Draft Kings Team of The Day

Today we will be playing the MLB Daily Dollar (great for beginners): – Just $1 to play! And don’t forget to claim your Deposit Bonus !!

The Games:

I will be playing the late games, so players from these matchups aren’t going to be available when I select my team later in the article:

New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays: 1:05 p.m. – Hiroki Kuroda (R) vs. Mark Buehrle (L)

Kansas City Royals @ Boston Red Sox: 1:07 p.m. – James Shields (R) vs. Clay Buchholz (R)

Detroit Tigers @ Los Angeles Angels: 1:10 p.m. – Rick Porcello (R) vs. Garrett Richards (R)

Minnesota Twins @ Chicago White Sox: 3:05 p.m. – Vance Worley (R) vs. Jake Peavy (R)

—–

For those of you playing the Early Games format, or one of the mixed (all game choices) formats I give you these players to target:

P: Bronson Arroyo | $7,200: Anytime a pitcher faces the Marlins, it’s a good thing for Daily Fantasy players to jump on. Arroyo is no exception. Arroyo’s ERA from 2010-2012 against the Marlins is safe to ignore (4.86), due to his sparkling 17 K’s and 5 BB’s in those starts (33.1 Innings Pitched)

First Base: David Ortiz | $5,600: Sure, there’s risk in starting Big Papi in his first game back. It couldn’t be a better reunion matchup for Ortiz though, as he gets to face James Shields – whom he has teed off of over the course of his career. (16-51 with 9 doubles, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 8 walks 7 K)

Second Base: Dustin Pedroia | $ 5,400: 16-50 off Shields in career, although only 2 doubles and 2 HR. Should still be a good guy to target

Outfield: Alex Gordon | $6,000: Dude is a beast, and besides, he’s 5-6 off Clay Buchholz in his career.

—

Actual @DraftKings Team for Saturday

Pitcher: Scott Kazmir | $5,000: Cleveland: @ Houston: Go big or go home eh? That’s how it goes right? Listen, Kazmir is a total wildcard. He’s a lefty going into Houston (the only pitcher type the Astros have success against), but reports were so good in Spring Training that I have to go ahead and take the plunge for the minimum pitcher salary.

P: Paul Maholm | $8,100: Braves @ Pittsburgh: Expect an article out on this guy coming from me later at some point in the season when I have more numbers to work with. I heard Rany Jazayerli of Grantland.com, compare Maholm’s late career improvements to that of Doug Fister. I love the comp, and if Maholm’s modest strikeout gains are real, as well as his walk rate improvements, this guy could continue to be excellent this year. And hey, for good measure, he’s facing one of his former teams – The Pirates.

Catcher: Wilin Rosario | $5,600: COL: Home vs. DBacks: With the money I saved on pitching with the Kazmir pick, I feel like I can go with the luxury pick in Rosario here; he’s 2-5 with a HR off Cahill in his career, Cahill struggles on the road, and that “road” start happens to be in Coors Field.

First Base: Paul Goldschmidt | $6,200: Arizona: @ Rockies: Goldy smashes lefties, Jorge De La Rosa is a lefty. Game is played in Coors. Game on.

Second Base: Josh Rutledge | $5,400: COL: Home vs. DBacks: Rutledge hits .429 off Cahill in his young career. If you see a theme developing here with the venue of the first three picks, you are quiet astute!

Third Base: Martin Prado | $5,200: Arizona: @ Rockies: Extreme Coors Field strategy continues…..

Shortstop: Clint Barmes | $2,500: PIT: vs. Atlanta: This may be the most indefensible pick in the history of Daily Fantasy. Barmes is really an atrocious offense player, and has been for years. Strangely enough, he hits .441 off Paul Maholm in a whopping 34 at-bats. This is the definition of a hail-mary choice.

Outfield: Cody Ross | $4,200: Arizona: @ Rockies: The Coors Field adventure continues. Cody Ross also comes with more reasoning behind it than just the field though; Ross has pounded Colorado starter Jorge De La Rosa for a .318/.444/.636 slash line in 22 career at-bats. The OBP is most significant for Ross, as he has more walks than strikeouts against De La Rosa.

Will Venable: | $3,700: San Diego @ SF Giants: Big Time Timmy Jim takes the mound for the Giants. He should issue plenty of walks and plenty of stolen bases, and Venable should definitely take advantage. Lincecum has allowed 4 SB to Venable in his career already. The 12 strikeouts compared to 2 walks against him though is slightly concerning.

Jesus Guzman: | $3,600: San Diego @ SF Giants: Guzman has absolutely torched Lincecum in their prior meetings. Guzman hits .455/.538/.818 off Lincecum in 11 career at-bats.

(NOTE) Guzman isn’t a lock to start this game: If he can’t go, I’d switch to Houston center-fielder Justin Maxwell who faces Cleveland lefty Scott Kazmir at home. Guzman and Maxwell are the same price.

—-

Quick Hit Recaps:

Wandy Rodriguez threw seven 1-hit innings against the red-hot Atlanta Braves – striking out five and walking none. #CantPredictBall. Rodriguez is on absolute fire to start the season, and in his two “full” starts (having removed injury shortened start vs. Diamondbacks) , he has yet to allow an earned run. He sports a 11:1 K/BB and has allowed 3 hits in 13.2 innings. – again, taking out injury shortened start vs. Arizona. Wandy is available in over 70% of ESPN leagues.

Michael Young has drawn five walks already, and has an OBP of .393. Small sample size? Bounce-back year is still a possibility, and the seeds are there so far. I’m not buying it though.

Kevin Slowey of the Marlins lowered his ERA to 1.96 after 4 starts this year. Slowey is a worthy streamer in home games this year in all league formats if he can keep this up. Odds are he can’t, but he’s worth keeping tabs on. He is widely available in pretty much all leagues – only 1.7% owned in ESPN leagues.

Good Luck in setting your @DraftKings lineups for Saturday April 20^th !!

And once again, don’t forget your Deposit Bonus !