DFS MLB Lineups for April 24, 2017 at Draftkings.com & Fanduel.com

For this baseball season, 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. As with any DFS sport, the advice below is relevant for fantasy purposes. A player or team might be better or worse from a fantasy perspective than they are in real life due to matchup, price, park factor, etc. This is important when constructing a roster.

The best advice we can give this early in the season is to remember that baseball is a game 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. Baseball is funny like that. Trust the process and know that if you’re playing quality lineups, you’ll be a winner in the long term. Another great day yesterday with the picks, so let’s keep the profit train rolling.

Another thing to remember outside of making sure your guy is in the lineup, 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!

4/24/17 MAIN SLATE TOURNAMENT RUNDOWN

DraftKings Home Run: $444 buy-in, $500k guaranteed  
DraftKings Four Seamer: $4 buy-in, $175k guaranteed (20 entry max)
DraftKings Fastball: $33 buy-in, $300k guaranteed 
FanDuel Rally: $7 buy-in, $77k guaranteed
FanDuel Grand Slam: $33 buy-in, $125k guaranteed
FanDuel Squeeze: $4 buy-in, $175k guaranteed

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

7:05p: Cubs (Anderson) @ Pirates (Kuhl): 8.5
7:05p: Rays (Archer) @ Orioles (Jimenez): 8.5
7:40p: Reds (Garrett) @ Brewers (Garza): 8.5
8:05p: Twins (Hughes) @ Rangers (Perez): 9.5
8:10p: Royals (Vargas) @ White Sox (Gonzalez): 8
8:40p: Nationals (Ross) @ Rockies (Anderson): 11
9:40p: Padres (Chacin) @ Diamondbacks (Greinke): 9.5
10:07p: Blue Jays (Liriano) @ Angels (Nolasco): 8.5
10:15p: Dodgers (Ryu) @ Giants (Cain): 8

Best DFS MLB Pitchers for April 24, 2017

Francisco Liriano @ LAA ($9.7k DraftKings, $8.4k FanDuel)
It would be just like Liriano to tease the public with a couple of surprising performances and then collapse in a good matchup, but you can gamble on his success continuing tonight against an Angels team that is sporting the fifth-lowest collective wOBA (.293) amongst A.L. teams along with the fourth-lowest collective batting average (.226) against LHP so far this year.

Jason Vargas @ CWS ($8k DraftKings, $8.5k FanDuel)
Vargas came through with yet another excellent performance in blanking the Giants over 7 IP to outduel Madison Bumgarner for a win last Wednesday. He’s allowed just 1 ER with a stellar 0.77 WHIP and is averaging an unsustainable 31 DK PPG (52.7 FD PPG) over 3 appearances so far this season, yet he’s worth using in at least one more plus matchup. The White Sox are dead last in collective wOBA (.263) while scoring the second-fewest runs in the Majors this year and posted an above average 22% K-Rate when facing lefties last year. He’s sporting a career-high 53% Ground Ball Rate and is holding opposing batters to a modest 26.5% Hard Contact Rate, which is a model for success.

Amir Garrett @ MIL ($6.7k DraftKings, $7.7k FanDuel)
As the sample size of his work continues to grow, Garrett is becoming more and more trustworthy, yet his price tag remains quite low on DraftKings. The rookie LHP is 2-1 with a 1.83 ERA and 0.86 WHIP over his first 3 MLB starts and he faces a Brewers team tonight that is sporting the highest K-Rate (25.5%) in the Majors for a second consecutive season. While Milwaukee’s lineup is full of dangerous RHB, the Brew Crew has an even higher K-Rate (30.2%) when facing lefties. Looking at potential upside, Garrett is coming off a stellar 12-strikeout performance against the Orioles.

Other pitchers to consider: Zack Greinke, Miguel Gonzalez, Brett Anderson, Joe Ross

Best DFS MLB Hitters for April 24, 2017

Ryan Zimmerman @ COL ($4.9k DraftKings, $3.9k FanDuel)
He’s one of the few Nationals bats that are affordable tonight at Coors Field and Zimmerman stands to benefit most in a RvL matchup against young Tyler Anderson. The Rockies southpaw is off to a rough start with a 1-3 record and 7.32 ERA and he coughed up a 1.25 HR/9 ratio with a 1.30 WHIP against RHB last season. Zimmerman is a career .305 hitters against LHP, is 3-for-6 with two doubles and a homer off lefties so far this year and he’s been raking in general with a 25% Line Drive Rate and 29.4% HR/FB ratio this season.

Lorenzo Cain @ CWS ($4k DraftKings, $3.8k FanDuel)
The rest of the Royals lineup continues to struggle as Cain continues to rake with a .395/.452/.500 slash line over his last 10 appearances. He’s not swinging for the fences this year, which has led to a higher average and more opportunities for him to swipe 6 bases in 6 attempts. Tonight KC faces a RHP in Miguel Gonzalez, who offers very little in terms of deception and has allowed opposing base runners to go 25-for-30 on SB attempts over the last four seasons.

Kevin Kiermaier @ BAL ($4.3k DraftKings, $3.4k FanDuel)
After an extremely productive week, Kiermaier got the day off on Sunday but he should be raring to go tonight at hitter-friendly Camden Yards. He’ll face a RHP in Ubaldo Jimenez, who remains quite vulnerable despite posting a good line (7.2 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 3 K’s) in a win over Cincy last Wednesday. Jimenez allowed LHB to hit .292 with a .378 wOBA and posted a 1.53 HR/9 ratio when facing lefties last season. He logged 11 hits with 4 walks and 2 SB last week and has plenty of upside as part of a potential Rays stack.

Other hitters to consider: Buster Posey, Joey Votto, Rougned Odor, Hunter Pence, Joc Pederson, Josh Harrison, Justin Turner, Jake Lamb

4/24/17 DFS MLB STACKS

Dodgers vs Matt Cain
He’s been solid over his last two appearances, but it’s tough to trust Matt Cain going forward after he posted a 5.61 ERA during a disastrous 2016 campaign. He was solid against the D’Backs and Royals, but is allowing lefties to post a .411 wOBA with a 28.6% Line Drive Rate so far this year, which makes Adrian Gonzalez and Corey Seager worth a look with the platoon advantage. Chase Utley could crack the lineup given his notable splits (11-for-29, 4 HR) over a lengthy career against Cain while Yasiel Puig and Justin Turner are righties with a decent chance to jump in on any rallies.

Nationals vs Tyler Anderson
Most of their batters have exorbitant price tags on DK tonight, but the Nationals could certainly produce in their first game at Coors Field this week. Bryce Harper is terrorizing pitchers of both handedness with 7 hits over 10 at-bats in LvL matchups so far this season. Daniel Murphy is also dangerous against lefties while Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner will try to use the platoon advantage and jump in on a rally or two this evening.

Rays vs Ubaldo Jimenez
The Rays jumped all over RHP Joe Musgrove yesterday and could replicate that success as they travel to hitter-friendly Camden Yards to face Jimenez. Kiermaier should be back in the lineup for this plus matchup while Corey Dickerson could go yard off homer-prone Jimenez. Brad Miller is also a LHB with elite upside due to the platoon advantage and Logan Morrison might enter the lineup as a lefty to punt with. Don’t sleep on super value Tim Beckham either.

Other Stacks to consider:
Rangers vs. Phil Hughes
Cubs vs. Chad Kuhl
Giants vs. Hyun-Jin Ryu