It is a daily fantasy baseball night for MLB aces with Felix Hernandez ($12,200) and Clayton Kershaw ($12,000) potentially sucking up your DraftKings budgets. You have to be judicious with the rest of your roster, so we outline the studs to slot and duds to not for Monday, May 4.
Pitchers
Studs You Don’t Need Analysis to Play
- Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers ($12,000)
- Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants ($10,400)
- Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners ($12,200)
Mid-Level Studs
Dallas Keuchel, Houston Astros ($8,000)
He doesn’t rack up a lot of strikeouts, but he is pitching like an ace now that he is smack dab in his prime at age 27. The price is still low because of the modest strikeout totals and the fact that he is working in a pitcher’s park. The good news is the Texas Rangers are dead last in baseball in hits and average, 29th in slugging percentage and 26th in runs.
Jordan Zimmermann, Washington Nationals ($8,800)
His contract year is off to an inauspicious start, but he showed signs last time out, fanning a season-high seven. Despite the modest numbers to date, Zimmermann has pitched four out of five quality starts. His price is not quite in a true bargain position, but he is someone who is going to get hot and be much tougher to slot down the road.
- Jake Odorizzi, Tampa Bay Rays ($7,100)
- Ross Detwiler, Texas Rangers ($4,200)
- Chase Whitley, New York Yankees ($4,000)
Pitching Dud
Tyson Ross, San Diego Padres ($9,100)
His strikeout rate is certainly intriguing in DFS and his matchup against the Giants is tempting, but until he manages his walk total and pitch counts to get deep into games, you’re putting good money at risk. You would be spending money on strikeouts, pitcher’s park and matchup here. You should prefer to spend it on a victory.
Hitting Studs
OF Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals ($4,400)
He has cooled off of late, but now is a great time to buy for a market correction. He is 0-for-May after a hot start in April, but facing the Chicago Cubs’ Travis Wood ($7,200) should re-ignite Holliday. The Cardinals outfielder is hitting .375 (15-for-40) with four homers and four doubles off Wood.
1B Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles Dodgers ($4,200)
You shouldn’t need a reason to start a hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers’ Kyle Lohse ($6,900). The fact that it is “A-Gone” at a decent price should make this an easy play. Gonzalez has just 14 at-bats off Lohse, but he hasn’t needed many chances to rack up seven hits, three doubles and two homers off him (.500).
C Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals ($3,400)
Yet another slumping Cardinals veteran who has great career numbers off Wood. Molina has hit .395 (15-for-38) with three homers and four doubles off the Cub. You have to love Molina’s near-basement price because of his slump, too.
OF Justin Upton, San Diego Padres ($3,800)
It is rare you can get a slugger the caliber of Upton at this price, but it is caused by his opposing starter, Bumgarner, working in a pitcher’s park (San Francisco). We like Upton against lefties (.919 career OPS, per Baseball-Reference.com), and it is partially the reason he has hit an ace like Bumgarner to a .407 clip (11-for-27).
Hitting Duds
1B Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ($3,800)
The price might be tempting, but he is not off to a good start, and he is even worse against King Felix, hitting just .205 (8-for-39) in his career off the ace. Pujols has a mini six-game hitting streak going, but it is going to end here.
C Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins ($4,500)
He is a much cooler play when his price is under $4,000. He doesn’t hit for the power that DFS players need. There are too many more intriguing names and prices on the board.
SS Jimmy Rollins, Los Angeles Dodgers ($3,500)
Stick a fork in him; he’s done. Rollins took an 0-for-5 Sunday and is hitting .145 in his past 10 games and just .176 on the season. We don’t care how low the price is right now. Rollins is a waste of money. Even Lohse gets him out with ease (.194, 7-for-36). Ouch.
SS Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers ($4,000)
We don’t understand this price. Andrus is performing like an all-glove, no-hit shortstop (.224). You don’t need to see the numbers against Astros ace Keuchel either. We will give them to you anyway: .194, 6-for-31 with no extra-base hits.
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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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