Tuesday's MLB DFS main slate consists of 11 games with key matchups including the Pirates vs Rockies with a game total of 13!! We also have favorable matchups for the Yankees, especially Aaron Judge who is today's “featured play” as the Yankees face Angels southpaw Jose Suarez. 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 18

MLB Weather Updates

Wind is the story here today! 

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Colorado Rockies

  • Coors Field has 20 MPH winds blowing out!

Los Angeles Angels vs New York Yankees

  • Winds blowing out 10-15 MPH

Minnesota Twins vs Boston Red Sox

  • Winds blowing out at 10 MPH

DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

It's almost impossible not to get exposure to this matchup in Coors Field. Already an elite hitting environment we now have 20 MPH winds blowout and a game total that has been bet up to a season high 13 expected runs. Both teams are also throwing some gas cans on the mound with Jose Urena taking the mound for Colorado and Vince Velasquez for Pittsburgh. Building around these teams is going to be the play and finding that second team stack to be a bit contrarian will be the goal for your tournaments. When it comes to pitching today we again find ourselves with an obvious chalk play with Marcus Stroman but after that you can go in a few different directions based off the salary you have remaining after building your lineups.

Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options for Strikeouts

Spencer Strider vs San Diego Padres

Logan Gilbert vs Milwaukee Brewers

Chris Sale vs Minnesota Twins

Nathan Eovaldi vs Kansas City Royals

Best Odds for a Win

Jordan Montgomery vs Arizona Cardinals

Marcus Stroman vs Oakland Athletics

Logan Gilbert vs Milwaukee Brewers

Clayton Kershaw vs New York Mets

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Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups

Marcus Stroman, Chicago Cubs

Chalk play of the slate but it is hard to argue against any pitcher going up against the Oakland A's. Through three starts this season Stroman has allowed two runs over 18 innings while striking out 20. Stroman is known for being a ground ball pitcher but his increased strikeout rate this season has given him some elite upside.  If he continues to be a strikeout per inning guy while limiting the damage due to his ground ball rate we could be looking at an end of the season Cy Young candidate.

Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox

Gasp! Yes, the surface level stats for Chris Sale have been pretty ugly, with him having allowed 15 runs on 18 hits over 12.0 innings this season. BUT, he does have a 3.74 xFIP and a 3.83 SIERA suggesting he is pitching a bit better than the results. He also has a 29.7% strikeout rate on the year which is pretty elite. The Twins this season have the fifth highest strikeout rate against lefties as 28.1% while hitting just .218 with a .299 wOBA. If there was a spot where Sale maybe shakes of the rust, this could be that spot.

Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers

We loved Eovaldi in this same spot in his last start and the Royals shelled him for six runs on 10 hits over five innings. He also added seven strikeouts and had zero walks. The Royals as a team have a 25.1% strikeout rate against RHP which is the sixth highest in the league and they are hitting just .206 with a .264 wOBA against RHP. There have been slight improvements over the past seven days but still nothing great. If you think we saw the worst of Eovaldi in his last outing, maybe he bounces back here against an offense that has some clear holes after the top few guys.

Brad Keller, Kansas City Royals

If you aren't using Eovaldi today then maybe Keller is of some interest. He is the most appealing value pitcher on the board given his start to the year where he is 2-1 with a 2.12 ERA while striking out 16 over 17 innings. The Rangers lineup, like the Royals, has a few bats to worry about but the second half of the lineup is a borderline minor league team. Keller's underlying stats don't scream major regression like we've seen from some starters this season so there is a good chance he pitches to a quality start tonight while limiting the overall damage.

Recommended DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Jose Urena

Colorado Rockies vs Vince Velasquez

Baltimore Orioles vs Josiah Gray

New York Yankees vs Jose Suarez

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Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups

Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

The man is on the cover so you know we are going here tonight. Righties are hitting .444 (16/36) against Suarez to begin the season with an OPS of 1.182. Both home runs allowed by Suarez have been to right-handed hitters and the Yankees have one of the higher team implied run totals on the slate today.

Jarred Kelenic, Seattle Mariners

Did you see our clip from the MLB DFS Podcast talking about this matchup today? We think Colin Rae got pretty luck last week against the Padres and a correction is in order tonight against the Mariners. Kelenic is far too cheap on DraftKings tonight at just $3,500.

Ji Hwan Bae, Pittsburgh Pirates

We love this game as a stack in general but you will want to have Bae in your lineups here today. While the overall numbers may not look all that impressive, we expect him to leadoff today for the Pirates here against Jose Urena and he has two home runs and five stolen bases already this season. Lefties are also hitting .417 with an OPS of 1.173 off Urena this season though everyone is eating when Urena is on the mound.

Jarren Duran, Boston Red Sox

As of writing this the Red Sox lineup has not yet been released but we saw Duran get called up and start for Boston on Monday. He finished that game going 1-for-3 with a double, walk and a stolen base. Duran has elite stolen base upside and has flashed power at the minor league level. The biggest issues for Duran at the major league level has been the strikeouts and he did strikeout twice on Monday. At the stone cold min, if you are looking to spend up and need a punt play, Duran could easily finish with a hit, two stolen bases and a run scored tonight. 

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