DraftKings MLB Picks April 29: Verlander should dominate!

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 Picks April 29: Verlander should dominate!

We have a nine game Monday for our DraftKings MLB picks. We have a lot of good options here even though there is not Coors Field. We a few aces, some value arms, and a couple of pitchers just waiting to get beat on. Let’s get this covered!

DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Justin Verlander ($10,800): The Twins are hitting just .171 with 54 strikeouts against Verlander in 187 at bats, but they do have eight homers and 19 runs. Still, Verlander racked up a whopping 33.6 DraftKings points on them a couple of starts ago in Houston. On top of that, Verlander is 7-1 with a 2.47 ERA in 11 career Target Field starts. He should dominate the Twins here again.

Patrick Corbin ($10,200): The Cardinals are hitting a decent .241 against Corbin in 87 at bats, but they have just one homer and eight runs to go with the 21 strikeouts. Corbin has been worth the money for the Nats, especially in his three home starts this year. Corbin has a 1.74 ERA and 0.82 WHIP with 24 strikeouts in 20.2 innings at Nationals Park. His home dominance should continue tonight.

Middle Tier:

Zack Wheeler ($9,300): Wheeler’s rough starts against Washington to start the season are dragging his overall numbers down. Since then, Wheeler has allowed only five runs over three starts while racking up 24 strikeouts. The Reds are hitting a decent .242 against Wheeler in 33 at bats, but only have one extra base hit (a Dietrich triple) and a staggering 14 strikeouts. Wheeler may have the best strikeout upside on the slate despite only being the fourth highest price. He feels like a bargain tonight.

Mike Soroka ($8,600): Soroka has dominated in his first two starts of the year, allowing only two runs and striking out 13 in 10.2 innings. The Braves likely wont let Soroka finish the sixth again tonight, but with the numbers he’s putting up, does it really matter? His price is low enough that we aren’t here expecting Soroka to drop 40. However, with the elevated strikeout potential of the Padres, 30 is certainly possible even if he only goes six.

Bargain Pitchers:

Kyle Freeland ($7,700): Come on aboard the Freeland bandwagon. I’ll make room. The Brewers have faced Freeland twice and have come away with just three runs and 11 strikeouts with a .156 average. Freeland has the Brewers’ number and the platoon advantage against the vast majority of them. The Rockies haven’t said anything about limitations on Freeland, so he should be good for six strong at a bargain price here tonight.

Nick Margevicius ($7,600): Margevicius has actually struggled in San Diego and pitched lights out on the road. Margevicius has only allowed two runs iin 11 road innings so far. The fact that Margevicius should hold the platoon advantage here should help. Except for the fact that Margevicius has severe reverse splits so far in his young career. The good news is that lefties haven’t homered off of him. The fact that Margevicius limits base runners and doesn’t allow homers makes him an attractive option at this price.

John Means ($7,000): Means has been by far the Orioles best pitcher so far in 2019. He has only allowed four earned runs in 20.2 innings while striking out 23. He racked up 22.3 DraftKings points on the White Sox earlier this year in Baltimore, where the Orioles have been even worse. Means still looks like a bargain even though his price is inching upward. Means only allowed one run to the White Sox in that game. I think we can trust him again here.

My picks: Verlander, Means; Wheeler, Soroka

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – APRIL 17: Hunter Dozier #17 of the Kansas City Royals hits the game-winning home run in the 10th inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 17, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The Royals defeated the White Sox 4-3 in 10 innings. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB stack options

Oakland Athletics vs. Eduardo Rodriguez:

Rodriguez got throttled by the A’s in Oakland earlier this year. That’s the main reason his ERA is up near 6. E-Rod’s home starts have been pretty good, but the A’s are hitting all lefties hard this year. They also have four homers and 16 runs in 108 at bats against Rodriguez. Piscotty has two of those homers, and is 4-5 lifetime against Rodriguez. Chad Pinder and Kendrys Morales have the other two homers. Matt Chapman and Robbie Grossman are hitting well and have each driven in a pair of runs. This is one of the few days that you will find me completely off of Khris Davis. He is just 1-14 lifetime with eight strikeouts against E-Rod.

New York Mets vs. Tanner Roark:

The Mets have homered five times off of Roark in 95 at bats. We can use up to five hitters from one team. Coincidence? I think not! Jeff McNeil, Amed Rosario, Brandon Nimmo, the Toddfather, and Conforto have the homers. Robinson Cano is 3-6 lifetime against Roark even if he hasn’t homered off of him. Even if you don’t want to go a full out stack on Roark (those never seem to work!), McNeil, NImmo, and Cano are all hitting .333 or better. I want at least some exposure here.

Kansas City Royals vs. Yonny Chirinos/Jalen Beeks:

The Royals are hitting .312 with five homers in just 32 at bats against Chirinos. I suppose this does seem kind of fluky since the Royals don’t come off as a power team, but they certainly have Yonny’s number. Hunter Dozier is 3-5 with two homers. Jorge Soler, Whit Merrifield, and Alex Gordon have the others. DraftKings is wise to this though, so Soler is the only one that really comes at a discount.

San Francisco Giants vs. Kenta Maeda:

There is a chance for a huge leverage situation out west. The Giants are hitting .262 with three homers and 14 runs against Kenta Maeda in 103 at bats. Maeda has been blasted at AT&T Park as well, posting a 8.16 ERA in six appearances (three starts). Longoria, Yangervis Solarte, and Joe Panik have the homers. Belt and Posey are both batting better than .300 off of him as well. Just be sure to avoid Brandon Crawford here. He is just 1-12 against Maeda.

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 14: Anthony Rendon #6 of the Washington Nationals rects after flying out to end the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Nationals Park on April 14, 2019 in Washington, DC. Pittsburgh won the game 4-3. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB daily notes:

The numbers on Frankie Montas look pretty good, but his road numbers are much worse. On top of that, he’s not really striking anyone out on the road either. Montas has allowed a .313 career average to lefties, so that’s where my interest is for Boston. Benintendi, Mitch Moreland, and Rafael Devers are in my lineup. Jackie Bradley Jr. is a solid play on the cheap.

More from FanSided

The Nationals are hitting a blistering .405 against Michael Wacha in 41 at bats, but almost all of that damage was done by Anthony Rendon and Howie Kendrick. The rest of the team has faced Wacha just 13 times with limited success. I would use those two and maybe Juan Soto against Wacha tonight.

You can try and leverage Corbin ownership with a Cardinal or two if you want, but honestly, there isn’t much to like here. Marcell Ozuna has the homer, but he is just 3-16 lifetime against Corbin. Only Dexter Fowler and Jedd Gyorko are hitting better than .300 with more than four at bats. We are probably better off just leaving this alone.

The reverse splits by Margevicius have me leaning more towards Nick Markakis and Freddie Freeman over Acuna and Swanson. Righties are hitting just .185 against Margevicius this year.

Jesus Aguilar is the only Brewer that has homered against Kyle Freeland. He also has two of the five hits. If you are taking a shot with a Brewer, it should be Aguilar or Braun.

If we were really struggling for bargain pitchers, I would actually be interested in Zach Davies here. However, he has no strikeout upside, and there are several pitchers less than $1,000 more than I am far more interested in. Davies has a 1.65 ERA so far this year though, so this isn’t really a place to go after him either. Blackmon and Arenado would be the only ones I tried with.

Verlander allowed a solo homer to Jorge Polanco as his only blemish that time. The Twins like to hit homers, but the going is going to be much tougher against a good pitcher. Jonathan Schoop is only 4-19 against Verlander, but he does have three homers. If I take a shot, it will be there.

Jake Odorizzi has settled down to the point where he only allowed two runs in 5.2 innings to the Astros last week. I don’t trust Odorizzi enough to throw him out there, but he has dominated at home so far this year. He was also lights out at home last year. I don’t want a ton of exposure here. A cheap but streaking Josh Reddick looks tempting. So does Carlos Correa for the price.

Manny Banuelos was solid enough against the Orioles last week, but he’s still probably not going to make it five innings. That limits the upside for using him, but it also means that the Orioles get a crack at this bullpen for at least half the game. I wouldn’t completely cross off guys like Trey Mancini or Dwight Smith Jr. here.

Brad Keller has had a nice season, but the Rays got to him a little in Tampa with a two run homer by Mike Zunino the big blow. I can see going after Keller here again, but not too hard. He’s still a good pitcher and no other Rays have homered off of him.

Shark has been strong this year. Strong enough that I’m going to resist the urge to stack Dodgers against him. Joc Pederson is probably my favorite play here. Bellinger and Max Muncy have homered against Samardzija before. I really don’t want any more exposure than this though.

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