MLB DFS DraftKings.com & FanDuel.com Lineups & Picks for April 18, 2018
Seven games on the main MLB DFS slate for Wednesday, 4/18/18. Below is a list of our top MLB DFS picks for pitchers, hitters, and stacks to target in Cash and GPP lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel. The info below can also be used for creating your daily fantasy baseball strategy at FantasyDraft.
Please note the advice below is relevant for daily fantasy purposes. A player or team might be better or worse from a fantasy perspective than in real life due to matchup, price, and lots of other factors. This is important to consider when constructing a roster. Remember that more than in other sports, variance is a huge part of baseball. Even Mike Trout can go 0-for-4 on a given night, and Max Scherzer can get lit up by an unsuspecting team.
Weather can also play a huge role in MLB DFS on a nightly basis, and lineups are constantly shifting. So always, always check the starting lineups and weather reports when playing an MLB slate.
4/18/18 MLB DFS TOURNAMENT PICKS
Rally Cap: $8 entry, $175k guaranteed (DraftKings) – $25,000 to 1st!
Fastball: $33 entry, $125k guaranteed (DraftKings) – $15,000 to 1st!
Squeeze: $4 entry, $75k guaranteed (FanDuel) – $10,000 to 1st!
Grand Slam: $44 entry, $125k guaranteed (FanDuel) – $25,000 to first!
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Best MLB DFS Pitchers for April 18, 2018
Carlos Carrasco @ MIN ($10.5 DK / $9.3 FD)
Carlos Carrasco hasn’t had the start to the season as some of these other pitchers have had that are going tonight, but he’s had four straight 9 K/9 campaigns, including 10 K/9 marks in two of those years. The upside is there, but because he’s allowed eight runs and only has 14 K over 20.2 innings, it may be enough to get him at a lower ownership than normal in tournaments. This is a good matchup for him against a Twins team that has the seventh highest strikeout percentage. Carrasco racked up 30 K’s over three outings (19.2 IP) against Minny last season. He only allowed two earned runs in those starts, which resulted in three wins.
Kenta Maeda @ SD ($9.7 DK / $8.8 FD)
Kenta Maeda will most likely be off everybody’s radar as well after he allowed five runs on five hits while walking two over 2.2 innings in his last outing. It was a much different result than his first start where he fanned 10 over five scoreless innings. Let’s chalk it up to a skipped start and extra rest/rust due to a postponed game. He also had a tough matchup against Arizona. It gets a bit easier in San Diego against the Padres third worst K-Rate.
Steven Matz vs. WAS ($6.4 DK / $6.9 FD)
Steven Matz is as low as I’d go in the pitcher department this evening, in terms of price. It’s a night to spend up at the position, but you could go high and low with Matz. The 26-year-old has 17 strikeouts over his 14.1 innings this season and has shown 9 K/9 skills when healthy. The long ball has killed him so far, but he managed to allow only one run (unearned) against Washington earlier this year. He struck out eight over five innings allowing just the three hits. The Nationals are striking out 27 percent of the time against lefties so far this season. High risk, high reward play with Matz.
Case for fading Gerrit Cole or Jose Berrios in tournaments:
Nothing against Cole or Berrios who are fantastic, but you can’t play everyone! Cole has double-digit strikeouts in all three of his Houston starts (36 in 21 IP). He’s the most expensive, and to think that will knock down his ownership is unlikely because he’s been so good. However, regression is coming as he has a 100 percent strand rate, 48 percent fly ball rate, a K-Rate almost double of his career mark, and he’s allowed three home runs after allowing 31 last season. On top of that, the Mariners are not a big strikeout team and they were able to get the best of a good pitcher in Berrios earlier this season.
As for Berrios himself, he draws a Cleveland squad with the worst average in baseball, but you can see signs the offense is turning it around with 19 runs in their last three games. Last night may have been the start of it as Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley and Yonder Alonso all hit home runs in Tuesday’s game. Ramirez and Lindor have combined for four home runs over in the last three games. Cleveland had the second lowest K-Rate in 2017 and are not striking out this season either. It’s hard to find anything negative about Berrios’ game besides a semi-high fly ball rate and a few home runs allowed.
Others to consider: Rick Porcello, Vince Velasquez
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Best MLB DFS Hitters for April 18, 2018
Buster Posey @ ARI ($3.7 DK / $3.1 FD)
I’d like to believe in the Robbie Ray hype as much as the next person, but right now he’s struggling. The Diamondbacks’ lefty has issued 11 walks, 14 hits, 11 runs and 4 home runs in 15.2 innings. He has a very impressive 10.57 K/9 mark for his career, but a disappointing 3.77 BB/9 rate and he’s allowed 47 home runs in the last two seasons. Ray’s 48.7% hard-hit rate is the second highest among qualified pitchers. Buster Posey had a .415 wOBA, .360 average and seven homers against LHP in 2017. The C/1B is hitting .364 with two homers vs. southpaws this season.
Matt Kemp @ SD ($3.9 DK / $2.9 FD)
Continuing the theme of ‘value bats’ with high priced arms on the board tonight, we come across Matt Kemp who has home runs in back-to-back games and checks in at a great price on both sites. Kemp has six RBI in the last two games and has raised his average to .333.
Rafael Devers @ LAA ($3.8 DK / $3.3 FD)
You have to wonder if the Red Sox saved any runs for tonight’s game after scoring 10 Tuesday against the Angels. The entire lineup is in play again Wednesday with Tyler Skaggs on the mound. Rafael Devers can hit lefties just fine (.367 career avg), and he’s fresh off a home run game. He’ll likely get a few RBI opportunities hitting fifth and he’ll save you some cash.
Yuli Gurriel @ SEA ($4.1 DK / $3.3 FD)
Mike Leake has the third highest contact rate (86.0%), fourth highest hard-hit rate (45.0%), and a top 30 fly ball percentage (40.0%). As you can imagine, the Astros top four hitters are the most expensive. Yuli Gurriel hit in the cleanup spot Tuesday and has a terrific price tag on FanDuel.
Others to consider: Paul Goldschmidt, Ryan Zimmerman, Cesar Hernandez, Jose Altuve, Eduardo Nunez, Charlie Villanueva, Corey Seager, David Peralta, Andrew McCutchen, Josh Reddick
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MLB DFS Stacks to Consider for April 18, 2018
Astros @ Mike Leake
Red Sox @ Tyler Skaggs
Phillies @ Brandon McCarthy
Dodgers @ Luis Perdomo
Diamondbacks vs. Chris Stratton
