DFS MLB Lineups for April 26, 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. There’s some great tournaments on the slate today, so let’s narrow down the player pool to some of the better plays we’re considering.

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!

4/26/17 MAIN SLATE TOURNAMENT RUNDOWN

DraftKings Anniversary Special: $55 buy-in, $325k guaranteed  
DraftKings Four Seamer: $4 buy-in, $130k guaranteed 
DraftKings Auto Silver Status: $5 buy-in, $50k guaranteed (5 entry max)
FanDuel Rally: $7 buy-in, $100k guaranteed
FanDuel Monster: $777 buy-in, $500k guaranteed
FanDuel Squeeze: $3 buy-in, $100k guaranteed

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

7:05p: Marlins (Chen) @ Phillies (Velasquez): 8
7:05p: Cubs (Lester) @ Pirates (Glasnow): 8
7:05p: Rays (Cobb) @ Orioles (Bundy): 8
7:10p: Braves (Teheran) @ Mets (Syndergaard): 6.5
7:10p: Mariners (Paxton) @ Tigers (Norris): 8
7:10p: Yankees (Severino) @ Red Sox (Porcello): 7.5
8:05p: Twins (Santiago) @ Rangers (Hamels): 9
8:15p: Blue Jays (Latos) @ Cardinals (Martinez): 8
8:40p: Nationals (Roark) @ Rockies (Chatwood): 11.5
9:40p: Padres (Cahill) @ Diamondbacks (Godley): 9.5
10:07p: Athletics (Manaea) @ Angels (Shoemaker): 8
10:15p: Dodgers (Wood) @ Giants (Cueto): 7

Best DFS MLB Pitchers for April 26, 2017

Noah Syndergaard vs. ATL ($12.6k DraftKings, $11.5k FanDuel)
There are a couple of other aces slated to go tonight, but none have the same upside as Syndergaard. He managed to produce 25 DK points (46 FD points) in his last outing despite coughing up 3 ER and dealing with some bad defense to take a loss against Philly (because of course). He also struck out 10 batters over 7 innings of work. He’s turned in 4 Quality Starts with a total of 30 K’s and amazingly hasn’t walked a single batter this season. Tonight, he faces a weak Braves lineup that he blanked over 6 IP in the season opener earlier this month. ***Start bumped to tomorrow***

Rick Porcello vs. NYY ($9.3k DraftKings, $9.3k FanDuel)
One thing is certain, Porcello should have relatively low ownership tonight considering his struggles this season and the weather concerns in Boston. Yet the rain is supposed to slow down by Wednesday evening and Porcello seemed to rediscover some of his CY Young mojo in his last outing at Toronto. He gave up 3 unearned runs but elicited 14 ground balls and kept the ball down, which is a recipe for success that should carry him against an aging Yankees lineup. Porcello was 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA and .222 BAA against the Bronx Bombers last season and only the fading Jacoby Ellsbury has great career splits against him.

Dylan Bundy vs. TB ($7.8k DraftKings, $8.1k FanDuel)
Bundy is virtually coming out of nowhere to make a name for himself, as he’s suddenly pitching like an ace for the Orioles. He’s 3-1 with a 1.37 ERA and 0.99 WHIP over 4 appearances in much tougher spots considering he’s faced the Red Sox and Blue Jays twice in home and away situations. Now he’ll face the lowly Rays offense at home and could post solid strikeout numbers against a team that had the third-highest K-Rate (24.5%) in the Majors last year. The matching 1.85 FIP and incredible 16.2% Hard Contact Rate proves that Bundy’s early success is not a fluke and he’s therefore a solid mid-tier option.

Other pitchers to consider: Jon Lester, Julio Teheran, James Paxton, Sean Manaea, Carlos Martinez, Alex Wood

Best DFS MLB Hitters for April 26, 2017

Kris Bryant @ PIT ($4.7k DraftKings, $4.2k FanDuel)
The Cubs face a talented young RHP tonight in Tyler Glasnow, but he’s is down on his luck and sporting a 7.94 ERA while giving up a 26.8% Line Drive Rate over 3 starts this year. Glasnow can certainly throw hard, but Bryant happened to post a rating of 37 runs above average against fastballs during his MVP 2016 season and he doesn’t whiff often enough for the strikeout-dependent RHP. Bryant is 10-for-30 with 5 walks and a SB and is starting to heat up over his last 6 appearances and possesses as much upside as anyone tonight as the heart of a potential Cubs stack.

Nelson Cruz @ DET ($4.2k DraftKings, $4.1k FanDuel)
He came through with a 3-hit night on Tuesday and there’s no reason to fade Cruz in an even better matchup tonight. The lefty-killer will bat in the middle of a dangerous Mariners lineup against young southpaw Daniel Norris, who posted a low 38.3% GB Rate while giving up 1.30 HR/9 ratio over 14 appearances last year. Cruz posted a ridiculous .351 ISO mark against LHP last year and is sporting a .458 wOBA against the platoon so far this season, while he happens to be 3-for-4 with a triple and HR over a small sample against tonight’s starter.

Buster Posey vs. LAD ($3.5k DraftKings, $3.6k FanDuel)
Posey is always a candidate to do damage against the platoon with a career .327 batting average and .400 wOBA when facing LHP and if you’re into the BvP thing, he’s some success with 2 doubles over 8 career at-bats against tonight’s starter Alex Wood. While he’s been stellar at home in spot action, Wood struggled with a 5.73 ERA and 1.58 WHIP on the road last year while Posey hit .347 at AT&T Park against lefties last season.

Other hitters to consider: Mike Trout, Anthony Rizzo, Mark Trumbo, Anthony Rendon, David Peralta, Elvis Andrus, Andrew Benintendi, Ryan Rua, Michael Conforto 

4/26/17 DFS MLB STACKS

Orioles vs Alex Cobb
The O’s really tend to slug at Camden Yards, as they hit most homers (131) in their home ballpark of any MLB team last season. Tonight they’ll host a RHP in Alex Cobb, who has given up 4 ER in 3 consecutive outings and is posting a HR/FB ratio over 20% for the second straight year. Manny Machado has horrible stats against Cobb, but other sluggers such as Mark Trumbo and Adam Jones are in play, while Chris Davis seems like the most likely candidate to go yard. Consider Wellington Castillo behind the plate and J.J. Hardy as a value play at shortstop as well. The O’s offense has been pretty terrible, but we know the potential. This is a high risk, high reward stack that will certainly be low owned.

Red Sox vs Luis Severino
Even on what should be a damp, foggy night at Fenway Park, the Red Sox lineup is capable of lighting it up against a somewhat vulnerable SP. Yankees RHP Luis Severino posted a 5.83 ERA over 22 appearances last year and is sporting a similar 4.05 ERA with a troublesome 26.7% HR/FB ratio over 3 starts so far this season. While Severino has been striking out a ton of batters, his propensity for giving up the long ball and the power present on the Sox, equal a stack that could be a sneaky GPP winner tonight. He’s more vulnerable against the platoon so look at Andrew Benintendi and Mitch Moreland for upside. Sandy Leon is a decent value as a backstop while Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez have the most pop in the middle of that lineup.

Mariners vs Daniel Norris
Nelson Cruz is the biggest RHB in that lineup but the rest of Seattle’s hitters have found success against southpaws as well. Jean Segura returned with a great line last night and he could serve as the head of this stack, while breakout star Mitch Haniger is likely out and that could open up playing time for values in Leonys Martin and/or Jarrod Dyson. Danny Valencia has yet to come through for the Mariners yet but he’s mashed against lefties throughout his career and he could crack the lineup in this matchup. Norris is an average K pitcher that isn’t afraid to issue a walk, so the chance for a big inning or two is definitely in play.

Other Stacks to consider:
Nationals vs. Tyler Chatwood
Cardinals vs. Mat Latos 
Rangers vs. Hector Santiago