Hello, peeps! It’s the day before the most wonderful day of the year: it’s Chocolate Eve! Today, somewhere in a burrow far, far away, the Easter Bunny is busily laying his eggs and packing them into baskets, ready to be delivered to all the good children. (Sidebar questions: Why is a rabbit laying eggs? Why is he a he and not a she? Why use baskets, an incredibly impractical mode of transportation for eggs? WHY IS HE GIVING AWAY HIS OWN CHILDREN TO BE EATEN?). And if you’re good today (at drafting your FanDuel team, that is), perhaps you will be delivered a bunny-dle of cash tomorrow along with all that chocolate. So let’s hop to it and look at some options for FanDuel for Saturday April 15.
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All your eggs in one basket: Today I’m looking to stack batters from a couple of matchups. I think it’s worth paying up for big bats today. But like last week, below I’ve given you some cheapie alternatives as well, for filler (hopefully as rich as Cadbury Crème Eggs [Sidebar question: Can anyone eat more than one of those a year? Dear God.]).
Streamonator has Tampa’s Jake Odorizzi ranked last today. I think that’s a little harsh, but the Red Sox do have good numbers against him and they’ll be playing at home, so I shall be stacking Boston bats like chocolate peanut butter pancakes from Denny’s. I also like Washington over Philadelphia, where Jeremy Hellickson‘s pitching on the road (if it’s a Saturday, I must be picking on a Jeremy! Poor Guthrie — I’m still thinking about him from last Saturday). And lastly, I fancy a mixed assortment of Blue Jays hitters, but with one small caveat. At time of writing on Friday night, Jayson Aquino was a maybe to pitch for the Orioles. I know you may be thinking, “Canadian homegirl’s just being a homer,” which is frequently true, but the Jays feast on lefties like kids on the Easter Bunny’s progeny. However (here’s the caveat!), strong rumo(u)r has it Alec Asher may start instead. He sported a 9.31 ERA when he played with the Phillies in 2015, but had a strong spring and is a righty. If I were Showalter (which I’m glad I’m not, in so many ways), I probably would look to a Brimful of Asher.
Slate: I’m looking at the 1:10 p.m. All-Day GPP.
Here’s my lineup:
P: Lance McCullers, $9,100
C: Victor Martinez, $2,500
1B: Kendrys Morales, $2,900
2B: Scooter Gennett, $2,700
3B: Jake Lamb, $3,700
SS: Troy Tulowitzki, $3,400
OF: Bryce Harper, $4,600
OF: Aaron Judge, $2,700
OF: Andrew Benintendi, $3,300
Here’s why I picked them, along with some other suggestions:
Lance McCullers, SP: $9,100 — I love Lance McCullers. That curveball, that K rate, that smile. Streamonator’s lukewarm on him today and he’s a tad on the expensive side, so this could be a risky play, but I’m willing to take that risk in Oakland. Perhaps I’ve just had too much sugar already.
James Paxton, SP: $8,200 — “Paques” is French for “Easter”, so James Easter-ton just may be your man this weekend. And oh yeah, he hasn’t earned any runs yet, he’s pitching at home in Seattle today, and the Mariners are the favorite to win.
Kenta Maeda, SP: $8,500 — (Sidebar comment: in our house, Maeda is known as “Canned Tomayda,” thanks to the verbal butchery of Buck Martinez, Blue Jays TV broadcaster.) Chris Sale and Corey Kluber are your top pitchers for the day, but they’re at $11,500 and $10,000 respectively, making Maeda’s price look quite reasonable and freeing up cash for even bigger bats than I’ve gone for. He’s been a bit shaky his last two starts, but the Ks are there. The Diamondbacks shouldn’t cause him too many problems, other than possibly Jake Lamb (more on him below).
Victor Martinez, C: $2,500 — Until FanDuel realizes VMart is NOT A CATCHER, I’m going to keep playing him, especially at this price. Mind you, he’s not hitting an awful lot. Catcher’s something of a dismal position to fill today, but if you don’t like VMart, you could do worse than…
Matt Wieters, C: $2,900 — Make sure he’s in the lineup, but if he is, he’ll be facing Jeremy Hellickson.
Kendrys Morales, 1B: $2,900 — I like him for that aforementioned Baltimore matchup. He’s been hitting solidly and, being a switch-hitter, he won’t care whether the Orioles put Aquino or Asher in front of him.
Hanley Ramirez, 1B: $3,600 — I still think Morales is a better bargain, but again I don’t think you can go wrong with Boston hitters versus Odorizzi, and Hanley is Hittertron’s most very favo(u)rite 1B today.
Adam Lind, 1B: $2,400 — In hono[u]r of Easter, we shall call him Adam Lindt (here’s what he thinks of that pun). Adam loves him some righty pitching, and if 34 plate appearances against Jeremy Hellickson are anything to go by, he’s worth a cheap look on Saturday.
Scooter Gennett, 2B: $2,700 — (Sidebar question: A scooter would be a much better mode of transportation for eggs, wouldn’t it?) If Scooter’s in the starting lineup, he’s a cheap play versus a meh Zach Davies in the (humbly named, amirite?) Great American Ball Park. He was in Grey’s buy column for good reason yesterday: he’s been hot. But in case he doesn’t play, I’m going to keep it cheap and look to…
Cesar Hernandez, 2B: $2,900 — He’s hitting .308 right now and facing Tanner Roark (is it just me, or does Roark sound like the noise you make when you barf after too much chocolate?), whom he’s hit in the past. But also K’d a lot against. So perhaps you could go more expensive but safe and look at…
Daniel Murphy, 2B: $3,800 — Facing Hellickson and has been on quite the streak. Or maybe you might want to look at Dustin Pedroia, $3,200; boring, but, you know, Odorizzi.
Jake Lamb, 3B: $3,700 — He’s pricey, but he’s hitting like a fiend, he has good numbers against Maeda, and who doesn’t like a little lamb for their Easter dinner?
Pablo Sandoval, 3B: $2,500 — I talked him up last Saturday and he did nothing (thanks, Panda!), but today he’s squaring up against Odorizzi and he’s at a just-ridiculous price for an actual 3B.
Troy Tulowitzki, SS: $3,400 — Troy has been one of the sole Jays actually hitting so far (.300 over the last week): To whit-zki, it’s Friday night and he just drove in Morales (live update! Which you’re reading in the past! Mind. Blown). I especially like him if Aquino plays.
Aledmys Diaz, SS: $3,600 — I first picked up Aledmys in one league last year and haven’t looked back since. He’s continued his hitting ways to start this season, and he’s got a nice lefty-righty matchup vs. CC Sabathia in the Yankees bandbox on Saturday. It’s hard to find cheap, good options at shortstop today, but if you need to spend less, take a look at…
Wilmer Difo, SS: $2,200 — Willllllmerrrrrrrrr! is worth a look at this price; he’s likely to start, as he’s filling in for Stephen Drew and his strained hamstring, is facing Jeremy Hellickson, and may be good for steals.
Bryce Harper, OF: $4,600 — He’s been on fire this week (and his hair game is strong), and if he doesn’t hit against Hellickson, he’s going to walk or be walked, so I think he’s worth paying up for today. For another bat on the pricier end, look at Mookie Betts ($4,000): he’s been cool the last few days, but is picking up like an egg rolling down a hill.
Andrew Benintendi, OF: $3,300 — Here’s hoping that the road to hell isn’t paved with benintentions, but Odorizzi has significant splits against lefties and Benintendi’s been reasonably solid when he isn’t Roarking mid-game.
Mitch Haniger, OF: $2,600 — Cheap OF-on-a-hitting-streak alert! He’s in a tad bit of a hitters’ graveyard at Safeco, but I like his chances versus Cashner, and can you really go wrong at this price? However, if you feel that indeed you could, try…
Aaron Judge, OF: $2,700 — On the surface, it’s not the easiest matchup versus Carlos Martinez, but CarMart has been laboring while Judge has not, and it’s all going down in Yankee Stadium.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
There’s a 56% chance of rain in Minnesota for the Twins’ game versus the White Sox, but that’s about it. Happy sunny skies, everybody! Should be clear views of the Easter Bunny descending from the heavens in his basket-woven chariot pulled by baby chickens (…because, sure).
Doing Lines In Vegas
Boston over Tampa is a pretty safe bet (-198). I’m interested to watch what happens in Cleveland, versus Detroit; Cleveland’s the favorite at -161, but I wonder if Justin Verlander can keep a lid on them.
