The 4-9 Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks are based off of the Thursday night slate of games (which starts at 6:40 PM EST/3:40 PM PST). This slate of games is relatively small (3 games) as there are some teams that have the day off and other teams playing their games earlier in the day. The values listed are based off of the values on DraftKings.
Disclaimer: These picks are subject to change based off of weather forecasts and last-minute lineup decisions.
Starting Pitchers
Ian Kennedy, SP, San Diego Padres $7,800
Tim Hudson, SP, San Francisco Giants $6,200
For tonight, I see these two pitchers as a packaged deal. The most expensive starting pitcher option (C.C. Sabathia) is likely at his $8,700 price point more due to his name recognition than what he’s likely to accomplish on the field.
Out of the three games on the evening slate, one is at Yankee Stadium which tends to be unfriendly to pitchers, the Red Sox-Phillies game is a match-up between Justin Masterson and David Buchanan and the other is at Petco Park which is actually friendly to Pitchers.
By process of elimination, that leaves us with Ian Kennedy and Tim Hudson. While I would likely pursue other options on most days, this game is being played at Petco Park and the other options available are not that great.
Catcher
Russell Martin, C, Toronto Blue Jays, $4,100
While I would pick Buster Posey in this spot more often than not, I’m staying away from Giants & Padres hitters for tonight’s slate of games. With that in mind, the choice comes down to Brian McCann versus Russell Martin. Originally, I had selected Brian McCann for this spot because he had hit for more power against lefties last year. However, when the Yankees line-up for tonight was announced, Brian McCann was not listed. Based on this, I inserted Russell Martin into my line-up for tonight.
First Base
Edwin Encarnacion, 1B, Toronto Blue Jays, $5,000
Encarnacion is the most expensive 1B available but he is worth the high price tag. While he hasn’t hit that well against Sabathia in his career .256/.293/.333 in 41 PA, one thing that needs to be considered is that Sabathia is not as dominant as he used to be and Encarnacion is the strongest overall player in the 1B player pool.
Second Base
Chase Utley, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies $4,100
Utley may be past his peak but has some match-up advantages. Last year, Utley hit .286 with 8 HR against righties. Tonight, Utley goes up against a righty (Justin Masterson) who is coming off a season where he had a 5.88 ERA.
Third Base
Josh Donaldson, 3B, Toronto Blue Jays $4,700
Even though Donaldson is the most expensive 3B available, he is also worth the price. In addition to being one of the best 3B in the game, the match-up works in his favor. Last year, Donaldson hit .275 with 14 HR in 151 PA against lefties.
Shortstop
Xander Bogaerts, SS, Boston Red Sox $3,700
Since I had used more expensive players at many of the other positions in the line-up and the other options at SS were weak, I ended up at Bogaerts. The other two shortstops at a higher price (Jose Reyes & Brandon Crawford) would have put me above the DraftKings salary cap.
Even though Bogaerts wasn’t that great against Righties last year (.230 AVG with 7 HR), this was much better than what Didi Gregorious did against lefties last year (.137 AVG in 58 PA).
Outfield
Jose Bautista, OF, Toronto Blue Jays $5,000
Overall, I’m feeling very bullish on the Blue Jays chances of having a strong game against the Yankees and this theme is continued with the selection of Jose Bautista. In 2014, he also demonstrated the ability to light up the scoreboard against left-handed pitching as he hit .345 with 10 HR in 138 PA. He also appears to be very comfortable hitting at Yankee Stadium as he has a career 1.022 OPS in 170 PA.
Hanley Ramirez, OF, Boston Red Sox $4,800
Hanley Ramirez has had plenty of experiencing playing in the National League and I think this will serve him well tomorrow night. He has performed very well at Citizens Bank Park as he has hit .296 with 11 HR in 249 career PA at the stadium.
Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, New York Yankees $4,600
Ellsbury gets picked here as he has a couple of match-up advantages. In 2014, he hit very well against lefties hitting .300 with 5 HR. Even though his overall power is modest, being a left-handed hitter at Yankee Stadium leaves us open with the possibility of hitting a HR on any given night.
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