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We have a weird slate of games today, a 13-game slate. The slate starts at 6:30 pmEST, adding five games to the 8-game main slate on FD that starts at 7:05 pmEST. Overall the weather looks ok outside of later rain in Detroit and a few wind spots, but nothing crazy. In this article, I will highlight some possibly lower rostered bats. If you want the whole list and some of the more obvious plays you will find in other sites' articles, listen to MLB DFS Quick Hits for the full slate rundown in less than 30 minutes.
When looking at the slate, you have Coors to attack with the Rockies versus Garcia; then the other stacks are spread out. There are a few I like more than others, as seen below, but there can be cases made for many small stacks throughout the slate. The pitching is all about Burnes and then who you want to pair with him. Burnes should be very popular, but for a good reason. Finding the proper SP2 to go with the right stacks will be key to the slate, just like those Cardinals' bats we found last night.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 4/20/2021. 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 @bdentrek.
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DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Corbin Burnes - P, MIL at SD ($10,800)
Burnes has been as advertised this season. After the monster 2020 campaign, he has picked up where he left off. Throwing at least six innings in his first three starts with no more than two hits in any start, no runs allowed in the last two starts, and at least nine strikeouts in each of the three starts. The most impressive part of the long list of amazing stats is that Burnes has only thrown between 81-87 pitches in all three starts. Burnes will bring his 48.5% K%, 0% BB%, and 26.7% hard-hit rate into tonight's action versus the Padres. His teammate Brandon Woodruff was good for six innings with one run and seven strikeouts on Monday night, so Burnes should be ready to duplicate and hopefully outperform those numbers against the Padres.
Charlie Morton - P, ATL at NYY ($8,100)
The SP2 discussion is all over the board, and arguments can be made for many options. I went over all my thoughts on Quick Hits and listed most below if anyone wants to dig in some more. Castillo will be super popular and chalky but brings a very high ceiling with his volatility tonight. I am discussing Morton here for the fact he will likely go overlooked on this slate. Morton does a few things we like and does them really well. He has thrown at least five innings in every start, including six innings in each of his last two starts. In those last two starts, Morton has struck out seven and nine in those starts, which helps with the five and one runs allowed. The strikeouts are tremendous, as Morton still scored 15.5 points when allowing five runs while putting up 26.5 in the other start. Morton brings a strong floor into tonight's game which can be very important on a slate with such volatility among pitchers. Lastly, he faces a struggling Yankees' offense striking out 25.8% of the time and only hitting .202 versus RHP to start the season. Morton will likely give up a few runs but will get his fair share of strikeouts and rack up the DK points at low ownership. Sign me up.
Other Options: Hyun Jin Ryu (TOR at BOS) $8,700, Eduardo Rodriguez (BOS vs. TOR) $8,300, Taijuan Walker (NYM at CHC) $7,600, Luis Castillo (CIN vs. AZ) $6,600, Michael Fulmer (DET vs. PIT) $5,800
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DraftKings DFS Infielders
Carson Kelly - C, AZ at Luis Castillo ($3,800)
Kelly is absolutely raking to start the season, hitting safely in nine of the first 11 games, good for a .400 average. That's great, but he is also flexing his muscle which gets us those big fantasy production. Through the first 11 games, Kelly has a .367 ISO, .530 wOBA, 19% barrel rate, and 57.1% hard-hit rate. Kelly is locked in at the plate, and those that have rostered Kelly so far are enjoying 9.4 DK points per game he's averaged this season and the double-digit point games in three of his last four games. Tonight's matchup could be a tricky one versus Castillo, but that makes Kelly lower-owned and a great tournament option. The DBacks are my top contrarian stack tonight, and Kelly will be a part of those stacks.
Brandon Belt - 1B, SF at Zach Wheeler ($3,000)
Yep, we are going right back to the Belt well tonight. He hit us a home run as a part of the Values article yesterday (cover boy), and his price dropped for tonight's option. Belt is an extremely streaky hitter, and right now, he appears to be locked in at the plate. He has hit safely in three straight games and four of the last five, but he is even making loud outs while watching his at-bats. Belt has homered in two of the last three games and is still walking 10.5% of the time while barreling the ball 28.6% of the time and having a hard-hit rate of 57.1% the last five games. He faces Wheeler tonight, which has allowed three runs in each of his last two starts and on the season is allowing LHH to hit .265. In Wheeler's career, LHH has hit .259 with a .398 SLG and over one HR/9. Belt is dirt cheap and is a great value tonight in cash games and tournaments.
Eduardo Escobar- 2B/3B, AZ at Luis Castillo ($3,700)
Let's return to the contrarian stack of the day. When building lineups, you do not have to go full-stack if you feel uncomfortable, even though that could be the ticket, but a small stack will still give you leverage to a likely highly rostered Castillo. No matter the size of your stack, I want Escobar a part of them. Escobar has been absolutely raking over the last ten games, and a series in Great American Small Park should not stop him. Over the last ten games, he is hitting .351 with six home runs, a .541 ISO, and a 21.2% barrel rate. Those stats are crazy enough, but his plate discipline stands out in a big way as well. Over the last ten games, Escobar is only striking out 11.4% of the time to go with a 13.6% walk rate. So far this season, Castillo is having problems with the longball, especially to LHH, so get some red hot Escobar, who somehow has stayed below $4000, in your lineups.
Ryan McMahon - 3B/2B, COL vs. Luis Garcia ($5,300)
My only high-priced player mentioned today, and rightfully so as McMahon has been absolutely raking and gets a great matchup in Coors tonight. He's only hitting .267 on the season but has six home runs, a .367 ISO, and a 43.8% hard-hit rate. He has been batting second of late for the Rockies, another major plus heading into tonight's action. He'll face Garcia tonight in a spot start. Garcia has not made it through five innings in either of his two appearances this season. Sample sizes are tiny regarding Garcia, so this play is more about McMahon, playing in Coors Field, and a young arm that will lead to a lot of bullpen action. McMahon is my top Coors play and is my home run call of the night.
Jazz Chisholm - 2B/SS, MIA vs. Matt Harvey ($3,900)
Let's keep getting Jazzy with our DK lineups. All Jazz does is hit these days, hitting safely in the last six games for a solid .450 average, .400 ISO, and an impressive 16% BB%. He is not just dinking and dunking it as he has four XBH (two HR) to go with an insane 42.9% barrel rate and 64.3% hard-hit rate over those six games. He has scored seven or more points in five of the last six games, including double-digit points in three of the last six. Chisholm gets one of the fantasy matchups we all love tonight, and that is the wonderful Matt Harvey. Harvey has made it five innings in only one start this year and allows a 43.8% hard-hit rate. Look for another short night, more Orioles bullpen, and some sneaky Marlins offensive production tonight, starting with JAZZ.
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Bryan Reynolds- OF, PIT at Michael Fulmer ($3,600)
Fulmer has been decent to start the season but is not striking out many hitters, allowing for a lot of balls in play and potential fantasy production. That bodes well for the red-hot Pirates outfielder who has hit safely in seven of his last nine games while hitting third in each game. Reynolds is hitting .371 with a .440 wOBA over those nine games, throwing in four XBH and an 11.1% barrel rate. Reynolds is averaging nearly 10 points per game over this stretch and makes for a strong value play and cash game play tonight. I wanted to mention cheaper outfielders in this section as there are a ton of cheap outfielders to target tonight, and Reynolds will likely go extremely overlooked on this slate. I like the idea of a low rostered Pirates stack starting with Reynolds and Colin Moran.
DJ Stewart - OF, BAL at Nick Neidert ($2,800)
Yep, sorry folks, broken record, but DK keeps putting me in a corner when they do not price Stewart anywhere near appropriately. He's sub $3K again tonight, which is outrageous. Stewart is hitting second or third in almost every game, bringing a .250 average, and .340 wOBA into action. What really helps Stewart's fantasy production, besides the extreme power upside, is that he is walking 15.2% of the time. He'll face off with Neidert tonight, who has not made it through five innings in his first two starts, has walked nine in those two starts, and has allowed a 12% barrel rate to go with a 40% hard-hit rate.
Raimel Tapia - OF, COL vs Luis Garcia ($3,400)
Last but not least, we have Tapia. Tapia is usually hitting near the top of the order; if not, he hits sixth, which still works in Coors. Over his last nine games, he has hit safely in seven of nine games with a .303 average and .337 wOBA. The power is not a major factor for Tapia, and this play is based on a potential top-of-the-order piece in Coors Field at a way too cheap price tag. He has the solid matchup versus Garcia and the Astros bullpen as well. Make sure Tapia is hitting near the top of the order, and if he is, he becomes very cash relevant and a part of your Rockies stacks.
Remember, there are a lot of players in play tonight, especially in the outfield. Listen in to Quick Hits to get all the plays and stacks for tonight's action.
DraftKings DFS Stacks
- Colorado Rockies (Luis Garcia, RHP)
- Pittsburgh Pirates (Michael Fulmer, RHP)
- St Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals Game Stack (Adam Wainwright, RHP at Patrick Corbin, LHP)
- Sneaky Stack- Arizona Diamondbacks (Luis Castillo, RHP)
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