FanDuel MLB Lineup and Picks for Thursday, April 26

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Welcome into the Thursday edition of the FanDuel Daily fantasy baseball column! We have a smaller five-game slate today so let’s get to it.

Wednesday night was good to us again. We hit all 50/50s on the back of Brock Holt and Mike Moustakas. We also dodged the bullet of our most expensive player leaving the game after one at at-bat, so I’m pretty happy about that.

We have a split slate for Thursday on FanDuel like we normally do. For today, we’re just going to focus on the five game slate that kicks off at 12:35. There’s a couple of reasons. First, it has one more game which sounds like no big deal but it’s helpful to build a lineup. Secondly, the NFL Draft is tonight which will occupy much of the sports world attention. That, and I’ll be watching the new Avengers movie in the critical hour before lineups lock, I don’t want to leave you guys hanging with a bad lineup. I’m taking that slate “off” to enjoy, although I’ll probably still throw a lineup out on Twitter if you’re interested. Now we just need to figure out who we want to play today.

MILWAUKEE, WI – APRIL 04: Carlos Martinez #18 of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches in the fifth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on April 4, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Carlos Martinez /

Starting Pitcher, High End Spend

Carlos Martinez, $9,500

.252 (27 for 107), 15.3 strikeout rate

There will likely be plenty of folks who are scared off of Martinez as he got waxed against these Mets on Opening Day. Don’t let that be the deciding factor. That game was in New York in freezing cold. Martinez has been on fire since then, scoring at least 31 FanDuel points in the four starts since. He also mixed in two 60-point outings. Martinez is a good pitcher for FanDuel because you don’t lose points for walks. New York is pretty decent against righties and they’re not usually a team we’d want to full on attack. Martinez at home is worth the risk he carries and the strikeout upside is very high. I’ll take the $1,300 savings on Noah Syndergaard in the same game, personally.

Also Consider – Noah Syndergaard, $10,300

Mid-Range

Um, no thank you to these options today. Two are in Yankee Stadium against powerful offenses and two are in Pittsburgh, where the two teams combined to score 34 runs in two games yesterday. Anyone want any piece of that pitching? I didn’t think so. There’s really only one other option I want a piece of today.

Value

Sean Newcomb, $7,100

.250 (4 for 16), 9.5 strikeout rate

Another FanDuel special, Newcomb is in play as a tournament option due to his upside. To be clear, there is considerable downside. The Reds have fared well against lefties so far and Newcomb can be prone to blowup starts. Anyone with his raw stuff will always be interesting and he could carve up Cincinnati today. He could also get wrecked and be out of the game within three innings. The hope is he makes it though five or six while striking out at least eight batters. That would make it a worthwhile play.