FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups: April 1

Welcome BACK to the FanDuel MLB Daily Lineups article. We’re a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you build a DFS MLB optimal lineup for each slate.

Our FanDuel MLB picks on Saturday were fantastic for the Early Only slate and so-so for the Main slate. Trea Turner remains hot, and was a fantastic play yesterday as well, but Victor Robles also continues to be a fantastic value option, as fantasy baseball players continue to fade him (for some reason).

Jeff McNeil ($2,800) is off to a hot start for the Mets and continued to be a great play on Saturday with a triple, a double, two singles, and two RBI’s and Runs. Yoan Moncada was also one of many solid White Sox and Royals offensive plays we targeted, allowing us to pile up nearly 200 FanDuel MLB points for the slate.

Brandon Woodruff was a solid starting pitcher option, giving us 30 FanDuel MLB points with the win over the Cardinals, and the Mariners and Dodgers were fantastic stacks. You just had to have the ‘right’ stacks to make it work. For example, if you had Joc Pederson in your lineup, you had over 43 points from one play.

We’ll look to try and replicate many of the same successful picks we’ve had over the weekend, for Monday. There are there games for the FanDuel MLB early only slate, starting at 1pm ET and 4pm ET, which we’re fading today. There are also two game starting around 6:45pm ET which FanDuel MLB does NOT count int heir Main slate.

So, unless you’re playing the Early Only or All Day slate, you’re fading the first four games of the day. For this article, we’ll focus only on those Main slate games, starting beyond 7pm ET, but you can use these pick ideas for your All Day slate as well.

Before we get there, a reminder to never take a DFS MLB optimal lineup as ‘bible’ for your personal lineup each day. Use the suggestions as guidance. Also, make sure you follow final lineup thoughts throughout the day on our twitter account @FantasyCPR or me @MattyMcMatt17 look for late breaking lineup news.

Weather Note: We’re not expecting and delays or postponements on Monday. Although, there is currently some wet weather in the Oakland area, which we should keep an eye on. That game aside, we mostly stay dry. 

But a major early-spring cold front plunged into the U.S. yesterday, and temperatures will be quite chilly for most of the games on Monday. Also, we should expect some wind impacting a few games.

With weather-related considerations addressed, let’s get to the top pitching options…

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitchers

This is probably one of the least straight-forward MLB DFS slates for pitching so far this season. That’s great, because it presents better opportunity to differentiate our lineups. However, the down-side is we now have significantly more risk at play. But, higher risk, typically leads to a higher reward!

While Kyle Hendricks ($9,000) is a tempting play to fade David Price ($9,300), I’m not confident Hendricks mows down many Braves, now finally playing in their home SunTrust ballpark. SunTrust is notoriously become a hitters park, and the Braves have impressive offense, which likely wakes up after a tough series in Philly this past weekend.

Sean Newcomb ($7,700) is not a great fade option either, as he’s teetering on losing a starting rotation place for the Braves. And while Steven Matz ($8,200) has a solid match up against the Marlins, he also had a high 1.55 home runs per nine innings in the second half of last season.

Matz is still a solid play, but if you’re going to pay over $8K for a pitcher, just pay up for Price. Yes, Price is chalky and the wind is blowing out in Oakland today, so there’s some risk even with this play against the A’s, but Price is you’re best shot to get Quality Start points in the Monday Main slate, has the best shot at winning, and likely gets at least five K’s.

Looking at the rest of the starting pitchers, it’s surprisingly loaded with current and/or former relief pitchers. So, analyzing their metrics is tricky, as the results are quite misleading.

For example, Ryne Stanek ($5,500) has a high 10.52 K’s per nine innings rate from the 2nd half of last season, but Stanek typically doesn’t pitch more than two innings, even with a start. So your point potential from Ryne is very low, sub-20.

But, one value play I love is Julio Urias ($7,200). I would imagine most of the MLB DFS industry is all over this, but he’ll still likely be a lower ownership type of play given the average player may not be paying attention to what’s going on with the Dodgers rotation this spring.

Urias is one of the Dodgers best young pitching prospects. But, like Walker Buehler from last season, Julia is one his way back from a big injury leading to surgery, which almost ended his career.

Many fantasy baseball players are curious to see if Urias will have innings capped this season, but if how the Dodgers handled Walker last season is any indication of how Urias will be managed, that shouldn’t be a concern.

Still, there is some risk with this play. We don’t know if Urias will last more than five innings today, even if he’s pitching a gem. But, even if he doesn’t, I love how I’m getting at least around 30 FanDuel MLB points from Urias, while keeping a ton of salary for big offensive plays. And the upside here is around 50 points, which would be HUGE.

FanDuel MLB: Top Hitting Stacks

For the same reason picking a pitcher who isn’t David Price tonight was tough, picking the right offensive stack is equally as challenging. Why? Well, frankly, you could focus on practically every offense. The Athletics are likely the only team I’m not interested in tonight, but we are expecting a generally high-scoring baseball day, today.

That being said, there are a few offenses I’m definitely paying up for, and some sneaky value plays I’m hoping most players fade today. We start, with the Dodgers staying at home against Giants southpaw Drew Pomeranz.

While Drew was a hot pitching commodity when he was in San Diego, he looked dreadful for the Red Sox in the second half of last season, loading up a terrible 5.56 xFIP, second worst of any starting pitcher in this slate.

Pomeranz doesn’t give up a ton of home runs, only 1.22 per nine in the second half of last season, but the Dodgers are absolutely crushing the ball in L.A. already this season. Also, Drew’s 1.70 WHIP during the same period last year, indicates we could get a ton of runs and RBI’s from a Dodgers stack, even with a lower HR total.

Will the Dodgers be chalky today? Yes, likely. I also like the Mariners against Chris Stratton in Seattle for all the same reasons. And, the Mariners will likely also be very chalky. But, both teams have red-hot MLB DFS players in their roster, and several are still quite affordable.

So, what I’m most likely to do is use a couple mini-stacks, two players from each team, along with some picks from some other lower-owned stacks as well.

The teams I like most, aside from the Dodgers and Mariners, are the Angels against King Felix, who’s career is plummeting, the Cubs against a seriously struggling Sean Newcomb, and the Padres against Merrill Kelly, pitching in a major league game for the first time after spending the last four seasons in South Korea.

Of those three, the Padres are the are the sneakiest and Wil Myers ($3,600) appears to be the best play. From the Cubs, I’m most excited to play Kris Bryant ($4,500), and the Angels offer some solid value from lead-off hitter Kole Calhoun ($2,800).

Looking back at the Dodgers, with a lefty on the mound, it’s most likely Kike Hernandez ($3,300) starts at second for L.A., and Cody Bellinger ($4,200) is smoking hot right and affordable with a pitcher like Urias in your lineup.

And from the Mariners, I’m hoping Tim Beckham ($2,800) doesn’t hit a regression point anytime soon, and Domingo Santana ($3,900) may be the real deal with Seattle, currently hitting .308 with three home runs and 10 RBI’s already.

FanDuel MLB: Summary and Example Lineup for April 1st 2019

Alright, David Price is the obvious chalk at pitcher today, but playing chalky pitching has been a successful way to win DFS MLB match ups. Price is clearly a better option for cash, but he’s even a solid baseline for your GPP plays.

However, we also like the value you can get from Urias, and Matz is a riskier (and more expensive) play but a solid attempt to differentiate your lineup, especially for GPP lineups. Urias, for a value play, will also be chalk, but he presents a better opportunity to really load up your offensive side of the lineup.

Even with Price, I can likely afford a hot Dodgers and Mariners stack. Both offenses are popular right now, but we can’t avoid all of those FanDuel MLB points tonight. However, with the likelihood of many high-runs games on Monday night, we can afford to snag some other mini-stacks, or single players, from other lineups.

Those other offensive teams I like are the Cubs in Atlanta, Angels in Seattle, and the Padres in their own PetCo Park. The Padres are likeliest to be the lowest owned, so I may have at least two in my lineup, while I grab a top play from the Halos and Cubs, like Kris Bryant at the 3B position.

With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the Main FanDuel MLB slate on Monday, April 1st 2019:                                                                       

P                Julio Urias ($7,200)

C/1B         Eric Hosmer ($2,700)

2B             Kiké Hernández ($3,300)

3B             Kris Bryant ($4,500)

SS             Tim Beckham ($2,800)

OF             Wil Myers ($3,600)

OF             Domingo Santana ($3,900)

OF             Cody Bellinger ($4,200)

UTIL          Kole Calhoun ($2,800)

Remaining Salary: $0

Note: This is a recommended lineup after discussing our top options for today. You should use this as a guide, and provide your own input when building FanDuel MLB lineups.  We are not telling you, or selling you, to use this lineup.

Best of luck in your FanDuel MLB contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all your DFS news and analysis across MLB, NFL, PGA, and NASCAR this summer!