Early DraftKings MLB Picks April 28: Can we get value in Boston?

BOSTON, MA – APRIL 26: A general view of the Fenway Park faced after the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays was postponed due to rain at Fenway Park on April 26, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /

Early DraftKings MLB Picks April 28: Can we get value in Boston?

The early DraftKings MLB slate is the main slate on our Sunday. There are ten afternoon games, four more late afternooners out west, then the Sunday night fight in Houston. There are some good pitchers on this slate, but we still have enough bad ones to get some good offense with our ace(s).

DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Chris Sale ($10,000): Sale looked dominant in his last start, and could be here if the past is any indication. The Rays are only hitting .197 in 61 at bats against Sale with a staggering 27 strikeouts. The two homers and six runs are about average, but the massive strikeout potential puts this over the top. There is zero chance this game goes nine innings though and maybe a 50-50 chance that it goes six. That takes away the upside of Sale, and really makes me want to fade this entire game.

Matt Boyd ($9,300): Well, at least we are at the time of year where the snow melts right away. The games in Chicago yesterday were snowed out. Friday’s thriller leads into Sunday now where the White Sox have to take on a guy that has struck out 24 of them in 95 at bats. The White Sox have actually been decent against Boyd, hitting .295, but they only have two homers and six runs. That fits the season story for the South Siders so far. The Pale Hose are hitting lefties well, but only have four homers off of them in 246 at bats all season. This looks like a spot for Boyd to shine, and his strikeout upside is higher than that of Sale’s in what will likely be a truncated outing for Sale.

Middle Tier:

Gio Gonzalez ($8,500): Wow, this is a lot for a guy that has been at AAA all season. Past stats tell us that Gio is a solid play, but if he couldn’t crack a depleted Yankees rotation, how much can he really help? The Mets are hitting .256 against Gio in 125 at bats, but they only have one homer and eight runs to go with 33 strikeouts. The issue I have here is the lack of MLB experience this year. If Gio isn’t near his best, there is no way he reaches value for this price.

Kevin Gausman ($8,200): This is another situation where I’m not very fond of the price. Gausman started the season strong, but has been more toward his less than stellar career numbers lately. This makes me nervous for more than the price since the Rockies have treated SunTrust Park as Coors Field east. Arenado has homered in five straight road games! What’s going on here? The Rockies are just 4-27 against Gausman lifetime though, and his numbers at SunTrust are good. There is decent upside here. Enough to use Gausman as a mid range option.

Chris Bassitt ($7,300): Bassitt’s first start of the season was a rousing success, but it was also at home where his career ERA is nearly two runs lower than his road mark. This is also a righty heavy lineup, which is terrible news for Bassitt. Righties are hitting almost 40 points higher than lefties. That said, Bassitt is cheap and none of his career numbers are bad. Toronto is all the buzz this weekend, but if Vlad Jr. weren’t there no one would be talking about them right now because they are average. Bassitt can handle average.

Bargain Pitchers:

Matt Harvey ($6,500): Harvey’s ERA is still on the wrong side of 8, but he lowered it almost two full runs against the Yankees in his last start. He may just be coming around. This is a good spot to find out if he is. The Royals are only 6-30 with a homer and two runs with eight strikeouts against Harvey in the small sample size. If Harvey blows this, I’m pretty sure I’m done with him. It’s not like the strikeout upside is there anymore anyway.

Reynaldo Lopez ($6,200): Lopez has survived a horrible start to the season to pick up 42.6 DraftKings points over his last two starts, allowing only four runs (three earned) in 12 innings. One of those starts was against the Tigers. many are going to look at the overall numbers, gag, and move on. That’s why there’s potential here. Lopez has held the Tigers to a .237 average with only two homers and nine runs in 97 at bats with a solid 22 strikeouts. You can do much worse at much higher prices today.

My picks: Boyd, Bassitt; Sale, Harvey (party like it’s 2013)

PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 05: Max Kepler #26 of the Minnesota Twins hits a two-run home run against the Philadelphia Phillies during the third inning of a game at Citizens Bank Park on April 5, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB stack options

Oakland Athletics vs. Trent Thornton:

Thornton has allowed 13 runs over his last three starts, including four runs to the Giants his last time out. The luster has worn off. The A’s are patient and pesky, two things that are really going to work against Thornton here. I don’t expect five homers from the A’s here. They may score eight runs without a homer. However, a stack could still pay off. I like Semien, Matt Chapman, and Khris Davis for sure. Robbie Grossman looks good batting leadoff as well.

Washington Nationals vs. Joey Lucchesi:

Okay, this isn’t a conscious effort to pick on Lucchesi, though I will say that his ERA being as high as it is with all but one start coming at Petco should be enough to make all of us nervous. The fact that the Nationals are tattooing lefties to the tune of a .290 average this year is another. Juan Soto destroys lefties despite being one himself. Anthony Rendon, Brian Dozier, and Howie Kendrick all look good as well. Victor Robles will be in my stack so long as he’s still at the top of the order. This team hit Lucchesi hard last year, and they are mashing lefties again this year.

Minnesota Twins vs. Dylan Bundy:

Fun fact: The Twins are leading the majors in slugging percentage and extra base hit percentage. Of course, when you have played the Orioles five times already, that’s easy to do. Unfortunately, the Twins only have one makeup date with the O’s left. Minnesota has slugged ten homers in the first two games of this series. Bundy has surrendered four to the Twins in 83 at bats, and this entire bullpen probably belongs in the low minors with how bad they’ve been this year. After all, Straily shut the Twins down yesterday before Minnesota teed off of the bullpen. Max Kepler has hit four of his six homers in the last two days. Nelson Cruz has three in the last two days. C.J. Cron has three of the four homers off of Bundy, and has creamed two in this series. Top this off with Eddie Rosario and Polanco and watch your score like a pinball machine once this game gets to the ‘pen.

Los Angeles Angels vs. Homer Bailey:

The Angels are hitting .296 with three homers and 16 runs in just 71 at bats against Bailey. He was knocked around a bit by the Rays in his last start. This one doesn’t look like it’s going to be any better. Pujols and Justin Bour are definitely on my list. If you don’t play Mike Trout, you shouldn’t be stacking this game. Where we go with the other two is a little more tricky. Jonathan Lucroy has two homers off of Homer, but likely will get the matinee off. Tommy LaStella and his hot bat deserve to be in there, as does Calhoun batting leadoff.

MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 02: Curtis Granderson #21 of the Miami Marlins runs to second after hitting a double in the first inning against the New York Mets at Marlins Park on April 02, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB daily notes:

The Red Sox have not hit Tyler Glasnow well, but they have hit him hard. Both Moreland and J.D. Martinez have homered off of him. NOTE: due to the weather, the Rays have decided to use Yonny Chirinos as the long reliever and Stanek as the opener. Red Sox lefties are in play now.

I’m limiting my exposure to this game right now because of the weather. Yandy Diaz is about the only Ray I’m interested in right now.

Pablo Lopez dominated Cleveland his last time out, so I’m not really going after him hard here. Rhys Hoskins has the only Philly homer against him which isn’t surprising. Lopez gives up far more homers to righties than lefties. If you want to take shots, do so with Hoskins and Maikel Franco.

More from FanSided

Zach Eflin is going to be a popular pitcher because of what struggling Philly pitchers have done to the Marlins in this series. I want no part of this. If I lose because I don’t play Eflin, I’m okay with that. There are several things that have me off Eflin here. The low hanging fruit is that the Marlins throttled him in Miami earlier this year. The Marlins are hitting .257 with five homers and 11 runs in 70 at bats. Lefties destroy Eflin, hitting .292 against him in his career. Granderson is 4-11 with two homers and three RBI. Brian Anderson, Neil Walker, and Miguel Rojas have the other homers. I’m really on Granderson here, but the rest are hit and miss.

Due to the reverse splits, I like Teoscar Hernandez and Vlad Jr. against Bassitt today.

Pete Alonso looks great against the resurrected Gio today. The bargain play of the day could be Juan Lagares. Lagares is 19-46(.413) with the Mets only homer against Gio with five of the eight RBI. Lock and load on Lagares. The Toddfather looks great too.

Steven Matz should be able to neutralize some of the left handed power of the Brewers, but that still doesn’t mean I’m going to use him. Milwaukee is only hitting .216 agianst Matz in 51 at bats, but they do have seven runs to just six strikeouts. Ryan Braun is 3-8 with a homer and three RBI. Hernan Perez has the other homer. Lorenzo Cain looks reasonable. I may even try a super cheap Jesus Aguilar to see if he can get on track here.

The Braves have clobbered the Rockies in this series, and Tyler Anderson in his career. The lefty in theory should take some power away from the Braves, but guys like Josh Donaldson hit plenty well enough to take it out to right. Donaldson is the only current Brave to homer against Anderson, but I like Acuna and Dansby Swanson here as well.

The Padres are a little too all-or-nothing for me to engage in a full blown stack, but they have hit Jeremy Hellickson hard. Wil Myers is 6-14 with two homers. Manny Machado has homered off of him as well. My exposure wont go much beyond that though. Hellickson is like Jon Lester. Stats and metrics say they will get destroyed, yet the still seem to limit the damage. Those two have made a career out of it.

Jose Abreu is 10-21(.476) with two homers against Matt Boyd and four of the six RBI. Bat flipper extraordinaire Tim Anderson has the other two. I don’t want a lot of exposure to this though.

John Hicks and Nick Castellanos are the only two that really stand out against Reynaldo Lopez. I actually expect a low scoring game at Guranteed U.S. Comiskey Cellular Rate Field Park. There are better places to attack.

Kyle Gibson has pitched like he belongs on the Orioles this year, so it makes sense to get some exposure to both sides of this game. Chris Davis has the two homers against Gibson. Jonathan Villar is 5-9 with four runs and two steals. Dwight Smith Jr. is worth a look as well.

I like what I’ve seen from Sonny Gray this year, but I’m still not in any hurry to throw him out there against a team like the Cardinals. However, I’m not stacking this either. Gray is an extreme ground ball pitcher that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. Marcell Ozuna and Matt Carpenter are about the only Cardinals I have any interest in today.

Believe it or not, the Reds have hit Jack Flaherty pretty hard. Flaherty has great strikeout potential, but he is allowing so many runs this year that it saps a lot of that. Dietrich, Jesse Winker, Puig, and Eugenio Suarez have all homered off of Flaherty before. One or two of these guys are worth a look today as well.

Next. Bucks-Celtics series preview through DFS eyes. dark

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