Note: This is a FREE full preview of Fantasy Alarm's MLB DFS Playbook for Friday, March 29. For full analysis every day and more ways to crush your daily fantasy baseball competition, check out DFS site-specific advice and the rest of Fantasy Alarm's great season-long and DFS tools available to subscribers.
Watch ChangeUp, a new MLB live whip-around show on DAZN
We had an amazing opening day with homers flying out of the parks and some stud pitchers absolutely shoving. Now we slide into the weekend with a shorter slate than usual, especially for a Friday. There are no day games today, so there isn't a distinction between an early/main slate.
For your lineup construction pleasure, I tried to give some different options in different price ranges, but as always, make sure you check out today's hitting and pitching coaches pieces (available to Fantasy Alarm subscribers), as well as the optimal lineups I will construct a few hours before first pitch.
MORE: SN DFS | Fantasy Alarm PRO tools
MLB DFS Picks: DraftKings, FanDuel advice for Friday, March 29
| Pos | Player | Matchup | Opp. SP | DK | FD | Y! | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP | G. Cole (R) | HOU@TB Fri 7:10 | C. Morton (R) | $11200 | $11300 | $51 | Cole is the most expensive pitcher on today’s slate for good reason. He is clearly the top pitcher available and gets a lackluster offense in the Rays in Tampa. His 34% strikeout rate is likely to regress a bit from last year, but it won’t fall off the table after ditching his sinker for his more reliable offerings. Cole will be chalky in cash games, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use him. |
| SP | R. Stripling (R) | ARI@LA Fri 10:10 | R. Ray (L) | $9500 | $8200 | $35 | One of the reasons Stripling was largely underrated in season-long drafts was because there was no natural opening in the Dodgers rotation. However, injuries has given him the ball in Game 2 for LA, and he gets a Diamondbacks team that is in full on rebuild mode. Last year, Stripling had a 27-percent strikeout rate and a 3.02 ERA for the Dodgers, and there is no reason to think he can’t build off of that in the first game of the season with the offense that is supporting him. |
| SP | G. Márquez (R) | COL@MIA Fri 7:10 | T. Richards (R) | $9200 | $9800 | $46 | In the second half of the season, Marquez put up ace-like numbers in spite of over half of his starts occurring in Colorado. It wasn’t a fluke either. Both his slider and his curve were fantastic, and his fastball averaged over 95 mph. He has been a polarizing player all offseason, but that is largely due to the fear of the bottom falling out in Colorado. He gets his first start of the year in Miami’s spacious ballpark against a horrific Marlins squad. |
| SP | J. Lucchesi (L) | SF@SD Fri 10:10 | D. Holland (L) | $7900 | $7600 | $28 | I am not the biggest Lucchesi fan and he struggled down the stretch last season, which made his numbers look less impressive. However, the Giants are truly terrible, especially versus lefthanded pitching. The way to get to Lucchesi is through the long ball, and the Giants just don’t have the ability to do that. In his two starts last year versus San Francisco, he struck out 17 in just 11 innings. |
| SP | D. Holland (L) | SF@SD Fri 10:10 | J. Lucchesi (L) | $6000 | $7300 | $31 | From the beginning of June, Holland was one of the best pitchers in baseball with a 2.87 ERA and over a strikeout an inning. While he is a bit oddly priced on FanDuel, he is the second cheapest pitcher on DraftKings where he is the perfect pair for a stud pitcher like Gerrit Cole. We just saw the Padres struggle versus lefthanded pitching yesterday, so Holland is a nice play in cash and GPPs. |
| C | B. Posey (R) | SF@SD Fri 10:10 | J. Lucchesi (L) | $4000 | $2800 | $17 | Coming off hip surgery, there is a chance that Posey won’t play today, but the Giants have said that he can play on back-to-back days. There aren’t many hitters on the Giants that can hit against lefties, but Posey crushes them to a tune of a career .327/.398/.541 triple slash. He is definitely worth paying up for if you have the extra cash. |
| C | D. Jansen (R) | DET@TOR Fri 7:07 | M. Boyd (L) | $3500 | $2300 | $12 | Now that the opening day jitters are out of the way for Jansen, he should start showing people why the Blue Jays were willing to give away long time catcher Russell Martin to the Dodgers. Jansen has an above-average hit tool, something you don’t see very often, along with the ability to take a walk and hit bombs. He gets Matt Boyd at home in Toronto and should be able to turn on any hanging breaking balls that are left over the plate. |
| C | R. Martin (R) | ARI@LA Fri 10:10 | R. Ray (L) | $2900 | $2200 | $8 | Martin is no longer an offensive powerhouse, but he has shown some good on-base skills with the ability to take lefties deep. He gets Robbie Ray, who has a ton of strikeout upside but also struggles with walks and home runs. Martin is one of the cheaper catchers available also, so if he is in the lineup, he is worth a punt play. |
| 1B | D. Murphy (L) | COL@MIA Fri 7:10 | T. Richards (R) | $4600 | $3600 | $16 | I am very excited about Murphy getting to play in Coors this year considering he is already a high average guy with power upside. However, that doesn’t mean you should fade him on the road. His upside isn’t through the roof, but he is a high ceiling type player perfect for cash games. |
| 1B | K. Morales (B) | LAA@OAK Fri 10:07 | M. Harvey (R) | $3900 | $2600 | $10 | We are far past the year in which we would call Morales a stud, but he still is versus righthanded pitching. The Athletics traded for him just to have a platoon partner with Mark Canha. Morales hit .274 last year with 18 homers in just 277 at-bats. Don’t worry about the park change -- Morales has real man power, and if Matt Harvey leaves one over the plate, it’ll get crushed. |
| 1B | M. Cabrera (R) | DET@TOR Fri 7:07 | M. Shoemaker (R) | $3700 | $3500 | $19 | Cabrera lost most of his season to a biceps injury early last year, but he has looked healthy thus far and flashed the power and hit tool that made him the best player in fantasy pre-Trout. Who knows if he can stay on the field or keep up any sort of elite production, but if you are going to use him, now is the time. He gets Matt Shoemaker, who might as well be a pitching machine in Rogers Centre. |
| 1B | J. Bour (L) | LAA@OAK Fri 10:07 | M. Estrada (R) | $3600 | $2900 | $11 | Bour has struggled through his career to stay healthy and against lefties. So, when you see he is starting and his price low against a righty, that is the time to take advantage. He gets Marco Estrada, who just gave up two bombs last week in Japan. The ball may not fly as well in Oakland, but if Bour gets a pitch to hit, he can drive it. |
| 2B | J. Altuve (R) | HOU@TB Fri 7:10 | C. Morton (R) | $4400 | $4000 | $22 | A lot of people were down on Altuve coming into this season, but we forget he played much of last year hurt, which limited both his ability to hit for power and swipe bases. Now completely healthy coming into 2019, he has already popped his first home run of the season off of reigning AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell. This may be one of the last times you get to play him before the price returns to elite status. |
| 2B | D. Gordon (L) | BOS@SEA Fri 10:10 | N. Eovaldi (R) | $3700 | $2400 | $10 | In Japan, Gordon led off, but when the Mariners got back, he hit ninth versus the lefty. He gets a righty in Eovaldi today, so chances are he is back at the top of the lineup. So far he has looked like the player that returned a ton of value in 2017, so last year’s struggles may have had more to do with injuries and multiple position changes than actual physical regression. |
| 2B | K. Hernández (R) | ARI@LA Fri 10:10 | R. Ray (L) | $3700 | $2400 | $13 | Hernandez has a full-time role this season, but he is a better bet versus a lefty than a righty. He has a career .266 average versus southpaws and more home runs in spite of having 70 fewer at-bats. Today, he gets Robbie Ray, who struggles giving up a ton of hard contact -- something Hernandez should be able to take advantage of. |
| 2B | N. Goodrum (B) | DET@TOR Fri 7:07 | M. Shoemaker (R) | $3600 | $3000 | $17 | Goodrum is on here for the same reason I keep talking about Tigers -- Matt Shoemaker is awful. Goodrum should continue to find himself in the lineup even if he is moved around the diamond. I will definitely be rostering Goodrum in a GPP as a part of a Tigers stack. |
| 3B | M. Carpenter (L) | STL@MIL Fri 8:10 | F. Peralta (R) | $4500 | $4300 | $21 | Facing Freddy Peralta can be an interesting challenge in DFS. He doesn’t give up a ton of home runs, but what he does do is walk people. Carpenter has the ability to take people deep, but he is even better at drawing walks. This gives Carpenter a pretty decent floor as well as a nice ceiling. Carpenter is a great play in both cash and GPPs. |
| 3B | J. Turner (R) | ARI@LA Fri 10:10 | R. Ray (L) | $4200 | $4100 | $19 | Turner’s overall numbers were held back by early-season struggles last season, but when healthy, he absolutely crushed the ball. In the second half, he hit .356 with nine home runs and is going to benefit from having a healthy Corey Seager back in the offense. Add in the fact he hit .336 last year against lefthanded pitching and he is a great play versus Robbie Ray and his homer-prone ways. |
| 3B | E. Núñez (R) | BOS@SEA Fri 10:10 | Y. Kikuchi (L) | $3600 | $2200 | $15 | Nunez struggled last season, but with Pedroia out, he should continue to get run in one of the best lineups in baseball, especially against lefthanded pitching. He already has looked much better than last season and appears to be healthy. If that is the case the Red Sox may continue to let him steal, which makes him a decent cheap option. |
| SS | T. Story (R) | COL@MIA Fri 7:10 | T. Richards (R) | $4900 | $4400 | $23 | Story picked up right where he left off in 2018 with a homer in Game 1 of the season. Usually you prefer to play Rockies in Coors, but Story is like Arenado and Blackmon in terms of playing him any time he is on the field. I like Trevor Richards a bit, but not in this matchup versus a tough Rockies offense. |
| SS | T. Beckham (R) | BOS@SEA Fri 10:10 | N. Eovaldi (R) | $3500 | $2300 | $15 | I am in no ways a Beckham believer, but right now, no one in Major League Baseball is hotter at the plate than the former No. 1 overall pick. Beckham leads the Majors in home runs and will continue to get plenty of at bats in the Mariners surprisingly good offense. So far the price hasn’t caught up to the production, and you should roll him out until that happens or he cools off. |
| SS | P. DeJong (R) | STL@MIL Fri 8:10 | F. Peralta (R) | $3400 | $3300 | $18 | DeJong is healthy heading into 2019 and hitting third in the Cardinals lineup behind Matt Carpenter and Paul Goldschmidt. That is enough to warrant playing him at his price, but add in it is a favorable park and a pitcher that sometime struggles to keep his command and DeJong has a nice ceiling for GPPs. |
| OF | J. Martinez (R) | BOS@SEA Fri 10:10 | Y. Kikuchi (L) | $5100 | $4800 | $25 | What can you say about J.D.? In spite of an amazing year, he is overshadowed by the reigning MVP being on his own team and people seem to discount just how good he is. Maybe it is his age or injury history, but that shouldn’t bother you. He absolutely crushed lefties last season, so Yusei Kikuchi shouldn’t be too much of a challenge for him. |
| OF | H. Renfroe (R) | SF@SD Fri 10:10 | D. Holland (L) | $4400 | $2900 | $14 | It was weird to see Renfroe not even in the lineup yesterday versus a lefty, but considering he is a right-handed bat and neither Franmil Reyes nor Manuel Margot didn’t do much, it would be surprising to see Renfroe sit two days in a row versus a southpaw to start the season. While I like Holland, Renfroe has enormous power from the right side and can destroy mistakes. More of a GPP play than cash, but there is a ton of upside here. |
| OF | T. Hernández (R) | DET@TOR Fri 7:07 | M. Boyd (L) | $4200 | $3000 | $10 | With Morales goen, Hernandez should see more playing time, especially versus left-handed pitching. Hernandez has been a StatCast standout, but that hasn’t translated into actual production on the field. He has everything going for him, but just needs to put it all together. I think this is the year that happens, though I have been driving that bandwagon for too long. |
| OF | A. Pollock (R) | ARI@LA Fri 10:10 | R. Ray (L) | $4000 | $3500 | $16 | If you have been reading every entry, I have been picking on Robbie Ray. It’s for good reason. Ray gives up a ton of hard contact and has a hard time finding the zone. Pollock should be able to exploit that against his former teammate. The power/speed makes him super intriguing while giving him a decent floor. I like playing some of these injury prone guys early in the season because who knows how long we will get to? |
| OF | C. Stewart (L) | DET@TOR Fri 7:07 | M. Shoemaker (R) | $3600 | $2900 | $12 | Stewart started off his 2019 campaign with a bomb in the first game of the season. We should see a ton of those along the way. I love to see the Tigers hitting him in the middle of their lineup as well. Now he gets Matt Shoemaker who has been serving up meatballs for a while? Sign me up. |
| OF | R. Grossman (B) | LAA@OAK Fri 10:07 | M. Harvey (R) | $3500 | $2300 | $9 | I don’t like Grossman and I truly wonder why he is on this A’s team. However, for some reason the A’s like him and actually had him lead off for them yesterday. He even swiped a bag for them. He is cheap and could be leading off again with guys like Khris Davis and Matt Chapman hitting behind him. He is worth rostering even if it is a bit Gross-man. |
| OF | M. Reed (R) | SF@SD Fri 10:10 | J. Lucchesi (L) | $3100 | $2000 | $ | Reed was traded for and made the team because the Giants saw something in spring training that intrigued them. They were willing to cut ties with multiple players to do so. He will primarily play against lefties for now and while he doesn’t appear to have a ton of upside, he is one of the cheapest outfielders starting which can allow you to roster some more expensive options elsewhere. |