All 30 MLB teams are in action on Friday to kick off this Easter weekend. The thrill of watching a Major League Baseball game is unmatched but fans often times like to up the ante. While many fans participate in season-long fantasy leagues to gain bragging rights over their friends, even more use DFS apps like DraftKings to chase some money.
We took time to crunch the numbers and pinpoint the most intruiging matchups to lookout for on Friday. Numbers suggest that there are two shortstops you should consider for your DFS and a future HOF'er that you probably want to avoid.
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Add: Dansby Swanson
The lone afternoon game today will take place at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs. Corbin Burnes who was a great offseason addition for the D-backs will take the mound for Arizona.
Cubs' shortstop Dansby Swanson has had a great deal of success against Burnes in the past. He is 12 for 20 (.600) in 21 plate appearances with nine singles, a double and two homers. Swanson has struck out against Burnes four times, but realistically that is not concerning for Swanson who has a high strikeout rate anyway. Swanson could easily rack up extra bases this afternoon and give your DFS a boost.
On DraftKings DFS, you can only select players from this game in a "Showdown Captian Mode" which gives you the opportunity to select a capitan who will earn 1.5X points. If you're willing to take a risk, Swanson has great upside in this position. You are giving a virtual $50,000 budget to create your lineup and Swanson as a capitan would cost you $9,900 leaving plenty of room for high-end players.
Add: Francisco Lindor
The New York Mets took Game 1 of a four game set against the St. Louis Cardinals last night in Queens. Mets' shortstop Francisco Lindor drove in two of New York's four runs with a single in the second inning. Lindor also added two more hits to his stat line on Thursday.
Typically, it is not likely for hitters to put on an encore after the day Lindor had on Thursday, but his matchup on Friday is a favorable one. Lindor will face Miles Mikolas who he has a .412 batting average against in 18 plate appearances. Most of Lindor's hits are singles, but two have gone for extra bases. Mikolas has only struck out Lindor one time and has not walked him, so Lindor puts the ball in play and plans to swing when he faces the Cardinals' righty.
Lindor's salary in a classic DFS pool on DraftKings is $5,200, which is slightly above the average per player provided within the budget. With four other shortstops that have a higher salary than Lindor on Friday, the switch-hitting shortstop is a real valuable option to add to your DFS lineup.
Avoid: Freddie Freeman
Los Angeles Dodgers' superstar Freddie Freeman is and will always be a lot of DFS users' first choice at first base. Believe it or not, as consistent as Freeman has been throughout his entire career, he still has arms he struggles against.
On Friday, he will face off against a former division rival when he was with the Atlanta Braves, Jacob deGrom. Although both Freeman and deGrom are now late in their careers, they both have a great deal of talent left in the tank. These two are extra familiar with each other as they have squared off 74 times in their careers. Freeman has 16 hits against deGrom, including three home runs but the most shocking statistic among these two is in deGrom's favor.
deGrom has struck out Freeman 20 times. Typically, Freeman is one of the hardest hitters in all of Major League Baseball to set down on strikes. Somehow, deGrom has cracked that code. It is possible for Freeman to figure things out, especially with as much film has he has available to watch but adding Freeman to your DFS on Friday is honestly not worth the risk.
Freeman's salary on DraftKings is the third highest for first baseman on Friday. The safest bet is to spend lower at first base today and splurge on other positions.