FanDuel daily picks: Fantasy baseball lineup – April 2, 2018

Outfielder, High End Spend

Early Slate

Giancarlo Stanton, $4,700

N/A

Everything we’ve talked about as far as the matchup with the hodge lodge of Tampa Bay pitchers and park factors go two-fold for one of the best power hitters in the game. It’s not always wise to get too far away from a statistical analysis standpoint, but I refuse to fade Stanton in his first home game on a four game slate. It’s just not happening. I’m making every effort to play him and Judge together.

In Consideration – Aaron Judge, $3,900 and Christian Yelich, $3,900

Main Slate

Mookie Betts, $3,900

0 at-bats vs. Trevor Richards

Betts draws a total unknown matchup tonight as Richards has never thrown a pitch above AA ball.  The good news is he doesn’t appear very intimidating via his stats in the minors. The strikeout rate seems about average and the fly ball percentage has fluctuated in a major way. Betts is under $4,000 and has a variety of avenues towards points tonight.

In Consideration – J.D. Martinez, $4,100 and Rhys Hoskins, $3,900

Mid-Range

Early Slate

Marcell Ozuna, $3,100

.455/.538/.545 with 0 HRs in 11 at-bats

After going hitless in his first two games as a Cardinal, Ozuna had a very nice game on Sunday, collecting three hits and two RBI. He’s coming into a great hitters park and a stack of Carpenter, Gyorko, and Ozuna looks pretty interesting. Ozuna’s price tag doesn’t seem to reflect his big game on Sunday and it’s a spot to buy a little low.

In Consideration – Domingo Santana, $3,500 and Byron Buxton, $2,900(huge stolen base potential)

Main Slate

Khris Davis, $3,600

0 at-bats vs. Bartolo Colon

I’m not gonna beat the dead horse. All I’ll say is Davis is an elite power hitter against a fly ball pitcher. I’ll take my chances with that all night long. Davis has also historically smacked around Texas pitchers with a .330 average and 1.087 OPS in 97 at-bats.

In Consideration – A.J. Pollock, $3,800 and Andrew Benindenti, $2,700

Value

Early Slate

Adam Frazier, $2,300

.200/.273/.300 with 0 HR in 10 at-bats

There isn’t much power upside with Frazier which is why he’s so cheap. He should bat leadoff once again and is red hot through the first three games of the season, batting .400. Since Lance Lynn signed fairly late in the off-season, there’s no telling if he’ll be ready to roll.

In Consideration – Dexter Fowler, $2,300 if you go with a full Cardinals stack

Main Slate

Stephen Piscotty, $2,200

0 at-bats vs. Bartolo Colon

I’m going to round out my A’s exposure tonight by tagging Piscotty as a value option against a fly ball pitcher. He’s been a high on base guy throughout his career, which leaves him with a safer floor. His price is right to fit in some big bats on the evening and Colon is a bad pitcher, there’s just no other way to say it.

In Consideration –  Randall Grichuk, $2,500 and Matt Joyce, $2,400