MLB

5 Daily Fantasy Baseball Studs to Target on 4/22/16

Brian Jester  —  @BrianJesterFF Apr 22nd, 2016
It's finally time: Ryan Raburn versus a lefty in Coors Field. Who else should you target?

In daily fantasy baseball, pitchers are the cornerstone of your lineups. It’s important to spend wisely at the position; if your pitchers fail, your lineup is doomed.

In any slate, it’s also important to select the correct top-priced hitters. Luckily for us, some top bats have excellent matchups today.

Let’s take a look at the FanDuel studs for today’s main slate:

Pitchers

Gio Gonzalez, Washington Nationals

FanDuel Price: $9,000

Since the beginning of 2015, Gio Gonzalez has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 69.7 percent of his starts.

This consistency -- paired with his matchup tonight -- makes him an elite play in all contest types.

Gonzalez and the Nationals are a -180 favorite in Vegas, and with a low game total of 7.5, the opposing Twins are projected to score just 3.4 runs, one of the lowest team totals on the board.

Five projected starting Minnesota batters suffered a strikeout rate of 20 percent or more versus left-handed pitching in 2015. This doesn’t even include pitcher Kyle Gibson, who will be batting ninth in place of a designated hitter because the game is in Washington.

Gonzalez should rack up the strikeouts tonight with an excellent chance at picking up a win.

Jon Lester, Chicago Cubs

FanDuel Price: $10,600

Just ahead of Gio Gonzalez in the Vegas department is Jon Lester, whose Chicago Cubs check in as a -195 favorite versus the Cincinnati Reds.

In three starts this season, Lester has enjoyed the lowest xFIP of his career at 2.65, helped by the fact that he’s walked just four batters so far in 20 innings.

Lester has already faced Cincinnati once this season, but his 24-point FanDuel performance left a lot of owners unfulfilled. However, he rebounded in his next start with 49 points.

Lester offers a high strikeout floor -- he has notched five-plus strikeouts in 24 of his 35 starts since the beginning of 2015.

But you dominate FanDuel cash games when you combine safety with upside, and Lester has proven his upside since coming to Chicago, striking out 10-plus batters in 14 percent of his games since the start of last season.

Hitters

Chris Davis, 1B, Baltimore Orioles

FanDuel Price: $4,200

By now, you’re aware of Chris Davis’ home run ability. I mean, he even hit a historic home run off of Craig Kimbrel this season.

Tonight, Davis will face Royals starter Chris Young, who was awful versus lefties in 2015.

Last season, left-handed batters destroyed Young to the tune of a .248 ISO and .409 wOBA in 175 plate appearances. Lefties also hit a hefty 54.9 percent fly ball rate versus Young, so this is a perfect situation to take advantage of Davis’ massive home run power.

Davis’ power can play in any park, as evidenced by his .289 ISO, 45.1 fly ball percentage, and 45.1 hard hit rate versus righties away from Camden Yards last season.

Everyone will be rushing to roster batters from Coors Field, but Chris Davis has the best matchup tonight.

Anthony Rizzo, 1B, Chicago Cubs

FanDuel Price: $4,200

If you roster Anthony Rizzo tonight and he performs like he did last night, odds are you’d be pretty happy. His massive three-run home run contributed to his gaudy 27-point night on FanDuel.

You’ll notice that Rizzo hit his home run off right-handed pitcher Tim Melville, which shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Rizzo mashed righties in 2015 with a .255 ISO and a 44.8 percent fly ball rate.

Tonight, Rizzo will have the pleasure of facing right-handed pitcher Jon Moscot, who has struggled to limit the production of left-handed batters in his short MLB career thus far.

He’s struck out them out just 10.8 percent of the time and has allowed an ISO of .188, a wOBA of .349, and a fly ball rate of 46.4.

Don’t be shocked when Rizzo homers for the third straight game.

Ryan Raburn, OF, Colorado Rockies

FanDuel Price: $3,400

Ryan Raburn is one of the premier platoon players to roster in DFS because of his dominance versus left-handed pitching.

In 2015, Raburn posted a .265 ISO and .423 wOBA versus southpaws and generally comes at a salary discount because he doesn't play every day.

When Raburn signed with the Rockies this offseason, DFS players everywhere began dreaming of platoon matchups in Coors Field.

According to DailyBaseballData.com, the lowest air density index of any non-Coors game tonight is Arizona at 58. All other non-Coors games range from 62 to 73.

Tonight, Coors Field has an air density index of 44, nearly 25 percent lower than the next closest game and 35 percent lower than tonight’s league average. This number alone demonstrates how much more favorable Coors Field is for DFS scoring.

Raburn is slated to bat sixth tonight. On average last season, a number-six hitter received 4.2 plate appearances per game. Raburn’s projected plate appearances will certainly be higher than the average six hitter due to the high Vegas total of 11, although he's exited in the seventh inning in three of his four starts so far this year.

Because of his extreme left-handed splits, this even makes Raburn a viable option for cash games, despite not hitting in the top half of the lineup.