Sunday’s main slate features 10 games starting at 1:05 pm ET.
Pitchers
The top priced pitcher on both DraftKings and FanDuel is Max Scherzer from the Washington Nationals. The three-time Cy Young award winner has not lived up to his expectations so far in the early season. Scherzer has only eclipsed double-digit strikeouts once in his five starts in April and will be looking to regain his form throughout the month of May. Today he throws against the Miami Marlins who rank bottom 10 in MLB in both runs scored and strikeouts. This is a perfect bounce-back opportunity for the Nationals’ ace as he is projected to be the highest rated pitcher on DraftKings using Bales Model.
Priced the lowest he has been all season, Corey Kluber from the New York Yankees is a strong option to consider. Pro trends has Kluber listed as a 92% bargain on FanDuel priced at only $7,300. Like Scherzer, Kluber looked like a shell of his former self in the month of April. His ERA though the first five starts of the year was a poor 4.15. Today he will be looking to amend his early season stats against the Detroit Tigers. Through their first 28 games of the season, the Tigers have the second most strikeouts in all of baseball (293). Bales Model projects Kluber to be the highest rated pitcher for today’s slate of FanDuel.
Houston Astros pitcher Christian Javier is surprisingly priced at $9,400 on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Javier has started his 2021 campaign extremely well throwing 26 strikeouts in 20.2 innings while allowing only two runs. Today, Javier will be pitching to the Tampa Bay Rays who rank third in MLB with 280 strikeouts. Pro Trends has Javier’s strikeout prediction at 5.45 for today’s game which leads me to believe he is over-priced.
Looking to avoid a four-game series sweep, Julio Urias from the Los Angeles Dodgers will need to bring his “A game” today against the surging Milwaukee Brewers. Dustin May lasted only 1.2 innings in yesterday’s start due to injury. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will be hoping for Urias to eat up as many innings as possible to give his bullpen a rest. Through his first five starts of the season, Urias’ highest pitch count was 95.
Value
Trevor Williams from the Chicago Cubs is one of the top value plays to consider on the slate due to his 80% consistency rating during the month of April. Although he has allowed runs in all of his five starts this year, Williams has been strong from a DFS perspective. Priced lower today than ever before, Williams comes in at a 70% bargain rate per Pro Trends.
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is another strong value play to consider. With a record of 1-4 on the year, Martinez will be looking for his second win against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He allowed only one earned run in each of his last two starts and is a personal favorite as I previously played roulette with him a couple years ago.
Right-handed pitcher Brad Keller from the Kansas City Royals is a value play to consider on today’s 10 game slate. Although he does not rate highly on Bales Model, he is projected to throw the second most pitches. As a boom or bust player, Keller should only be considered in GPP format.
Hitters
Notable Stack
Today’s top stack comes to you from the -184 Los Angeles Dodgers:
- Mookie Betts (R)
- Corey Seager (L)
- Justin Turner (R)
- Max Muncy (L)
Projected to have the second highest implied runs total of five, the Dodgers batters will be facing Alec Bettinger from the Milwaukee Brewers. Although they have only scored seven runs in the first three games of the series, the Dodgers are expected to break out from their slump today. On FanDuel, this stack will cost you $14.7k in salary and is projected for a combined 48.2 fantasy points.
Other Hitters
The highest floor play on the slate for both DraftKings and FanDuel is Luis Arraez from the Minnesota Twins. Arraez is the projected leadoff man for the Twins who have the ninth-highest team batting average in baseball (.238). With many power hitters batting behind him, Arraez is expected to score at least one run in today’s game.
The highest rated batter on Bales Model is DJ LeMahieu from the New York Yankees. LeMahieu is currently on a five-game hitting streak and will be looking to stay hot against the Detroit Tigers, although he is known more as a contact hitter with a high on base percentage. LeMahieu showed off his base running ability with his first stolen base of the season last game.
Value
The highest projected points/salary batter on the slate for DraftKings using Bales Model is Tyrone Taylor of the Milwaukee Brewers. Through his 27 at bats in the young season, Taylor has collected nine hits including two home runs. In a hitter-friendly ballpark, Taylor’s low salary price bodes well for the Brewers’ outfielder.
Another low-priced player to consider is outfielder Alex Kirilloff from the Minnesota Twins. With three home runs in his last two games, Kirilloff is expected to be high owned, batting right in the heart of the Twins’ batting order.
With no precipitation in the forecast this afternoon, the only weather factor in play is the wind. A few games with projected double-digit mph winds blowing out to center field are Miami Marlins/Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers/New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox/Texas Rangers.
