RADIO
The main slate on FanDuel for our Monday features a strong seven-game slate. The pitching is predictably horrible with one exception. Can we get away with a deGrom fade? Should we even try? We also have our second straight day with no Coors on the schedule. This slate is long on games in pitcher's parks with the Padres, Mariners, A's, and Angels all hosting.
This is one of those days where we can be glad we only have to come up with one pitcher. We are also on to our second series of the year for all teams except the Mets, who finally get to open their season. How many Mets will I have on Opening Day? Well, you'll just have to keep reading to find out. This is a great matchup for them.
I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 4/5/2021. Be sure to also check out all the MLB player news, including late scratches, and the projected and confirmed daily MLB lineups for each DFS slate. You can also check out today's DraftKings MLB DFS lineup picks, and read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports too. Let's get to it!
FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Cash Game/GPP Anchor Play:
Jacob deGrom – NYM at PHI ($11,100)
Well, pitching is easy today. It's just not easy to pay for. deGrom is $3,800 more than anyone else on this slate and he is totally worth it. It's not just because deGrom is 8-1 with a 2.38 ERA in 17 career starts against the Phillies, though it is part of it. He has never lost in Philadelphia, and I doubt that he starts now. The Mets offense looks better than it has been. They are notorious for not scoring for deGrom. Even if they don't the strikeout upside and win potential here is worth paying for. You can't miss on your pitcher on FanDuel. There's no way I would fade deGrom in cash formats. There's enough value out there.
Potential Alternate Play
Carlos Rodon – CWS at SEA ($6,300)
The rest of the pitching on this slate is rather dismal, so attacking a young Mariners lineup that struck out just over 28% of the time last year isn't a bad idea. They also hit a dismal .190 against left handed pitching last season. Rodon was disappointing in his four games last year, but I'm looking more at his sparkling spring and his striking out almost a batter per inning over his major league career. If you decide to move off deGrom in a GPP to chase bats, Rodon has by far the most upside with strikeouts and one of the better shots at a win.
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FanDuel DFS Infielders
Jose Abreu – 1B, CWS at SEA ($4,000)
The White Sox right-handed hitters are one of my favorite spots on the entire slate and Abreu is frequently the best of that group. I would much rather have Abreu outside of Safeco Field, but Justus Sheffield has been destroyed by right-handed batters so far in his 21 career appearances. Righties are hitting a blistering .307 with a .804 OPS against Sheffield in his career. Fortunately for Sheffield, he hasn't had much of a problem with homers in his career, but you don't need home runs to put up strong scores for hitters. Abreu is a master at getting on base and one of the better RBI guys in the league. There's a lot of potential here.
Keston Hiura – 1B/2B, MIL at CHC ($2,900)
The price is right on Hiura. It's in no small part because Hiura went 0-11 against the Twins in the opening series. Still, Hiura has had the number of Trevor Williams. He has three home runs against him in just seven career at-bats. Would I have liked to see a better start to the season from him before taking this shot? Absolutely, but getting this kind of power potential at this price is a much-needed gift if you're running deGrom.
Kris Bryant – 3B, CHC vs. MIL ($3,400)
I was on Bryant yesterday as well, and he came through with 18.7 FanDuel points for us. You know me, I follow numbers no matter which DFS sport I play. Brett Anderson still has strong reverse splits in his career, but he has been much worse against right-handed batters over the last two years. Of the 22 homers he has allowed in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, all but four have been hit by righties. Righties are also hitting .279 against him in that span. Digging deep into the numbers, I'm following the trend against Anderson and riding Bryant's good start to 2021.
Francisco Lindor – SS, NYM at PHI ($3,700)
This is the real Opening Day for the Mets after the opening series against the Nationals got the axe. The Mets finally get their new toy in a regular season environment. Lindor hit four spring homers and drove in 14 with a .370 average. Now he gets to open against Matt Moore. Lindor has punished Moore in a small sample size. The only saving grace is Moore's best month by far is April. That's not enough to scare me off. I think Lindor shines in his Mets regular season debut.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Bryce Harper – OF, PHI vs. NYM ($4,200)
Harper is one of the few guys that I will actually run against deGrom, though I'm not a big fan of him being this expensive. Still, Harper is one of the few guys that has homered off of deGrom and one of the very few to do it more than once. In fact, Giancarlo Stanton is the only guy who has homered off of deGrom more than Harper and the few others that have done it twice. This is a decent one-off power chase that will come at low ownership.
J.D. Martinez – OF, TB at BOS ($3,500)
Martinez was one of the very few bright spots for the Red Sox in the opening series against Baltimore. He went 6-12 with three doubles and a homer against Baltmore pitching. Martinez should be able to keep up his strong start due to some nasty reverse splits for Michael Wacha. 72 of the 106 career homers against Wacha have been hit by righties. Fenway would seem to be a bad park for Wacha, but he only gave up one run in five innings in his only career start there. The run he gave up? It was a solo homer to a righty. Even if Wacha manages to pitch well, Martinez profiles well against him and should come away with a nice score for us.
Ian Happ – OF, CHC vs. MIL ($2,800)
I mentioned Brett Anderson's recent struggles against righties in general and power-hitting righties in particular over the last two seasons. Happ, who slugged 12 homers in the truncated season last year, is projected to lead off at Wrigley against Anderson. He just feels too cheap here, especially with the wind blowing out to left field. I'm operating my whole build on FanDuel based on trying to fit in deGrom, so cheap guys like Happ with great power potential will litter my lineup.
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