DraftKings MLB Picks April 15: Can Bauer overpower the Mariners?

FanDuel MLB: LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 29: Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on from the dugtou prior to a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium on May 29, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Picks April 15: Can Bauer overpower the Mariners?

It’s tax day (BOO!), or if you’re a Bostonian, Patriot’s Day (YAY)! For the rest of us, it’s a nine game main baseball slate with one game that starts early. That doesn’t mean it’s boring. Kershaw makes his 2019 debut, and will likely be a hot topic of discussion.

DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Trevor Bauer ($10,400): Seattle’s offense has cooled off a little bit, and Bauer has really good numbers against him. Of course, we have to hope that his hiccup against Detroit was just that – a hiccup. Bauer dominated his first two starts of the season, and could here as well. The Mariners are only hitting .167 in 54 at bats with no homers, four runs, and 15 strikeouts. Bauer is completely worth the price here. He is baseball’s late night hammer.

Aaron Nola ($9,600): A lot of people will be on Thor, and that’s okay. I get it. Pound for pound, he is probably the best pitcher on the slate. However, Nola has much better numbers against the Mets than Thor does against Philly. The Mets are only hitting .241 in 87 at bats with two homers and five runs with a staggering 29 strikeouts. Philly is only hitting .245 against Thor, but they have 15 runs in 143 at bats with only 35 strikeouts.

Luis Castillo ($9,500): There’s a lot of risk here, but Castillo has baffled the Dodgers in a limited sample size. The Dodgers are only hitting .206 with two homers and three runs in 34 at bats and they have struck out a whopping 14 times. There’s plenty of upside here, but this could also go wrong in a big way. How big of a risk are you willing to take?

Middle Tier:

Joey Lucchesi ($9,000): Colorado is only hitting .217 in 46 at bats against Lucchesi with just one homer and three runs with 12 strikeouts. Those are all solid numbers. Solid enough to put Lucchesi in great consideration here. The Rockies are not all that great on the road offensively. The problem here is all of the big right handed bats. There is still risk here.

Trevor Richards ($8,200): Richards has been the victim of poor offense here. He has racked up 18 strikeouts in 18 innings while allowing only four runs. The bad news is that all of those were allowed at home. There is always risk using a righty against the Cubs offense, but Richards has been good at home. He has a 3.86 career ERA in 14 starts at Marlins Park.

Bargain Pitchers:

Yusei Kikuchi ($7,700): There’s not a ton to like about Kikuchi here. His transition to the majors hasn’t gone all that smoothly. He has been knocked around a little lately, but this Cleveland offense is in a pitcher’s park and hasn’t been all that potent most of the year anyway. There is decent upside here if you need to go cheap and Santana just isn’t an option.

Ervin Santana ($5,300): Santana got beat like a rented mule by the Rays in his first start of the season, so there is massive risk here. However, if you want to stack the big bats, and there are a lot of great stack options, you need to go cheap somewhere. All of them are a risk, but not all of them are playing the Royals. The Royals have hit .264 against Santana in 106 at bats, but only have three homers and nine runs. The strikeouts are low, but so is the price.

My picks: Bauer, Richards

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 07: Joey Gallo #13 of the Texas Rangers swings at a pitch in the second inning during the MLB game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on April 07, 2019 in Anaheim, California. Gallo hit the pitch for a two-run homerun. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB stack options

Miami Marlins vs. Yu Darvish:

Darvish isn’t right. Everyone who has watched him this spring and in the early going can see that. That is the only reason I’m even considering using the Marlins against Darvish here. The past stats are terrible. I am rolling with what’s going on this year. Starlin Castro, Miguel Rojas, Granderson, Austin Dean, and Alfaro are all on my radar.

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Martin Perez:

The velocity has been up for Perez, but all that has meant is the ball flies farther when the hitters hit it. His numbers haven’t been great. The Blue Jays are hitting .393 against Perez with a homer and four runs in 28 at bats. It’s a small sample size, but Toronto has a lot of right handed power. Teoscar Hernandez has the homer. Luke Maile has two RBI, Justin Smoak is 7-18(.389), but the doesn’t have much to show for it. Randal Grichuk, Freddy Galvis, and Lourdes Gurriel all look really good too.

Texas Rangers vs. Matt Harvey:

The Rangers are hitting .314 with a homer and seven runs in just 35 at bats. Joey Gallo has a three run bomb for his only hit off of Harvey. Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo stand out here, but Harvey gets pummeled by righties as well. Elvis Andrus looks very good here as well. We couls chase the power of Hunter Pence here or go with Delino DeShields instead. I don’t think there is a bad pick.

Los Angeles Angels vs. Shelby Miller:

Just stack this game. The Angels are hitting .354 with two homers and 11 RBI in 79 at bats against Miller. Justin Bour has both homers, so he’s a given. Even with the wind blowing in, I don’t care. That may make Mike Trout, Andrelton Simmons, and Lucroy more attractive options, but as with the Rangers hitters, I’m not sure there is a bad pick here.

Chicago White Sox vs. Heath Fillmyer:

The White Sox haven’t hit lefties all that well, but Fillmyer is one of three pitchers with negative points on the season. Tim Anderson and Jose Abreu have homered off of him before. Yoan Moncada, Yonder Alonso, and Leury Garcia all look outstanding here as well.

San Diego Padres vs. Antonio Senzatela:

Senzatela is the one likely to take the ball for the first time this year, and the Padres offense is looking really good right now. There’s a lot of power in this lineup, so taking a shot with a couple of them seems to be the way to go. What about all of them? Why not? Fernando Tatis, Manny Machado, Hunter Renfroe, Eric Hosmer, and Franmil Reyes are all worth a look.

MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 12: Rhys Hoskins #17 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a RBI single in the third inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on April 12, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB daily notes:

Rhys Hoskins is 4-9 with two homers against Thor. He’s a great one-off play, but DraftKings didn’t do us any favors on the pricing. Odubel Herrera has the other homer against Syndergaard, but he is just 2-20. Bryce Harper is solid enough at 7-24(.292) with three RBI and four steals, but he’s even higher than Hoskins.

More from FanSided

Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith have the homers against Nola, but neither have good career numbers. Conforto is really the only one I would consider.

Rizzo is always a slow starter, but he seems to be coming around. You could throw him and the red hot Jason Heyward at Richards, but he’s a strong pitcher. I don’t think I want a lot of exposure here, especially considering it’s a pitchers park.

Dakota Hudson has not allowed a lot of hits to the Cardinals, but the ones he has have hurt. Three of the six hits he allowed have been homers. Travis Shaw, Moose, and Yelich have the homers. They are an expensive three man stack, but I like all of them.

Freddy Peralta has given up a ton of runs this year. If it weren’t for the high number of strikeouts, he may be in the negatives for points this year. I’m not going to spend nearly $9,000 on him chasing strikeouts against a team that doesn’t strike out a lot. Goldy and Jedd Gyorko have homered off of him already. Don’t be shocked if Matt Carpenter adds his name to that list.

Matt Shoemaker has been dominant this year, but two of those starts were against Detroit and Baltimore, two of the worst offenses in the league. Minnesota has slugged five homers off of him already and scored 14 runs in 83 at bats. Nelson Cruz is 8-28(.286) with two homers and six RBI. I want Cruz for sure and maybe Max Kepler, but beyond that, Shoemaker is pitching well enough to give me pause.

Not a believer in Ervin Santana? I get it. Alex Gordon is 12-49(.245) with eight walks, two homers, and six RBI against Santana. Lucas Duda is 5-14 with a homer and three RBI. Whit Merrifield is 7-17. If you want to go after him, those are the guys to use.

Joc Pederson and David Freese have the homers against Luis Castillo, but honestly, I see so many other ways to attack this slate. Brian is going to tell you to stack the Dodgers. I’m not sure I want to. Castillo may shut them down again.

You may want to throw Trevor Story at Lucchesi since he has homered off of him before, but that was in Colorado. If I’m taking a shot with any Rockies player, it will be with Nolan Arenado.

Joey Votto is only 5-25 against Kershaw, but he has both Reds homers and four of the seven RBI off of him. I hate Kershaw for the price since there is a whole lot of uncertainty about his workload in his season debut, but this is a place where you take a chance on Kershaw and come out of the other end smelling like roses. There is big potential even in five innings.

There isn’t a lot of offense I like out west, but Jose Ramirez looks good against Kikuchi.

dark. Next. DraftKings pitcher primer April 15

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