Rival Fantasy MLB Top Plays: April 5 (2023)

Welcome to RivalFantasy. Rival Fantasy has two exciting offerings for the MLB season: Challenges and Fantasybook.

Traditional Challenges present a ‘who will score more fantasy points’ proposition between two pre-selected players. If you don’t like the options presented, simply tap skip challenge for a new pairing. Social Challenges take this concept to the next level and provide a unique experience for fantasy players. Simply tap the social button, and fantasy gamers can create their own Challenges where you are in control of the two options. Create a Challenge, pick a side, and invite a friend (or rival) to accept the other side of the Challenge. You set the players involved and the pot. The winner takes home the prize, as well as bragging rights.

Fantasybook offers over/under selections for a combination of two to five fantasy point props. Two correct selections offers a 2.5x multiplier, three correct selections offers a 5x multiplier, four correct selections offers a 7.5x multiplier, and finally, five correct selections offers a 10x multiplier. You can even combine sports.

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Rival Fantasy MLB 4/5/23

Top Fantasybook Plays

Jacob deGrom (SP – TEX): 4.95 fantasy points
deGrom looks primed for a bounce-back performance after a forgettable outing to start the season. He managed just 3.66 fantasy points at RivalFantasy, falling short of the 4.92 projection. The number was thought to be a value then, and even with the number seeing a slight uptick, there is still value to be had here. deGrom should be inching closer to form with a start under his belt and is further away from the side issues that bothered him during the preseason. Facing the AL East, especially on the road, is always a tough task, and that fact has helped keep the number under 5.0. Texas is playing well enough to get deGrom his first win as a member of the Texas Rangers if he can manage to keep his pitch count low enough to qualify for the win. Tap the over on deGrom if you are looking for an additional play at RivalFantasy’s Fantasybook.

Shohei Ohtani (DH – LAA): 4.46 fantasy points
Ohtani looks like a strong over play for today’s slate. He will be facing a solid pitcher in Chris Flexen, but the Mariners hurler often struggles with command issues which is something Ohtani should be able to take advantage of. Ohtani has put up five or more fantasy points in four of his last five games and is a strong play to do so again.

Julio Rodriguez (OF – SEA): 4.03 fantasy points
Julio Rodriguez has been on a roll, scoring six or more fantasy points in four of his last five but will be facing a pitcher he has yet to solve in Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is hitless in six at-bats against Ohtani, going down swinging twice. Rodriguez will eventually find a way to get on base against the All-Star, but today’s matchup strongly favors Ohtani, making the under the strong value. Tap the under on Julio

Oneil Cruz (OF – PIT): 3.72 fantasy points
Cruz has struggled out of the gate apart from his monster outing on March 29th against the Cincinnati Reds. Cruz has scored three or fewer fantasy points in four straight since that outing but has a favorable matchup on tap against Corey Kluber. Kluber struggled in his first start of the season and is a pitcher that Cruz has had success against, albeit over a small sample. Cruz has one hit in three plate appearances, which happened to be a double. Cruz projects as a solid over play for Wednesday afternoon.

Challenge

This week I decided to create my own social challenge. I challenged a long-time fantasy baseball rival and got him to accept quickly by pitting Trea Turner against Anthony Volpe and picking the Volpe side for myself. I did keep the pot smaller due to Volpe being the hotter player to open the season, but that is likely partially correlated to why he chose to accept so quickly. Turner is the superior player, and the key to getting challenges accepted is to pick two players so even that you are willing to choose either side. If my rival told me he wanted Volpe instead, I would happily rock with Turner.

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