Stacking against a stud pitcher on DraftKings is a lot like forgetting your pants when you get dressed in the morning. It’s normally an inexcusable mistake. However, I am about to recommend that you stack against a stud… Cole Hamels is well-regarded as one of the true aces in the game of baseball. He plays Baltimore on Thursday, and it’s not like Hamels is very homer prone. However, Thursday will be a different story as the right-handed bats in Baltimore’s lineup may just have a field day. Continue to remember your pants in the morning, but feel free to forget the rule about stacking against a stud, at least for a day.
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 10 teamer of Razzball writers and friends to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.
Marcus Stroman, SP: $9,000 – Marcus Stroman welcomes a pretty good Yankees’ lineup to Toronto. Stroman recently published a piece for Derek Jeter’s website, The Players’ Tribune, about his adoration for Toronto. Pitching in front of his home crowd, Stroman is a good bet to get a lot of ground balls to go with a lot of strikeouts. There is a high floor, which is exactly what you want with your priciest pitcher, to go along with a high ceiling with the nasty stuff that Stroman possesses.
Raisel Iglesias, SP: $8,700 – Iglesias has been a trendy pick in every format every created as a result of all the sleeper buildup in the offseason. Seriously, I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to enter the presidential race; with all the fantasy owners all over him, he’d give everyone a run for their money before they realized he definitely is not eligible to run for President. Here’s the reason he won’t be as highly owned: he goes to Wrigley. Yes, that Wrigley, not like a gum factory or anything. The Cubs are a scary opponent when choosing a pitcher, I will admit that; however, everyone knows that, and as Brandon Finnegan recently showed, they are not without their flaws. Expect a lot of strikeouts by Raisel to offset any potential runs he gives up.
Wellington Castillo, C: $3,100 – Wellington Castillo went to the Diamondbacks in the second half of last season and went on a huge power surge. He has not started this year very well at all, but I’m betting that he ruins the feel good story that is Ross Stripling by rediscovering his power stroke tomorrow. I’ll also use this as an opportunity to say that if you have not looked at the D-Backs uniforms for this year, look at them right now… Hopefully they don’t keep holding back Castillo’s hitting.
Mark Trumbo, 1B/OF: $3,400 – Here is the start of our Baltimore stack. Trumbo has been following Chris Davis in the order, and may be the more feared of the two by the lefty Hamels. Balls fly out in Arlington, and Trumbo will go to any and every field to hit home runs. Maybe he’ll try to catch the jet stream out to right center; regardless, there is monster game potential for Trumbo, especially against a southpaw. Hitting in the heart of a powerful order is never a bad trait to have in your first baseman!
Jonathon Schoop, 2B: $2,600 – The only reason Schoop is priced this low is his spot in the order. Against lefties, he usually hits 7th. However, he also averaged over 400 feet on his homeruns last year; to have that from a second baseman facing an opposite sided pitcher is a great combination. My bet is that his ownership will be very small, even in the 5 game 7:07 slate, and the recipe for a monster game with low ownership is too good to pass up.
Manny Machado, 3B: $3,800 – This is the biggest steal in the history of the world. If the Mona Lisa was stolen and then the person who stole it proceeded to be stolen while still possessing the stolen Mona Lisa, maybe we could mention it in the same sentence. I would say it’s a classic heist, but I’m not sure it’s a classic heist… I mean, DraftKings has only existed for like four or five years; I guess classic is all relative anyways. Anyways, my rambling on Machado is distracting you from putting him in your lineup, so go do that. He is the play of the day, easily.
Carlos Correa, SS: $4,700 – At least DraftKings finally got Correa’s price to where it should be. That shouldn’t stop you from owning the best shortstop in the game, however. He gets a soft tossing, strike throwing Ian Kennedy, and believe me, that is a bad combination to go up against Carlos Correa with. Considering he hits homers on pitches six inches off the inside corner, imagine what he can do on strikes? Just make sure he’s in your lineup so it can be more than just imagination.
Jose Bautista, OF: $4,900 – If you got retroactive points for bat flips, this would be an obvious selection. It still should be a pretty obvious selection, though. Nate Eovaldi throws very hard and gets hit very hard; oh yeah, Joey Bats hits very hard. That’s like squaring the hits very hard part of that equation! If you want to stay away from exponents, the easy math is to click the little plus sign next to his name to get Jose in your lineup.
Lorenzo Cain, OF: $4,900 – Lorenzo Cain is off to a slow start to the year; it happens to the best of them. He still hits third on the World Series champions, and he still is one of the best all around players in the game. Hope for lower ownership based off his slow start, and hope that a soft-tossing Doug Fister is enough to make the slow start speed up to Cain’s pace.
David Peralta, OF: $3,600 – Sorry, I had to take it out on Ross Stripling again. Peralta hits in the heart of the D-Backs order (oh yeah, if you didn’t check out those uniforms when I told you too, it’s really getting time), and he hits some of the hardest line drives you will ever see. There is room to go with a higher priced guy in this slot, but Peralta creates a probably uncommon lineup combination and should provide equivalent production to more highly priced outfielders.
I’m Only Happy When it Rains
The early season troubles with rain and snow have decided to mostly leave us alone. In the 5-game-slate at 7EST, there are two games in domes, so let’s root for the very expensive domes to do their job. The only other slight risk is in the Windy City, where clouds are expected to move through. There isn’t much thought that rain will come, but with the late swap existing on DraftKings, it is something to keep an eye on throughout the day.
Doing Lines in Vegas
We didn’t go with anyone from the Giants-Rockies game in Coors Field. Coors Field is always the site of high ownership percentages, but for good reason, as the over/under is at 11.5. Other large over/unders include the game in Arlington that we happily picked Baltimore players from at 8.5, along with an 8.5 in Houston with the Royals in town. Both of those games are solid picks, and if you don’t like one of mine, feel free to throw in a Giant or a Rockie near the top of their respective orders.
That is all for Thursday, April 14. Best of luck in all your contests, and may Brian Scalabrine’s voodoo magic be forever in your favor!
