Main DraftKings MLB Picks May 4: Choose Bassitt to smash it

CINCINNATI, OH – MAY 03: Derek Dietrich #22 of the Cincinnati Reds hits a three-run home run in the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Great American Ball Park on May 3, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Main DraftKings MLB Picks May 4: Choose Bassitt to smash it

The Yankees and Twins start early today, so they are only on the showdown and all day slates. There are four other early games before the big ten game main slate. The main slate lacks a true ace and the lower tier actually looks strong so we can cram in some Coors bats. Should we though? Let’s take a look!

Main DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Rich Hill ($9,600): The Padres are only hitting .189 against Hill in 111 at bats, but they have hit him hard when the do hit him. The Padres have slugged five homers, but only have eight runs and a massive 38 strikeouts. This is one of those rare occasions when you can use a pitcher and use a couple of bats against him. Hill might hit 30, but a Padres bat might too.

Eduardo Rodriguez ($9,200): Honestly, I hate this price too. There are a couple of reasons, but I’ll give you the good news first. The White Sox are only hitting .188 with two homers and five runs in 48 at bats with a whopping 17 strikeouts against E-Rod. He also only gave up one run in his only career start on the South Side. The bad news? E-Rod has a 9.64 road ERA this year and the White Sox are hitting .269 against southpaws this year. However, the White Sox haven’t hit lefties for power and Sale dominated them last night. I see the upside here.

Joey Lucchesi ($8,300): Lucchesi doesn’t have great numbers against the Dodgers, but he does have great numbers at home. Lucchesi has a 3.62 ERA in 20 home starts. This year, Lucchesi has a 2.38 ERA in four home starts. There are going to be those that stack Dodgers against the lefty again. Lucchesi looks like a very good place to leverage that.

Middle Tier:

Chris Bassitt ($8,000): I’m a pretty big fan of Bassitt tonight. The Pirates were locked down by Brett Anderson last night, and it’s safe to assume that Bassitt is better than Anderson. The Pirates hit righties a little better than lefties, but Bassitt has been hit a lot harder by righties in his career and this park suppresses right handed power. We have also seen Bassitt rack up 16 strikeouts in his two starts. He could be priced at least $1,000 higher, and I would still like Bassitt here.

Lance Lynn ($7,300): Lynn has dominated this Toronto roster in a small sample. He has also had three really good starts this year, including last time out against Seattle. Lynn has also had two really, really bad starts. Toronto doesn’t have the offensive firepower that Oakland and the Cubs do, so this should be a solid outing for Lynn. He has even shown an elevated strikeout total this year.

Dereck Rodriguez ($7,100): Rodriguez has been a road warrior this year, posting a 2.87 ERA in three road starts. However, this is a tough place to pitch. The good news is that Rodriguez isn’t a fly ball pitcher. There was a ton of offense on display here last night, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Reds hit again. Rodriguez has never faced the Reds, so we don’t really have a gauge. Just his nice start on the road this year.

Bargain Pitchers:

Wade Miley ($6,900): I usually don’t target Miley, but the Angels have been so bad against lefties that I have to at least mention him. The Angels are hitting just .201 against lefties this year, so even though they have a decent track record against Miley, I’m willing to roll him out here. That said, I like Chirinos more and he’s cheaper. Miley is to leverage ownership and not much else.

Yonny Chirinos ($6,800): Chirinos is also too cheap here. He went five innings in long relief against the Orioles earlier this year and racked up 24.1 DraftKings points. That Orioles offense isn’t getting any better, so Chirinos should be in for another strong outing. He may give up a run or two, but I’m thinking Chirinos is still going to be right around 20 DraftKings points. That’s a great return for the price.

Kyle Freeland ($6,400): Do we trust Freeland’s career stats at home (3.19 ERA) or this year’s home stats (5.73 ERA)? However, the one bad start against the Braves doesn’t trump two years of stats. It also doesn’t trump what Freeland has done to Arizona. They are hitting just .175 in 57 at bats with a homer and five runs. In true Freeland fashion, he only has six strikeouts though. There’s the big risk here. Freeland wont get the strikeouts to bail him out if he blows up.

My picks: Scherzer, Smith, Dodgers stack; Ryu, Stroman, Braves stack

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 30: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals hits an RBI single in the first inning against the New York Mets at Nationals Park on March 30, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB stack options

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Dylan Bundy:

I wouldn’t say that Dylan Bundy has been bad against the Rays, but this offense has been good against everyone, and despite the 20 strikeouts in 50 at bats, the Rays are still hitting .260 with ten runs against Bundy. Even the strikeouts wont fix that. Give me all of Kevin Kiermaier tonight. He is 4-11 with two homers and six RBI against Bundy already. Avi Garcia has the other homer. Ji-Man Choi and Willy Adames are both doing pretty good against Bundy as well. There isn’t anyone in this lineup that I would avoid. All the Rays are in play.

Washington Nationals vs. Jake Arrieta:

I know what you’re thinking. I’m usually on Arrieta. Not here though. The Nats are hitting .265 with thee homers and 20 runs in just 83 at bats. Juan Soto has drilled two homers and driven in five in just six at bats! Matt Adams is 8-24 with a homer and five RBI. Adam Eaton, Brian Dozier, and Kurt Suzuki have all hit Arrieta well enough to be included. Even if I don’t stack, I’m going to have a lot of Soto and Adams tonight.

Boston Red Sox vs. Manny Banuelos:

Honestly, Banuelos has looked good in his first two starts, but it’s easy to look good against the Orioles. The Red Sox are a different beast. Mookie and J.D. Martinez hammer lefties. So does Xander Bogaerts. Michael Chavis looks good too, and we can get salary relief from lefty killer Steve Pearce. I can understand if you don’t want to stack this, but I still think we need some exposure. This could go really wrong for the White Sox.

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Zack Wheeler:

The price on Wheeler is out of whack too. It seems based on one dominant start against Philly. The Brewers have 43 homers against righties already this year. They are also hitting .278 with four homers and 12 runs in just 54 at bats against Wheeler. Moose, Jesus Aguilar, Grandal, and Yelich have the homers. If Yelich returns tonight, that just reiterates why I want nothing to do with Wheeler. Lorenzo Cain is 3-5 with two RBI against Wheeler as well.

Texas Rangers vs. Thomas Pannone/Blue Jays bullpen

Pannone isn’t stretched out, so I’ll be shocked if he goes five innings. This bullpen isn’t all that great, so I like Texas here again. This stack failed miserably last night. The luck really runs on on the Jays tonight. Odor is struggling, but I still want a lot of Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara, and Danny Santana. Asdrubal Cabrera and Elvis Andrus are very good as well if you can afford them.

Colorado Rockies vs. Luke Weaver:

The Rockies destroyed Weaver as a Cardinal last year. It’s not going to get any better at Coors. The only issue here is the prices on these hitters. Nolan Arenado is 4-5 with a homer and four RBI against Weaver. Pay up for him. David Dahl and Charlie Blackmon look really good too. Take lefties after Weaver since he struggled against them anyway.

HOUSTON, TEXAS – APRIL 24: Alex Bregman #2 of the Houston Astros doubles in the third inning against the Minnesota Twins at Minute Maid Park on April 24, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB daily notes:

I could see using Starling Marte or a cheap Pirates bat, but don’t expect much from them today. They have a pretty tough matchup.

Trevor Williams is still pitching well, but after seeing what the A’s did to Musgrove last night, I’m not using a pitcher against them with no strikeout upside. The A’s get on base a lot and don’t strike out much. I think Williams has a solid game, but priced where he’s at, I’m not all that interested. Lefties his Williams a lot better, so if you want to go after him, it should probably be with Profar or Morales.

More from FanSided

You can use Chris Davis or Stevie Wilkerson as a free space against the Rays bullpen, but more often than not, they don’t come through. They are free for a reason, people.

There is no way I’m using Patrick Corbin tonight. He has a 7.94 ERA I his career at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies are also hitting .265 with ten runs off of him so far. The strikeout upside is there, and if Corbin were about $1,200 cheaper, I would think about using him. It’s a hard pass tonight, and I will be taking a couple of shots at him with Realmuto and Jean Segura.

James McCann has both homers against Eduardo Rodriguez. If you are going to pay up for any White Sox bat, it should be him. Tim Anderson is 0-9 against E-Rod. Moncada is 1-5. Jose Abreu is 1-6. It’s McCann or nothing for me.

Whoever the Angels start at catcher is on my radar. Lucroy is 5-14 with two homers and four RBI against Miley. Kevan Smith hit a two run homer in his only at bat against Miley. Beyond that, I really don’t have any interest in the Angels. Trout is too expensive for a guy that is 2-9 lifetime against Miley.

Predictably, the Astros have hit Trevor Cahill well. However, they haven’t hit him all that hard. This is a better place for me to choose spots than to just stack it. Robinson Chirinos, Yuli Gurriel, and Springer have the homers. Alex Bregman is 8-12 with four RBI. Altuve and Correa are a combined 1-14 against Cahill, so I’m leaving both of them out.

Gio Gonzalez looked solid against the Mets in his first start this year, but he still came out of it with only 7.2 DraftKings points. I’m not really interested in paying for him despite the decent overall numbers against the Mets. Not until the strikeouts come back. Juan Lagares is the big play here. Lagares is 19-47(.404) with a homer and five RBI against Gio. Pete Alonso had a RBI triple against him last week. The Toddfather has hit Gio pretty well, but beyond them, I’m not all that interested.

Is this the start of something for Chris Taylor? He got his first homer last night, and he has homered off of Lucchesi before. So has Kike Hernandez. Those are the guys you want against this lefty, and they are both cheap.

Dereck Rodriguez has handled both lefties and righties about the same in his career. His splits and power numbers are almost identical for both sides, so just pick your favorite hot player (Derek Dietrich, anyone?) and go with it. I do like Puig on the cheap cleaning up and a reasonably priced Joey Votto leading off.

The Giants and Reds had a wild one last night. I see no reason that wont carry over to tonight. Tanner Roark is solid enough, but his WHIP is terrifying. It’s Hitchcockian (Sterling, not Alfred). Sonny Gray was good enough against the Giants last night. It was the bullpen that blew up on him. Which is why I’m not stacking Giants here. Roark eats innings. I like Joe Panik, Brandon Belt, and Brandon Crawford on the cheap, but I don’t think I’ll go any further.

I’m off of the Vlad Jr. bandwagon for a while. Strange as it sounds, the only Blue Jay that I’m really interested in is Eric Sogard.

The only Diamondback to homer against Kyle Freeland is last night’s double donger, Ketel Marte. Marte’s price is enormous, but there is enough bargain among pitchers to take whatever bats you want.

Hunter Renfroe has smacked two homers against Hill, and is 6-18 overall. Manuel Margot, Austin Hedges, and Wil Myers have all homered off of Hill before as well, but I’m not on any of them. It’s Renfroe or nothing.

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