FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Monday, April 9th
Welcome into the FanDuel lineup and picks daily fantasy column for Monday! We have another exciting 10 games on tap today in the main slate.
Right off the bat, there’s going to be a major choice to make tonight – Nolan Arenado or Bryce Harper. It’s possible that choice decides if you make money or not. They’re both featured in this article and are both in complete smash spots. It’s going to be a coin flip between the two for the top hitter on the slate.
Tonight looks like a very fun slate but I’m still kicking myself for tinkering to death yesterday. I’m over all the cold weather at this point. There’s been quite a few offenses that are in great spots on paper in the cold and they don’t come through. When Jason Hammel is shutting down an offense like the Indians, that’s just not normal. Hopefully some played the sample lineup and still finished well. Let’s move onto today’s and put yesterday where it belongs- right in the trash.
Starting Pitcher, High End Spend
Noah Syndergaard, $10,800
.352(19 for 54), 23.7 strikeout rate
The big fire balling righty has a sky high upside today. We’ll just look at eh Marlins in 2018 so far, because the 2017 stats don’t do us much good. They traded their entire outfield in the offseason so the 2017 numbers aren’t indicative of the offense. So far this season, Miami is striking out over 25 percent of the time and they have an average, OPS and wOBA against righties of .196, .517 and .244. This numbers are putrid and the ISO is a pathetic .043. Syndergaard gets to pitch in one of the more pitcher friendly parks in MLB. The only reason not to play him is to jam in as many National and Rockie bats that we possibly ca.
Also Consider – Justin Verlander, $10,300
Mid-Range
Zack Godley, $8,400
.371(13 for 35), 19.5 strikeout rate
The career numbers likely would make players a little nervous. However, he’s never pitched in AT&T Park. All the damage the Giants have done to him came in Chase Field before they broke out the humidor. San Francisco appears to be better against righties so far this season but they were awful last year. They didn’t strikeout a ton but they finished last in OPS, ISO, and wOBA against right handed pitching. I tend to believe those numbers are closer to what the Giants are capable of. Godley keeps the ball on the ground and has a very respectable 8.63 K/9 in his career. Combine all of that with a good pitcher’s park and it’s a nice discount to take on Syndergaard in Miami.
Also Consider – Dylan Bundy, $8,600
Value
Miles Mikolas, $6,000
.333(9 for 27), 14.3 strikeout rate
Mikolas looked just OK in his first start this season which came in Milwaukee. Now that it’s not in Miller Park, I’m ready to take a dive with “The Lizard King” at this price. Google why he’s called that if you don’t already know, it’s a harmless story. Milwaukee is striking out at a 30 percent clip so far against righties and are in the bottom half of the league in average, OPS, ISO, and wOBA in 2018. The price tag is especially appealing seeing as how the prices on bats are very high tonight.