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Let's get to Thursday's interesting facts, using DraftKings prices. We'll cover both the day (four games) and night (four games) schedules.
Five Things to Watch:
1 Here are the three highest projected over/unders, provided by OddsShark...
2 Weather: Lots of potential weather issues on Saturday. ATL-CHC has been postponed already, and CIN-PIT is in serious danger. WSH-STL could cause some trouble as well. Make sure to check Twitter before finalizing your lineup.
3 You down with BvP? David Wright is 11-for-28 against Matt Cain, who we'll be picking on today. Starling Marte is 10-for-28 against Alfredo Simon, and Evan Longoria is 8-for-21 against J.A. Happ.
4 Your three biggest pitching favorites for the night: John Lackey (-225), Francisco Liriano (-200) and Ross Stripling (-174). Vegas isn't quite as bullish on Greinke, Archer and Garcia as you might expect in home starts.
5 Sneaky stack options: Lots of people will be on Pittsburgh against Cincy, but I like the New York Mets quite a bit against Matt Cain, who gets pounded by left-handed bats and has been a mess to start the year (6.43 ERA, 1.67 WHIP). The weather adds enough doubt to scare some away, which helps in big GPP games.
Yesterday's recap:
Adam Meyer knocked it out of the park with his suggestions on Friday, as his "must-start" Trevor Story homered once again. Meyer also gave you Juan Nicasio as the best deal of the day, and he delivered with 7 innings of scoreless ball with 8 strikeouts and a win. That's going to be a tough act to follow, but we'll do our best this weekend.
Must-Start of the day: Evan Longoria, TB
He's always a great play against southpaws (.913 OPS the last three years), especially ones he's had success against in the past (8-for-21 against Happ lifetime). At just $4100, he's a good value as well.
Deal of the day: Ross Stripling, LAD
He's your third biggest favorite on Saturday in a game with a 7.5 projected run total, and he costs just $6300 on Draft Kings. Stripling is not the no-hitter throwing stud we saw in his first start, but he's serviceable, and the Padres bats have a tendency to make those kinds of guys look like stars.
Avoid of the day: Jose Bautista, TOR
There are lots of great days to go with Blue Jays, but this isn't one of them. Chris Archer has given them a hard time in the past, and Bautista isn't excluded. He's just 4-for-34 against Archer lifetime.
Stack of the day: Texas Rangers
Matt Shoemaker has been knocked around in his first few starts, and this game has the highest projected run total on the board. This is a great spot for the Rangers bats, especially since you can still get a few of them on the cheap.
Starting pitchers:
Ross Stripling, LAD: "Deal of the Day"
Zack Greinke, ARI: I like Greinke as a GPP play, as many will be way off of him after his rough start to the year. I'll take the discount ($9200) and target a Rockies team that was one of the worst lineups in the league away from home last year. Against a familiar division foe, this is a good bounceback spot.
Jerad Eickhoff, PHI: Eickhoff has 28 strikeouts in 24 IP this year, and this game is expected to be relatively low scoring with a 7.5 projected run total. Based on how he's pitched this year, Eickhoff is a good value at just $7900.
Catchers:
Stephen Vogt, OAK: Gets to face an unproven pitcher in Chris Devenski and will bat in the middle of the lineup. .349 wOBA against righties last year.
Jonathan Lucroy, MIL: Good chance to go deep against fly ball pitcher Wei-Yin Chen.
First basemen:
Paul Goldschmidt, ARI: 1.050 OPS against LHP over the last three seasons.
Miguel Cabrera, DET: .403 wOBA against RHP last year and in a good spot against Tyler Duffey.
Lucas Duda, NYM: Mets stack, and the bonus of a lefty bat.
Second basemen:
Jose Altuve, HOU: Always a top option at 2B, especially when he's facing a starter who is making his regular season debut.
Jonathan Schoop, BAL: .243 ISO against RHP last year.
Third basemen:
Evan Longoria, TB: "Must-start of the day"
Matt Carpenter, STL: Joe Ross struggled with lefty bats, and Carpenter crushes righties (.392 wOBA last year). It's a good spot for him.
Shortstops:
Carlos Correa, HOU: Always the best shortstop option on the board, and has a good matchup against Jesse Hahn.
Ketel Marte, SEA: He's been swinging the bat much better over the last week or so, and no one will be on him at $3200.
Outfielders:
Michael Conforto, NYM: 395 wOBA and .274 ISO against RHP, and Cain allowed a .960 OPS to LHB last year. Conforto is still underpriced at just $3600 as well. There's a lot to like here.
Ryan Braun, MIL: Noted lefty crusher had a .408 wOBA last season against them.
Jacoby Ellsbury, NYY: 4 HR in 25 at-bats against Rick Porcello.
Yoenis Cespedes, NYM: Mets are red-hot right now and Cespedes is a big reason why. This is my favorite stack on the board.
Curtis Granderson, NYM: Another lefty bat to stack against Cain.
