Well, folks, we made it to Opening Day! The offseason felt long at times, but also seemed to fly by especially towards the end. With the national holiday here, it is time to make some winning lineups for MLB DFS. Every team is in action today, so let’s look at some studs, stacks, and value plays for the full slate.
Pitchers
Studs
Gerrit Cole ($10,700) vs. TOR – As he enters his first full season with the Yankees, Cole is ready to set off on a Cy Young level campaign. He is pretty stretched out as he pitched over five innings on 88 pitches in his last tune-up. The Yankees bullpen will be without Aroldis Chapman for the first two games, while Zack Britton is out with injury. That means Cole should go fairly deep into the game. The Toronto Blue Jays are one of the teams he is most successful against as well, allowing just a .107 ISO and .187 average versus the current lineup.
Shane Bieber ($10,100) vs. DET – Coming off his American League Cy Young campaign, Bieber gets a very favorable matchup against the Detroit Tigers. This is a lineup he manhandles, allowing just a .053 ISO while the current lineup has struck out at a 35 percent clip against him. Not Justin Bieber will get some solid length in the game and strike out a number of Detroit batters.
Value
Kyle Hendricks ($7,700) vs. PIT – While he is one of the most slept on pitchers in real life, it is understandable in fantasy. That is because of his lack of strikeouts, but he faces one of the worst lineups in all of baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates. The wind is also projected to be blowing in, which bodes well for the right-hander.
Batters
Stud
Fernando Tatis Jr. ($5,700) – The young stud had an outstanding season last year and draws a favorable matchup against Madison Bumgarner. MadBum allows very hard contact (11.1% barrel) while Tatis was in the 100th percentile in average exit velocity (95.9) and barrel rate (19.5%) in 2020. He and the Padres lineup will come out on fire to start the season with baseball get mashed everywhere.
Value
Andrew Benintendi ($4,000) – The Royals traded for the 26-year-old outfielder this offseason and he will now be near the top of a pretty solid Kansas City lineup. Benintendi could easily break out into the player the Boston Red Sox expected him to be when they drafted him. He hasn’t been bad either, as he slashed .273/.353/.435 with 51 homers and 51 stolen bases in three seasons. The Royals also face Kyle Gibson who had a shaky 2020 season.
Stack
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Colorado Rockies – The powerful and dangerous Dodgers lineup gets a massive upgrade traveling to Coors Field against German Marquez. Mookie Betts ($5,900), Cody Bellinger ($5,800), and Corey Seager ($5,600) are the most obvious options, and Max Muncy ($5,200) is another solid option. Gavin Lux ($3,800) and Will Smith ($4,600) are possible value options.
Good luck with your lineups!
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