DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Thursday, 4/22 Yesterday was insane with 15 MLB games and 12 NBA matchups, but this slate is much lighter. We have just eight games for the day, with five games making up the night slate. That's a rather small ledger for MLB, and it leaves us with some lackluster pitching options. With that said, we have one of the best aces in the Majors taking the mound, so let's kick things off with him! Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB and NBA optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Walker Buehler FD - P 9800 DK - SP 10000 Opponent - SD (Ryan Weathers) Park - LAD FD - 39.5 DK - 21.83 If you think Clayton Kershaw is still the best pitcher in Los Angeles, you need to examine your thoughts. This kid is a downright ace, pitching to a 2.98 ERA and 1.00 WHIP since 2018. That's an amazing 374-inning sample size, striking out 420 batters in that time. That happens to be one of the best K rates in that span among starters, making him the easiest option on an otherwise weak slate. San Diego has a good offense on paper, but they really haven't gotten it going yet. They currently sit 19th in runs scored, and their two-best hitters happen to hit from the right side, which gives the advantage to Buehler. In six career starts against San Diego, Buehler has a 1.62 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, and 11.3 K/9 rates if you needed any more incentive. Aaron Sanchez FD - P 7200 DK - SP 7100 Opponent - MIA (Daniel Castano) Park - SF FD - 28.92 DK - 14.35 This is certainly a risky pick, but this is the nature of this slate. We have a solid pitcher facing a bad offense in an extreme pitcher's park. That's good enough for me to use Sanchez, with the talented youngster showing some serious flashes in his first few starts. In fact, the right-hander has a 2.45 ERA and 1.23 WHIP through three starts this year, and it appears this wonderful ballpark is doing him some good. He's shown moments of brilliance in the past, and a change of environment could be just what the doctor ordered. We love this matchup, too, with Miami missing Starling Marte while ranked 24th in hard-hit rate and 26th in exit velocity. All of that looks even better with San Fran being a -140 favorite here with a game total sitting at just eight runs. Catcher/First Base Pete Alonso FD -...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday 4/21/21 On Wednesday, we get another full day of games with a large variety of slates so I will be trying to cover it all with my top picks at each position. Let's get started. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Kenta Maeda FD - P 7900 DK - SP 7400 Opponent - OAK (Frankie Montas) Park - OAK FD - 35.07 DK - 18.54 The first thing that stands out today is the low price on Kenta Maeda on the early slate. He enters the day with a 3.07 ERA/3.66 xFIP and while the walks(5) have pushed up the pitch count and limited his overall upside, he is generating a 16.5% swinging-strike rate and the A's are striking out 28% of the time vs. right-handed pitching. The matchup isn't great here but the price is too hard to avoid, especially in Draftkings as an SP2. Tyler Mahle FD - P 8800 DK - SP 9500 Opponent - ARI (Merrill Kelly) Park - CIN FD - 36.08 DK - 19.04 On the main slate, we get even more PTS/$ value(2nd highest on the day) with Tyler Mahle who is off to a great start in 2021. Like Maeda, he has had some issues with control limiting the length of his outings but has given up just seven hits and four earned runs in 14 innings with an insane 39% K rate. He nows gets a plus matchup against a D-backs team that is 24th in wOBA(.291) and 25th in wRC+(80) against right-handed pitching. He is my top pitcher on the main slate in all formats. Catcher/First Base Yuli Gurriel FD - 1B 3600 DK - 1B 4900 Opponent - COL (Austin Gomber) Park - COL FD - 12.38 DK - 9.5 Even a trip to Coors Field is not enough for the sites to boost up Guriel's price making him one of my top plays on the day. Despite back-to-back hitless games, he entered Tuesday with a .358/.477/.491 slash line to open the season and with the team not fully healthy again, he has been hitting in the top four in the lineup. On top of all that, he gets a matchup vs. a lefty and has posted an elite .400 wOBA/163 wRC+ in the split since the start of last season. Fire him up in all formats today. Joey Votto FD - 1B 2800 DK - 1B 4500 Opponent - ARI (Merrill Kelly) Park - CIN...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Tuesday 4/20/21 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Welcome back baseball fans. Today we a wide range of slates on DraftKings and they have also included games one and two of the Twins/A's double-header so keep in mind those games are only seven innings each. Instead of splitting the slates up in the article, I will try to cover players and teams from the entire day. Let's get started. Pitchers Carlos Rodón FD - P 10000 DK - SP 10100 Opponent - CLE (Zach Plesac) Park - CLE FD - 29.11 DK - 14.56 Kind of hard to follow up a no-hitter(almost perfect game if not for the toe-ball) but the early slate of games is pretty weak for pitching. The good news is that the new and improved Carlos Rodon is an absolute bulldog on the mound and all three pitches(4-seamer, slider, changeup) have been dominant creating an elite 16% swinging-strike rate. While I don't expect the same result, the Indians are a plus matchup sitting outside the Top 20 in almost all stats and have struck out 27.5% of the time over the last seven days. Rodon is in play for me in all formats today. Zack Wheeler FD - P 9400 DK - SP 9800 Opponent - SF (Logan Webb) Park - PHI FD - 33.56 DK - 17.64 The main slate has a much better selection of pitchers but matchups(Burnes, Ryu) and pitch counts(Ohtani) also present some interesting decisions. For cash games, I think the decision is clear with Zack Wheeler who is following up his impressive 2020 season(2.92) with a nice start to 2021 as he has posted a 3.00 ERA/3.31 xFIP while striking out 27% of batters and has given up a low .295 wOBA against. He is now a -155 favorite against the Giants who are 28th in runs scored, 25th in wOBA(.290), and 28th in wRC+(82) overall and strike out 30% of the time against right-handed pitching. At these prices, Wheeler is my favorite PTS/$ pitcher on Tuesday. Catcher/First Base Matt Olson FD - N/A DK - 4500 Opponent - MIN (Matt Shoemaker) Park - OAK FD - 12.6 DK - 9.4 The A's bats have really heated up over the last week(.373 wOBA, 149 wRC+, .245 ISO) and are a core team for me on the early slate today. They face Matt Shoemaker who gives up a lot of flyballs(48%) and has been punished giving up three home runs in...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Monday 4/19/21 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW!   Pitchers Joe Musgrove FD - P 10500 DK - SP 10200 Opponent - MIL (Brandon Woodruff) Park - SD FD - 37.33 DK - 20.01 It's a short slate on Monday, and with so many games with tight money lines we are in a bit of a bind. If you're looking for electric upside, you don't have to look a lot further than Joe Musgrove. The Padres' burgeoning ace has built upon 2020's break out with a bang, compiling a 1.93 xFIP (and a no-hitter!) through three starts in this young season. Musgrove had big prospect pedigree before being tainted by the Pirates, and appears ready to lean into being an ace in his first season in San Diego. Milwaukee is a fantastic match-up, with the 2nd worst wOBA in the Majors and the 6th highest K rate. Musgrove is a little pricey but should be worth it here. Dustin May FD - P 9300 DK - SP 9700 Opponent - SEA (Justus Sheffield) Park - SEA FD - 33.94 DK - 18.22 Speaking of young pitchers realizing their prospect pedigree, I present to you Dustin May. He hasn't been super-efficient thus far this season, but he's combining his characteristically great ground-ball rate with the best strikeout numbers of his career. It's just 10 innings, but the signs have been there in the past, and he doesn't need to be this good in order to justify these prices. The Dodgers are the biggest favorites on the day against a Seattle team with a top 10 strikeout rate, and on a slate like today that might be enough for cash games. Also considered: Kevin Gausman, if you need some savings. Catcher/First Base Brandon Belt FD - 1B 2300 DK - 1B 3400 Opponent - PHI (Chase Anderson) Park - PHI FD - 9.92 DK - 7.42 People were probably overly enthusiastic about last year's performance from Belt, and they are probably overly pessimistic based on this year's slow start. The truth probably lies somewhere between, with Belt projecting out as a high .700s OPS guy. He's been .080 OPS points better against righties for his career, and Anderson has to be considered below average at this point in his career. It's a reasonable hitters' park as well, and Belt is just so cheap that he helps you pay up for pricier options elsewhere. Carlos Santana FD - 1B 2600 DK -...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 4/19/21 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Shane Bieber FD - P 11500 DK - SP 10000 Opponent - CIN (Wade Miley) Park - CINFD - 46.81 DK - 26.73 Bieber is *only* a -155 road favorite against the Reds on Sunday, but rings in with the highest projection of the early games. That’s what happens when you put up video game stats for your last 100 innings pitched. In that span, Bieber is averaging 14.5 strikeouts per nine with an xFIP in the low 2’s. He’s one of, if not the, best pitchers in baseball. The Reds have been a very good offense to start the season so this isn’t a total layup for Bieber, but the strikeout upside is nearly in a class of its own. Aaron Nola FD - P 8500 DK - SP 8800 Opponent - STL (John Gant) Park - PHIFD - 40.95 DK - 22.28 Nola comes at a price point a bit cheaper than some of the other stud arms on this slate, but he’s also one of the better pitchers in the league. The righty has a 6:1 K:BB ratio to start the season and has been in command of the strike zone for the better part of two seasons now. He’s a -170 home favorite against the Cardinals who’ve been a bottom-third offense to start the season and are striking out 25% of the time as a team. Freddy Peralta (FD $8500 DK $9500) could be a great cash option against the Pirates. He’s a big, -195 home favorite. Catcher/First Base Rhys Hoskins FD - 1B 3400 DK - 1B 4600 Opponent - STL (John Gant) Park - PHIFD - 12.38 DK - 9.1 Gant has been a reliever for most of his career but shifted to a starter this season. The ERA is fine but the 4.85 xFIP and six walks through nine innings show a guy struggling some with control. Hoskins meanwhile has been very patient for his career but has barely drawn any walks to start the season. Something has to give here and I’m leaning Hoskins in this matchup. He could round out to a .900 OPS guy again if the peripherals tick up some and this is a matchup to get going with. Keston Hiura FD - 1B 2500 DK - 1B/2B 4400 Opponent - PIT (Chad Kuhl) Park - MILFD - 10.74 DK - 8.13 Chad Kuhl has been pretty terrible this...