FanDuel Lineup and picks for Sunday, April 15th

1 of 7

Welcome into the Sunday edition of the FanDuel daily fantasy baseball column! There’s ten games on the slate so let’s get rolling with baseball goodness.

As always, we’ll get started with yesterday’s results. The Early slate flirted with disaster for most of the day. Ownership percentages were compressed with only four games on the slate and our big spend in Mookie Betts left the game injured. We somehow navigated that, a very chalky J.D. Martinez, and a wild ninth inning in Chicago to hang on by the sun of our teeth with a score of 164.2, largely due to Dansby Swanson and his big game.

The Main slate saw the best streak since the Undertaker at WrestleMania finally come to a halt as a score of 131.8 juts missed the cut line. I finished no further back than 10 points in everything I played. my biggest frustration was leaving Kyle Seager off the lineup. I was on him last night and just liked my pivots a little better. Everyone else liked him too as he was very highly owned and went off for over 30 FanDuel points. As the saying goes, you can’t win them all. It’s time to start a new streak today!

ANAHEIM, CA – APRIL 08: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Angels pitches in the game against the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on April 8, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

Starting Pitcher, High End Spend

Chris Sale, $11,200

.197(23 for 117), 31.8 strikeout rate

You’re going to have your choice of pitcher on this slate. Five pitchers are over $10,000 today. There’s four bona fide aces and that doesn’t even count Shohei Ohtani, Dylan Bundy, or Carlos Martinez. Maybe we’ll finally see some less chalky options today. If you want to spend all the way up, Chris Sale is your man.

The matchup may not look like it’s the greatest when you look at the advanced stats. Baltimore has plenty of power righty bats and are in the top 12 in MLB in many offensive categories against lefties so far this year. The key is they’re striking out at a 26.7 rate and it’s Chris Sale. He’s one of the best pitchers in baseball and he’s at home. He’s the clear top-dollar play, even if he’s not a slam dunk on this slate.

Also Consider – Stephen Strasburg, $10,200

Mid-Range

Shohei Ohtani, $10,500

N/A

The two-way superstar takes the mound today and he gets a Royals team that can’t hit righty pitching in 2018. They rank 23rd in batting average, 26th in OPS, 26th in ISO, and 25th in wOBA. Now they face a pitcher who can throw 99 MPH heat and follow that up with a nasty splitter. The Royals haven’t been striking out a lot but they also haven’t been up against Ohtani.

The price has come up by a lot but he’s definitely a worthwhile option if not spending all the way up today. It’s actually kind of funny he’s already at a higher price point than a player like Gerrit Cole. He may even come in at a little lower ownership percentage due to the other aces on the mound. Frankly, it’s just going to be fun to play at least one or two lineups with him today.

Also Consider – Luis Severino, $10,100

Value

Carlos Martinez, $8,700

.263(25 for 95), 16.0 strikeout rate

When the pitching is as high end as it is today, $8,700 looks like a real bargain. Martinez has literally been all over the map in three starts. He’s scored 16, 65, and 31 FanDuel points so far. Anytime a pitcher is in Great American Ballpark, it can be scary. However, the Reds rank 17th or worse in every major offensive statistic so far this season. The one they rank 17th in is batting average and that’s only at .232.

Cincinnati is fifth worst in strikeout rate vs. the handedness, which could help the ball stay in the yard. Martinez may not be the safest on the board and is definitely a GPP play. As evidenced by his results so far, Martinez could put up any type of score today. He should fly under the radar with the plethora of options on the table.