Early DraftKings MLB Picks April 11: Buehler? Buehler?

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – APRIL 06: Ji-Man Choi #26 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits an rbi double scoring Tommy Pham #29 against the San Francisco Giants in the top of the first inning of a Major League Baseball game at Oracle Park on April 6, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Early DraftKings MLB Picks April 11: Buehler? Buehler?

We have an even split today with five early and five late games for our DraftKings MLB slates. We don’t really have any aces on either slate, but there are a few matchups that stand out. Who can win us money this afternoon?

DraftKings MLB Early Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Shane Bieber ($9,900): It’s going to be cold and windy in Detroit. Perfect pitching weather. The Tigers did manage to get to Bauer yesterday, but I’ll go back to this well. This is still not a good hitting team. Detroit did hit .310 off of Bieber last year, but only had one run and 11 strikeouts from the current active roster. Facing Turnbull also gives Bieber a great chance at the win.

Walker Buehler ($9,700): Buehler’s slow start and the wind howling out to right is a bit of a concern here, but Buehler just dominated the Cardinals last year. They hit just .140 off of him with 17 strikeouts and no runs in two games. When you couple that with a strong showing at Coors last week, I consider Buehler my top afternoon pick, and he should come with lower ownership than Bieber.

Middle Tier:

Sonny Gray ($8,900): Once again, Gray winds up in an unfriendly pitchers park. He doesn’t generate enough misses to really feel good about him in Cincinnati. However, things could be worse for Gray today. He’s got a light hitting team with the wind blowing in from right. On a short slate, he’s worth considering here. The Marlins are just 2-19 off of him so far. Another thing that Gray has going for him: he only has allowed five fly balls in two starts. The long ball isn’t really the problem.

Spencer Turnbull ($7,900): You can do worse than Turnbull today. Detroit is easily the best park for pitching conditions today. I kind of think most will be on Bieber, which is also a reason to use Turnbull. Turnbull has been solid in his first two starts, and I would expect another solid outing here. Don’t expect miracles, but he could come close to 20 DraftKings points with the weather on his side.

Bargain Pitchers:

Mike Leake ($7,300): Leake has more DraftKings points through two starts than anyone else on this afternoon slate, and he gets a below average Royals offense. Now the bad news: said Royals are hitting .299 against Leake in 77 at bats with five homers and 17 runs. Oh and the wind is blowing out. There is a lot of risk here, especially since Leake allows his fair share of fly balls, but for this price he may be worth a look. There isn’t a ton of pitching value to be had today.

Aaron Brooks ($6,900): You can’t really blame Brooks for being tagged by the Astros last week. With the way pitching is going so far this week, plenty of aces have been destroyed by teams worse than that. The one team that can’t really seem to get it going is the Orioles against righties. Brooks was sharp against Boston in his first start. I expect to see more of that today against the light hitting Orioles.

My picks: Buehler, Brooks

FanDuel MLB: OAKLAND, CA – MARCH 31: Khris Davis #2 of the Oakland Athletics hits a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on March 31, 2019 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB: Early stack options

Cincinnati Reds vs. Pablo Lopez:

Lopez hasn’t been sharp this year, and he’s heading to one of the friendliest hitter’s parks around. The wind doesn’t really start blowing in until the later innings, which I doubt Lopez makes it to. Even if he motors through the first few innings, the Marlins aren’t really letting him over 90 pitches. Then the Reds get the Marlins bullpen, which hasn’t been all that great either. Joey Votto, Schebler, and Derek Dietrich stand out here. Jesse Winker is worthy of a cheap dart if he’s leading off.

Oakland Athletics vs. Dylan Bundy:

Bundy has yet to make it out of the fourth inning, but both of his starts have been against the Yankees. Well, Oakland’s offense looks better than the Yankees right now. Despite the low career average against Bundy, they have hammered four homers in 68 at bats with nine runs. Bundy has solid strikeout totals against Oakland, but I’m riding the power in these hot bats. Khris Davis, Piscotty, Nick Hundley, and Kendrys Morales have the homers so far. I would polish this off with Marcius Semien or a still-too-cheap Jurickson Profar.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Michael Wacha:

The current Dodgers are hitting a robust .373 in 75 at bats against Wacha with a homer and ten runs. A.J. Pollock has hit Wacha the hardest, going 5-10 with three walks, a homer, and four RBI. The only Dodger with an average lower than .250 is Joc Pederson. The rightes are the ones that have hit Wacha hardest, so I like Kike, Justin Turner, and Russell Martin more than Bellinger or Muncy here. Corey Seager looks nice for the price though.

Seattle Mariners vs. Jorge Lopez:

Lopez has been decent so far, but that was against the Tigers and White Sox. The Mariners have scored more runs than both of them combined. If the wind weren’t blown out so hard, I wouldn’t be as high on Seattle, but given the weather and as hot as this offense has been, it’s time to stack up again with the usual suspects. Dan Vogelbach and Jay Bruce are good from the left side, but with the wind blowing out to left, I want more righty power. That’s Domingo Santana, Mitch Haniger, and Tim Beckham.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – APRIL 02: Billy Hamilton #6 of the Kansas City Royals waits to take batting practice prior to a game against the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium on April 02, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB daily notes:

I’m not really on any Marlins here since Gray doesn’t give up a lot of fly balls. This team also isn’t really hitting right now. Curtis Granderson is reasonably priced and leading off, but I have little interest aside from him as a money saving option.

More from FanSided

Christin Stewart is about the only Tiger I have any interest in using right now. There aren’t good hitting conditions today in Detroit anyway. Niko Goodrum could be worth a look as is seems he may be starting to pick it up a little, but there are better places to hunt for offense today.

The Cleveland bats were quiet once again yesterday. Matt Boyd locked them down. I don’t really feel good about any hitters in this game, but if you find a line drive hitter that doesn’t get the ball too far up in the air, I can get on board with that. This feels more like a day to use Leonys Martin and Brad Miller as opposed to paying up for Ramirez.

Buehler was so dominant against the Cardinals last year that I don’t even really see anyone I want to take a shot with. Paul Goldschmidt was 2-6 (both singles) off of him with Arizona last year, but he struck out the other four times.

I just can’t find it within myself to stack Royals right now regardless of their history against Leake. Lucas Duda’s numbers are hard to ignore though. Duda is 8-12 with three homers and five RBI off of Leake. Streaker Whit Merrifield is in play as well, and Billy Hamilton is 8-20 with three steals against Leake. Hamilton is up near the top of the order, and is probably my favorite Royal today.

Next. DraftKings early picks April 10. dark

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