FanDuel Lineup and Picks for Saturday, April 28

1 of 7

Welcome into the Saturday edition of the FanDuel daily fantasy MLB column. We’re going to be focused on the evening slate tonight, which is eight games.

Baseball continues to baffle me these past few days. I just can’t seem to figure out the lineup to play, even though plenty of the picks continue to produce. Although it was my fault I played Nicholas Castellanos instead of Michael Brantley, I’m hoping FanDuel doesn’t screw up a slate like they did last night. Pricing Xander Bogaerts and Eugenio Suarez at minimum price messed with too much of the slate. It was silly to have those players at that price, regardless of them just coming off the disabled list.

CINCINNATI, OH – SEPTEMBER 19: Jack Flaherty #32 of the St. Louis Cardinals throws a pitch during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on September 19, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

Starting pitcher, high-end spend

Johnny Cueto, $8,300

.240(49 for 204), 26.8 strikeout rate

Cueto has been absolutely dominating to start the 2018 season. The wily veteran has an ERA of under 0.50 and a WHIP of just .65. Obviously, some trap of regression will come for those numbers but Cueto should be able to piece together a good fantasy outing this evening. The Dodgers are slightly above average against righties but most pitchers don’t throw like Cueto does. His velocity is much lower than most starters and that can really give teams fits. The strikeout ceiling isn’t as high as some others on this slate but he does feel a lot safer. He’s posted a quality start every time out and we can expect another one this evening.

Mid-range

Trevor Williams, $7,100

.419(13 for 31), 13.2 strikeout rate

The pitching on this slate is a little difficult. One of the few mid-range plays could be Williams, who certainly doesn’t have a ton of upside but he just never seems to get hit hard. The Cardinals are a tough offense to keep in check but Williams is pitching in a nice park and typically gets at least the quality start bonus. This is not a cash play by any means but he does save plenty of salary to load up on the bats. The walks have been high but Williams gets enough ground balls to save himself Moore often than not.

Value

Jack Flaherty, $6,200

N/A

Flaherty is young and talented pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and he gets to pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates. That makes things interesting because the Pirates offense hasn’t hit too well against righty pitching. They rank 27th in average, 28th in OPS, 29th in ISO and 28th in wOBA. That’s not good at all and Flaherty has the talent to take advantage of the situation. In his lone start this season, he struck out nine Brewers in five innings. There’s no reason to think he can’t put up a 35 point(or more) performance tonight against the inconsistent Bucco offense.