There are massive Opening Day contests on FanDuel for the 12-game main slate. The scheduled games are great for DFS purposes with some of the best and worst starting pitchers. There will be great pitching duels, tons of home runs, and lots of money to be won. Let’s take a look at FanDuel options to roster during lineup construction this Thursday.
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Pitcher
Chris Sale (BOS): $11,200 @ TB
In season-long fantasy drafts, there are the “big four” starting pitcher aces, Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, and Max Scherzer. All four are set to take the mound Opening Day in different situations. When deciding which arm to go with, Sale becomes the lead horse through the process of elimination. Kershaw faces a San Francisco Giants team that is very disciplined and does not strike out very often. Kershaw should get the win as the Giants will lean on Ty Blach as their starter, but the K upside isn’t there. Kluber has a matchup in Seattle which could be great, a pitcher’s park against a team who can strike out a lot (20.5 K%, good for 10th worse). However, with the addition of Dee Gordon, Seattle has become an improved offensive team with multi-run scoring potential. This leaves almost a coin-flip between Sale and Scherzer. Either is a great selection. The only blip on the radar is that Mad Max can give up the long ball. The Reds do have some tough, power-hitting lefties who may give Scherzer issues. Conversely, the Rays are arguably worse than last year and already lead the league in strikeout percentage. Chris Sale is a great start to anchor your DFS lineup on Opening Day.
Catcher / First Base
Lucas Duda (KC): $2,500 vs. CWS
The main difference FanDuel has introduced this year in MLB DFS is removing the catcher-only position. The majority of the time, we will likely roster the first baseman over a catcher. There is ownership strategy which can come into the conversation, however, there are few catchers who will outproduce the first base on a consistent basis. Duda will start his first game as a Royal on Thursday and is in a great position against James Shields. Duda reached 30 home runs for the second time in his career and posted a .341 wOBA. The Royals should hit Shields and set the table for Duda to drive in runs as the likely cleanup hitter.
Second Base
Logan Forsythe (LAD): $2,300 vs. SFG
With the unfortunate injury news to both Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija, lefty Ty Blach is expected to get the Opening Day start for the Giants. Blach owned the lowest strikeout rate (10.6%) among qualified pitchers in 2017 and was hammered by right-handed hitters. Allowing a .350 wOBA to righties, he also gets worse as batters see him a second and third time through the order. Forsythe should start in place of the injured Justin Turner. The utility hitter also destroys left-hand pitching (.418 OBP, .381 wOBA, .309 ISO, 42% hard hit). At just $2,300, Forsythe is a great salary-saving option.
Third Base
Mike Moustakas (KC): $3,300 vs. CWS
Similar to Duda, Mike Moustakas has plenty of power as a left-handed hitter. After a strong Spring Training, the slugging Royal will look to build off of his 38-home run performance just a year ago. He broke out in a big way last season with homers but has always had high ISO and wOBA numbers. This is a great matchup against James Shields who allows more than two home runs per nine innings of work. Expect the lefty to get ahold of one in this dream matchup.
Shortstop
Carlos Correa (HOU): $4,000 @ TEX
The obvious teams to stack and look at on Opening Day are the Nationals and Astros. They are two prolific offensive teams with superstar hitters. Carlos Correa is a 23-year-old phenom who will look to start the season off right against a declining Cole Hamels. There are a group of shortstops in the top tier who are all viable options. With a K% rate under league average and a BB% above, Correa is a very safe cash game option with GPP-winning upside. He hits lefties very well and should have plenty of RBI opportunities with George Springer getting on-base ahead of him.
Outfield
Bryce Harper (WAS): $4,700 @ CIN
The Nationals superstar has recorded five home runs, in his early career, on Opening Day. If that isn’t a narrative statistic to roster Bryce Harper, I don’t know what is. If you need more convincing, how about the fact that the Nationals will go up against one of the worst starting pitchers in the majors? Homer Bailey had a terrible 2017 season and will now take on a very good Washington team. With just a 16 K% and 10 BB%, not only will he struggle to find outs, but he will have players on bases more often than not. Harper is one of the better spend-up options Thursday.
Trey Mancini (BAL): $2,600 vs. MIN
If Trey Mancini can continue his 2017 production, this might be the lowest price we see the Oriole hitter all season long. In a great lineup, Mancini will be protected and see a lot of fastballs. With his high average, he should be able to solve most pitchers and provide a lot of value in a great hitter’s park. Jake Odorizzi will take the hill for Minnesota and has been prone to the long ball. With an above average HR/FB ratio look for the power-hitting righties to take advantage at their home opener.
Odubel Herrera (PHI): $2,200 @ ATL
There is the risk in rostering the Phillies center fielder as he got off to a very slow start last season. However, he showed in the second half of 2017 that he is indeed worth the $30 million contract. The power numbers are not overwhelming for Herrera, but the Phillies lineup is improved with the addition of Carlos Santana and the emergence of Rhys Hoskins. What intrigues us most is that Herrera is a left-handed hitter going up against Julio Teheran in Atlanta. It is no secret Teheran struggled with lefties last season, especially at home in the redesigned, shortened RF ballpark. Last year, Teheran surrendered a .391 wOBA, 12 HRs, and 33 walks in just 48 innings pitched.
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Jeremy Maw is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Jeremy, check out his archive or follow him @j_maw.
