Baseball games might be won with great pitching in MLB, but daily fantasy tournaments are won by having the right hitters against those pitchers. Anyone can score fantasy points with their starting pitchers, especially if you are slotting Friday night’s aces like Felix Hernandez ($11,300) or Zack Greinke ($10,100).

The trick is finding the hits—specifically the home runs. We give you the best position-player picks for April 24.

 

Infielders

C Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins ($3,400)

Sure, he is not a homer threat—power is what you should be looking for in your daily fantasy baseball hitters—but Mauer is an elite hitter you can get as a serious bargain. Sure, Mauer’s low price is a function of facing stingy Seattle Mariners ace Hernandez, who is the No. 1-priced pitcher on the board.

But Mauer doesn’t have the historical numbers most hitters have against one of baseball’s elite aces. He is Ted Williams against King Felix, hitting .378 (14-for-37) with two homers, four doubles and seven RBI. This is a sneaky good play.

  • Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals ($3,700)
  • Kurt Suzuki, Minnesota Twins ($2,800)

 

1B Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles Dodgers ($4,300)

This is just stealing money. “A-Gone” had a little mini-slump that has dropped his price, but he homered Thursday night, and our famed mantra in daily fantasy baseball is sluggers do “50 percent of their damage in 25 percent of the season.” Meaning: They are streaky.

Gonzalez is ready to streak back to hot, especially when you consider the slugger leads all of Friday night’s hitters against their opposing pitcher with four career homers off him, per BaseballSavant.com. Gonzalez is 9-for-25 off Andrew Cashner ($8,100). This is a no-brainer play at that price.

  • Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles ($4,400)
  • Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs ($4,800)

 

2B Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox ($4,200)

Pedroia is not off to particularly great start in terms of his average, but the power has been there. He already has four homers on the season. There are not a lot of second basemen we truly love Friday night, so we will go with one of the tried and true at a reasonable price.

  • Jose Altuve, Houston Astros ($4,800)
  • Asdrubal Cabrera, Tampa Bay Rays ($3,300)
  • Ian Kinsler, Detroit Tigers ($3,900)

 

3B Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays ($4,200)

We cannot understand the value in Donaldson. Not only is he one of the best fantasy players at third base, if not in all of baseball at any position, but he is also off to a great start this season, hitting .349 with a .400 OBP and a .635 SLG. Oh, and he just happens to have four homers in his past six games and hit one Thursday. Um, yeah, play this guy in all lineups.

What is dragging his price down? Drew Smyly ($7,800) making a start in his return from the DL? Donaldson is 4-for-6 with two doubles, a homer and a steal off the lefty. The only reason he does not show up in the Tableau data visualization above is because he has too few at-bats in his career against his opposing pitcher (we took eight as a minimum).

DraftKings‘ game-makers have Donaldson’s price way, way wrong here.

  • Chris Johnson, Atlanta Braves ($4,200)
  • Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers ($5,000)

 

SS Clint Barmes, San Diego Padres ($2,600)

He is not the Padres’ regular starting shortstop, Alexi Amarista ($2,700) is, but Barmes would be a great play—and a great way to squeeze King Felix ($11,300) into your lineup. You will have to wait until the West Coast lineup to come out, though, to make sure Barmes is even starting. If he does, you get a hitter who is hitting .438 (7-for-16) against Los Angeles Dodgers starter Greinke. 

Barmes, who homered as a pinch-hitter in his last appearance in a game earlier this week, is a nice contrarian play against that ace, because of his bargain price and his matchup history.

  • Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs ($3,900)
  • Jhonny Peralta, St. Louis Cardinals ($4,000)
  • Asdrubal Cabrera, Tampa Bay Rays ($3,300)

 

Outfielders

Justin Upton, San Diego Padres ($4,100)

Here is a rare $1,400 cost shave one series later. Upton was priced at $5,500 in Colorado’s Coors Field. Against Greinke in Dodger Stadium, he is a huge bargain. That price doesn’t account for the fact Upton has owned the veteran right-handed ace to the tune of .471 (8-for-17) with a homer, triple and two doubles. We will take it.

 

Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins ($4,800)

He might be tough to afford if you’re going with Hernandez and/or Greinke, but he is the premium hitter play of the night. Stanton is on one of his power tears, hitting all four of his season’s homers in his past seven games, including two in the past three. Stanton also has three career homers off Washington Nationals starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann ($8,300), who is not off to a great start this season.

 

Chris Carter, Houston Astros ($4,100)

If you believe us when we say sluggers are streaky, you have to get on board with Carter here. He is certainly due, having hit .122 in his first 14 games. In the past two games, though, he is 3-for-7 with his first homer of the season. He is ready to erupt, and just in time to face a left-hander. Perfect!

It is not just any left-hander either. It is Scott Kazmir ($8,500), against which he is hitting .357 (5-for-14) with a pair of doubles and five walks to just one strikeout.

  • Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals ($4,400)
  • Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles Dodgers ($4,400)
  • Jorge Soler, Chicago Cubs ($4,400)
  • Curtis Granderson, New York Mets ($3,900)

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Eric Mack, one of the giants among fantasy writers, is the Fantasy Football Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, where you can ask him endless questions about your team, rip him for his content and even challenge him to a head-to-head fantasy game.

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