April 13, 2017

The top FanDuel daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for 4/13/17 by Dan Marcus. Expert MLB DFS advice, sleepers & player recommendations for FanDuel.

Fanduel’s pricing has gotten tighter so this small main slate will be a bit tricky if rostering Bumgarner is a priority of yours. It’s hard to say exactly where the chalk will fall tonight, though Toronto and the Orioles should be popular. The Reds and Brewers and A’s and Royals is where I will mostly focus as each features pitchers who are vulnerable against opposite handed batters or are just plain vulnerable.

That said, I’m willing to play Bumgarner and let the rest of the pieces fall into place. In the lineup below, you'll notice there are no Baltimore Orioles as they match up against Francisco Liriano, who is do for a rebound game after a disastrous first start. Most of the big mashers in the O's lineup, Mark Trumbo, Adam Jones, and John Schoop, struggle against lefties. In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel on 4/13/17. The DFS lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays on FanDuel.

You can read our DraftKings and Yahoo DFS lineup picks as well. Feel free to reach out to me out twitter with any comments or questions, @DanMarcus3.

Offensive Stacks

FanDuel DFS Pitchers

Madison Bumgarner - SP, COL ($11,300)

Bumgarner is the ultimate play-it-safe choice, especially considering the other pitchers on tonight’s slate. It will cost you and Bumgarner could have high ownership due to his being the only ace on the slate. The matchup itself isn’t bad as he's home vs. the Rockies and he will neutralize a few studs in the Rockies lineup, Charlie Blackmon, Carlos Gonzalez, and Gerardo Parra, due to the lefty on lefty matchup.

Kevin Gausman- P, @TOR ($7,600)

Eat your dinner plenty in advance if you roster Gausman tonight and want to keep it down, but this is an intriguing play that should be contrarian. Toronto has the reputation of mashing pitchers at home, and they have done so to Gausman in the past. However, things are different this year. Notable contributors like Michael Saunders and Edwin Encarnacion are no longer on the team and Josh Donaldson is nursing an injury. Though only two home game are in the books, the Jays have scored more than three runs in only two of eight games played this season. The angle here is to bet on a talented pitcher against a slumping lineup in a spot where he should have low ownership.

Also Consider: Jon Gray- P, @SF ($7,800)

FanDuel DFS Infielders

Jett Bandy- C, @CIN ($2,300)

I want all of the Brewers and Reds I can jam into my lineup tonight, and Bandy is a cheap way to do just that. Bandy has been solid to this point in the season, especially when considering his position and price point. He will bat away from hitter-friendly Miller Park for the first time this season but should find Great American Ballpark equally palatable for his power stroke. With elite options, such as Buster Posey and Gary Sanchez unavailable, I’ll drop all the way down at catcher to squeeze in talent at other positions.

Joey Votto- 1B, MIL ($3,700)

Jimmy Nelson has posted wide platoon splits throughout his career to the benefit of left-handed hitters. Joey Votto hits everyone well and in a plus matchup, this is a place not to overthink it.

Also Consider: Ryon Healy- 1B, @KC ($3,200), Eric Hosmer- 1B, OAK ($3,200)

Starlin Castro- 2B, TB ($2,300)

At another position with not much standing out, it’s time to pay down. Castro has made more contact to start the season and has also hit well at home in a continuing trend from last year. The righty-on-righty matchup isn’t ideal, but Castro comes at a nice price and has both a higher ceiling and floor than most other punt plays.

Also Consider: Neil Walker- 2B, @MIA ($2,900)

Wilmer Flores- 3B, @MIA ($2,700)

Marlins Stadium isn’t the most conducive to power, but when Flores is matched up against a lefty it’s the time to get him in your lineup. Chen has also historically struggled against righties, he has surrendered a .784 OPS against them over the past three years, so it isn’t as if Flores is going up against an elite pitcher to neutralize him. The DFS community should be onto Flores, but even if they are, he presents a nice value and is worth playing in tonight’s slate.

Also Consider: Manny Machado-3B ($3,700)

Marcus Semien- SS, @KC ($2,700)

Semien has gotten off to a terrible start in the 2017 season but carries a desirable power-speed combo as he has already swiped four bags on the season. Even though opposing pitcher Jason Vargas is a lefty, he has allowed a high rate of successful stolen bases and Semien certainly seems to have the green light.  As for the power, Semien owns an .822 OPS against left-handed pitching the last three seasons. That makes him a bargain tonight as one of the lowest priced shortstops.

FanDuel DFS Outfielders

Ryan Braun- OF, @CIN ($4,200)

Braun is a favorite play against left-handed pitchers but he is a strong play tonight despite facing a righty in Bronson Arroyo. It’s no secret that Arroyo is a terrible pitcher at this point in his career, so left-handed Brewers such as Eric Thames and Travis Shaw might be popular choices in tonight’s slate due to their perceived platoon advantage.

Interestingly, the last time we saw Arroyo, in 2014, he had a reverse platoon split. Though there is a very small (okay extremely small) sample size warning to go along with this observation, Arroyo allowed both of his home runs to right-handed batter Aledmys Diaz in his first outing. Meanwhile, the several lefties the Cardinals jammed into their lineup recorded no extra base hits, though they did score a ton of runs. Either way, Braun and the Brewers have a tremendous matchup and Braun may be passed over more than he should be in favor of some of the lefties in the Brewers’ lineup.

Alex Gordon- OF, OAK ($2,700)

Alex Gordon has often been carried more name value than fantasy value, but if there is ever a night to play him, tonight would be it. Jesse Hahn has struggled mightily to get lefties out and he has also struggled badly on the road throughout his career. Gordon fits in nicely with that, and early in the season he has traded power for contact giving him a decent floor. With the rest of this lineup built on power and speed, some floor built in is helpful.

If you’ve made it this far following this lineup, the third outfield spot has a budget $3,100. There are a wealth of options available and they are largely up to personal preference. To complete a stack of the Reds-Brewers games, Scott Schebler, Domingo Santana, Keon Broxton are all possibilities. To diversify a bit, Matt Holliday is an interesting option who has hit fairly well in the early going and doesn’t have a scary pitching matchup.

Also Consider: Khris Davis- OF, @KC ($3,400), Scott Schebler- OF, MIL ($2,900), Domingo Santana- OF, @CIN ($3,100), Matt Holliday- OF, TB ($3,100)

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