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Baseball Picks Daily Fantasy Expert Advice

05/02/2014
James Davis

Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftStreet, and DraftKings for 5/2/14

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Pitchers

Felix Hernandez FanDuel 10300 DraftKings 12500 DraftStreet 25150
The price is insane, but Felix has been utterly dominant this year, and the Astros have scored the fewest runs in the AL. If you can make it work hitting wise, Felix seems to be the safest investment of a large sum you can get when it comes to pitchers.

Josh Beckett FanDuel 6000 DraftKings 9100 DraftStreet 17689
What year is this, you ask? Well, give me a second to explain. Beckett has been terrific recently - and against 2 teams that can hit (Colorado and Arizona). Now he faces the destitute Marlins, who have some fear factor for lefties, but for righties, not so much. Koehler going for the fish certainly doesn't help matters for them, either.

Tim Lincecum FanDuel 6200 DraftKings 7600 DraftStreet 15362
The drop off from Beckett to Lincecum is somewhat steep, in my mind, but Lincecum's peripherals are far better than his ERA would suggest. While Atlanta is off to a hot start, their hitting has been pretty atrocious - they've only outscored the Padres in the NL. You can't call it a "safe play," but I love Lincecum as an against the grain play today.

Also considered: Danny Salazar, Dan Straily, Clay Buchholz

 

Catchers

Yasmani Grandal FanDuel 3000 DraftKings 2700 DraftStreet 3754
Grandal is simply a terrific hitter, and his biggest weakness (strikeouts) is mitigated by the fact that he is facing what's left of Bronson Arroyo. Petco or not, I'm loving Grandal in any format today.

Buster Posey FanDuel 4000 DraftKings 4500 DraftStreet 6972
Posey is a lefty killer, and draws Mike Minor in his first game back from a shoulder injury. I can't say how Minor will fare in this one, but one guy who isn't going to be fooled is Posey.

Evan Gattis FanDuel 3100 DraftKings 3800 DraftStreet 6413
The system loves Gattis at home against Lincecum. While Gattis is better against lefties for his short career, he has bombed right handed pitching at home to the tune of a 150 wRC+.

Also considered: Jason Castro, Jonathan Lucroy.

 

First Basemen

Mark Reynolds FanDuel 2900 DraftKings 3800 DraftStreet 4414
Reynolds can absolutely still get a hold of one, which is unfortunately for Mike Leake, because Mike Leake is more than happy to let just about anyone get a hold of one this season. Reynolds will even forgive Leake's handedness, considering Leake's inability to strike anyone out.

Justin Smoak FanDuel 3000 DraftKings 3500 DraftStreet 5829
Do you smell it? That's the stench of a Seattle stack coming on. The Mariners can actually hit right handed pitching, and today they draw one of the very worst in the game - Brad Peacock. With his 18 Ks against 17 BBs this season, Smoak and his hombres should be on the board early and often.

David Ortiz FanDuel 3700 DraftKings 4600 DraftStreet 8017
Facing another righty in Fenway, Ortiz will be a popular start today. Straily is a fine young pitcher, but the veteran Papi gets his best possible scenario (vs. righty, at home).

It's a strong day for first basemen - I could have easily picked Votto, Morneau, Fielder, Cabrera, or Swisher instead of Papi.

 

Second Basemen

Robinson Cano FanDuel 3900 DraftKings 4700 DraftStreet 7688
Cano will probably be started by everyone, even people who don't play daily fantasy baseball. Not only is he facing a righty in a nice hitters' park - the righty is Brad Peacock. BRAD PEACOCK, MAN! One of the great mismatches of the season.

Neil Walker FanDuel 3100 DraftKings 3800 DraftStreet 5951
Walker is a huge platoon split guy - one of the very biggest at second base. He draws not only a right hander, but a right-hander who had 8 walks against 1 strike out in his last outing. I guess you could say I like Walker in this one.

Ben Zobrist FanDuel 3500 DraftKings 4300 DraftStreet 7235
Zobrist already crushes lefties to the tune of a career 122 wRC+, and now he gets a guy who just isn't a major leaguer (Nuno) in an awesome hitters' park. If it weren't for Cano's otherworldly matchup, Zobrist would be a near universal start.

Sort of considered: Ian Kinsler, Dee Gordon

 

Shortstops

Brad Miller FanDuel 3100 DraftKings 3200 DraftStreet 4222
I just can't resist Miller batting among all of those other lefties against one of the Majors' worst. He's absolutely underperformed this year, but can you give the guy a break? He hasn't had the chance to face Brad Peacock yet.

Everth Cabrera FanDuel 2900 DraftKings 3300 DraftStreet 3874
Arroyo is literally the best possible match-up for Cabrera. Arroyo has the lowest K/9 of any starter this year, and Everth thrives when he makes contact. When he gets on base, he steals - and he'll have all the opportunity in the world to be on base in this game.

Elvis Andrus FanDuel 3200 DraftKings 3800 DraftStreet 6548
Andrus couldn't care less about the Angels' fancy pitchers' park. He'll be looking to get on, steal bases, and score runs - and the degree to which the Angels' home park depresses runs, Hector Santiago's relative ineffectiveness as a starter should make up the difference.

Also considered: Jean Segura, Hanley Ramirez

 

Third Basemen

David Wright FanDuel 3400 DraftKings 4800 DraftStreet 6643
Wright is another guy who draws a match-up like you read about. Many people don't know that DW holds a very dramatic platoon split that seems to be widening with age. He's a 1.008 OPS monster against lefties for his career, vs. just .841 against right handers. Now he gets a relatively sub-par lefty in the best park to hit in in the majors. Just play him unless you are the type of person to dye your hair pink just to be different.

Evan Longoria FanDuel 3900 DraftKings 4900 DraftStreet 7580
Read Zobrist's write-up above, and slap it on Longoria as well. TB right-handed hitters stack is absolutely in play today.

Pedro Alvarez FanDuel 3200 DraftKings 3100 DraftStreet 5573
Like Longoria, you can just grab Neil Walker's write-up and paste it down for Alvarez. Morrow looks totally lost, and when he's lost, he can absolutely make mistakes that guys like Alvarez will deposit in the seats. Or Alvarez will strike out 5 times. Whichever.

Also considered: Carlos Santana, Adrian Beltre.

 

Outfielders

Christian Yelich FanDuel 2900 DraftKings 3500 DraftStreet 4402
I'm not sure where the cognitive disconnect comes from with the sites - when Yelich goes against right handers, he simply can not be priced this low. Just keep playing him until the eventual correction comes.

Carlos Gonzalez FanDuel 4200 DraftKings 5800 DraftStreet 6662
Wheeler is a fine young pitcher and everything, but it's Cargo at home, and the price is still below where it needs to be when he faces right handers at home (a situation that has yielded a 1.000+ OPS for him for his career).

Jay Bruce FanDuel 3700 DraftKings 4000 DraftStreet 7215
At home against right handed pitching, Jay Bruce has a 141 wRC+. In all other situations, he is exactly league average with a 100 wRC+. Peralta's been good and all so far, but Bruce is a monster at home against righties. Play him, and fear not!

Desmond Jennings FanDuel 3300 DraftKings 4100 DraftStreet 7673
An essential part of any Rays pile-on today, Jennings holds a 122 wRC+ against all the lefties his ever faced. Now he faces arguably the worst lefty he's ever faced, and faces him in a fantastic hitters' park.

Matt Kemp FanDuel 3800 DraftKings 4900 DraftStreet 6797
As of this writing it's not clear whether Koehler or Slowey will get the start for the Marlins - if it's Slowey, Kemp is a must play - if it's Koehler, he's... still a great play.

Jason Heyward FanDuel 3100 DraftKings 3100 DraftStreet 5940
Heyward never blossomed into the guy we hoped he'd be (at least, not yet), but the match up against Lincecum is a very favorable one for him. He's been more than serviceable against right-handers over his career (a 131 wRC+), and the new Lincecum shouldn't keep him down very easily.

Also considered - Wil Myers for Stack purposes, Adam Jones

 

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