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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 4/26/21. Euan Leith's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
Happy Monday, Rotoballers! Starting a new week with some MLB DFS is always a fantastic way to conquer the Monday blues. The league is offering up nine games on the featured DraftKings slate, and every game has some intriguing options to fill our lineups. One of the things I enjoy writing up the Monday slate is that we usually get the full-strength lineup to start the week.
Today's pitching recommendations start with Corbin Burnes. He has been on a torrid run to begin the year and has put himself right up there as one of the surprising Cy Young candidates in the National League. He will see Trevor Rogers on the other side of the field tonight. Rogers has been impressive in his own way as a rookie. The Marlins have many young and talented arms, but Rogers has shot into fantasy relevance after some Spring Training buzz. The 23-year old has a 1.64 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP through four starts with 31 strikeouts in 22 innings. It wouldn't be a bad play at all if you rostered both Burnes and Rodgers on tonight's slate. They are just that good.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 4/26/2021. The lineup will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. You can also check out today's FanDuel MLB DFS lineup picks and read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports too. It’s also important to monitor injury news and today's MLB starting lineups. If you have any questions or comments, contact me on Twitter.
DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Corbin Burnes - P, MIL vs. MIA ($10,400)
When Jacob deGrom popped up at $10,900 on Friday, his salary felt a little low. Today, DraftKings gives us another ace in the $10,000 range with Corbin Burnes. The Brewers pitcher is having a fantastic start to the 2021 campaign. He's had four straight starts with at least 30 DraftKings points and has an opportunity to make it 5-for-5 against the Marlins tonight. Burnes is twirling a 0.37 ERA and 0.33 WHIP with 40 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings on the season. The man is off to an absurd start and has pitched at least six innings in every game. Burnes is the most likely candidate to finish as the No. 1 pitcher on the slate against a Marlins team struggling against righties. Going into Sunday's game, the Marlins, as a team, had a .276 weighted On Base Average and 78 weighted Runs Created plus across 523 plate appearances this year. Fire up Corbin Burnes and let him provide a fantastic floor, ceiling, and everything in between to kick off the week.
Anthony DeSclafani - P, SF vs. COL ($7,900)
ALERT! ALERT! The Colorado Rockies are on a road trip. Start your streamers and take a chance on anyone facing this team on the road. Anthony Desclafani is undoubtedly someone to consider tonight because he's already had success against this team in Oracle Park this season. On Apr. 11, the Giants lefty threw six innings of shutout baseball with six hits and one walk allowed while sending eight Rockies to the dugout via strikeout. It produced a season-high 29.3 DraftKings points for DeSclafani.
Meanwhile, the Rockies have been pretty abysmal outside of Coors Field. Away from the friendly confines of Denver, this team owns a league-worst .546 OPS, with a 28.8 percent strikeout rate and a 51 wRC+. Six starters have pitched against the Rockies on the road this year, and they average 22.3 fantasy points per game. DeSclafani has an excellent matchup and is definitely in consideration as your second starting pitcher.
Other Options: Trevor Rogers at MIL ($8,400), Charlie Morton vs. CHC ($8,000), Sean Manaea at TB ($7,800)
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DraftKings DFS Infielders
Buster Posey - C, SF vs. Austin Gomber ($3,800)
Posey received the day off on Sunday, and it makes him as close to a lock as you can get to be in Monday's lineup. The 2012 MVP is having quite the bounceback year after sitting out the 2020 season. Posey is slashing .277/.358/.553 with nine runs, one double, four home runs, and four RBI. The six-time All-Star has reached base in each of his previous five games and is averaging 10.2 fantasy points per game over that same stretch. While Austin Gomber had an encouraging performance against the Houston Astros last week, I will not fade away from him. Therefore, I will take Posey at his $3,800 price tag and take the high likelihood of some fantasy points from the catcher spot.
Yuli Gurriel - 1B, HOU vs. Justus Sheffield ($4,600)
I'm going to keep talking about Yuli Gurriel at first base until someone asks me to stop. The Cuban is having a terrific start to the year, and it should continue as the Astros return to full strength tonight. Gurriel's 9.2 FPPG is second on the slate to only Matt Olson's 10 FPPG at first base. He's been on base in six straight games and is lighting up the fantasy scoreboards in his last five contests. In that handful of tilts, El Pina is 6-for-19 (.316 batting average) with four runs, a double, three home runs, and 10 RBI while averaging 15 FPPG. Going against Justus Sheffield offers Gurriel a fantastic chance to continue his excellent 2021 season and start the week off in a big way.
Ty France - 2B, SEA at Jose Urquidy ($4,000)
France will be on the opposite bench of Gurriel tonight, but he is playing just as well as his opponent in recent contests. The second baseman came through the minors as a contact guy, but he's putting some oomph behind his contact this year. Over his last 10 games, France is hitting .382 with a 1.126 OPS and averaging 10 FPPG. That fantasy point average is due to his eight runs, six doubles, one home run, and eight RBI he accumulated in those same 10 contests. The infielder smacked four of those doubles against the Red Sox in Fenway Park over the weekend, and he will look to crush a couple at Minute Maid Park in the series opener against the Astros.
Rougned Odor - 2B/3B, NYY at Matt Harvey ($3,100)
The Yankees are doing it again. They seem to have a magic touch when it comes to new players entering their lineup. They've turned around DJ LeMahieu, Luke Voit, and Gio Urshela's careers in recent years, and we saw some signs of life for Odor in New York's weekend series in Cleveland. The former Texas Rangers standout went 4-for-15 with two runs, two home runs, five RBI, and two walks to five strikeouts. I'm not proclaiming that Odor will be a $5,000 player in the next month, but there are worse options than grabbing a piece of the Yankees offense for $3,100 going against Matt Harvey and his 5.12 ERA in Camden Yards.
Nick Maton - SS, PHI at Adam Wainwright ($2,800)
In all six of his career games, Maton is batting seventh or eighth in the Phillies lineup. It's often a no-no to play someone so low in the batting order for MLB DFS. However, the infielder is getting some major-league playing time and providing major-league production for our lineups. He's scored points in all six contests and is averaging 7.8 FPPG despite not scoring more than 11 points in any game. Recording that kind of consistent production is going to play wherever he hits in the lineup. Maton is batting 11-for-22 in his short stint with the Phillies, and he's smacked three doubles to show some pop and perhaps deserve a spot higher up the lineup card in the not-so-distant future.
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Ramon Laureano - OF, OAK at Rich Hill ($4,500)
I trust Rich Hill about as far as I could throw him, and that's why I'll be rolling with an Oakland A's right-handed stack on Monday night. Laureano will be a part of that stack because of his electric start to his season. The gold-glove caliber centerfielder is only batting .227 through 19 games, but he's adding plenty of counting stats in every facet of the game to maintain his usefulness in DFS formats. The 26-year old has 13 runs, two doubles, two triples, three home runs, eight RBI, and a league-leading EIGHT stolen bases. He's projected to hit fourth behind Mark Canha, Jed Lowrie, and Matt Olson. If Olson can stop driving everyone in by himself, Laureano will have several chances to knock in some runs against Rich Hill.
Mark Canha - OF, OAK at Rich Hill ($4,100)
I am continuing the Oakland stack with the leadoff man, Mark Canha. I had to refresh my browser several times this morning before realizing that Canha's 23 runs scored are not a glitch. That's just how red-hot the entire Oakland offense is right now. Over his last 10 games, Canha is rocking a .422 on-base percentage, and it's paying off handsomely with 11 of those 23 runs scored. His slugging percentage sits a disappointing .353 over those same 10 games, but he will have a superb bounce-back opportunity against Rich Hill tonight. The Rays southpaw is pitching to an 8.82 ERA this season and allows 2.2 home runs per nine innings.
Mitch Haniger - OF, SEA at Jose Urquidy ($4,000)
The Mariners-Astros game has a chance to be a high-scoring affair tonight. I'm not sold on either pitcher, and it should generate plenty of runs to kick off the week. Pairing Haniger with Ty France (see above) gives you the 1-2 stack that we, as DFS players, desire on a nightly basis for only $8,000 of your $50,000 budget. That seems like a steal to me. Haniger is smacking the ball all over the diamond through the first three weeks of the season. The outfielder is slashing .294/.333/.576 through 85 at-bats and has tallied 16 runs, seven doubles, one triple, five home runs, and 16 RBI during this start to the 2021 campaign.
DraftKings DFS Stacks
- Oakland Athletics at Tampa Bay Rays (Rich Hill, LHP)
- New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles (Matt Harvey, RHP)
- Game Stack: Seattle Mariners (Justus Sheffield, LHP) at Houston Astros (Jose Urquidy, RHP)
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