It’s split slate madness when it comes to mid-week DFS MLB. We actually have a decent sized 7-game early slate to go with a smaller 5-game late slate.
The early slate will have a roster lock of 12:35 PM ET starting with the Tigers/Pirates game, while the late slate has a roster lock of 7:07 PM ET kicking off with Yankees/Blue Jays.
I am still debating on whether or not I want to play both slates, but there’s a lot to like about both; however, another game at Coors Field does scare me a bit.
As far as weather is concerned, we have been blessed with some good weather this week, and that trend should continue throughout the day. Nothing we should be really worried about.
Again, I will provide a few options at each position for both slates. Let's get things started!
| CATCHER | ||||||||||||||||
| Probable | 2015 Regular Season | 2016 Regular Season | Salaries | |||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Pitcher | Throws | H/AB | AVG | HR | OPS | H/AB | AVG | HR | OPS | FD | DK | Aces |
| Buster Posey | SF | R | COL | Jorge De La Rosa | L | 177-for-557 | .318 | 19 | .849 | 9-for-23 | .391 | 2 | 1.140 | 4900 | 5000 | 5700 |
| Jose Lobaton | WAS | S | ATL | Julio Teheran | R | 27-for-136 | .199 | 3 | .573 | 1-for-3 | .333 | 0 | .667 | 2100 | 2400 | 3000 |
| Brian McCann | NYY | L | TOR | Marcus Stroman | R | 108-for-465 | .232 | 26 | .756 | 9-for-18 | .500 | 2 | 1.480 | 3600 | 3400 | 5050 |
| Miguel Montero | CHC | L | ARI | Raisel Iglesias | R | 86-for-347 | .248 | 15 | .754 | 6-for-21 | .286 | 1 | .956 | 2800 | 3000 | 4200 |
EARLY SLATE
Buster Posey is day-to-day, but if he gets the start, you probably should consider him today against Jorge De La Rosa at Coors Field. He is 10-for-32 (.312 AVG) with a homer and five doubles against De La Rosa throughout his career. If he doesn’t, well, obviously you have to give Trevor Brown a look, especially considering he is 4-for-8 with two home runs in his first two games at Coors.
Jose Lobaton may get the start today behind the plate. He may not have gotten the start against Teheran due to “opening day” reasons, but he probably should get the starts against him the rest of the year. Lobaton was 4-for-8 (.500 AVG) with two homers, five RBIs, and zero strikeouts against Teheran in 2015.
LATE SLATE
Brian McCann is listed as “day-to-day”, but I think he should be back in the lineup tonight against a right-handed pitcher. He might just be a must play given the lack of quality options at the catcher position. The veteran catcher is batting .500 and has two home runs so far this season.
Miguel Montero did absolutely nothing against Raisel Iglesias last season, but he’s playing extremely well, and he’s reasonably priced. Montero has reached base seven times in his last two games.
| FIRST BASE | ||||||||||||||||
| Probable | 2015 Regular Season | 2016 Regular Season | Salaries | |||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Pitcher | Throws | H/AB | AVG | HR | OPS | H/AB | AVG | HR | OPS | FD | DK | Aces |
| Jose Abreu | CHW | R | MIN | Ervin Santana | R | 178-for-613 | .290 | 30 | .850 | 8-for-28 | .286 | 2 | .936 | 3800 | 5000 | 5450 |
| Mark Reynolds | COL | R | SF | Matt Cain | R | 88-for-382 | .230 | 13 | .713 | 3-for-18 | .167 | 0 | .472 | 2900 | 4100 | 4700 |
| Carlos Santana | CLE | S | TB | Chris Archer | R | 127-for-550 | .231 | 19 | .752 | 5-for-21 | .238 | 1 | .720 | 3000 | 3300 | 4700 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | ARI | R | LAD | Ross Stripling | R | 182-for-567 | .321 | 33 | 1.005 | 8-for-30 | .267 | 3 | 1.038 | 5100 | 5100 | 5900 |
| Tyler White | HOU | R | KC | Ian Kennedy | R | - | - | - | - | 14-for-29 | .483 | 3 | 1.426 | 3300 | 4300 | 4500 |
| Eric Hosmer | KC | L | MIN | Doug Fister | R | 178-for-599 | .297 | 18 | .822 | 10-for-30 | .333 | 0 | .794 | 3100 | 4800 | 4700 |
EARLY SLATE
Jose Abreu will matchup against Ervin Santana of the Twins. Santana had one of the league’s worst xFIP’s at 4.42 in 2015, and could be vulnerable against the big White Sox bats. I love Abreu’s .212 ISO from 2015, but if he can come closer to his .264 ISO in 2014, the Sox may have a shot at the AL Central.
Mark Reynolds probably shouldn’t be starting today, but that means Walt Weiss will have him pencilled in against the right-hander Matt Cain. Cain only pitched 60.2 innings in 2015, but he had an atrocious 4.94 xFIP. Reynolds also has two home runs and three doubles against him in 23 at-bats.
Carlos Santana may become a mainstay in my articles due to his ability to consistently get on base. Only eight plate appearances against Chris Archer, but he is always a tough at-bat. Santana has reached base in five of those eight plate appearances, and sees an average of 5.25 pitches per at-bat.
LATE SLATE
Paul Goldschmidt loves playing against the Dodgers. Again, he’s 100-for-294 (.340 AVG) with 21 homers, 20 doubles, and 63 RBIs against the Dodgers throughout his career, and will be a handful for Ross Stripling to keep in check.
Tyler White has hits in eight of nine games this season, and is pretty reasonable considering his ridiculous numbers. I will stay away from him in cash games, but I think he’s a pretty sneaky GPP play that should experience low ownership.
Eric Hosmer is 8-for-23 (.348 AVG) with a triple and a homer against Doug Fister of the Royals. He hasn't been able to show off much power this season, but that will come sooner rather than later.
| SECOND BASE | ||||||||||||||||
| Probable | 2015 Regular Season | 2016 Regular Season | Salaries | |||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Pitcher | Throws | H/AB | AVG | HR | OPS | H/AB | AVG | HR | OPS | FD | DK | Aces |
| DJ LeMahieu | COL | R | SF | Matt Cain | R | 170-for-564 | .301 | 6 | .746 | 13-for-28 | .464 | 2 | 1.302 | 3700 | 4200 | 5100 |
| Daniel Murphy | WSH | L | ATL | Julio Teheran | R | 140-for-499 | .281 | 14 | .770 | 11-for-22 | .500 | 2 | 1.516 | 3600 | 3900 | 4900 |
| Brandon Phillips | CIN | R | CHC | Jason Hammel | R | 173-for-588 | .294 | 12 | .723 | 7-for-21 | .333 | 1 | .851 | 2900 | 3700 | 4300 |
| Howie Kendrick | LAD | R | ARI | Robbie Ray | L | 137-for-464 | .295 | 9 | .746 | 2-for-8 | .250 | 0 | .500 | 2600 | 3600 | 4350 |
EARLY SLATE
DJ LeMahieu is 5-for-15 (.333 AVG) with a homer and two stolen bases off of Matt Cain. I do not like him in the 8 or 9-hole in the lineup, but we’ll see what happens today. It's tough, especially because there's not many logical things that Weiss can do in order to move him up in the lineup.
Daniel Murphy seems to be featured in these articles every day, but he has yet to really let anyone down (I mean, he’s hitting .500!). He is 7-for-17 (.412 AVG) with a home run and three doubles against Julio Teheran of the Braves.
LATE SLATE
Brandon Phillips is 6-for-19 (.316 AVG) with two stolen bases against Jason Hammel. Plus, he only has one strikeout in those 19 at-bats.
Howie Kendrick has returned from the Disabled List, and should get the start against Robbie Ray tonight. Kendrick is 119-for-388 (.307 AVG) with 10 homers, 52 RBIs, and a .357 OBP against lefties in the last three years.
| THIRD BASE | ||||||||||||||||
| Probable | 2015 Regular Season | 2016 Regular Season | Salaries | |||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Pitcher | Throws | H/AB | AVG | HR | OPS | H/AB | AVG | HR | OPS | FD | DK | Aces |
| Matt Carpenter | STL | L | MIL | Wily Peralta | R | 156-for-574 | .272 | 28 | .871 | 7-for-30 | .233 | 1 | .812 | 4000 | 4900 | 5100 |
| Todd Frazier | CHW | R | MIN | Ervin Santana | R | 158-for-619 | .255 | 35 | .806 | 6-for-33 | .182 | 2 | .623 | 3900 | 4300 | 4950 |
| Adrian Beltre | TEX | R | BAL | Chris Tillman | R | 163-for-567 | .287 | 18 | .788 | 12-for-39 | .308 | 2 | .947 | 3700 | 4400 | 5050 |
| Eugenio Suarez | CIN | R | CHC | Jason Hammel | R | 104-for-372 | .280 | 13 | .761 | 12-for-30 | .400 | 4 | 1.271 | 3700 | 4400 | 4900 |
EARLY SLATE
Matt Carpenter is virtually a must play today in cash games. Carpenter went 6-for-12 with two doubles and two home runs against Wily Peralta last season. On top of that, he’s 15-for-33 (.455 AVG) with three home runs off the Milwaukee dumpster fire in his career.
Todd Frazier is featured in the Hitting Coach based on the same theory I mentioned with Abreu. Frazier has a big ISO combined with Santana’s vulnerable 4.42 xFIP. His batting average is currently below the Mendoza line, but when it comes to DFS, you're not rostering him because of his batting average and OBP, it's all about the long ball.
LATE SLATE
Adrian Beltre ranks extremely high using my model. He is 6-for-12 (.500 AVG) with a homer and two doubles against Chris Tillman. Even better, Beltre has yet to strikeout against Tillman.
Eugenio Suarez has been a pleasant surprise this season. Did you know he has four home runs? He’ll have a shot at continuing this tear throughout the season as long as he hits in front of Joey Votto. He’ll face Jason Hammel tonight, who he has gone 4-for-8 against with a double and stolen base. I am not providing any other cheaper options, but I should point out that I do somewhat like Jake Lamb, especially at his price on FanDuel. If I had to guess, he'll be the chalk play of the night at third.
| SHORTSTOP | ||||||||||||||||
| Probable | 2015 Regular Season | 2016 Regular Season | Salaries | |||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Pitcher | Throws | H/AB | AVG | HR | OPS | H/AB | AVG | HR | OPS | FD | DK | Aces |
| Trevor Story | COL | R | SF | Matt Cain | R | - | - | - | - | 12-for-35 | .343 | 7 | 1.408 | 4600 | 4900 | 5500 |
| Stephen Drew | WAS | L | ATL | Julio Teheran | R | 77-for-383 | .201 | 17 | .652 | 2-for-7 | .286 | 1 | 1.000 | 2100 | 2600 | 3700 |
| Troy Tulowitzki | TOR | R | NYY | Nathan Eovaldi | R | 136-for-486 | .280 | 17 | .777 | 4-for-32 | .125 | 1 | .435 | 3000 | 4200 | 5000 |
| J.J. Hardy | BAL | R | TEX | Cole Hamels | R | 90-for-411 | .219 | 8 | .564 | 6-for-24 | .250 | 2 | .921 | 2900 | 3100 | 4400 |
EARLY SLATE
Trevor Story doesn’t have as much buzz when he isn’t homering in four straight games, but you cannot ignore him today against Matt Cain. He’s mighty expensive, but he is, by far, the best possible option at shortstop.
Stephen Drew homered in a rare start last night against Matt Wisler of the Braves. I would not be surprised if he started again today against Julio Teheran. He is 3-for-3 with a double and home run off of Teheran. Drew gave Rendon the night off last night, so it’s certainly possible for him to do the same for Espinosa.
LATE SLATE
Troy Tulowitzki has been playing like garbage this season, but his price continues to drop, and he has a very good matchup tonight against Nathan Eovaldi. I'd avoid him in cash on DraftKings, but I'd definitely consider him at just $3000 on FanDuel.
J.J. Hardy has been a streaky player throughout his career. He has a ton of power upside for a cheap play at the shortstop position, and should welcome these trips to hitter friendly Fenway and Globe Life Park. Not a bad situation tonight either. He is 4-for-12 (.333 AVG) with a homer against Cole Hamels.
| OUTFIELD | ||||||||||||||||
| Probable | 2015 Regular Season | 2016 Regular Season | Salaries | |||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Pitcher | Throws | H/AB | AVG | HR | OPS | H/AB | AVG | HR | OPS | FD | DK | Aces |
| Bryce Harper | WSH | L | ATL | Julio Teheran | R | 172-for-521 | .330 | 42 | 1.109 | 6-for-24 | .250 | 2 | 1.044 | 5500 | 5100 | 5900 |
| Carlos Gonzalez | COL | L | SF | Matt Cain | R | 150-for-554 | .271 | 40 | .865 | 13-for-33 | .394 | 3 | 1.216 | 4700 | 5100 | 5650 |
| Hunter Pence | SF | R | COL | Jorge De La Rosa | L | 57-for-207 | 0.275 | 9 | .806 | 9-for-33 | .273 | 2 | .814 | 4500 | 5300 | 5450 |
| Andrew McCutchen | PIT | R | DET | Jordan Zimmermann | R | 165-for-566 | .292 | 23 | .889 | 9-for-35 | .257 | 0 | .709 | 4400 | 4600 | 5450 |
| Jeremy Hazelbaker | STL | L | MIL | Wily Peralta | R | - | - | - | - | 11-for-22 | .500 | 2 | 1.500 | 2300 | 3700 | 4250 |
| Jose Bautista | TOR | R | NYY | Nathan Eovaldi | R | 136-for-543 | .250 | 40 | .913 | 9-for-28 | .321 | 2 | 1.179 | 4600 | 4900 | 5600 |
| Colby Rasmus | HOU | L | KC | Ian Kennedy | R | 103-for-432 | .238 | 25 | .789 | 9-for-27 | .333 | 3 | 1.198 | 3800 | 3900 | 4800 |
| Brett Gardner | NYY | L | TOR | Marcus Stroman | R | 148-for-571 | .259 | 16 | .742 | 4-for-19 | .211 | 0 | .611 | 2900 | 3900 | 4650 |
| Socrates Brito | ARI | L | LAD | Ross Stripling | R | 10-for-33 | .303 | 0 | .778 | 5-for-19 | .263 | 1 | .789 | 2500 | 3100 | 3450 |
| Enrique Hernandez | LAD | R | ARI | Robbie Ray | L | 62-for-202 | .307 | 7 | .836 | 6-for-17 | .353 | 0 | .801 | 2300 | 3000 | 4000 |
EARLY SLATE
Bryce Harper versus Julio Teheran is like taking candy from a baby. He is 11-for-25 (.440 AVG) with four homers off of Teheran, including a bomb in the first inning on Opening Day.
Carlos Gonzalez continues to dominate early on in 2016. He’ll face Matt Cain who isn’t the same pitcher he used to be. CarGo was 4-for-45 (.088 AVG) against him prior to last season. But in his lone appearance last season against Cain, Gonzalez went 2-for-2 with a triple.
Andrew McCutchen has two hits in six at-bats against Jordan Zimmermann. That’s okay, sure. But it’s also pretty nice that those two hits went out of the park.
Hunter Pence is exactly what I’m looking for when I look at BvP. He is 7-for-22 (.318 AVG) with two homers against Jorge De La Rosa of the Rockies. On top of that. he has yet to strike out in 27 plate appearances. He obviously sees the ball well against the veteran Rockies southpaw.
Jeremy Hazelbaker is still WAYYYYYY TOO CHEAP on FanDuel, and should get a ton of chances to drive in and score runs from the 2-hole against Wily Peralta.
LATE SLATE
Jose Bautista has doubles in each of the first two games in the Blue Jays series against the Yankees. He doesn’t have a hit in two at-bats against Nathan Eovaldi. I’ve mentioned this before, but Eovaldi’s fastball may be extremely fast, but it’s insanely hittable.
Colby Rasmus has the type of power where he can go “double dong” in any given game. I like his matchup tonight against Ian Kennedy of the Royals. Rasmus has limited at-bats against Kennedy, going 2-for-6 (.333 AVG) with a double and no strikeouts.
Brett Gardner has three hits off of Marcus Stroman in his career, and they’ve all been for extra bases. Two of those hits were home runs.
Socrates Brito is looking more and more like a gem. He has a triple and a homer in his last two games, and should hit in front of Paul Goldschmidt tonight at Dodger Stadium. A great value if you’re looking for someone cheap in the late slate.
Enrique Hernandez is getting starts in the outfield with Scott Van Slyke dealing with an injury. “Kike” is extremely good against southpaws, going 39-for-108 (.361 AVG) with four homers and a .426 OBP in limited action the last three seasons.
Be sure to keep an eye on the Fantasy Alarm Daily Lineups page to confirm that your players are starting.
If you guys have any questions, you can always reach me on Twitter @kle18. Good luck!