FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Monday, April 16th

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Welcome into the Monday edition of the FanDuel daily baseball column! We have a 10 game slate on tap tonight so let’s get rolling!

We’ve got an interesting slate ahead of us but before we get to that, we have to discuss Sunday’s results. In short, they were absolutely awful in large part because the Kansas City/Los Angeles Angels game was postponed. It was beyond annoying that it happened because the forecast was 36 degrees and no precipitation was being called for. I never thought it would get called and truly apologize for anyone that played that game on my advice. If it makes you feel any better, Trout and Upton were both over 20 percent owned and I lost too. I play what I put out and got bit the same way. Let’s move onto what should be a better day and win it back right away.

CHICAGO, IL – APRIL 10: Blake Snell #4 of the Tampa Bay Rays pitches during a game against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 10, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. The Rays won 6-5. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Blake Snell /

Starting Pitcher, High End Spend

We may not do this very often but there might not be a clear cut high end spend this evening. There’s a lot of talented players in some pretty awful spots. Jacob DeGrom is at home but the Nationals have very good offense. Aaron Nola is on the road against Atlanta(who may have a fresh young face in the lineup). If you go by the metrics, both James Paxton and Dallas Keuchel are unplayable. If you have to spend up, I would slightly lean towards DeGrom, who has mystified the Nationals in his career. He’s held the roster to a .195 average while striking out the Nats 34.3 percent of the time. It’s just tough to put a lot of faith into a dominant result.

Mid-Range

Blake Snell, $7,100

N/A

You never know exactly what you’ll get with the young starter for the Tampa Rays. He’s got a 10 point game this year and a 55 right after that. He should get somewhat of a pass for the 10 point effort as he got bit in Yankee Stadium. That’s going to happen a lot this year. He held the Boston offense scoreless for 5 2/3 innings in his first start. He’ll draw the Texas Rangers tonight who rank no better than 18th in MLB vs lefties in average, ISO, OPS, and wOBA. They also strike out over 20 percent of the time. There’s potential for a big game from Snell tonight while the danger of him getting blitzed is always there as well. Still, on a night that is as weird as this one with pitching, he’s not the worst option.

Value

Jaime Garcia, $6,500

.318(14 for 44), 19.2 strikeout rate

With there not being a total clear cut option tonight, Garcia carries some extra appeal when looking at how bad the Royals are against lefties in 2018. They’re striking out at the seventh highest clip in the league. The only pitch Garcia throws that the Royals are above average at so far is his changeup, and that’s under 16 percent of the time in 2018. Kansas City is eighth in batting average but have zero power numbers. They rank 23rd in OPS, 29th in ISO, and 24th in wOBA. Garcia is pitching at home in a great metrics-based matchup for under $7,000.