DFS MLB Baseball Picks for April 4, 2021

After a successful Saturday, we get an eight-game slate for Sunday with the first pitch at 1:05 pm EST. We should see some higher-scoring games today as we move deeper into the team’s rotations, which makes it a prime day to get some big bats into the lineup like the Phillies Bryce Harper.

The weather shouldn’t be a factor today.

Here’s our 50-50 MLB DFS lineup for 4/2/21 (using DraftKings Values)

Salary Remaining          $400

Zach Davies ($7,900)

While Davies isn’t particularly exciting, he also isn’t particularly expensive, and it is a game that the Cubs should win, so you’re buying to his win potential, and his stability as a player that shouldn’t give up too many runs today. If we can get five strikeouts we should be happy. 

Wilson Ramos ($2,700)

Ramos is the rare catcher who has made it into their 30’s without ever really being that good at catching. That said, he is still a productive hitter who has shown some power on occasion. His start isn’t particularly sexy, but give how cold it has been in Detroit, mixed with Cleveland’s first two starters could be a big reason. The good news is that that it will be 60 degrees at game time and closer to 70 by the end of the game, so the cold shouldn’t be a factor, and Aaron Civale, the Cleveland starter, had nearly a five ERA last season. 

Jay Bruce ($2,700)

Bruce hasn’t had a particularly noteworthy first two games for the Yankees, but at this price, I’m willing to buy-in. He is hitting sixth for the Yankees, and he is a proven hitter, who will be facing T.J. Zeuch of Toronto today who has a career ERA of 5.74, and the Yankees have the highest implied run total today at 5.4 so there should be plenty of runs to go around.

Gleyber Torres ($4,700)

There are few shortstops with the power upside of Torres. I expect the Yankees to be chalky today going up against a pitcher without much of a track record, and the track record we do have isn’t stellar. He makes an easy stack with the previously mentioned Bruce, and any other Yankees who are in the top half of the lineup. 

Bryce Harper ($5,300)

Harper is one of the most exciting hitters in the league, and he is yet to have an extra-base hit yet this year. A player of his calibre (500+ SLG), typically doesn’t go too long without extra-base hits, so look for Harper to have a big day today. Keep in mind though, that the Braves starter, Ian Anderson, walked nearly four batters per nine innings last year, and Harper’s patience at the plate could lead to just a few walks, and we aren’t paying this kind of price for walks.

Here’s our full 50-50 MLB DFS lineup for 4/1/21 (using DraftKings Values)

Salary Remaining          $400

Tarik Skubal ($7,900)

We shouldn’t be afraid of Cleveland right now. Their offence isn’t what it’s been in previous years and we have seen that so far as they have hit just 0.206 through their first two games. Skubal is a player that impressed in the spring, and has been a pitcher capable of striking batters out at every level, he struck out 27 percent of the batters he saw in 32 innings last year, and  48 percent in double-A the year prior.

Marcus Semien ($4,100)

While the batting average hasn’t been there, Semien has made the most out of his opportunities so far with a home run and two steals. Semien will also be leading off so he should get lots of at-bats against Domingo German who hasn’t played since 2019.

Vlad Guerrero Jr. ($4,500)

Much of the hype for Vlad has died down since his MLB debut, but he did lose 40 pounds during the off-season, and hopefully, he was able to make swing adjustments to increase his launch angle so he hits fewer ground balls. I want to try and take advantage of German who hasn’t pitched in almost two years so getting someone like Guerrero into your lineup is a good opportunity to do that.

J.D. Martinez ($4,500)

The Red Sox are a capable offensive team, and Martinez is still one of the best hitters in baseball. He has four hits so far in this series, and Baltimore’s starting pitching will only get progressively worse I suspect. Look for Martinez to have a big game as the Red Sox start to score more runs.

Ronald Acuña Jr. ($5,900)

Any time you can fit the highest-priced hitter into your lineup, without having to make sacrifices elsewhere you should do it. Baseball has no guarantees, but what Acuña has is upside and lots of it. There isn’t anything he can’t do offensively, which means he is a player that can blow up and make up for some for any other spots in your lineup that might have missed. The Braves will face Zach Eflin today who over his career has given up 1.5 home runs per nine innings, so don’t be surprised if Acuna hits one or two today.

Alternative Moves…

Aaron Judge – OF ($5,700 DK) If you wanted to further stack the Yankees you could use Judge instead of Acuna without any real trouble. Judge can hit multiple home runs on any given day, so using him against a suspect pitcher makes a lot of sense.

Ian Anderson – P ($9,800 DK) If you want to pay up for pitching today Anderson would be the way to go. He struck out 29 percent of the batters he faced last year, while batters hit for just a 0.172 batting average off of him. He does come with some risk though, as the Phillies have a capable offence, and the extra $2,500 is going to come at the expense of either one of your big bats or a few of your big bats.

Go win your lineup and tell us how you did. Twitter (@FantasyDFSX) is a good place for that.