game. Stay tuned to our Twitter feed as we will try to update the weather and possible delays/postponements as they come.

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 1

P: Justin Verlander ($10,300): Verlander really took it on the chin is his last start against Cleveland. In all fairness, the past stats predicted this sort of thing. Cleveland has hit him well. The Twins aren’t terrible against Verlander, but a .228 average in 184 at bats leaves a lot to be desired. When you consider that the bulk of the damage is done by Joe Mauer, who is 25-75 with four homers and 11 RBI with 13 walks, things get even worse for the Twins. Mauer has no power left. He didn’t get his first extra base hit of the season until yesterday. If you take out Mauer’s stats, the Twins are 17-109(.156) with just three extra base hits (one of each) and four RBI with 41 strikeouts. Mauer may get a hit or two, but he isn’t taking Verlander deep any time soon. This has the looks of a good game for Verlander.

P: Bartolo Colon ($6,900): Colon has absolutely dominated the current Phillies roster in his career. The Phils are only hitting .188 against him in 181 at bats with just one home run, only nine runs, and 44 strikeouts. That is a solid strikeout ratio for the 43 year old Colon. Can he own the Phillies again?

C: Welington Castillo ($3,600): Castillo has three hits in six tries against Drew Pomeranz with a solo homer off of him. He is one of the few that actually had a good series in Cincinnati. The last two games were not good for the Orioles. Now they face a guy that handles them pretty well. Castillo did have six DraftKings points on Pomeranz back on April 11th.

1B: Jose Abreu ($3,900): Abreu is 12-33(.364) with two walks, two doubles, three homers, and seven RBI against Corey Kluber. The rest of his teammates are 24-94(.255) with no homers and four RBI. If Kluber can avoid Abreu, he could have a good game. His 6.38 season ERA suggests otherwise, but Kluber has always been a slow starter. He has a 4.32 career ERA in April.

2B: Jedd Gyorko ($3,900): Gyorko is 4-10 with a homer and two RBI against Wily Peralta in his career. It is possible that Peralta’s hot start is not a fluke. He is 27 now, meaning that he should be coming into his prime. That is the only reason that there isn’t a major Cardinals stack going on tonight, but I want one in each lineup just in case.

3B: Evan Longoria ($4,100): Longoria is 2-5 with a walk and a solo homer against Mike Fiers so far. The Rays are one of the surprise offensive teams right now, and Fiers has posted a 5.40 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in his first two starts. That is not good news for the Astros.

SS: Addison Russell ($4,000): Russell has only faced Tim Adleman four times, but his one hit was a solo homer. Russell has 12 RBI already, hitting fifth in one of the most potent lineups in the league. The Reds have done pretty well at home so far this year, but they haven’t faced an offense like this. A Cubs stack could also be a good idea.

OF: Billy Hamilton ($3,900): Hamilton has actually hit Jon Lester very well. He is 6-10 with a double and two solo homers in his career against Lester. Hamilton is a terror when he gets on base, and he has been on an awful lot against Lester. He could be a nice under the radar play tonight.

OF: Gerardo Parra ($3,900): Carlos Gonzalez also hits Johnny Cueto well, but after taking Clayton Kershaw fastball to the hand, CarGo is likely still going to sit another game or two. At this point, he is just lucky it isn’t broken. Parra also hits Cueto well though, and he is $1,100 less! Parra is 14-38(.368) with three walks, four doubles, two homers and three RBI against Cueto.

OF: Mookie Betts ($5,400): Betts is 5-12(.417) with three walks, two homers, and three RBI already against Dylan Bundy. Bundy is off to a great start, but so is Betts. Mookie looks worth spending the money on, especially when you consider the Sox are hitting .330 against Bundy in 94 at bats. Bundy could have a rough night.

Next: DraftKings MLB Lineup 2

P: Cole Hamels ($9,300): The Royals are one of the teams that wish Hamels would just mosey his way back to the National League. The current Royals are hitting just .219 in 73 at bats against Hamels with only one homer and just four runs scored. He also has a nice 23 strikeouts in those 73 at bats. The Royals don’t usually strike out a lot, but they apparently make an exception for Hamels.

P: Drew Pomeranz ($6,700): Pomeranz has a nice matchup against youngster Alec Asher, and is taking on a Baltimore team is suddenly cold at the plate. Pomeranz has held Baltimore to a .239 average in 46 at bats. He has given up two homers, but has kept the runs down to four, all of which were plated by the homers. The kicker is that he has walked two while striking out a staggering 16 batters. Pomeranz has 16 strikeouts in two starts this year. He is striking out so many batters that we can survive the runs he gives up because of the strikeouts.

C: Brian McCann ($3,100): McCann is one of only five Astros to face Alex Cobb. That’s how young this team is. He hit Cobb well as a Yankee. McCann is 6-12 with two walks, two homers, and three RBI against the Rays’ de facto ace.

1B: Matt Carpenter ($4,700): Carpenter is marginally cheaper than the top options at the position. As with most other full slates, first base is chock full of great options to beat up the other pitcher. Carpenter is 19-41(.463) with four walks, five doubles, three homers, and seven RBI in his career against Wily Peralta. Peralta has looked strong this year, but those stats suggest that Carpenter will at least get something tonight, and he could be in the lower throes of ownership considering Paul Goldschmidt has punished Alex Wood, though not quite as bad as Carpenter has Peralta.

2B: Neil Walker ($3,400): Walker has hit Tanner Roark fairly well, and he is riding a bit of a hot streak of his own. There are other options at 2B, but unless there are late scratches, I’m standing pat here.

3B: Nolan Arenado ($5,300): There is a premium attached to Arenado when he returns home with good reason. He has 68 home runs in 1116 Coors Field at bats. He has also hit Johnny Cueto hard, but not necessarily well. Arenado is just 5-23(.217), but he has two walks, a double, a homer, and three RBI against Cueto.

SS: Francisco Lindor ($3,900): Lindor’s price takes a bit of a dive against Quintana, whom Lindor is just 3017 against in his career. That said, Lindor is off to a great start, hitting .328 with four homers and ten RBI. He is also hitting .318 against lefties. Quintana is struggling right now, so I will go with the hot Lindor to finally solve Quintana tonight.

OF: Bryce Harper ($5,200): Harper is 7-18(.389) with a walk, two doubles, and a solo homer against Jacob deGrom in his career. Considering Harper’s strong start, I feel pretty good about using him here considering the past history.

OF: Michael Brantley ($4,200): Brantley defies the lefty on lefty split against Jose Quintana here. Brantley is 13-27(.481) with two walks, four doubles, a homer, and six RBI against Quintana. Quintana has struggled out of the gate with a 6.75 ERA and three losses. It may not get any better here. For you bargain shoppers, Brandon Guyer has good numbers against Quintana and crushes lefties overall.

OF: Nelson Cruz ($4,200): Cruz has only faced Sean Manaea five times, but he likes what he sees so far. Cruz has a walk, a single, a homer, and two RBI against the young lefty. Manaea has also struggled to open the season. Don’t worry too much about the park factor. Cruz managed to hit 40 homers last year while playing half his games in Safeco Field.

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!