Happy Thursday, and for those who celebrate Star Wars Day, May the 4th be with you! Today we have a 9-game main slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel starting at 1:05 PM EST. The most exciting headline of the day is the return of Justin Verlander. He will be making his season debut today for the New York Mets, taking on the Detroit Tigers. We also get Coors today, with the Brewers continuing their series in Colorado. Plenty of exciting young arms taking the mound today that provide great upside play to go along with the veteran in Verlander. Should be some exciting day baseball, so make sure to get your lineups ready early and be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the daily MLB projections, MLB DFS rostership projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting!

 

MLB DFS Playbook May 4

MLB Weather Updates

For what feels like the first time in a while, there don’t appear to be any rain concerns today. Check back closer to game time but looks like no real weather impacts for today. 

DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

With the return of the Verlander, he gets to face his old team, the Tigers, which is a great matchup to start his season, but you will have to pay for it if you want to take him. I could totally see the intrigue in paying for Verlander, but I think there are some other exciting arms for a bit cheaper than I would rather use in order to put the money elsewhere. I’m mostly eyeing to save my money in this slate for the Coors game. I don’t always go straight for the Coors matchup because you have to pay up for it, and it is a common play, but today with the Coors facing Wade Miley and the Milwaukee Brewers getting to face Connor Seabold, there are great plays on both sides of that game. I also love the Cubs and Orioles lineups as targets for today’s slate. 

Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options for Strikeouts

Justin Verlander vs Detroit Tigers

Jesus Luzardo vs Atlanta Braves

George Kirby vs Oakland Athletics

Pablo Lopez vs Chicago White Sox

Best Odds for a Win

George Kirby vs Oakland Athletics

Jameson Taillon vs Washington Nationals

Zach Eflin vs Pittsburgh Pirates

Justin Verlander vs Detroit Tigers

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Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups

George Kirby, Seattle Mariners

George Kirby had some terrible luck in a great start in his last outing against the Phillies. He got no run support and managed to toss an 8-inning complete game loss with only giving up one run. He got 7 strikeouts and, overall, looked great. The strikeout numbers haven’t been huge for Kirby so far, but he continues to pitch well and against a terrible Oakland team, he should have no problem getting some decent strikeout numbers. I think there is still another step Kirby can take, but even just pitching like he has been, he is a great value in this spot. 

Grayson Rodriguez, Baltimore Orioles

The strikeouts have been there for Grayson Rodriguez. He was brilliant in his last start, going 5 innings, giving up only 2 hits and no runs while striking out 9. Grayson has been awesome in his last two starts, and sure, they were against the Detroit Tigers, but today he gets the Kansas City Royals, so there is no reason he shouldn’t be able to continue this dominance. After this, the schedule will get tougher for Grayson, but I am all in for this start against the Royals and think he is going to rack up the strikeouts again I don’t think we have even seen all of what Rodriguez is capable of when it comes to getting swing and misses. 

Recommended DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

Milwaukee Brewers vs Connor Seabold

Colorado Rockies vs Wade Miley

Baltimore Orioles vs Jordan Lyles

Chicago Cubs vs Patrick Corbin

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Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups

C.J. Cron, 1B Colorado Rockies

C.J. Cron is facing a lefty in Coors, and yet there are 6 first basemen more expensive than him on DraftKings and FanDuel. I am not sure if there is anything else I need to write up because that is all you need to know. Cron crushes in Coors and gets a good matchup here. Wade Miley’s 1.86 is not going to hold, he has an xERA of 4.29 and he just isn’t that good of a pitcher. There is no way he survives Coors today and I think the Rockies will bring that ERA up a decent amount, and Cron is always a strong home run bet. 

Ozzie Albies, 2B Atlanta Braves

I really like Jesus Luzardo, and he is one of my favorite pitchers today after my two highlights. However, if you aren’t putting Luzardo in your lineup, you should probably be putting Ozzie Albies in it instead. I don’t care how good of a lefty he is facing; Ozzie is so good against lefties I am going to bet on him winning the matchup. He has a 1.069 OPS against them this year which isn’t even that much higher than his career number of .926. 

Patrick Wisdom, 3B Chicago Cubs

Patrick Wisdom is just one homer shy of the league lead after Max Muncy hit a walk-off grand slam yesterday to take sole possession of the lead. Now facing Patrick Corbin, who continues to give up home runs to everyone, he could very well get himself tied for the lead again. I will admit I was not in on Wisdom before the season started, but his power is legit, and as long as he keeps making contact, he will continue to hit a lot of home runs. It is always a good bet that someone will hit a home run against Patrick Corbin, so why not the hitter chasing down the league lead in home runs.

Brian Anderson, OF Milwaukee Brewers

Brain Anderson has reverse splits and is a better hitter against right-handers. He is a cheap option to get a piece of Coors Field compared to guys like Christian Yelich and Kris Bryant. He got a day off yesterday, so should be well-rested and eager to hit in Coors. Connor Seabold is getting his first start for Colorado, and I don’t expect him to fair well. He has a career HR/9 of 1.80 and in his 6 career starts so far (all for the Boston Red Sox) that was a 2.53 HR/9. We probably shouldn’t expect him to be any better when having to pitch in Coors, and Anderson will have a great chance to be a contributor against him.

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