DFS MLB Lineups for April 28, 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 are some huge GPPs today across the industry at all price points, so be sure and get in on the action.

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!

4/28/17 MAIN SLATE TOURNAMENT RUNDOWN

DraftKings 5 Year Grand Finale: $555 buy-in, $1MM guaranteed  
DraftKings 5 Year Finale: $5 buy-in, $300k guaranteed 
DraftKings Anniversary 55: $55 buy-in, $200k guaranteed 
FanDuel Rally: $9 buy-in, $300k guaranteed
FanDuel Grand Slam: $33 buy-in, $100k guaranteed
FanDuel Squeeze: $3 buy-in, $50k guaranteed

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

7:05p: Orioles (Gausman) @ Yankees (Sabathia): 9
7:05p: Mets (deGrom) @ Nationals (Scherzer): 7
7:07p: Rays (Snell) @ Blue Jays (Stroman): 8.5
7:10p: Mariners (Miranda) @ Indians (Carrasco): 8.5
7:10p: Pirates (Taillon) @ Marlins (Conley): 7.5
7:10p: Cubs (Arrieta) @ Red Sox (Pomeranz): 8.5
7:10p: White Sox (Pelfrey) @ Tigers (Boyd): 9
7:10p: Angels (Skaggs) @ Rangers (Martinez): 9.5
8:10p: Athletics (Cotton) @ Astros (Morton): 8.5
8:10p: Braves (Colon) @ Brewers (Anderson): 8.5
8:15p: Twins (Gibson) @ Royals (Kennedy): 8.5
8:15p: Reds (Adleman) @ Cardinals (Lynn): 8
9:40p: Rockies (Freeland) @ Diamondbacks (Ray): 9
10:10p: Phillies (Eickhoff) @ Dodgers (Maeda): 7.5
10:15p: Padres (Perdomo) @ Giants (Samardzija): 7.5

Best DFS MLB Pitchers for April 28, 2017

Max Scherzer vs. NYM ($12.7k DraftKings, $11.6k FanDuel)
Scherzer is not only pitching without issues after dealing with a stress fracture in his knuckle during the preseason, he appears to be better than ever with a 1.95 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, .160 BAA and 33 K’s through 3 starts this season. He’s the obvious top option this Friday in a home tilt against a Mets team that is sporting the second-lowest collective batting average (.208) and fourth-lowest wOBA (.287) in the Majors so far this year. Current Mets are 48-for-207 (.232) with 68 K’s for a 32.9% K-Rate in their careers against Scherzer, who is in a groove rate now and capable of dominating.

Jeff Samardzija vs. SD ($9k DraftKings, $8.7k FanDuel)
The Shark should be a pretty good GPP option tonight because of his inconsistent performance thus far in 2016, yet the Padres can serve as a get-right matchup as they do so often. He went 4-1 with a 9.63 K/9 ratio and .218 BAA over 6 meetings with San Diego last season and is capable of firing fastballs past that overmatched lineup all day. The Padres are sporting the third-highest K-Rate (25.1%) in the Majors so far this season and don’t stand to put up many runs at Massive AT&T Park tonight.

Ian Kennedy vs. MIN ($8k DraftKings, $8.1k FanDuel)
I can’t really fathom Kennedy’s low price tag unless it’s simply a lack of confidence in the Royals last-place offense, but KC is certainly capable of rallying against struggling RHP Kyle Gibson. Kennedy has been close to a rock with Quality Starts in 6 of his last 8 outings dating back to last season and he’s off to a great start with a 2.08 ERA and 1.04 WHIP through 4 starts this season. Minnesota got to him for three runs in his first outing, but current Twins are a modest 25-for-107 (.234) with 29 K’s in their careers against Kennedy and he did spin an eight-inning shutout against Minny last August.

Other pitchers to consider: Marcus Stroman, Robbie Ray, Jameson Taillon, Chase Anderson, Lance Lynn

Best DFS MLB Hitters for April 28, 2017

Kris Bryant @ BOS ($5.2k DraftKings, $4.2k FanDuel)
The Cubs and Red Sox meet at Fenway with the weather warming in Boston and both offenses capable of breaking out of the small confines of that urban ballpark. Bryant and the Cubbies are far more likely to get going than the host Sox in a plus matchup against LHP Drew Pomeranz, who posted a 4.04 ERA with a 1.55 HR/9 ratio at home last season. Bryant posted the fifth-highest ISO Mark (.327) and seventh-best wOBA (.438) against lefties last season and he’s been hot lately with 7 hits and 4 walks over his last 3 appearances.

Trea Turner vs. NYM ($4.9k DraftKings, $4.1k FanDuel)
Moving from Coors Field to Nationals Park should only do a little to cool off Turner, who absolutely scalded the ball with 10 hits, including 4 doubles, 2 HR and a triple over 3 games against the Rockies. He’s coming back stronger after a short stint on the DL and happened to hit .363 with a .421 wOBA at home last season. Jacob deGrom is a formidable pitcher for the Mets, but Noah Syndergaard he is not, and Turner is 2-for-6 with a double over limited tests against the RHP. With speed and power, you’re not going to get a more appealing GPP play at a middle infield position.

Odubel Herrera vs. LAD ($3.5k DraftKings, $3.6k FanDuel)
Herrera could serve as a cheap cash game option tonight in what is a better matchup than it may appear. Kenta Maeda is a solid RHP for the Dodgers, but he doesn’t match up particularly well against a LHB in Herrera, who can stay back on the ball and rip lasers through the infield. Lefties are 14-for-50 with 3 doubles and 4 HR so far this season off Maeda and Herrera has been his consistent self while producing FPs in 7 consecutive appearances.

Other hitters to consider: Mike Trout, Joey Votto, Francisco Lindor, Mark Trumbo, Jedd Gyorko, Victor Martinez, Manny Pina, Tyler Collins, Joey Rickard, Justin Smoak 

4/28/17 DFS MLB STACKS

Yankees vs Kevin Gausman
The Yankees lineup has bounced back in a big way, as they’re actually fourth in the Majors with a collective .337 wOBA this year after finishing 24th in that category last season. Sophomore slugger Aaron Judge has been a big part of that turnaround he’s an intriguing outfielder to consider against struggling Kevin Gausman, who is sporting notably poor road/home splits and has to deal with short porch in RF when facing the Yankees many lefties. Aging stars Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner are in play here while Chase Headley has been a great story this season and could serve as a valuable addition to this stack.

Indians vs Ariel Miranda
You don’t want to go into a matchup with the defending A.L. champs low on confidence and Miranda should have that issue tonight after getting teed up for 4 ER on 7 hits with 2 HR over 3 IP in his last outing. He posted a 5.14 ERA with a 6.10 xFIP on the road as a rookie last year and the Indians have a couple of great switch hitters in Francisco Lindor and Carlos Santana who could make life very tough on the young southpaw. Edwin Encarnacion and Yan Gomes are worth a look as rolls of the dice in tournament formats and Jose Ramirez is an intriguing play with his sneaky upside.

Tigers vs Mike Pelfrey
Mike Pelfrey remains one of the least threatening SPs in the Majors and he did very little to build confidence with a lackluster line (4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, HR, BB, K) in his first outing of the year. At the age of 33, he’s posting lows in velocity and has become progressively more vulnerable against the platoon, allowing lefties to post a .394 wOBA with a 1.85 WHIP versus LHB last season. Tyler Collins and Alex Avila could both emerge as values should the Tigers decide to trot them out as more LHB to stack against Pelfrey. Ian Kinsler and Justin Upton also have plenty of upside, while Victor Martinez will be asked to come up clutch with Miguel Cabrera on the DL.

Other Stacks to consider:
Dodgers vs. Jerad Eickhoff
Diamondbacks vs. Kyle Freeland
Royals vs. Kyle Gibson
Brewers vs. Bartolo Colon