Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftStreet, and DraftKings 4/13/14

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A little note about baseball picks

If you're coming over from basketball - welcome. If you're a lifelong fantasy baseball player, welcome. I want to give a quick heads up about how we are going to do our baseball picks.

Unlike basketball, contextual information matters very little baseball. Guys rarely take days off, and "playing well recently" means almost nothing. Playing time hardly ever changes (unlike in basketball where guys can increase their opportunities by 50% on a coach's whim), and when it does, it's fairly obvious.

So, we're going to be giving picks each day without huge write-ups. The only thing that changes about a player in a given day (for the most part) is the park he's playing in and the pitcher he is facing. Most of the other stuff is noise, unless a player has drastically changed his position in the lineup. For pitchers, all that really matters is who they are facing, which park, and if they've been recently injured.

We cool?

Let's do it.

Pitchers

Scott Kazmir FanDuel 6400 DraftKings 9000 DraftStreet 19851
Kazmir is looking downright legit, and it doesn't get a whole lot better than a lefty facing Seattle in Seattle. Expect him to be a HUGE start today, especially facing the less than great Chris Young.

C.J. Wilson FanDuel 7100 DraftKings 10800 DraftStreet 17655
The Mets were absolutely horrendous against lefties last year, and their off-season acquisitions (looking at you, Granderson), don't help matters. Throw in a heck of a pitcher's park in Anaheim and you have a super matchup, even if Wilson hasn't looked great so far.

Corey Kluber FanDuel 6300 DraftKings 7200 DraftStreet 16002
Some nice individual matchups on the White Sox today, but as a whole, the White Sox's futility against righties was only topped by the Astros in the AL last year.

If you're thinking bargain basement today, I like Doubrount a lot vs. the Yankees. They can K, and the Sox should be favored in this one. He doesn't need to do a ton if he goes 6 IP and grabs a win.

Catchers

Miguel MonteroI'm a huge Dan Haren fan and have really enjoyed his resurgence so far, but this is just a downright terrible match-up for him. Arizona's park plays to his extreme home-run weakness, and Montero should be first in line to take advantage.

Tyler FlowersThe only situation where Flowers is an above average hitter for his career is at home vs. righties. He's posted a 119 wRC against them - which means he's been about 19% better than league average in this situation. Kluber isn't the easiest righty, but this scenario is why Flowers is in the majors. You could do a lot worse on these prices.

A.J. Pierzynski FanDuel 2600 DraftKings 3100 DraftStreet 4876
At this point in his career, Pierzynski is here just to match up against righties in great parks. Nova in Yankee stadium is one such match-up.

Victor Martinez and Evan Gattis also received consideration.

First Basemen

Billy Butler FanDuel 2500 DraftKings 3800 DraftStreet 5673
William Butler tops the 1b charts today as a result of Kevin Correia being stinky. Butler prefers righties, but the system just hates Correia that much.

Nick Swisher FanDuel 3000 DraftKings 3200 DraftStreet 4839
Swish-a-liiiiiicious lives for facing lefties in Comerica. Swisher is a heavy platoon split guy, and the league average Quintana shouldn't be able to stop him.

David Ortiz FanDuel 3800 DraftKings 4800 DraftStreet 7854
Papi has got to be pumped to face Nova at home - if you're going to play Ortiz at all this season, it's got to be in Yankee stadium against average-ish right handed pitching.

Also receiving consideration - Adam Dunn, Ryan Howard, and Joe Mauer.

Second Basemen

Neil Walker FanDuel 3000 DraftKings 4200 DraftStreet 6196
Righty-killer Walker back atop the 2b charts. The price is still too low for what he is capable of, and the pitch-to-contact Lohse shouldn't scare you away.

Ryan Raburn FanDuel 2300 DraftKings 3200 DraftStreet 5322
It's Indians vs. a lefty day! The Indians had a .766 OPS vs. lefties last year, and they rate to smash them this year as well. Raburn, being only playable against lefties, makes a fantastic play today.

I can only recommend two guys in good faith today. If they play, you can make a case for Gordon or Uggla.

Shortstops

Derek Jeter FanDuel 2900 DraftKings 3500 DraftStreet 6292
Perennially the best play against lefties, Jeter is a guy who is wildly overpriced vs. righties, and a huge steal against southpaws. I like Doubrount and all today, but Jeter should still get his.

Chris Owings FanDuel 2800 DraftKings 2800 DraftStreet 3256
Just like the rest of the lefties on the D-backs, I love Owings against Haren. I can't really write the same things every day, so I'll just say: Owings is a good play today.

Jed Lowrie FanDuel 3500 DraftKings 4200 DraftStreet 7503
Young is an EXTREME platoon pitcher - one of the very largest. The park isn't great, and Lowrie prefers lefties, but I think he'll get a boost against Young who relies on deception against similarly handed batters.

Third Basemen

Carlos Santana FanDuel 3300 DraftKings 4600 DraftStreet 5429
You can make a great case for Santana in the top spot, as he far prefers the right side of the plate (136 wRC+ vs. 123 from the left side), it's a great park, and the guys who hit around him have a distinct edge as well. In fact, forget I said anything, and just play Santana ahead of Wright.

David Wright FanDuel 3800 DraftKings 4400 DraftStreet 5622
Not a great play based on the guys hitting around him, but his track record vs. lefties is simply too good to leave him off against Wilson. In a relatively weak 3b field, Wright is still a solid play.

Martin Prado FanDuel 3000 DraftKings 4200 DraftStreet 5353
A pretty good stack day against Haren - Prado is much better against righties, and the D-backs have a park that suits his skill-set very well.

Also considered: Evan Longoria, Trevor Plouffe

Outfielders

Bryce Harper FanDuel 3700 DraftKings 4500 DraftStreet 5945
Just an ideal match-up for Harper, who should harangue Harang for both power and OBP! Harang's handedness and stuff play right into all of Harper's greatest strengths.

Alfonso Soriano FanDuel 3300 DraftKings 4500 DraftStreet 5523
The piping hot Soriano gets another great match-up - a guy who can give up a home run in the band box known as Yankee stadium. Tough to pencil him in for 1 home run per game ad infinitum, but I'm expecting another nice game here.

Aaron Hicks FanDuel 2300 DraftKings 3200 DraftStreet 5619
Aaron Hicks is essentially not a major league hitter at this point in his career, buuuuuuut he is much more so a real hitter against lefties, and he's priced ridiculously cheap for a guy who should get at bats and can run a bit in a nice hitter's match-up.

Domonic Brown FanDuel 3000 DraftKings 3900 DraftStreet 6649
Facing guys like Henderson Alvarez (a righty) at home is what has kept Domonic Brown in the majors. His pull-swing just plays perfectly in his home park, and he sees the ball MUCH better vs. righties there.

Christian Yelich FanDuel 3100 DraftKings 4900 DraftStreet 7988
Yelich gets the same boost Brown does. While his price is creeping up a bit, Yelic is still a fine play in a park that boosts home runs for lefties by 7%. Also - Kyle Kendrick will be pitching in this game.

Desmond Jennings FanDuel 3200 DraftKings 4000 DraftStreet 5502
I'm kind of a begrudging Cingrani believer, but this really is a great spot for Jennings regardless. Righties hit 14% more homers in Cincinnati than elsewhere, and Cingrani's splits also heavily favor righties.

Justin Upton FanDuel 4000 DraftKings 5200 DraftStreet 6712
Gio's a nice pitcher, but Upton has a 140 wRC+ vs. lefties for his career, vs. a 113 against righties. Not my favorite play due to the strike out potential, but I could see Upton putting in a few very hard hit balls.

Also considered: Denard Span, Ryan Ludwick, and Alex Gordon.

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