April 11th: MLB DFS DraftKings Tiers Early Only Advice

April 11th: MLB DFS DraftKings Tiers Early Only Advice

Welcome back readers of FantasyCPR, are you tired of picking pitchers that get blown up on a daily basis? Or do you want a simplified version of MLB DFS where you can focus on a shorter core group of players? I have your game, it’s called DraftKings Tiers contest, where hitters are the only players that get points. Scoring reflects the exact same DraftKings scoring that you are use to, the only difference is you have decide which of these 6-10 players are going to finish with the highest score in their group. If you correctly select each player right in every tier, you are going to win all of the money.

Let’s dive into my picks for the early only slate today:

DraftKings Tier 1:

Player Pool: 

Cody Bellinger, LAD

Domingo Santana, SEA

Adalberto Mondesi, KC

Jose Ramirez, CLE

Analysis: 

Adalberto Mondesi is my top pick of this range due to his combination of power and speed against a pitcher that pitches to contact. Mondesi has really yet to get it going from a steals perceptive as he has only stolen one base so far this season. However, this matchup sets up really well for him as if you dive into the pitch type against Mike Leake, it pops up favorable.

Adalberto Mondesi: (wOBA / ISO / Hard Hit%)

v. Sinker (32%) – 0.484 / 0.300 / 36.36%

v. Changeup (26%) – 0.279 /  0.070 / 37.50%

v. Cutter (22%) – 0.707 / 0.857 / 50%

Mondesi do not possess double dong potential, but he can be a guy that can hit balls into the gap and take easy doubles and triples. Plus, he has the ability to steal multiple bases at any point in the game.

Cody Bellinger comes in second, in this range for me. Michael Wacha has not been great to start the year and Bellinger projects really well against his pitch types. Unlike Mondesi, Bellinger probably has the highest ceiling of the range as he can double dong at nearly any point. Here’s his pitch type data:

Cody Bellinger (wOBA / ISO / Hard Hit %)

v. FB (39%) – 0.378  / 0.295 / 49.71%

v. CH (28%) – 0.341 / 0.220 / 28.95%

My Pick: Adalberto Mondesi, KC 

DraftKings Tier 2:

Player Pool: 

Daniel Vogelbach, SEA

Trey Mancini, BAL

Edwin Encarncion, SEA

Whit Merrifield, KC

Jonathan Villar

Analysis:

Trey Mancini is on fire right now. I do not love this range of players, I think there is a decent chance that Edwin Encarncion is not even going to be in the lineup tomorrow. Nobody in the range has amazing numbers against the opposing pitchers pitch type, so I will take the hottest player in the range and move on.

Mancini (wOBA / ISO  / Hard Hit %)

v. CH (59%) – 0.290 / 0.140 / 17.14%

v. Sinker (41%) – 0.411 / 0.176 / 32%

My Pick: Trey Mancini, BAL 

DraftKings Tier 3:

Player Pool: 

Kike Hernandez, LAD

Paul Goldschmidt, STL

Khris Davis, OAK

Mitch Haniger, SEA

Max Muncy, LAD

Joc Pederson, LAD

Analysis: 

Let’s make this range really quick, DraftKings made a mistake and he should be 100-percent owned in this range, but we know that he won’t be. Khris Davis should be in the first group of players, however, he comes in hidden in this tier. Not sure that there is a hotter hitter in baseball currently and he is coming off a double dong game. Khris Davis also projects extremely well against Dylan Bundy’s pitch type. Also doesn’t hurt that the Baltimore bullpen has been the worst bullpen in the MLB so far this season.

Khris Davis (wOBA/ ISO / Hard Hit %)

v. FB (50%) – 0.427 / 0.393 / 46.82%

v. Slider (40%) – 0.321 / 0.280 / 41.44%

My pick: Khris Davis, OAK 

DraftKings Tier 4:

Player Pool: 

Jay Bruce, SEA

Ryon Healy, SEA

Mallex Smith, SEA

Justin Turner, LAD

Derek Dietrich, CIN

Ramon Laureano, OAK

Joey Votto, CIN

Analysis: 

Jay Bruce is the main draw here in terms of matchup and favorable pitch type, however, I think Bruce is going to end up missing this game today.

Joey Votto is going to my move here. I love the ballpark in a favorable matchup against Pablo Lopez. Votto has had a disappoint start to 2019, but in this group of players there is nobody simply comparable if Jay Bruce is out of the lineup. Votto is great at putting the ball in play and when you do that at Great American ballpark, good things are capable of happening.

Votto: (wOBA / ISO / Hard Hit %)

v. FB (31%) – 0.452 / 0.289 / 45.33%

v. CH (27%) – 0.369 / 0.185 / 35.97%

v. Sinker (27%) – 0.420 / 0.165 / 40.59%

v. Curve (15%) – 0.457 / 0.301 / 33.33%

My Pick: Joey Votto, CIN 

DraftKings Tier 5:

Player Pool: 

Paul DeJong, STL

Alex Gordon, KC

Dee Gordon, SEA

Matt Chapman, OAK

Marcus Semien, OAK

Chad Pinder, OAK

Mark Canha, OAK

Scott Schebler, CIN

Analysis:

Marcus Semien has been really good in his previous three games against Baltimore, posting 40 DraftKings points in just three short games. Semien has the kind of speed/ power combination that we are looking for to produce the top score out of this group.

More from FanSided

• Thunder projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
• NWSL Challenge Cup news: Courage ruthless against Washington, Racing remain perfect
• 2023 Women’s World Cup: Ary Borges and Brazil showed the entire world what they are about
• Trea Turner’s rough season goes from bad to worse
• Brewers attempt to troll Elly De La Cruz backfires 456 feet

Marcus Semien: (wOBA / ISO / Hard Hit %)

v. FB (50%) – 0.371 / 0.257 / 35.29%

v. Slider (39%) – 0.271 / 0.109 / 24.37%

While Semien is probably the safest play of the range, Matt Chapman has better pitch type numbers coming off an eruption spot last night.

Matt Chapman: (wOBA / ISO / Hard Hit %)

v. FB (50%) – 0.351 / 0.284 / 42.48%

v. Slider (39%) – 0.305 / 0.217 / 33.72%

Chapman is my favorite upside play in this range.

My Pick: Matt Chapman, OAK   

DraftKings Tier 6:

Player Pool: 

Kolten Wong, STL

Carlos Santana, CLE

Stephen Piscotty, OAK

Nick Castellanos, DET

Matt Carpenter, STL

Corey Seager, LAD

Curtis Granderson, MIA

Alex Verdugo, LAD

Analysis: 

Carlos Santana is the player that pops off the top to me immediately when looking at this range. Santana hits Sinkers and fastballs well and he also has the platoon advantage. Santana is in the heart of the Indians order, already posting a batting average close to 0.400.

Santana (wOBA / ISO / Hard Hit %)

v. Sinker (45%) – 0.426 / 0.296 / 46.64%

v. Curve (23%) – 0.339 / 0.210 / 21.82%

v. FB (22%) – 0.370 / 0.233 / 37%

My Pick: Carlos Santana 

Best of luck to those playing the tiers contest, today, if I don’t win, I hope all of you do! Check out more of our content on FantasyCPR!