DFS MLB Lineups for April 8, 2017 at Draftkings.com & Fanduel.com

For the next six months, each day there’s a good slate of DFS MLB games, we’ll be writing up a group of pitchers and hitters that we’re considering for our cash and GPP lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel. We’ll also provide a list of stacks to consider, MLB start times, starting pitchers, and game run totals to give you a good idea of where the fantasy goodness might come from on a given night.

Unlike DFS NBA which is generally somewhat predictable from night to night, DFS MLB is a game with a lot of variance. You can make a really solid lineup and still fall short of the cash line. Even the best pitchers have horrible starts, and the best hitters in the game can still go 0 for 4. Trust the process and know that if you’re playing quality lineups, you’ll be a winner in the long term.

Another thing to remember is to always check the weather. Always. Make this something that is part of your basic routine. Baseball games can get postponed! Your players receive no points from postponed games!

4/8/17 TOURNAMENT RUNDOWN

DraftKings Saturday Slugfest: $40 buy-in, $250k guaranteed
DraftKings Moonshot: $3 buy-in, $100k guaranteed (20 entry max)
DraftKings Perfect Game: $333 buy-in, $110k guaranteed
FanDuel Rally: $7 buy-in, $100k guaranteed
FanDuel Grand Slam: $25 buy-in, $100k guaranteed
FanDuel Squeeze: $3 buy-in, $100k guaranteed

DFS MLB START TIMES, STARTING PITCHERS & GAME TOTALS FOR TODAY’S GAMES

7:05p: Nationals (Guthrie) @ Phillies (Nola): 8.5
7:05p: Braves (Dickey) @ Pirates (Kuhl): 8
7:10p: Royals (Duffy) @ Astros (Keuchel): 7.5
7:10p: Cubs (Hendricks) @ Brewers (Milone): 8.5
7:10p: Marlins (Conley) @ Mets (Gsellman): 7.5
8:05p: Athletics (Graveman) @ Rangers (Darvish): 8.5
8:10p: Dodgers (Kershaw) @ Gray (Rockies): 9.5
8:10p: Indians (Bauer) @ Diamondbacks (Greinke): 9
8:40p: Giants (Bumgarner) @ Padres (Chacin): 7
10:05p: Mariners (Hernandez) @ Angels (Nolasco): 8

Best DFS MLB Pitchers for April 8, 2017

Madison Bumgarner @ SD ($12.5k DraftKings, $11.9k FanDuel)
As bad as you might’ve thought the Padres offense would be this year, it’s even worse. San Diego ranks 25th in collective batting average (.198) with the fifth-highest K-Rate (24.1%) in the Majors after posting the second-lowest collective wOBA (.297) in the MLB last season and so far they’ve looked completely inept against elite starting pitching. Bumgarner pitched well in a tough matchup at Arizona to open the season and he’s certainly capable of posting good numbers against a Padres lineup that’s a collective 15-for-73 (.205) with 13 K’s in their careers against him. He’s posted a troubling ERA at Petco Park over the past couple of seasons but is still holding the Pads to a very low batting average and those runs can mostly be considered flukes.

Clayton Kershaw @ COL ($10k DraftKings, $10.4k FanDuel)
He likely won’t come this cheap at any other point this year and that makes it worth using Kershaw despite the obvious reputation of hitter-friendly Coors Field. Yet Colorado’s ballpark is far more conducive to LHP and the Dodgers and Rockies combined for a measly 3 runs in the first game of this series, so it’s certainly possible that he rolls in his second start of the year. The lefty-heavy Rockies lineup posted a 22.9% K-Rate against LHP last year and current Rockies are a combined 49-for-209 (.234) with 64 K’s in their careers against Kershaw.

Aaron Nola vs. WAS ($7.7k DraftKings, $7.6k FanDuel)
A popular sleeper coming into the 2017 season, Nola will make his debut at home tonight against a boom-or-bust Nationals lineup. Washington posted a solid .318 wOBA with a 20% K-Rate against RHP last year and the Nationals only managed to hit a collective .256 off Nola over 3 meetings in 2016. While Bryce Harper has excellent splits (7-for-11, 2 HR) in his career against Nola, the Phillies young RHP has figured out how to elicit a ton of ground balls (55.2% GB Rate last year) and his solid peripherals (3.08 FIP) are bound to catch up to his unlucky .334 BABIP from 2016.

Other pitchers to consider: Felix Hernandez, Dallas Keuchel, Kyle Hendricks, Adam Conley, R.A. Dickey

Best DFS MLB Hitters for April 8, 2017

Kris Bryant @ MIL ($5.2k DraftKings, $4.1k FanDuel)
Bryant is off to a slow start this year after his MVP 2016 campaign, but he could flash his incredible upside in tonight’s matchup. The Brewers send vulnerable LHP Tommy Milone to the mound after he posted a rough 5.71 ERA with a 1.53 WHIP over 19 appearances with the Twins last year. Milone allowed RHB to post a .362 wOBA with a 22.4% HR/FB ratio and Bryant happened to post the fifth-highest wOBA (.438) and ISO mark (.327) with a 176 wRC+ when facing LHP last season.

Bryce Harper @ PHI ($4.9k DraftKings, $4.7k FanDuel)
If you’re not willing to use Aaron Nola as a value play, you can consider Harper a decent bet to launch a homer off a RHP that he’s owned in the past. As we mentioned above, he’s 7-for-11 with 2 HR, a walk and a SB in his career against Nola and he’s looking much more like the MVP-caliber Bryce Harper than the headcase that we saw during the 2016 season. With 5 H, 2 HR and 4 walks over his first four appearances this year, he’s a bit under priced as a truly elite option and he happens to have launched 9 HR over his last 71 at-bats at hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park.

Nomar Mazara vs. OAK ($3.8k DraftKings, $3.1k FanDuel)
Mazara is off to a red-hot start this season with multiple hits in all four of his appearances, as he’s 10-for-17 with 2 HR, 9 RBI and 5 runs scored as a main cog in the Rangers elite offense. That unit will certainly be worth stacking tonight against a below average RHP in Kendall Graveman, who has posted a career 4.51 ERA with a 1.23 HR/9 ratio away from massive Oakland Coliseum throughout his career. Mazara broke out as a platoon specialist last year but he’s clearly become more of a complete hitter at the young age of 21.

Other hitters to consider: Freddie Freeman, Robinson Cano, A.J. Pollock, Chris Owings, Hunter Pence, Asdrubal Cabrera, Adonis Garcia

4/8/17 STACKS

Rangers vs Kendall Graveman
The Rangers are red hot with 24 runs through 4 games and they were finally able to outscore an opponent at home last night in a 10-5 win over Oakland. Now they face one of the weaker SPs on the slate in Graveman, who posted a 4.11 ERA and 4.39 FIP while coughing up a troubling 33.3% Line Drive Rate and 40% Hard Contact Rate in his fourth MLB season. Nomar Mazara seems like the best value while Adrian Beltre and Carlos Gomez are GPP candidates worth considering. Rougned Odor and Shin Soo-Choo will have the platoon advantage against Graveman and are both solid options as well.

Phillies vs Jeremy Guthrie
Part of the reason why Nola is so appealing tonight is that he should have ample run support with the Nationals sending a vulnerable RHP to the mound. Guthrie posted an awful 8.44 ERA with a 1.69 HR/9 ratio at the AAA level last year and he was last seen allowing the highest HR/FB ratio in the league to LHB back in 2015. That makes home-run specialists Maikel Franco and Tommy Joseph worth a look while Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera should be productive with the platoon as under priced options for the Phils.

Cubs vs Tommy Milone
Kris Bryant can serve as the heart of this stack while his superstar teammate Anthony Rizzo is also worth consideration after posting a .362 wOBA and .205 ISO mark against LHP last year. Ben Zobrist is more dangerous as a RHB and Javier Baez also enjoys facing lefties, while Milone might not last long against this potent lineup and the Cubbies could continue to rally off the Brewers bullpen.

Other Stacks to consider:
Indians vs. Zack Greinke
Giants vs. Jhoulys Chacin
Dodgers vs. Jon Gray