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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 4/12/21. Euan Leith's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
Happy Monday, Rotoballers! Baseball is back to being a constant in our lives, and I forgot how much I missed playing this sport's version of DFS. There are so many ways to build a lineup every day, and I hope my picks can nudge you in the right direction towards getting in the green tonight.
For the first time all season, I have more than eight games to pick from, and the number of pitchers available to us gave me a bit of a choice overload problem. It's going to be hard to get away from Gerrit Cole tonight. His ceiling is too high to pass on, but it should give the tournament players a chance to create some leverage with a Blue Jays stack if they feel lucky. Zack Greinke is a name I looked at for a long time, but his lack of strikeouts (eight in 13 innings) led me to look elsewhere for my picks.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 4/12/2021. 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.
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DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Gerrit Cole - P, NYY at TOR ($10,700)
With 12 games on the featured slate, there will be many chances to get cute with the two starting pitchers you select on Monday. However, for me, I'm going straight to the top and selecting Cole as my pitching anchor. Over his first two starts, the three-time All-Star is posting a 1.46 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and a .196 batting average against.
Cole already matched up with the Blue Jays on Opening Day and scored 19.8 DraftKings fantasy points. He followed up with a dominant seven shutout innings against the Orioles, where he racked up 13 strikeouts. Toronto isn't bad against right-handed pitching, but they don't excel either. Early results from the young season have them striking out 27.9 percent of the time and, as a team, posting a 91 wRC+ against righties.
Freddy Peralta - P, MIL vs. CHC ($7,700)
As I mentioned above, there are many options at starting pitcher tonight. Still, Peralta is one of the final hurlers I would be comfortable rostering and not worrying about every pitch tonight. The 24-year went five innings in his first start of the season against the Cubs with one hit, four walks, zero earned runs, and eight strikeouts. Those numbers came out to 28.3 fantasy points, but the more encouraging number came from his pitch mix.
Peralta cut his fastball usage from the 70-75 percent he has shown historically to 50 percent and doubled his curveball rate from 20 percent to 40 percent. We will see if that continues in a rematch versus the Cubbies today. They strike out 29.1 percent of the time versus righties and will give Peralta an avenue to another huge strikeout day.
Other Options: Sandy Alcantara, MIA at ATL ($8,500), Wade Miley, CIN at SF ($7,100)
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DraftKings DFS Infielders
Tucker Barnhart - C, CIN at SF ($3,500)
Although there's a case for J.T. Realmuto ($5,100) on Monday, I can't bring myself to spend that kind of salary on a catcher. Therefore, I will move down $1,600 and snag Tucker Barnhart for his contest in San Francisco. The left-handed hitter has three games with at least 16 fantasy points in 2021 and is second on tonight's slate among catchers with 11.3 fantasy points per game.
Yuli Gurriel - 1B, HOU vs. DET ($3,900)
As you're about to read, Gurriel is the first player in an Astros stack I like versus Detroit's Casey Mize. The first baseman is off to a fast start this season and bats behind some extremely talented hitters. Anywhere in the top seven of the Astros lineup is an excellent place to hit. It would be great if Gurriel could climb the lineup, but with so many talented hitters wearing the Astros jersey, it's just nice that Gurriel is in a position for fantasy success. On the year, the 36-year old is batting .355 (11-for-31) with four runs, two doubles, one home run, three RBI, and an impressive 9:4 strikeout to walk ratio.
Ty France - 2B, SEA at BAL ($4,000)
France batted .399 for San Diego's Triple-A affiliate in 2019, and his contact profile is translating to the majors in his first entire season on the field. He's hit second in every game this season, and the 2015 draft pick is slashing .324/.439/.471 with seven runs, two doubles, one home run, and 4 RBI. France has three multi-hit games in his last five contests and will look to add another one versus Dean Kremer and the Orioles on Monday.
Gio Urshela - 3B, NYY at TOR ($4,200)
It was tough selecting Urshela at third base today, considering he bats lower than we like in the lineup. However, I'm not going to turn down a righty-on-lefty matchup versus a pitcher like Robbie Ray. Yes, Ray showed some promising signs in Spring Training, but I'll have to see it a couple of times in the regular season to start believing the hype.
Urshela returned to the Yankees lineup for the final two contests of their series with the Rays and produced his best game on Sunday. The 29-year old went 4-for-5 with a run, a double, three RBI, and his first home run of the year. New York's third baseman is now 6-for-13 with three extra-base hits and four RBI in his last three games.
Carlos Correa - SS, HOU vs. DET ($4,600)
Contract year Carlos Correa is coming through for DFS players. The 2017 All-Star has hits in eight of nine games this year and is slashing .333/.400/.583 through 36 at-bats. The 26-year old has three doubles and two home runs in his account already and is averaging 12.4 FPPG over his last five contests.
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Yordan Alvarez - OF, HOU vs. DET ($4,700)
For someone with Yordan Alvarez's raw power and contact skills, hitting in the middle of the Astros lineups makes him a DFS dream. Tonight, he will face Casey Mize from the Tigers and have the lefty-on-righty matchup we love to exploit. Tonight will only be his 99th career game despite being around for his third season in the major. Over his first 98 games, he's knocking around righties to the tune of a .312 batting average with 19 home runs and a 1.061 OPS.
Avisail Garcia - OF, MIL vs. CHI ($3,300)
Christian Yelich (back) exited Sunday's contest early, and we will have to wait and see if he can take the field on Monday. If the 2018 MVP can't make the lineup, Avisail Garcia should be in line for a start to kick off the week. He came alive over the weekend versus St. Louis with two home runs, seven RBI, and 24.5 FPPG. The Brewers can afford to sit Yelich with Garcia, Lorenzo Cain ($3,00), and Jackie Bradley Jr. ($3,100), all available to man the outfield. If Yelich can recover in time for the game and Garcia sits, pivoting to JBJ or Cain is a good alternative.
Taylor Trammell - OF, SEA at BAL ($3,100)
Something clicked for Trammell against the Minnesota Twins this weekend. After starting the season in a 2-for-19 slump, the rookie showed the Mariners some surprising pop at Target Field. Over Saturday and Sunday, Trammell was 3-for-8 with three runs, two home runs, and four RBI. Today, he will take his newfound power to Camden Yards, a park that's already seen 3.75 home runs fly over the outfield fences per game. If you go expensive at starting pitcher, I like grabbing a discounted bat or two from this Mariners-Orioles matchup and building a mini-game stack or team stack in your lineup.
DraftKings DFS Stacks
- Houston Astros vs. Detroit Tigers (Casey Mize, RHP)
- St. Louis Cardinals vs. Washington Nationals (Erick Fedde, RHP)
- Sneaky Stack: Seattle Mariners at Baltimore Orioles (Dean Kremer, RHP)
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