This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
After being on the verge of a potential delay to the start of the season, we will have baseball Thursday! There are a plethora of contests on FanDuel that can fit anyone's budget, from GPPs to heads-up contests. Unfortunately, there's only seven games left on the slate with two already postponed. Let's take a look at some players to consider for today's contests.
Pitchers
Corbin Burnes ($11,200) is one of the most talented pitchers on the small slate, but he's pitching on the road in a game with an over/under of 10.0 and with bad weather expected. He's probably best left for GPPs. Instead, Max Fried ($9,300) looks like the obvious choice for any format, especially cash games. He's a -200 home favorite with an over/under of 8.0 and will be facing Tyler Mahle instead of Luis Castillo.
Looking for an unpopular pick who will be perfect for bigger tournaments? Try Tylor Megill ($6,800), who will be toeing the rubber for the Mets as they visit Washington. Megill struck out over a batter per inning both in the majors and during two stops in the minors. He'll allow fantasy players to spend up for bats considering his low salary cap hit.
Top Targets
After two consecutive seasons of at least a 1.000 OPS, Christian Yelich ($3,300) has followed that up with two seasons under .800. That being said, he's got a good matchup against Kyle Hendricks (provided they play the game) and the Brewers have one of the higher expected run totals on the day (more on that soon enough).
Austin Riley ($3,800) had a breakout season in 2021, batting over .300 with 33 home runs and 107 RBI. He had 30 of those home runs against right-handed pitching (.941 OPS overall) and it doesn't hurt to know that he's gone 2-for-3 against Mahle, with one of those hits being a home run.
Bargain Bats
I've been waiting a full offseason to write about him, but now I finally have the opportunity to do so. Bobby Witt ($2,400) made the Opening Day roster and is likely going to hit second for the Royals. He hit 33 home runs with 29 stolen bases in the minors, showing he has the power/speed combo everyone wants in their DFS lineup. The bad news is he's facing Shane Bieber, a strikeout artist who is one of the more talented pitchers in the league. That being said, Bieber threw only six innings after June 13 last year, so he may not work long into the game.
Dylan Carlson ($2,900) should be hitting leadoff today for the Cardinals in a game in which they are projected to score around five runs. Carlson had a .847 OPS at home last season and gets a plus matchup against JT Brubaker. Brubaker had a 2.03 HR/9 last season, leading to a 5.36 ERA, and Carlson has fared well in a small sample against him, going 4-for-10 with two walks in 12 plate appearances.
Stacks To Consider
Brewers vs. Cubs (Kyle Hendricks): Yelich, Kolten Wong ($2,600), Andrew McCutchen ($2,500), Lorenzo Cain ($2,100)
Cain easily could have ended up in the Bargain Bats section considering he averaged 9.1 fantasy points per game last season. This is a usable stack given the low overall hit it'll be to your salary cap. Hendricks isn't going to strike out a lot of hitters and had a 5.24 ERA (1.41 WHIP) at home last season.
Padres vs. Diamondbacks (Madison Bumgarner): Manny Machado ($3,800), Jake Cronenworth ($3,100), Daulton Varsho ($2,600), Luke Voit ($2,500)
It's never a bad idea to throw a Padres lineup into a GPP, and today is no different. Bumgarner may be only 32 years old, but he has logged over 2,000 innings in the majors and has had an ERA of 4.67 and 6.48 in his two seasons as a Diamondback. When healthy, Voit is one of the better power hitters in the game, while Varsho, Cronenworth and Machado are all capable of delivering value in different ways.
