DraftKings MLB Early Picks March 28: Mad Max or deGrom?

CHICAGO, IL – APRIL 06: A general view of Wrigley Field as renovations continue before the Opening Day game Monday between the Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates as seen during a media walk through at on April 6, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Early Picks March 28: Mad Max or deGrom?

We have all 30 teams in action on Opening Day. Many take that day thing to heart. Five teams have first pitch and 1:05 eastern. That makes up the early DraftKings MLB slate.

DraftKings MLB Early Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Max Scherzer ($11,100): The current Mets roster is hitting just .196 against Scherzer, but they do have 11 homers and 20 runs in only 138 at bats. The 57 strikeouts really helps the upside, but a lot of that goes away with all of those runs. On top of that, everyone and their friends are going to play Max here. You can gain some separation by fading, but it’s certainly risky. However, when you look at the past stats, it could be a risk worth taking.

Jacob deGrom ($10,500): Running against Max is never a great idea, but I understand it here. The Nationals are only hitting .173 against deGrom with only three homers and 13 runs in 173 at bats with 60 strikeouts. Examined by itself, deGrom is the clear cut top option. However, his chances of beating Scherzer are slim, and you will lose some points via strikeout.

Middle Tier:

Aaron Nola ($9,700): The Braves are only hitting.237 in 135 at bats against Nola with four homers and 11 runs with 28 strikeouts. He also has excellent win potential against Teheran. Is that worth the price bump though? Nola’s numbers are good, but not great. Is Nola going to be that much better than Tanaka? It’s Opening Day, Tanaka should still be healthy for now.

Masahiro Tanaka ($9,300): The Orioles are not a good team. The fact that the current Orioles only have 64 at bats against Tanaka should tell you something. This team is mostly young and all terrible. The .266 average against is a bit off putting, but the 13 strikeouts in 64 at bats is a solid total for a second arm. I don’t think I would use Tanaka as an ace, but I can definitely see it. I can make my job a whole lot easier and just say stream any pitcher against the Orioles, and I do mean any pitcher.

Bargain Pitchers:

Marcus Stroman ($6,900): Stroman has dominated the Tigers, holding them to a .179 average in 39 at bats, but they have mustered six runs in that span. The eight strikeouts is nothing to write home about either. Stroman is a ground ball pitcher, but the closed roof in Toronto isn’t going to do him any favors.

Andrew Cashner ($4,500): “You need to ask yourself one question: Do you feel lucky? Do you, punk?” Yeah, I feel a bit dirty like Harry Callahan for even thinking about Cashner here, but his past stats against the Yankees aren’t horrible. I know, ringing endorsement. Pitching rules April. If that holds true, Cashner could be solid. He has only allowed 16 runs in 163 at bats to the Yankees, but has just 27 strikeouts and a fairly high WHIP. If you use Max, you need some value. Where are you going to go for that? Believe it or not, you can do worse than Cashner here.

PHOENIX, AZ – AUGUST 27: Paul Goldschmidt #44 of the Arizona Diamondbacks waits for a throw while covering first base as Matt Carpenter #13 of the St Louis Cardinals dives back to the base during the first inning at Chase Field on August 27, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB: Early stack options

Milwaukee Brewers against Miles Mikolas:

Mikolas is going to be somewhat popular, but teams started to figure him out down the stretch last year. On top of that, the Brewers slugged four homers and picked up nine runs off of him in only 79 at bats. Travis Shaw and Manny Pina were a combined 9-19 off of Mikolas. Lorenzo Cain and Eric Thames had the other homers, but not the success of Shaw or Pina.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Jhoulys Chacin:

The Cards are hitting .277 with four homers and 25 runs in only 137 at bats against Chacin. Matt Carpenter and Paul Goldschmidt are the places to start here. Combined, they have two of the homers and 11 RBI. Yadier Molina and Jose Martinez have the other homers, but not much success otherwise. I would rather use Dexter Fowler‘s 5-8 with six runs, three doubles, and two RBI. Marcell Ozuna is a strong 6-12 in his career off of Chacin with four RBI.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Julio Teheran

If you aren’t using Bryce Harper here, you hate money. Harper is 18-40 with eight homers and a staggering 19 RBI in his career against Teheran. This is one place not to ignore BvP. The rest of the Phillies have a combined 11 homers and 26 RBI against Teheran, so this isn’t really the place for a one off. Fade the Yankee stack. Aim for Teheran or Chacin. Odubel Herrera has three homers off of Teheran. Andrew McCutchen, Jean Segura, and Cesar Hernandez have two each. Aaron Altherr and Realmuto have the others.

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA – MARCH 09: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits in the first inning during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on March 09, 2019 in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB daily notes:

Aaron Judge has a homer off of Andrew Cashner, but he is only 2-11 against him lifetime. Greg Bird and Didi Gregorius have the other homers, but I’m still not sure how much exposure I want to this. Yankee hitters are going to be highly owned, even in GPP’s.

joey Rickard, Trey Mancini, and Chris Davis have all slugged homers against Tanaka. Still, there is not much potential for the Baltimore offense here. You can use one of them hoping to get a cheap homer, but there’s a good chance it’s either 14 or 0 from any of the three.

More from FanSided

The Mets-Nationals game is the land of one-offs, especially if you are looking to leverage against whichever pitcher you left out of your build. Ryan Zimmerman has two homers and eight RBI against deGrom. Trea Turner has the other homer, but it still relatively expensive.

On the other side, Michael Conforto is the perfect one-off. He is 8-23 with four homers and five RBI against Scherzer. Travis d’Arnaud has homered off of Mad Max twice, but is just 3-18 lifetime. Keon Broxton‘s only at bat against Scherzer ended with a solo homer.

Nick Markakis is relatively cheap, and he has two homers and four RBI against Aaron Nola. Freddie Freeman has a homer and five RBI. Josh Donaldson actually carries a nice average with him. He is 3-5 with a solo shot and four walks against Nola.

The Blue Jays don’t have much of a history against Jordan Zimmerman, and with the way Zimmerman pitched down the stretch last year, I’m not sure how heavily I want to go after him. This is a spot I feel many till try to put in a mini stack with Yankees, but with who? Justin Smoak has the only homer against Zimmerman in 49 at bats for the Jays. This is a team without much power. How much exposure do you want?

I don’t really want to go after Stroman either, but Jeimer Candelario and Nick Castellanos have homered off of him before. Castellanos hit a grand slam, but it is his only hit in nine at bats against Stroman.

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