A quality matchup Friday night against the Twins makes Kluber a solid choice for daily plays

After our first week of the Daily Fantasy Accuracy Cup (DFAC), we already have a top finisher in our ranks as Justin Elick of Daily Fantasy Cafe was the #1 guy in last Friday’s $250K FanDuel Grand Slam tourney! Once again, this is our first time holding the DFAC for baseball and we are excited to have over 40 experts competing against one another to claim the title of most accurate MLB Daily Expert. Thanks to our friends at FanDuel, the experts will be competing in the MLB Grand Slam Contest each week up until the All-Star Break.

What’s the best part about this competition you ask? We’ll be asking the top finishers each week to name their picks for Friday’s contest. Here’s your chance to roster the same guys the top experts are playing. For more player values, check out our FanDuel Cheat Sheet.

Q1. What one pitcher will you be including in all of your daily lineups Friday and why?

Corey Kluber (SP, CLE) – $10,700
“I would’ve said David Price, but since the Tigers have a day game, I’ll go with Corey Kluber. On the young season Kluber has 13 2/3 IP and 17 Ks to go with an 0-1 record and a 2.63 ERA. The matchup is solid going up against a rebuilding Twins team that lacks offense, and Kluber should be able to nail down his first win of the season.”
– K.J. (Fantasy Team Advice)

“There’s a lot of aces on the mound tonight, however none of them have a tastier matchup than Cleveland Indians pitcher Corey Kluber. At $10,700 in FanDuel, he’s the third highest priced starting pitcher tonight, but the righty should have no problem mowing down a Minnesota Twins lineup that’s hitting just .221 and averaging only 3 runs per game. Kluber has 17 strikeouts in 13.2 innings this season and he’s made easy work of the Twins throughout his career. He went 2-1 with 29 strikeouts in 3 starts against Minnesota in 2014 and has struck out more than a hitter an inning against the Twins. Kluber will be worth the high price tag tonight.”
– Marc Caviglia (Bruno Boys)

“I have Corey Kluber penciled in as my ace of the day over the likes of Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer. On FanDuel, you have to nail your pitcher, and I’m fine with spending the $10,700 price tag to roster a great pitcher. Kluber picked up right where he left off last season with the elite strikeout rates (11.20 K/9) and walk rates (1.98 BB/9) through two starts this year. Both Kershaw and Scherzer have started the season with some rocky outings and that’s enough for me to feel safer going with the slightly cheaper option in Kluber. Additionally, the lefty Minnesota bats of Kennys Vargas, Joe Mauer, and Oswaldo Arcia don’t scare me in the least bit. This game opened with the Indians as a +105 favorite. That line has risen to +160. The money is pouring in on Kluber and the Indians, and mine will be as well.”
– Ben Pritchett (Fantasy Insiders)

James Nelson (SP, MIL) – $6,800
“My most highly owned pitcher for tonight’s slate will be Jimmy Nelson. After struggling mightily in the spring (6.23 ERA), he exploded out of the gate, dominating the Pirates over 7 innings with 9 strikeouts. While I don’t expect that type of performance again, this is a Pirates offense that is really struggling… having been shutout 3 times, and being held to just 2 runs twice in their first 9 games. Nelson does a solid job of keeping the ball on the ground (48.4% GB rate in 2014), and despite being a small underdog, I like his chances to excel tonight at PNC Park.”
– Justin Elick (Daily Fantasy Cafe)

Clayton Kershaw (SP, LAD) – $11,800
“Kershaw has struggled to start the year, but that’s one of the reasons I absolutely love him in this situation. Because of those recent struggles, and his high price tag, Kershaw should be extremely under-owned on Friday night. This isn’t an ideal setup for Kershaw as the Rockies are an extremely potent offense, but the bottom half of their order can get pretty ugly, and Kershaw will have the platoon advantage on 2 of the Rockies best hitters – Carlos Gonzalez and Corey Dickerson. Kershaw should bounce back from a bad start, and I see him finishing with a line somewhere around: 7 IP, 9 Ks, 1 ER and the Win.”
– Dan Gaspar (Fantasy Insiders)

Michael Wacha (SP, STL) – $8,400
“Pitching for Friday night will be difficult as a bevy of aces take the mound. As much as I love my Reds and Cueto, his price tag is a bit high. In order to get more money to spend on offense I will be using his counterpart in Michael Wacha. The game will be very low scoring and Wacha could end up on the winning side of a 1-0 affair.”
– Terrance Bridgett (ProjectRoto)

Q2. What one hitter will you be including in all of your daily lineups Friday and why?

Travis d’Arnaud (C, NYM) – $3,200
“I will be slotting d’Arnaud in a majority of my lineups tonight. He is off to a tremendous start (10/34, 1 HR, 8 RBI) and has been batting 2nd in the Mets lineup. It is a rare to find a catcher in a great lineup spot who is hitting well, while also being reasonably priced. d’Arnaud fits all of these criteria for me. David Phelps is making his first start of the season, but really struggled against RHB last season, allowing a .356 wOBA and 6 HR in 52.1 IP. I’m attacking Phelps with d’Arnaud as much as possible.”
– Justin Elick (Daily Fantasy Cafe)

Mike Trout (OF, LAA) – $5,700
“I don’t typically have one player in all of my lineups, as I like to diversify in GPP play, but if I had to pick one, that hitter would be Mike Trout. He has the best power/speed combo in the game today, and loves facing the Astros, particularly Roberto Hernandez who is taking the mound on Friday. In his career against Roberto, Trout is 3 for 8 with 2 HRs and just 1 strikeout.”
– K.J. (Fantasy Team Advice)

Michael Cuddyer (OF, NYM) – $3,000
“Cuddyer is hot right now. The outfielder has 7 hits over his last 17 at-bats and has a homer and 5 RBI during that span. Cuddyer is still reasonably priced and is an excellent source of power without breaking the bank. The New York Mets are 7-3 right now and with Cuddyer hitting cleanup, he should see plenty of RBI opportunities. Another reason why Cuddyer is so intriguing tonight is his matchup against Miami Marlins pitcher David Phelps. Phelps has allowed 4 runs in only 1 inning of work this season and he’s allowed 35 home runs in just over 300 inning pitched. Consider Cuddyer a cheap source of power tonight.”
– Marc Caviglia (Bruno Boys)

Pablo Sandoval (3B, BOS) – $3,500
“The one hitter that will find his way into all my lineups for Friday, weather issues aside, is Pablo Sandoval. Having rested his toe the last two days he should be good to go for the contest versus the Orioles. His BvP against Jimenez is 11/34 with 2 home runs.”
– Terrance Bridgett (ProjectRoto)

Alejandro De Aza (OF, BAL) – $3,100
“There doesn’t appear to be a whole lot of truly good run producing environments on Friday – the majority of games are taking place in pitcher’s parks, and there’s also a fair amount of aces on the mound. As you’ll likely be rostering one of these aces, your general approach will be to find “value” hitters that are in one of the few run producing environments (i.e. ATL/TOR, BAL/BOS). De Aza is: cheap, leading off, facing an average-to-below average starting pitcher, and hitting for a team that’s projected to score a lot of runs.”
– Dan Gaspar (Fantasy Insiders)

Andre Ethier (OF, LAD) – $2,600
“To spend on pitching like you most likely will on this FanDuel slate, you need to find some cheap, value hitters. There are quite a few options to choose from, but I’m settling on Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier. Since Puig is likely out of the lineup and Carl Crawford is still on the mend, it’s safe to assume Ethier will garner the start. Ethier has a .381 wOBA over his career against right-handed pitching. The higher in the batting order Ethier is, the more his value will rise.”
– Ben Pritchett (Fantasy Insiders)

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Thank you to the experts who have given their daily plays for Friday. Want to compete against them?

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