Early DraftKings MLB Picks April 24: Return of Snellzilla!

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – APRIL 13: Starting pitcher Homer Bailey #21 of the Kansas City Royals throws in the first inning against the Cleveland Indians at Kauffman Stadium on April 13, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

Early DraftKings MLB Picks April 24: Return of Snellzilla!

We have an even split for our DraftKings MLB contests today. There are seven early games, seven late games, and the Braves-Reds tilt that is only available on showdown because they had the audacity to start 25 minutes prior to the rest of the late games. This will focus on the seven early games.

DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Blake Snell ($10,400): Snellzilla is back in the minimum ten days after breaking his toe. The Royals are one of those pesky offenses, but I just can’t bring myself to fade him at home. The only team that has gotten to Snell this year is the Astros in the opener. Even in the Royals’ best game, I don’t see them getting more than three runs. The only worry here would be that Snell’s toe flares up during the game, but that looks like a risk worth taking. We all know what the ceiling is.

Chris Paddack ($9,900): Forgive me if I’m a little nervous for not being all in on a rookie against that Seattle lineup. They have cooled off, but what exactly are we paying for here? Paddack has been brilliant in his first four major league starts, but he has still only completed six innings once. That limits the upside. The strikeouts keep him from having a truly bad game though, and on a short slate where there are questions about all of the options around him, I can get on board with Paddack here.

German Marquez ($9,000): The Nationals struggled against Marquez last year, but they still got three runs off of him despite the lack of baserunners. Marquez still fanned seven of the 27 batters, so there is definite upside here. The dominance Marquez showed at home at the end of 2018 hasn’t carried over to this year though, so I can understand a fade and maybe even a Nationals mini stack. He has given up seven runs in two home starts this year.

Middle Tier:

Clay Buchholz ($7,300): The Giants are going to be easily the worst of the three opponents Buchholz has faced so far, and he came out of the first two starts with a 3.38 ERA. The Giants are hitting a decent .254 against Buchholz, but they only have three homers and seven runs in 114 at bats. The 29 strikeouts isn’t going to turn any heads, but we know what we’re getting from Buchholz, and it’s not strikeouts. I like Buchholz against the average at best Giants lineup.

Felix Hernandez ($7,100): You can take away the stats of Ian Kinsler here, who is a glaring sore spot in the middle of a solid lineup. If you take Kinsler’s four homers and nine RBI (not to mention 21 runs scored) out of here, the Padres are just 15-39 with no homers and one run. ONE! King Felix has been absolutely dominant at Petco Park as well. He is 5-1 with a 1.63 ERA in eight career starts here. He may not be what he once was, but Felix for $7,100 is an acceptable SP2 this afternoon.

Bargain Pitchers:

Aaron Brooks ($6,900): Brooks has pitched much better at home this year. Good enough that it’s worth using him here. This Texas lineup is dangerous, and Brooks isn’t going to pitch a shutout, but he should be able to get enough strikeouts to mitigate the damage and he is practically guaranteed a win. The problem is that a mediocre Toronto lineup got him for five runs last week. There is risk involved with this Texas lineup on the other side, but there are worse things than a guaranteed win for this price.

Jefry Rodriguez ($6,600): Rodriguez was strong in his first start of the year, giving up five hits and two runs in 5.1 innings to the Royals. The bad news is that Rodriguez only struck out three batters. He may get a few more strikeouts here against the Marlins. The Fish are better at home, but for this price, I think Rodriguez is worth the risk. He probably wont go more than five innings, but he should be in line for a win by then.

My picks: Snell, Rodriguez

ST. LOUIS, MO – APRIL 20: Matt Carpenter #13 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a single in the fourth inning against the New York Mets at Busch Stadium on April 20, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas /Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB stack options

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Jake Junis:

Junis has allowed ten runs (nine earned) over his last two starts. Now he gets to face a patient team in the Rays. Sure, they’ll strike out plenty, but this offense is better than given credit for. Brandon Lowe, Avi Garcia, and Yandy Diaz are the best plays here with Tommy Pham and Kevin Kiermaier just behind.

Cleveland Indians vs. Sandy Alcantara:

This is a dangerous spot for Sandy Alcantara. The Cleveland lineup is hitting it’s stride right now, and is finally completely healthy. I really like Leonys Martin leading off and Francisco Lindor here. Beyond that, Jose Ramirez, Jake Bauers, and Jason Kipnis are all worth a look. There are plenty of lefties to get excited about in this lineup.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Jhoulys Chacin:

The Cardinals are hitting .265 with five homers and 29 runs in 162 at bats against Chacin. I understand if you don’t want to chase this. Chacin has actually pitched pretty well in St. Louis and has not allowed a homer there in five career starts (25.1 innings). Kolten Wong, Goldy, Matt Carpenter, Yadier Molia, and Jose Martinez have the home runs. Dexter Fowler is 5-9 with three walks and seven runs scored. Marcell Ozuna is 6-14 with four RBI. There are plenty of good plays here.

Oakland Athletics vs. Texas bullpen:

This is a bullpen game for Texas being started by tomato can extraordinaire, Jesse Chavez. At least he wont have any inherited runners to let home. In all seriousness, this is a great place to attack with a good offense. I’d trust Khris Davis against anyone, even though he has slowed down. While Semien and Chapman look good as well, I think I want to go with lefties Jurickson Profar (revenge baby!) and Robbie Grossman. They are also a lot cheaper. Hell, just play all five. I don’t think you can go wrong here.

DENVER, COLORADO – APRIL 19: Trevor Story #27 of the Colorado Rockies circles the bases after hitting a RBI home run in the sixth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Coors Field on April 19, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB daily notes:

There aren’t a lot of Marlins that I can get excited about, but I do like Curtis Granderson leading off on the cheap. J.T. Riddle is worth a look now that he’s back as well.

The Brewers have a good average against Adam Wainwright, but Wainwright has done a great job limiting damage. Lorenzo Cain is 4-9 with two RBI. Ryan Braun has homered twice off of Wainwright, but is hitting just .209 in 86 at bats. I would try one or two plays here, but I don’t quite think it’s stack worthy.

More from FanSided

You’re going to think I’m crazy, and maybe you already do, but I am almost completely off of Coors Field today. Anibal Sanchez doesn’t have bad numbers against the Rockies and holds a 3.46 career ERA at Coors Field. Of course, he has given up four gopher balls in 13 innings, so I don’t mind a couple of Rockies lefties. Trevor Story has homered off of him twice in five at bats. Blackmon and David Dahl are in play here as well. As for the other side, the only National that I may want against Marquez is Juan Soto, and to me, the price is too high. Especially if you pay up for Snellzilla.

Do you trust Aaron Brooks? I must confess that I don’t really either. I want to take a least one shot at him with Joey Gallo. Nomar Mazara is a possibility too, but he did shut down a good Boston offense early on. That’s enough to keep me from a full on stack.

We are about to find out if Ian Kinsler has anything left. He has hit Felix Hernandez about as good as anyone in his career, so this would be a prime time for him to break out of the slump. You can make a case for any Padre based on the power potential, but I don’t want too much exposure here. San Diego has been kind to King Felix.

If you want to leverage Paddack ownership, Dan Vogelbach and Mitch Haniger are probably the way to go. Still, Paddack is for real, and that bullpen is decent. I don’t want a lot of exposure to Seattle here, but I can understand taking a shot or two.

The Jays hit Drew Pomeranz well in his brief time in Boston. Whether that would carry over into his new uniform or not is debatable, but it’s enough to keep me off of him. I see the strikeout upside if you want to use Pomeranz, but keep in mind that Toronto is hitting .357 off of him in 42 at bats. Luke Maile has the only homer, and will likely be in today’s lineup. Teoscar Hernandez and Smoak both have a pair of RBI. I’m all about a Toronto mini stack here.

Steven Duggar is really the only Giant I like against Buchholz. Still, his only hit in six at bats is a homer, so he could come up empty very easily. Brandon Crawford on the cheap is not the worst idea I’ve heard.

Next. MLB DFS Stack options April 24. dark

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