Sunday's ten-game MLB slate is loaded with top tier pitching as we make our way through the MLB rotation. When we have so many good pitchers on the slate it can be difficult to find the right hitting matchups for our lineup construction. So, be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the daily MLB projections, MLB DFS rostership projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting!

 

MLB DFS Playbook April 16

MLB Weather Updates

San Francisco Giants vs Detroit Tigers

This one is going to be interesting. If you look at the hourly forecast then you will see there is going to be rain in the area for the majority of the afternoon with the weather finally clearing up later in the day. Seeing as these two teams do not play each other again there is a strong shot they just wait out the rain and play later in the day. Be sure to stay tuned for all the updated weather news as we get closer to roster lock.

Philadelphia Phillies vs Cincinnati Reds

Rain is going to be in the area around first pitch which may cause an initial delay but the weather is expected to clear up within the hour of first pitch so, baring a drastic change, this game should play without too much trouble.

Baltimore Orioles vs Chicago White Sox

Rain is going to be in the area of this game but no current guarantees that it this game will be impacted. That said, IF the rain does move closer to the stadium there is a real threat of a delay/ppd.

DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

Whelp, we have Patrick Corbin on the slate today which means stacking Guardians will be a fairly popular strategy even though Corbin managed to limit the damage in his most recent start against the Angels. As I mentioned in the open, this slate is LOADED with elite starting pitching with most teams hitting the turn in the rotation where their top starter is taking the mound. When we have the likes of Gerrit Cole, Sandy Alcantara, Shane Bieber, Shane McClanahan and Dylan Cease in the player pool it gives you an idea of how difficult it will be to find the right hitters for your roster as there are only a few favorable matchups to go after. I think a common strategy today will be to build some mini two-man stacks with some one-off value plays so you can spread out your exposure and get to those top of the line starters.

Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options for Strikeouts

Gerrit Cole vs Minnesota Twins

Aaron Nola vs Cincinnati Reds

Zac Gallen vs Miami Marlins

Best Odds for a Win

Shane Bieber vs Washington Nationals

Aaron Nola vs Cincinnati Reds

Gerrit Cole vs Minnesota Twins

Miles Mikolas vs Pittsburgh Pirates

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Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups

Gerrit Cole, SP New York Yankees

Yes, I realize he is the most expensive pitcher on the slate but the Yankees are -155 favorites to get the win and Cole has as much upside as any other starter on this slate. He's already posted fantasy totals of 36.5 and 28.7 on the season which is more than enough to pay off the price tag. In his most recent outing he picked up the win, going seven innings while allowing two runs. The downside was just the three strikeouts but that is far more of an anomaly as he faced a Guardians team with the fourth lowest strikeout rate against RHP in baseball this season at 19.4%. The Twins have a 23.9% strikeout rate against righties, offering a bit more upside for Cole in this outing.

Kyle Wright, SP Atlanta Braves

I write this with a warning because the Royals bats I think are starting to wake up, at the very least, Bobby Witt Jr. is on fire with three straight three hit games. THAT SAID, if you look at the numbers this season the Royals are statistically one of the worst teams in baseball against right-handed pitching as they rank 29th in wOBA, 26th in ISO, 27th in batting average and have a 24.7% strikeout rate. Wright was also not good in his season debut, allowing four runs on four hits while walking four over three innings against the Reds. Wright makes the player pool today because the Braves are -165 favorites and this should, in theory, be a good matchup for him. Just know, there are some potential red flags. 

Logan Webb, SP San Francisco Giants  / SP Matthew Boyd, Detroit Tigers

Ok, so, weather is the biggest concern for this game here but both pitchers find themselves in some pretty darn good spots if this game ends up playing without interruption. First, for Webb, the Tigers have the fifth highest strikeout rate against RHP this season with the third lowest wOBA at .275. For Boyd, the Giants have a ridiculous 32.4% strikeout rate against left-handed pitching this season with the second lowest wOBA in baseball at .258. If we get the green light in this game I would be willing to have exposure to both of these pitchers with Webb being a viable cash game build while Boyd is a pure GPP play.

Miles Mikolas, SP St. Louis Cardinals

I know you are reading this right now, seeing the name Miles Mikolas and wondering if I'm of sound mind while writing this.  First, let me tell you that I am and second, let me tell you why Mikolas is worth a look. In his first two starts this season he had to face the Blue Jays and Braves and then in his third start he had to go to Coors Field and face the Rockies. Who know who he faces today? The Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates are not on the same level as his three prior opponents so I'm going to give him the benefit of a doubt. The Cardinals are one of the biggest favorites on the board today which means we have some potential win equity for Mikolas here. There is also this, last season at home Mikolas posted a 2.38 ERA over 14 starts. This season, while getting tuned up for 10 runs over 9.1 innings in his two home starts he actually has an xFIP of 3.39 suggesting he was getting pretty unlucky which makes sense giving the .529 batting average on balls in play against him in those outings. He also has 12 strikeouts in those 9.1 innings. So maybe, just maybe, Mikolas gets it done here today.

Recommended DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

Boston Red Sox vs Reid Detmers

Philadelphia Phillies vs Luis Cessa

Cleveland Guardians vs Patrick Corbin

St. Louis Cardinals vs Mitch Keller

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Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups

Kyle Schwarber, OF Philadelphia Phillies

With Schwarber on the cover of today's playbook you knew you would find him here in the “favorite hitters” section of the writeup. We love this matchup for the Phillies as they have the second highest team impied run total on this slate. You then add the matchup here for Schwarber against Red starter Luis Cessa. In his last start Cessa was hammered for five runs on seven hits over 3.2 innings. You then dig a little deeper here and you see that left-handed hitters are are hitting a robust .375 off of Cessa this season with an OPS of 1.319. If you check out the weather report, the rain should be clearing but the wind is staying as a west-southwest wind would have the ball blowing out with winds expected to be around 15 MPH.

Mike Zunino, C Cleveland Guardians

I don't often make a habit of writing up catchers but when you have Patrick Corbin on the mound and a catcher that has historically mashed left-handed hitting for power then I will make an exception. Zunino is 3-for-7 with a home run and a double against left-handed pitching this season, small sample size, I know but let's not forget what he did in 2021 when he hit .342 with 16 home runs and an OPS of 1.287 for an entire season against lefties. 

Brandon Lowe, 2B Tampa Bay Rays

Listen, I think Alek Manoah is a good pitcher that can shut down a lineup any time he takes the mound. That said, he has struggled in two of his three starts this season with his only good start being a dominating performance against the Royals and we've covered how bad they have been. With the Rays we have a team with a .388 wOBA against right-handed pitching this season. Brandon Lowe himself is hitting .313 with an OPS of 1.248 against right-handed pitching. 

Rob Refsnyder, OF Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox lineup doesn't look too appealing on paper yet they continue to score runs a pretty decent clip and have some guys who can hit left-handed pitching. One of those guys is Rob Refsnyder who has been hitting in the middle of the Boston lineup since Yoshida has been injured and should again find himself in a pretty good spot for a Red Sox team with the highest team implied run total. Thought off to a slow start this year, Refsnyder hit .359 with an OPS of 1.005 off southpaws last season.

Player Pool

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Stacks

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