DraftKings MLB Picks April 16: Is deGrom safe against the Nationals?
By Mike Marteny
DraftKings MLB Picks April 16: Is deGrom safe against the Nationals?
The annual Patriot’s Day game has already been called off in Boston. Yesterday, there were a staggering six postponements. Winter has invaded baseball season. Where will it strike today besides Boston?
The Marlins-Yankees tilt has first pitch at 6:30 Eastern, so DraftKings chopped that game off the main slate. It is only available in pick em. The main tournament still has ten games though, so there is plenty to choose from.
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The wind is blowing out to left center in Pittsburgh and out to right in Wrigley. There could be a brisk wind out to right at Citi Field as well. We could see the wind blowing out to right in Oakland as well, but at least there isn’t any rain in the forecast for most of the games.
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
Top Tier:
Jacob deGrom ($11,500): The Nats are only hitting .199 in 151 at bats against deGrom with five homers and 49 strikeouts, but they have scratched together 17 runs. You probably wont see a huge night from deGrom here, but he is going to put up nice numbers.
Hyun-Jin Ryu ($9,700): The current Padres have not faced Ryu much, but the ones that have haven’t fared well. The Padres are only hitting .174 in 23 at bats with only one run and eight strikeouts. Ryu is worth using when the matchup is right. It certainly looks like it is tonight.
Middle Tier:
Reynaldo Lopez ($8,300): Lopez has had two strong starts to open the season, and it should be a third with what looks like a gimme game in Oakland. Daniel Mengden is struggling opposing him, and the A’s have very little left handed power. Lopez could be one of the stronger plays of the night, especially with the strikeout potential he has shown in the early season.
James Paxton ($8,000): Paxton had held his own against Houston in his career so far. The current Astros are hitting .248 with only two homers and 15 runs in 137 at bats. The 30 strikeouts is a little lower than we would like. If this wasn’t in Safeco, I would stay off of Paxton. Paxton is 16-12 with a 3.01 ERA in 37 career starts in Seattle.
Blake Snell ($7,800): Snell has never faced the Rangers before, but there is potential here. Snell racked up ten strikeouts in his last start against the White Sox. If he can control his walks, Snell can put up some pretty big numbers. He has good stuff, he is just more than a little wild. When he’s on, he has shown flashes of brilliance.
Bargain Pitchers:
Adam Wainwright ($6,800): Wainwright has held the Cubs to a .239 average in 109 at bats with just two homers, but they do have 13 runs and only 17 strikeouts. That means that Wainwright wont be able to compensate for mistakes with strikeouts. However, there is a silver lining. Wainwright is 10-2 with a 3.79 ERA in 116.1 career innings at Wrigley. Those are pretty solid numbers for the price.
Julio Teheran ($6,400): Teheran isn’t nearly as bad as he looks against Washington. He has held the Phillies to a .213 average in 141 at bats with only three homers and 11 runs. The 34 strikeouts is not as many as we would hope for, but at this price, Teheran is definitely worth a look. Consdering the way the Braves have hit Aaron Nola, Teheran has a solid chance at a win too.
German Marquez ($6,000): Marquez has dominated the current Pirates lineup so far. The Pirates are only hitting .154 in 26 at bats with just one solo homer to show for their troubles and a whopping nine strikeouts. This is a pitcher’s park, so there is plenty of potential here. However, the wind will be blowing out to right, siphoning some of the value from Marquez.
Top Tier:
The Rockies hit lefties hard, even on the road. Remember what they did to Gio Gonzalez a few days ago? That puts Nolan Arenado and Ian Desmond in play against Steven Brault. NOTE: Arenado may start serving his suspension today, so keep an eye on the news.
Freddie Freeman is 6-17(.353) with three walks, two doubles, a homer, three runs scored, and four RBI in his career against Aaron Nola.
I’m a little hesitant to pay top dollar for Justin Smoak most games, but against Eric Skoglund, he will likely be worth it. Skoglund has a 9.64 ERA this year. Stack Blue Jays righties tonight, starting with Smoak and Russell Martin. Yangervis Solarte is worth a look too.
Joey Votto is already 3-6 with three walks, two doubles, and a run scored against Brent Suter. It’s not just the Cincinnati righties that are in play here. Votto is as well.
Middle Tier:
Willson Contreras is only 2-8 with two walks against Adam Wainwright, but he has a homer and three RBI off of him.
It should come as no surprise that the Dodgers have pounded Luis Perdomo. Cody Bellinger is 1-2 with a walk, a double, and a run against Perdomo. Yasmani Grandal is 3-11 with a walk, two homers, and five RBI in his career against Perdomo.
You wouldn’t expect lefties to hit Jaime Garcia hard, but Lucas Duda and Mike Moustakas have. Moose is 3-5 with a double and a run scored against Garcia. Duda is 2-5 with a walk and a solo homer against Garcia.
Ryan Zimmerman is a rather pedestrian 5-19(.263) against deGrom, but he does have two homers and seven RBI.
Matt Carpenter is cheap, and he is already 2-4 with a walk and a RBI against Tyler Chatwood. Yadier Molina is 2-5 with a double, a run scored, and a RBI.
Maikel Franco comes at a reasonable price, and he is 10-30 with a walk, two doubles, five runs scored, and a RBI against Julio Teheran.
Kyle Seager is 11-42(.262) with a double, two homers, six runs scored, and three RBI in his career against Dallas Keuchel. Keuchel has struggled against Seattle so far, so a Mariners stack may not be a horrible idea.
Josh Bell is just 1-5 against German Marquez, but the hit is a solo homer.
Bargain Shoppers:
Adrian Gonzalez is still really cheap, even with an average righty on the mound and the wind blowing out to right field. AGon is a very nice punt option at first tonight.
C.J. Cron could be a very nice punt play tonight. Cron is 5-18 with a double, a triple, and six RBI in his career against Martin Perez. I wouldn’t be in any hurry to stack Rays under any circumstances, but Cron, Matt Duffy, and Carlos Gomez are definitely in play.
Travis Shaw is 2-5 with a double, a walk, and a run scored so far against Luis Castillo.
Top Tier:
I’m a big fan of DJ LeMahieu tonight with a lefty on the hill. He smacked two homers and a double against Gio Gonzalez. There is good potential here.
Trea Turner is 5-18(.278) with a walk, a double, a homer, four steals, two runs scored, and three RBI in his career against Jacob deGrom.
Carlos Correa is 2-6 with two doubles, two runs scored, and three RBI in his career against James Paxton. Jose Altuve is 5-18 with four walks, a double, a steal, three runs scored, and a RBI off of Paxton.
Middle Tier:
Corey Seager is 7-18(.389) with four runs scored against Perdomo, but has no other counting stats. Chase Utley is 5-17(.294) with a homer and three RBI off of Perdomo.
Addison Russell is 6-15 with a walk, three doubles, a steal, two runs scored, and two RBI in his career against Adam Wainwright. Tommy LaStella is worth a look if he makes it into the lineup LaStella is 2-4 with a walk and a steal against Wainwright.
Jean Segura is 4-15 with a walk, a solo homer, and four runs scored in his career against Dallas Keuchel. Robinson Cano is only 9-39(.231) against Keuchel, but he has a homer and five RBI.
Bargain Shoppers:
Aledmys Diaz is off to a good start in Toronto, and he is facing a BP lefty tonight. He is way too cheap.
Yoan Moncada is really cheap due to his slow start, but there is too much potential to really ignore here. Same with Tim Anderson.
Jurickson Profar and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are pretty good punt plays against Blake Snell. Not much may come out of this, but if you really need to save money, I like these punts more than most since they have a platoon advantage.
Next: Top Outfield Plays
Top Tier:
Jeremy Hellickson has been clobbered by the Mets in his career. Ironically, A.J. Cole had not. At any rate, Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce, and Michael Conforto are all in play with Hellickson on the mound and the wind blowing out to right field.
Rhys Hoskins could be a problem for Julio Teheran. Hoskins is 3-8 with two doubles, a steal, and two RBI off of him so far.
George Springer is only 5-21(.238) against Paxton, but he does have two homers off of him already.
Yasiel Puig is 5-9 with a walk, a steal, four runs scored, and three RBI so far against Luis Perdomo. The Dodgers may not hit Perdomo all that hard, but they do hit him often.
Bryce Harper is a nice play tonight, even against a guy like deGrom. Harper is 9-26(.346) with six walks, two doubles, a solo homer, and five runs scored off of deGrom so far.
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Middle Tier:
Nelson Cruz is 10-30 with six walks, a double, three homers, and six RBI in his career against Dallas Keuchel.
Hunter Renfroe and Jose Pirela are worth a look against a lefty here. Those are about the only Padres that I would consider right now.
Adam Duvall only has one hit in six tries against Brent Suter, but it is a two run homer.
Bargain Shoppers:
Jason Heyward is only 6-23(.261) against Wainwright, but he has a walk, a double, a triple, a homer, two runs scored, and four RBI. Heyward is worth a look if he starts.
Nick Markakis is a name you see on here quite often. Maybe because he hits almost everyone well. Markakis is 5-19 with two walks, two homers, three runs scored, and four RBI in his career against Aaron Nola.
Kevin Pillar and Steve Pearce are worth a look against a struggling lefty. There is plenty of value on this slate.
Ryan Rua hits lefties hard, so he is a solid play against Blake Snell despite his slow start.
Good luck out there, and check out our picks for FanDuel baseball, along with our PGA picks. Still in NBA mode? No worries, we have the NBA DFS covered for the playoffs as well!