FanDuel Lineup and picks for Sunday, April 15th

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ST. LOUIS, MO – APRIL 10: Matt Carpenter #13 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates after hitting a two-off walk-run home run against the Milwaukee Brewers in the eleventh inning at Busch Stadium on April 10, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Third Base, High End Spend

Matt Carpenter, $3,800

.545/.571/.636 with 0 HR in 38 at-bats

The Cardinals third baseman is pricey given his current level of production, but he’s almost a sure lock for me today. The high end of third base is just OK and I’ll take the small discount on Carpenter. He’s a good on base player, which makes the floor a little bit higher.

It’s almost impossible to see a pitcher this well without hitting a home run and that could come as soon as today. Carpenter is striking out more against righties than normal to start the season and Bailey hasn’t had a high strikeout rate yet. Typically, Carpenter is excellent against righties and gets to play in a good ball park today.

Also Consider – Jose Ramirez, $4,300

Mid-Range

Luis Valbuena, $2,800

N/A

If this seems like it’s familiar, it’s because the Angels third baseman was featured in this spot yesterday and he paid it off by going yard. The Angels get a highly unproven lefty in Eric Skoglund today and he has an extremely poor track record in his 20-ish innings of work. His ERA is over 9, his WHIP is over 2.00, he’s giving up fly balls at a 43.5 percent clip and possesses a hard contact rate 36 percent.

I’m not sure how often I’ll type this during the year, but literally any Angels bat is in play. they have a ton of righty bats and are just crushing the ball so far this year. Kauffman Stadium isn’t always the best hitting environment but that doesn’t matter to me today. As much as I want to play Ohtani, I might just reserve four spots for a full Angels stack.

Also Consider – Ryan Flaherty, $3,000

Value

There’s truthfully not a ton at the bottom of the barrel, it appears. Danny Valencia is usually attractive against a lefty but it’s hard to believe that he’ll find success against not of the best in the business in Chris Sale. Likewise, Ryan McMahon is a highly touted prospect that should see playing time with Nolan Arenado suspended. Paying for him against Strasburg when he’s been a bench warmer doesn’t see advisable.