The NFL Draft is over, and it’s time to shift your focus back to building up the baseball bankroll. As is typical with most Sundays, the slates begin early today at 1:35 Eastern Time. FanDuel and DraftKings both feature the same 11-game slate for April 26.
Sunday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Sunday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (4/26)
- This is an interesting selection of pitchers in this slate. There are some very high-end options, but also interesting, affordable options. The high-priced option that most interests me is Nolan McLean against the Rockies on the road. McLean has elevated his strikeout percentage to 33% while dropping his walk rate to 7%. That puts him with a top-5 mark in strikeout minus walk percentage.
- While Emerson Hancock’s hot start has slowed a bit, he is still a strong option at this price. His strikeout rate is still 10% better than it has ever been before at 26.7%. That comes with a minuscule 3.8% walk rate. That leaves him with a 22.9% strikeout minus walk rate, which is just outside the top 10 among all qualified pitchers in baseball.
- Carmen Mlodzinski is coming off a start in which he allowed five earned runs. That’s after allowing a total of four earned runs in his first four starts. While that most recent game may leave a bad taste in your mouth, it was mostly poor luck. He had a .462 BABIP against and stranded an abymsal 37% of runners. His FIP for that game was 1.76. For the season, his FIP is 2.38 with a 24% strikeout rate. That’s worth his cost.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Atlanta Braves Projected Lineup (4/26)
The NFL Draft is over, and it’s time to shift your focus back to building up the baseball bankroll. As is typical with most Sundays, the slates begin early today at 1:35 Eastern Time. FanDuel and DraftKings both feature the same 11-game slate for April 26.
Sunday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Sunday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (4/26)
- This is an interesting selection of pitchers in this slate. There are some very high-end options, but also interesting, affordable options. The high-priced option that most interests me is Nolan McLean against the Rockies on the road. McLean has elevated his strikeout percentage to 33% while dropping his walk rate to 7%. That puts him with a top-5 mark in strikeout minus walk percentage.
- While Emerson Hancock’s hot start has slowed a bit, he is still a strong option at this price. His strikeout rate is still 10% better than it has ever been before at 26.7%. That comes with a minuscule 3.8% walk rate. That leaves him with a 22.9% strikeout minus walk rate, which is just outside the top 10 among all qualified pitchers in baseball.
- Carmen Mlodzinski is coming off a start in which he allowed five earned runs. That’s after allowing a total of four earned runs in his first four starts. While that most recent game may leave a bad taste in your mouth, it was mostly poor luck. He had a .462 BABIP against and stranded an abymsal 37% of runners. His FIP for that game was 1.76. For the season, his FIP is 2.38 with a 24% strikeout rate. That’s worth his cost.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Atlanta Braves Projected Lineup (4/26)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| OF |
Ronald Acuna Jr. |
$5,400 |
$3,200 |
| C |
Drake Baldwin |
$5,100 |
$3,800 |
| 1B |
Matt Olson |
$4,800 |
$3,800 |
| 2B |
Ozzie Albies |
$4,300 |
$3,200 |
| OF |
Michael Harris |
$3,200 |
$3,000 |
| 3B |
Austin Riley |
$4,000 |
$3,100 |
| 1B/OF |
Dominic Smith |
$3,700 |
$3,200 |
| SS/OF/
3B/2B (FD) |
Mauricio Dubon |
$3,300 |
$2,800 |
| OF |
Mike Yastrzemski |
$2,900 |
$2,600 |
- The Atlanta Braves have a matchup against a clearly diminished Aaron Nola. His 16.5% strikeout minus walk rate is his lowest since his rookie season over a decade ago. While his ERA at 5.06 makes it appear as if he has been better than last year, that’s not really the case. His expected ERA has never been higher than his current 4.71 mark.
- Ronald Acuna Jr.’s price has never fallen on DraftKings, but that price on FanDuel is very appealing. He is off to a slower-than-expected start to his season. However, he recently hit his second home run. That’s a shockingly low number considering he has 10 barrels. He has a career 1.025 OPS against Nola with four home runs off of him.
- Another player with an extensive track record against Aaron Nola is Austin Riley. Riley has gone 22-57 against Nola with five doubles and six home runs.
- Given that Nola’s entire career has been spent in the NL East, there are plenty of other Braves who have extensive track records against him. Ozzie Albies has gone 19-67 with a pair of home runs. Matt Olson and Michael Harris each have three home runs against him as well. If you decide to play Harris, make sure that he is in the lineup.
Tampa Bay Rays Projected Lineup (4/26)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| OF |
Chandler Simpson |
$4,100 |
$2,800 |
| 3B |
Junior Caminero |
$5,300 |
$3,500 |
| 1B/3B |
Jonathan Aranda |
$4,100 |
$3,300 |
| 1B |
Yandy Diaz |
$4,900 |
$3,400 |
| OF |
Jake Fraley |
$2,900 |
$2,500 |
| OF |
Cedric Mullins |
$2,900 |
$2,700 |
| 2B/
3B/OF (FD) |
Richie Palacios |
$3,400 |
$2,700 |
| C |
Nick Fortes |
$2,700 |
$2,600 |
| SS/2B (FD) |
Taylor Walls |
$2,200 |
$2,600 |
- The Tampa Bay Rays have a matchup with the Minnesota Twins, who are starting Simeon Woods Richardson. Woods Richardson has an ERA of 5.96, which his 5.82 FIP fully supports. 66% of the batted balls against him are in the air. Considering that he is only striking out 11% of the batters against him, that means a lot of balls that could leave the yard for the Rays.
- How do you not start your Rays’ stack with Junior Caminero if you can find the money? His recent home run barrage has him up to eight home runs on the season. His hard hit rates and expected slugging percentage are slightly down to begin the season, but he’s making up ground in a hurry.
- Jonathan Aranda’s profile looks a bit more power-oriented than in years past. He keeps raising his launch angle every year of his career to its current mark of 17 degrees. It’s paying dividends in the past few games with three home runs in the last week.
- If you’re looking for cheap exposure to the Rays lineup for DFS purposes, consider Nick Fortes. While he only has one barrel on the season, that’s because his launch angle has fallen to seven degrees. His hard hit rate is the best since his rookie season at 45%. If he can take advantage and elevate on Woods Richardson’s pitches, he could deliver a good day for a cheap price.
Core Studs
- Ben Rice is second in baseball in slugging percentage behind only Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez is the second most expensive hitter on this slate. Meanwhile, Rice is barely priced among the top-15 among healthy hitters on this slate. While his expected slugging is a bit lower, he still has a top-10 mark.
- It was only a matter of time before the home runs started piling up for Nick Kurtz with a 100th percentile hard-hit rate and average exit velocity. He has four home runs in his last seven games.
- Julio Rodriguez has multiple hits in four of his last five games. Yesterday, that culminated with his first home run in two weeks. His price on both sites has fallen to a point where it is hard to keep him out of the lineup.
Value Plays/Punts
- This Value Plays/Punts section is going to focus on slow starters who seem to be turning it around, but their prices haven’t necessarily caught up. Over the last seven games, Josh Naylor is batting .480. That comes with a home run and four stolen bases.
- We are only a month removed from a discussion of who would be the more successful Asian player between Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto. Murakami is off to a remarkable start, but Okamoto is making up ground in a hurry. He has had multiple hits, including a home run in back-to-back games.
- Jose Caballero is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak. His last three games have had multiple hits, and his last two games have included a home run. Typically, we don’t expect power from him, but it might not be a bad idea to try riding the hot hand with him. His price is more palatable on DraftKings.
Sunday’s Top 3 Underdog Player Props
This recommendation isn’t even because Ryne Nelson is coming off what may be the worst start any pitcher has had this season, with eight earned runs allowed and only a single out. This recommendation requires a bit of context. The Padres and Diamondbacks will be playing today’s game in Mexico City. That park makes Coors Field look like a pitcher’s paradise. The over/under on runs scored in that game per FanDuel is 15.5. Nelson can give up at least four of them.
Caminero was mentioned above when looking into stacking the Rays’ offense. He has had at least two total bases in nine of his last thirteen games played. A matchup with Simeon Woods Richardson doesn’t scare me away from thinking that he can do it again.
McLean is another player who was mentioned above. McLean has had at least eight strikeouts in four of his five starts to begin the season. The Rockies’ strikeout rate in road games is a league worst 28.3%.
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