DraftKings MLB Picks April 26: Max Fried is too cheap!

NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 13: A member of the ground crew walks through a puddle on the tarp as they prepare to remove it during a rain delay before the start of a game between the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets on June 13, 2014 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Picks April 26: Fried is too cheap!

It’s finally here! Our first 15 game DraftKings MLB slate of the year. Of course, it wont be a full 15 games. It’s April. We’re losing at least two of these to rain. More on that later. It does give us a whole lot of options to choose from though. However, what’s left with so many good pitchers going yesterday? Let’s check it out!

DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Max Scherzer ($10,400): Scherzer’s ERA is a little frightening. So are his past stats against the Padres. However, with the wind blowing in tonight, it’s going to take a lot of bite out of those bats and leave the strikeout potential still there. The Padres are only hitting .197 against Scherzer in 117 at bats, but they do have three homers and ten runs. The 41 strikeouts show the potential, and why we are going to consider Scherzer at this markdown. Take advantage of that wind coming in tonight.

James Paxton ($9,600): Paxton’s home/road splits make no sense so far. He has been destroyed on the road. That stops here. The Giants offense is just north of pitiful, and there are no reinforcements coming. You could throw Buster Posey and maybe Longoria out there hoping to catch something, but I think we have a better chance of Paxton striking out 27. Okay…..that’s not happening, but ten strikeouts and seven shutout innings is very likely.

Robbie Ray ($9,100): Ray has been absolutely filthy against the Cubs, holding them to a .162 average and 21 strikeouts in 68 at bats with only four runs. The tough sell here is Ray’s poor track record in his home park. However, Ray was strong against a pretty good Texas offense at home in his only home start so far this year. Actually, that was his best start of the year. Can he lock down the Cubs again? The stats make a compelling argument for yes.

Middle Tier:

Corey Kluber ($8,900): Kluber hasn’t exactly been sharp this year, and using him against the Astros doesn’t seem like a great idea on the surface either. That’s all the more reason to use him. Look, I love Fried, but he doesn’t have the elite strikeout upside Kluber does. The Astros are also hitting just .207 with one homer and eight runs to go with 37 strikeouts in 116 at bats against Kluber. That’s close to Mad Max strikeout upside. If you can overlook Kluber’s slow start, there could be a nice reward for you tonight.

Hyun-Jin Ryu (8,200): Chris Archer‘s first full season in Pittsburgh is off to a great start, and it could continue here. However, I’m hitching my pony to his opponent here. Both have good past stats tonight, but the Pittsburgh offense is far less potent, and Ryu is lethal at home. He is 20-13 with a 2.82 ERA in 50 career Dodger Stadium starts.

Carlos Rodon ($8,100): Much like Stroman, this appears to be the breakout season that Rodon was supposed to have in 2018. He’s a year behind, but Rodon has been strong in April with a 2.89 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 28 innings. He had a brilliant outing against Detroit last week, picking up 23.9 DraftKings points in that one. The bad news? Rodon has a 4.11 ERA in 44 career home starts.

Max Fried ($8,000): What if I told you that you could get a guy with a 3-0 record and a 1.39 ERA for less than Rodon, McHugh, and Strahm. Right. You would jump on that really quickly! Fried’s price is nowhere near what he is doing on the mound. The Rockies aren’t good on the road. I’m so on Fried tonight that I’m not even going to use Arenado against him!

Bargain Pitchers:

Marcus Stroman ($7,600): The nightmarish 2018 is a distant memory for Stroman. He has a 1.76 ERA despite the 1-3 record with 29 strikeouts in 30.2 innings. Stroman’s best start of the season came against this A’s team. Stroman picked up 27.2 DraftKings points in that first game. He may not get that much tonight, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see Stroman hit 20 again. That’s a hell of a bargain for this price.

Kyle Hendricks ($7,500): I’m sure that triggered your gag reflex, but Hendricks has actually dominated Arizona so far. They are hitting just .164 in 61 at bats with two runs and 16 strikeouts. There are probably a couple of cheaper pitchers I prefer, but Hendricks is at least worth a mention here if you are going for strictly low ownership.

Daniel Norris ($6,900): Norris locked down the White Sox and put up a whopping 25.5 DraftKings points on them in just five innings in his last start. U.S. Guaranteed Comiskey Cellular Rate Field Park is a much better hitter’s haven than Comerica, but there is really good upside here for Norris considering the price. If he can flirt with 20 at this price, you are way ahead of the game.

Antonio Senzatela ($5,700): Senzatela doesn’t have a great matchup, but he sure is cheap. I’m considering here since he put together a quality start in his only career start at SunTrust Park and because Senzatela’s road ERA is about a run and a half lower than at Coors. For the price, he’s really solid. I would take him over Fiers, who is somehow $2,000 more.

My picks: Ray, Fried; Fried, Norris

BALTIMORE, MD – APRIL 20: Nelson Cruz #23 of the Minnesota Twins hits a two run home run in the first inning during game two of a doubleheader baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 20, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB stack options

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Mike Fiers:

The Jays already tore up Fiers once this year to the tune of six runs in 3.1 innings, and that was without Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Vlad will be highly owned in his debut, and against this tomato can, he should be. Rowdy Tellez smacked a three run homer in that first game. Brandon Drury hit the other one. Even the cheap Eric Sogard knocked in a run. There’s a great chance that the Blue Jays blow up Fiers again. They may even inflate his ghastly 8.28 ERA even further!

Minnesota Twins vs. Alex Cobb:

Cobb was bludgeoned by the Twins for nine runs in just 2.2 innings earlier this year. That’s a 30.38 ERA for those of you keeping track at home. While it is inconceivable for Cobb to be that bad again, he likely wont be good either. Nelson Cruz and Jason Castro have the two highest exit velocities of the night on a loaded slate. Cruz has homered twice off of Cobb already, and a third seems likely. Cron has also homered twice against him. Both Mitch Garver and Schoop in a revenge game went deep off of Cobb in Baltimore as well. The only Twin I would avoid is the batboy.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Anthony DeSclafani:

The Cards are hitting .288 with seven homers and 18 runs in 125 at bats against DeSclafani. Matt Carpenter is the BvP warrior here, going 9-22(.409) with three homers against DeSclafani. Goldy, Marcell Ozuna, Yadi Molina, and Dexter Fowler have the others. That’s an easy stack to create! Harrison Bader does have the third highest exit velocity (98.7 mph) of the night if you want to fit him in instead.

Seattle Mariners vs. Shelby Miller:

The Seahawks went for two touchdowns on the Cowboys on draft night while allowing only a late safety. If you think that was a huge offensive output, wait until you see what they do to Miller. The career numbers aren’t horrible, but Miller’s 7.63 ERA suggests he should be pitching in Tulsa instead of Dallas. He’s not fooling anyone at the Major League level. Turning these Seattle bats loose on him is almost cruelty to animals. I’m on Haniger and Tim Beckham again tonight, along with the lefties Dan Vogelbach, Mallex Smith, and Omar Narvaez.

Texas Rangers vs. Yusei Kikuchi:

Justus Sheffield will be relieving Kikuchi after an inning or two tonight. Both of them present good opportunities for the Texas offense.Sheffield is one of the top prospects, but he has struggled at AAA and the majors so far. Joey Gallo is the biggest threat despite not having the platoon advantage. Choo also hits lefties well enough to be considered. My main targets are Elvis Andrus, Danny Santana, and Hunter Pence. There’s going to be some lefty bashing going on in the Northwest tonight.

OAKLAND, CA – SEPTEMBER 18: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels stands in the dugout before their game against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on September 18, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB daily notes:

Wil Myers has two homers against Max Scherzer and is 4-13 lifetime. You could take a shot here at the bargain price of $3,900, but with the wind blowing in, the chances of something similar are slim. Manny Machado has also taken Mad Max deep, but he is just 3-18(.107) lifetime. On the other side, the main reason I’m not taking big shots at Strahm is the same as Scherzer. Fly balls aren’t going to do much unless they are obliterated. Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto are still on my radar though.

More from FanSided

Khris Davis has a three run homer against Marcus Stroman, but that was last year. He didn’t do anything against him in the first meeting.

Antonio Senzatela isn’t going to shut the Braves out, so the usual suspects like Albies, Acuna, and Freeman are in play here. I don’t want a lot of exposure though. There are better places to attack.

Carlos Correa has the only current Astros homer against Kluber. Only George Springer and Max Stassi are hitting better than .250 against Kluber. Tread lighty with Astros here unless you want to go balls out against Kluber in a GPP.

CarGo has the only Cleveland homer against McHugh. Only Carlos Santana and Jose Ramirez are hitting better than .200 off of him. There isn’t a ton to like here.

The career numbers for the White Sox against Daniel Norris are as bad as you may expect. Only Yonder Alonso has homered off of him. Only Yonder and Leury Garcia are hitting better than .200.

Josh Harrison smacked a homer against Rodon last week. Can he do it again? You’d probably have better luck with Miggy or Nick Castellanos, who have also hit Rodon well.

Martin Perez has been better at Target Field so far, but the O’s hit two homers off of him in Baltimore and they have good career numbers against him. Renato Nunez and Jonathan Villar have both homered twice off of Perez. Hanser Alberto has the other. All three are really cheap if you want to go after Perez a bit.

Kansas City is interesting tonight with both Tyler Skaggs and Danny Duffy returning from injury. Both offenses have struggled against lefties, but neither pitcher really inspired confidence even when they were healthy. It’s probably best to avoid this whole game except for Mike Trout and maybe Hunter Dozier.

As per usual, Miles Mikolas is just good enough to not stack against. Jesse Winker and Tucker Barnhart have both homered off of him in the past, but I still think I prefer to ride the hot hand of Eugenio Suarez.

Javier Baez is really the only Cub I’m interested in tonight. That’s better than the total number of Diamondbacks I’m interested in. This could actually be a low scoring game considering the offenses are a combined 21-129 with six runs total against tonight’s starting pitchers.

If you want to take a few shots at Chris Archer go ahead, but I wont be joining you. The Dodgers offense is notorious for coming up empty in big spots. I can justify throwing Bellinger and maybe Max Muncy out there, but the chances you’ll hit are pretty slim.

Part of me wanted to use MadBum tonight, but then I grabbed a Snickers and came to my senses. This Yankees offense looks more like the Rail Riders than the Yankees, maybe because half of them were starting for Scranton Wilkes-Barre in their opener. Luke Voit and Gleyber Torres are the spots to go after MadBum if you want. Gary Sanchez doesn’t have his timing down yet or would use him too.

Next. Is the power of Yandy Diaz for real?. dark

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