DraftKings Main MLB Picks April 9: Is Scherzer worth the markup?

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – APRIL 5: Snow is piled up before of the home opening game between the Minnesota Twins and the Seattle Mariners on April 5, 2018 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

DraftKings Main MLB Picks April 9: Is Scherzer worth the markup?

10 of the 13 games are in the evening tonight. Only Chicago has day games today. The Indians-Tigers game if in limbo with first pitch at 6:05 Eastern, but you can find that in the pick em tournaments. The bad part is it takes Kluber off the main slate. There are some other big names in this tournament. Which pitchers should we use? Is it a good idea to use two aces? Let’s check out some stats.

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The Twins had a rainout in Minneapolis yesterday, but none of the games tonight are threatened by rain. Make sure to keep an eye to the sky though. It’s April. Weird weather happens all the time.

We will provide you with several options to build your lineup here. Want to spend all your money on pitchers and play bargain bats? We will highlight who is worth the money. Want to punt arms and pay up for the big boppers? We can help you with that as well, and everything in between!

These tips are based mostly on past performance. This is a nice tool for building a lineup, but should not be the only pieces of information you use. Stacking against a bad pitcher is always a good idea!

For you first time players, if you would like a free $20 in DraftKings dollars, use this link for the referral bonus with your first deposit of $5 or more! Then continue reading for tips on how to turn those DraftKings dollars into more!

Next: DraftKings Pitcher Plays

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 29: Noah Syndergaard #34 of the New York Mets pitches in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on Opening Day at Citi Field on March 29, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. New York Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 9-4. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Max Scherzer ($12,600): Scherzer’s numbers against the Braves aren’t quite as elite as we would like, but he is guaranteed a win against Julio Teheran. The Nationals are hitting a toasty .335 in 167 at bats with 13 homers and 35 RBI against Teheran. The Braves are hitting a solid .258 in 182 at bats against Scherzer with only four homers, but 21 runs. The 45 strikeouts will keep Scherzer’s numbers up, but maybe not enough to pay this big of a premium.

Noah Syndergaard ($12,300): Okay, so the Marlins are hitting a robust .378 in 37 at bats against Thor, but they only have three runs and have struck out nine times. Can the Marlins stay this hot against a pitcher this good? Doubtful, since Syndergaard is 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA in three career starts at Marlins Park.

Justin Verlander ($11,700): The Twins are only hitting .230 against Verlander in 178 at bats, but they do have five homers and 15 runs. The 50 strikeouts are what puts Verlander in this top tier. Many are going to be on Scherzer against the Braves. More will be on Thor in spacious Marlins Park. That could leave Verlander with pretty low ownership for the potential here.

Middle Tier:

Dylan Bundy ($8,100): The Blue Jays are only hitting .216 in 51 at bats against Bundy with just two RBI and a whopping 17 strikeouts. That is one in every three at bats! Bundy has high upside here, but the Blue Jays still have some dangerous hitters.

Jon Gray ($7,900): It’s no secret that Gray has pitched better at Coors Field, and he gets a dream matchup against the Padres. San Diego is only hitting .215 in 65 at bats against Gray with three homers and seven runs, but 18 strikeouts. And Clayton Richard has been obliterated by the Rockets. Gray is all but assured of a win if he can last five innings.

Jake Junis ($7,000): Junis was superb in his first start of the season, and gets another great draw against the Mariners here. Seattle is hitting just .211 in 19 at bats with two runs and three strikeouts. It is a small sample size, but the Royals hit Marco Gonzales hard last year. However, considering how dominant Junis was in his opener, I love him at this price.

Bargain Pitchers:

Garrett Richards ($6,700): The Rangers are only hitting .231 in 173 at bats with only four homers and 12 runs with 45 strikeouts. Those are pretty good numbers. Richards has struggled with his command some early in the season, but he struck out nine Indians last week. There is very good potential here.

Doug Fister ($6,000): The Angels are hitting a very solid .267 in 105 at bats with three homers, but only six RBI against Fister with 21 strikeouts. There is not much for strikeout upside here, but Fister has done a really good job of limiting damage against the Angels so far. Will that keep up?

Derek Holland ($5,800): Holland has only faced three Diamondbacks so far in his career, but they are just 6-29 with two runs and seven strikeouts. Holland pitched seven innings of one run ball in his only career start at AT&T Park. This cavernous park is ideal for Holland, but his chances at a win are not good against Godley, despite how well the Giants hit him in the past.

DENVER, CO – APRIL 06: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies rounds third base to score on a Carlos Gonzalez RBI triple in the first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Coors Field on April 6, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

It’s Rockies stack night! Nolan Arenado is the anchor. He is a staggering 11-17(.647) with four walks, two doubles, a triple, a homer, four runs scored, and six RBI in his career against Clayton Richard. Chris Iannetta is 6-17(.353) with three walks, two doubles, two homers, three runs scored, and three RBI off of Richard. Ian Desmond is 9-29(.310) with two homers, three runs scored, and six RBI against Richard.

Carlos Santana against a young lefty? Absolutely! Jorge Alfaro could be worth a look here with the platoon advantage as well. Joey Votto is worth a look against Ben Lively as well.

Freddie Freeman is 7-24(.292) with five walks, three doubles, two solo homers, and five RBI in his career against Max Scherzer. Kurt Suzuki is 7-18(.389) with two walks, a homer, and two RBI against Scherzer.

With so many other good options available in the middle infield, Justin Smoak and Josh Donaldson could be overlooked against Dylan Bundy. However, they are a combined 4-12 wiht two runs scored and a RBI off of him.

Middle Tier:

The Orioles may as well be hitting off a tee against J.A. Happ. Pedro Alvarez is 6-12 with three walks, two doubles, a solo homer, and four runs scored against Happ. Caleb Joseph is 3-9 with a walk, a double, a homer, and three RBI. Chris Davis is only 4-20, but two of those hits are home runs. Same with Machado. The 7-29(.241) is nothing to write home about, but he has two homers off of Happ as well.

Joey Gallo is only 1-4 against Garrett Richards, but that hit is a solo homer. Ryan Rua is a nice punt play again. He is 1-3 with a double against Richards so far. Perhaps the one to really go after is Adrian Beltre. Beltre is 13-43(.302) with three walks, two doubles, three homers, four runs scored, and nine RBI against Richards.

Ryan Zimmerman is 11-45(.244) with three homers, four runs scored, and nine RBI in his career against Julio Teheran. Matt Adams is worth a look if he is in the lineup. Adams is 2-5 with two runs scored and a solo homer off Teheran.

Both Manny Pina and Eric Thames homered off of Miles Mikolas last week. They are worth a look tonight as well.

Bargain Shoppers:

Chase Headley is 1-3 with a grand slam in his career against Jon Gray. If A.J. Ellis is in the lineup, Ellis has a two run homer in two at bats against Gray.

Yadier Molina is 6-17(.353) with a walk, a homer, and four RBI off of Jhoulys Chacin. Matt Carpenter is 2-8 with four walks, a homer, three runs scored, and two RBI off of Chacin.

Joe Mauer is 25-77(.325) with 14 walks, five doubles, four homers, eight runs scored, and 11 RBI in his career against Justin Verlander. Logan Morrison is 2-5 with two walks, a double, a run scored, and two RBI off of Verlander. They are both really cheap if you think they can hit Verlander.

If Nick Hundley gets a start here, he may be worth a look. Hundley is 2-3 with a double, a walk, a homer, two runs scored, and three RBI in his career against Zack Godley.

PHOENIX, AZ – OCTOBER 04: DJ LeMahieu #9 of the Colorado Rockies talks with Trevor Story #27 during the bottom of the eighth inning of the National League Wild Card game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on October 4, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

DJ LeMahieu and Trevor Story are definitely worth a look as part of a Rockies stack. LeMahieu is 6-17(.353) with three walks, a double, a triple, four runs scored, and three RBI in his career against Clayton Richard. Story is 4-14(.286) with a walk, a double, a triple, a homer, three runs scored, and five RBI against Richard.

It’s hard for me to go for Zack Cozart here at this price, but he is 3-6 with two runs scored in his career against Doug Fister.

Trea Turner is 6-10 with a walk, two steals, and two runs scored in his career against Julio Teheran. Howie Kendrick is 5-13 with two doubles, three runs scored, and a RBI.

Middle Tier:

Elvis Andrus is 12-44(.273) with three walks, a double, five steals, five runs scored, and three RBI in his career against Garrett Richards. Jurickson Profar is super cheap, and is 2-5 with a run scored and a RBI off of Richards.

I like Cesar Hernandez leading off against Cody Reed. The Phillies could put up quite a few runs tonight.

Starlin Castro is 1-3 with a double, a run scored, and a RBI in his career against Noah Syndergaard. However, it is Syndergaard. How much do you trust this?

Cory Spangenberg isn’t usually a guy you see on this page much, but he is 3-13 with a double, a homer, and three RBI against Jon Gray. Freddy Galvis is 3-10, and has some power potential in Coors.

Bargain Shoppers:

Jose Reyes is super cheap, and is 6-18 with a double, a triple, and three RBI in his career against Jose Urena. Wilmer Flores is only 1-7 against Urena, but the hit is a two run homer.

Whit Merrifield is 2-3 with a homer and two RBI in his career against Marco Gonzales. What will he do to them this time?

Dansby Swanson is only 4-16 against Scherzer, but he has two walks, two doubles, a run scored, and three RBI against him.

Next: Top Outfield Plays

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 08: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals hits a two-run home run in the first inning against the New York Mets at Nationals Park on April 8, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

The Rockies are expensive, but with all of the lefties in this outfield, it’s hard to use them, right? Charlie Blackmon is 6-16(.375) with six runs scored, but no other counting stats. Gerardo Parra is the lesser known and cheapest piece of the Rockies stack, but he is 8-22(.364) with two walks, a double, a steal, and four runs scored against Richard.

You know the drill. Julio Teheran is on the hill, so Bryce Harper needs to be in your lineup. Harper is 18-39(.462) with seven walks, three doubles, eight homers, nine runs scored, and a staggering 19 RBI against Teheran. Oh, and he has a steal! Adam Eaton is 2-6 with two walks, three runs scored, and a RBI.

The entire Mets outfield could be in play against Jose Urena. Yoenis Cespedes is 3-11 with two runs scored and a solo homer off of Urena. Michael Conforto is 3-8 with a double and a run scored. Jay Bruce is 4-13(.308) with a walk, a double, two homers, four runs scored, and five RBI in his career against Urena. If Brandon Nimmo is in the lineup, he may be worth a look. Nimmo is 1-3 with a solo shot off of Urena.

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Middle Tier:

Justin Upton is 4-10 with a double, a homer, four runs scored, and two RBI in his career against Fister. Kole Calhoun is 3-8 with four walks, two runs scored, and a solo homer against Fister. Mike Trout is 6-18, but only has one double and one RBI.

Adam Jones is only 10-40 against J.A. Happ, but he has a walk, a double, two homers, five runs scored, a steal, and three RBI against Happ.

Bargain Shoppers:

Byron Buxton is 2-7 with a solo homer off of Justin Verlander in his career. How much do you trust the Twins though?

Preston Tucker could be worth a look here. Tucker is 1-2 with a walk, a homer, two runs scored, and three RBI in his career against Scherzer already. Nick Markakis is cheap and is 15-52(.288) with five walks, six doubles, six runs scored, and two RBI against Scherzer.

Could Aaron Altherr be getting going? He had a big day on Saturday, and could be worth a look at a bargain price against Cody Reed.

Hunter Pence is 4-5 with a double and two solo homers off of Godley. Andrew McCutchen is 3-4 with a double and a run scored against Godley.

Andrew Romine could be a great cheap option if he is in the lineup. Romine is the only Tiger to hit a homer off of Jake Junis. He is 3-5 with a double, that homer, two runs scored, and two RBI against Junis.

Next: MLB DFS Picks and Pivots

Good luck out there, and check out our picks for FanDuel baseball, along with our PGA picks. We also have the NBA still winding out the season, but DFS is still going strong!