MLB DFS Main Slate Advice | Picks, Stacks, Strategy Projections Today April 11th | Fanduel Draftkings

Get your MLB DFS research started with DFS Army’s Full Count! Pitching advice, stack strategy, home run calls, and everything you need.

Welcome to another year of the DFS Army MLB Full Count! You have to start your research somewhere, and oftentimes going game by game and breaking down every matchup and its key players is the first step in our process. My name is Mike aka @MadnessDFS on Twitter, make sure to give me a follow as I’ll occasionally make updates to the advice in the article out on Twitter as well as inside our coaching forums.  With that said, let’s get it started!

Full Slate Breakdown Picks for MLB DFS 4/11:

My Take on an Optimal MLB DFS Process – Looking at Pitchers

I always start an MLB DFS slate by looking at pitching, not only do you get a grasp on who the pitchers are that you want to target, but gives you a holistic look at the slate as well. Breaking down pitching also gives you an idea of what offenses are in good spots against bad/vulnerable pitchers. I start my research by going straight to the  MLB Carnage Report this is where we can analyze all the pitchers on the slate in a compact, yet detailed manner. Below are the three pitchers that jumped out to me at first glance, good or bad.

• Alek Manoah
• Alex Wood
• Huascar Ynoa

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Early MLB Slate Player Projections and Stacks:

Cleveland Guardians (-105) @ Kansas City Royals (-112)

Implied Run Totals:

Guardians – 4.3 IRT

Royals – 4.4 IRT

Rundown:

We’ll kick this split slate of baseball off with Aaron Civale and the Guardians heading into Kansas City. The Guardians had a monster Sunday where they put up 17 runs on this Royals team and will look to carry that over to Carlos Hernandez who will take the mound for the Royals. Civale was pretty solid last season and will look like a good option for this early slate again here. We’ve seen pitchers struggling to go deep into games early this season, so I don’t hate the idea of just spending down at pitching especially on this early slate that doesn’t really include a whole lot of high-end names. Both of these teams can have a case made for them from a stacking perspective, I have a feeling I’m going to fall in love with this Royals team due to how much they’ll run this season, but I like both teams here.

CLE 5-star plays: Jose Ramirez

4-star plays: Franmil Reyes, Amed Rosario, Steven Kwan, Myles Straw

GPP Note: Coming off of 17 runs yesterday, no issue riding the heater with them in good hitting conditions in KC.

KCR 5-star plays: Whit Merrifield, Bobby Witt Jr.

4-star plays: Salvador Perez, Hunter Dozier, Adalberto Mondesi

GPP Note: I just love the speed/power upside you get with this Royals team.

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Pittsburgh Pirates (+165) @ St. Louis Cardinals (-197)

Implied Run Totals:

Pirates – 3.4 IRT

Cardinals – 4.8 IRT

Rundown:

There looks like there may be some weather in this game that we’ll be dealing with. As I write this on Sunday night, there looks to be an 89% chance of precipitation, so keep an eye on our MLB Weather Channel for updates on this one and if it’s safe for pitching. That said, for the sake of this article, I’ll operate under the assumption that this one’s good to go from all perspectives. Zach Thompson will take the mound for the Pirates, he was with the Marlins last season and really wasn’t all that terrible. He had a 21% strikeout rate last season which isn’t great, but obviously, that’s baked into his price tag. I don’t know that I’ll be going to him as a pitching option but don’t know that we should jump to stack against him either. If we’re stacking the Cardinals it’s because we think they can get to this Pittsburgh bullpen quickly. Dakota Hudson will start for the Cardinals and as I’ve said early on this season, I’m going to stream pitchers against the Pirates all season due to how underwhelming their lineup is… I mean, they’re leading off Daniel freakin’ Vogelbach. As I mentioned in that first game, I don’t hate paying down for pitching early on in the season, so no issue getting to him here.

PIT 5-star plays: None

4-star plays: Bryan Reynolds, Ke’BryanHayes

GPP Note: I might be able to count on one hand how many times I stack this Pirates team this season.

STL 5-star plays: Tyler O’Neil

4-star plays: Dylan Carlson, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Tommy Edman

GPP Note: Any lineup playing this Pirates pitching staff will be in play for stacks due to how bad this bullpen is.

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Milwaukee Brewers (-147) @ Baltimore Orioles (+125)

Implied Run Totals:

Brewers – 5.0 IRT

Orioles – 4.2 IRT

Rundown:

Adrian Houser will get the start for the Brewers and really looks like one of my favorite pitching options on this early slate. The Orioles lineup isn’t anything to be afraid of, it’s a small sample, but they have a 32.9% strikeout rate on the season, and considering our other pitching options on the slate, Houser looks really nice here. Bruce Zimmermann will take the mound for Baltimore after an underwhelming rookie season last year. He carries a 5.08 ERA and 6.39 xERA from last season and there isn’t much relief behind him, so I think this Brewers stack is firmly in play and showed signs of life yesterday against the Cubs. One guy I want to highlight from this lineup is Andrew McCutchen, he’s swung the bat well to start the season and finally looks healthy. He absolutely destroyed left-handed pitching last season to the tune of a 0.329 ISO, 0.622 SLG, and a 1.027 OPS – he looks like a nice option at the top of this order.

MIL 5-star plays: Andrew McCutchen

4-star plays: Willy Adames, Christian Yelich, Keston Hiura

GPP Note: I like the Brewers stack a good amount here, Zimmermann isn’t much to be afraid of and the bullpen behind is gross as well.

BAL 5-star plays: None

4-star plays: Cedric Mullins, Ryan Mountcastle, Trey Mancini

GPP Note: I’d be more likely to mini-stack or get one-offs from this O’s team than to fully stack them.

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Colorado Rockies (+115) @ Texas Rangers (-136)

Implied Run Totals:

Rockies – 4.6 IRT

Rangers – 5.2 IRT

Rundown:

This game has pretty easily the highest implied run total on the early slate at 9.8, so we should probably be looking more at the bats than anything. That being said, Austin Gomber will take the hill for the Rockies and as fine last season, but nothing special. I do think you can make somewhat of a case for him as a pitching option on the early slate, but I think this Rangers lineup is underrated and much improved since last season. Taylor Hearn will pitch for the Rangers against an improved Rockies offense as well. We saw him put up some solid enough outings last season, so I think you can make a case for him, but all in all, I think I’ll lean toward getting the bats from this game.

COL 5-star plays: Kris Bryant

4-star plays: CJ Cron, Randal Grichuk, Brendan Rodgers

GPP Note: The Rockies will look like a solid stack here in all formats for the early slate.

TEX 5-star plays: Adolis Garcia

4-star plays: Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Mitch Garver

GPP Note: This lineup gets pretty weak after the half, so if you’re stacking the Rangers that’s where I would go.

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Boston Red Sox (-121) @ Detroit Tigers (+104)

Implied Run Totals:

Red Sox – 5.0 IRT

Tigers – 4.7 IRT

Rundown:

We’ll move to these later games that moves the main slate lock up to 6:40 ET. Michael Wacha will start for Boston and looks like a fine option, I’m just never a huge Wacha guy even in what looks like a decent matchup, but this Tigers team is another that did some work on their lineup over the offseason. Then Matt Manning will start for the Tigers, and he was not good last season at all levels. He had an 8.07 ERA in the minors then got to the bigs and had a 5.80 ERA with a 41.8% hard contact rate. The Red Sox stack looks great here until Manning proves he can hold down offense.

BOS 5-star plays: Rafael Devers

4-star plays: Xander Bogaerts, Alex Verdugo, Trevor Story

GPP Note: I don’t have much faith in Manning here, fire up these Boston bats.

DET 5-star plays: Austin Meadows, Javier Baez

4-star plays: Robbie Grossman, Jaimer Candelario

GPP Note: I’m not a Wacha guy, so no issue going to this Tigers stack either.

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Main MLB Slate Player Projections and Stacks:

Oakland Athletics (+180) @ Tampa Bay Rays (-220)

Implied Run Totals:

Athletics – 3.3 IRT

Rays – 4.9 IRT

Rundown:

Onto the main slate! If you’ve been reading my cheat sheets over the weekend you’ll know that I’ve been mentioning streaming pitchers against this Athletics team this season. Their lineup is just not good and probably one of the worst in, not just the AL, but all of baseball. All that said, Luis Patino will look like a solid value pitching option for the Rays. He was pretty solid from a strikeout perspective last season with a 33.6% K rate in the minors and a 22.2% K rate in the big leagues. The price tag is nice and allows you to pay up for other bats on the slate against a weak A’s team. Paul Blackburn will start for the A’s and probably isn’t a guy that I’ll want to get to here, this Rays team can be frisky and looks like a solid stack in all formats from top to bottom.

OAK 5-star plays: None

4-star plays: Seth Brown, Sean Murphy, Chad Pinder

GPP Note: This lineup is just gross.

TBR 5-star plays: Brandon Lowe, Randy Arozarena

4-star plays: Wander Franco, Ji-Man Choi, Josh Lowe

GPP Note: The Rays will look good here, Blackburn isn’t good and neither is this A’s bullpen.

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New York Mets (+130) @ Philadelphia Phillies (-152)

Implied Run Totals:

Mets – 4.4 IRT

Phillies – 5.3 IRT

Rundown:

Taijuan Walker will take the hill for the Mets, but probably won’t be a guy that I get to all that much, I really like this Phillies offense this season. Walker can struggle with control and had an 8.4% walk rate last season, if he starts walking guys and one of these Phillies big bats takes him deep his in trouble… also why I think the Phillies stack is firmly in play. Ranger Suarez will start for Philadelphia and was really good last season with a 1.36 ERA in 106.0 innings. He’s not a guy that I’ll look to stack against, but still think you can get to some of these power one-offs from New York.

NYM 5-star plays: Starling Marte

4-star plays: Francisco Lindor, Peter Alonso

GPP Note: I don’t really want to stack this Mets team, but there are some solid one-off options for a shorter slate.

PHI 5-star plays: Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper

4-star plays: Nick Castellanos, Rhys Hoskins, JT Realmuto

GPP Note: I really like 1-7 in this lineup and think anyone in that range is stackable against Walker.

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Toronto Blue Jays (-109) @ New York Yankees (-108)

Implied Run Totals:

Blue Jays – 4.6  IRT

Yankees – 4.6 IRT

Rundown:

Alex Manoah gets the ball for the Jays and heads into Yankees Stadium against a team that was hitting home runs left and right over the weekend. Manoah was quite good in his rookie season, however. He had a 27.7% strikeout rate a hard-hit rate of just 31.2%, so I don’t know how much we really want to stack against him. Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly some one-off power bats that can take him deep, but in a stack I’m looking for teams to string together hits and walks to keep turning that lineup over. Guys like Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Joey Gallo, and Anthony Rizzo will all look like fine one-offs here. Jameson Taillon will start for the Yankees but I don’t know how much I want to target this Jays team with opposing pitchers especially now that they head into a small ballpark.

TOR 5-star plays: Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

4-star plays: George Springer, Matt Chapman, Teoscar Hernandez

GPP Note: Taillon isn’t a gas can by any means, but this team heading into a small ballpark is intriguing.

NYY 5-star plays: Giancaro Stanton

4-star plays: Anthony Rizzo, Joey Gallo, Aaron Judge

GPP Note: I’m home run hunting here against Manoah at the very most.

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Washington Nationals (-106) @ Atlanta Braves (-110)

Implied Run Totals:

Nationals – 4.8 IRT

Braves – 4.9 IRT

Rundown:

Josh Rogers will get the start for the Nationals, he’s not on either DraftKings or FanDuel so we don’t need to worry about getting to him as a pitching option. I do think we can stack against him and this Nationals staff, however. I love stacking against more than just a starting pitcher, but look for weak bullpens, and look no further than the Nats ‘pen. The Braves will look great here and have a loaded lineup. Huascar Ynoa will start for the Braves and looks like a solid option here, this Nats lineup doesn’t really scare me outside of Juan Soto. Ynoa carried a solid 26.9% strikeout rate in the big league last season and will be a guy I look to get to here.

WAS 5-star plays: Juan Soto

4-star plays: Nelson Cruz

GPP Note: I’ll have a good amount of Ynoa here, so just these superstar one-offs from the Nats. ***cough, Juan Soto, cough, cough***

ATL 5-star plays: Marcell Ozuna, Austin Riley

4-star plays: Ozzie Albies, Adam Duvall, Matt Olson

GPP Note: The Braves were one of my main stacks yesterday and Olson was my dinger of the day call in our cheat sheets, I’ll go back to the well with them here!

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Seattle Mariners (+108) @ Minnesota Twins (-127)

Implied Run Totals:

Mariners – 4.4 IRT

Twins – 4.8 IRT

Rundown:

Chris Flexen gets the ball for the Mariners here and was a fine pitcher last season, but the strikeouts weren’t there with a K rate of just 16.9%, so he won’t be a guy I get to from a pitching perspective. He did approach a 40% hard-hit rate as well, so I do think we can chase this Twins stack, especially with how well Byron Buxton is hitting. Dylan Bundy will take the mound for the Twins and looks like a solid option in GPPs at the very least. I’m not really sold on this Mariners lineup, however, he did give up 1.99 HR/9 last season, so there is certainly some home run upside for Seattle.

SEA 5-star plays: None

4-star plays: Jarred Kelenic, Mitch Haniger, Jesse Winker, Adam Frazier

GPP Note: The Mariners would be more of a mini-stack team for me but I don’t hate the matchup with Bundy.

MIN 5-star plays: Byron Buxton

4-star plays: Carlos Correa, Jorge Polanco, Alex Kiriloff

GPP Note: I like the Twins stack a good amount here and think you can stack them a number of different ways 1-9, but don’t leave Buxton out, the guy is on fire.

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Miami Marlins (+125) @ Los Angeles Angels (-147)

Implied Run Totals:

Marlins – 4.4 IRT

Angels – 5.3 IRT

Rundown:

Elieser Hernandez will take the mound for the Marlins as they head into Los Angeles here. Hernandez is actually a guy that I’ve liked so far in his career, he had a 23.6% strikeout rate last season and limited hard contact quite well. Obviously, he’ll have to deal with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani here but still looks like a fine enough option if you can overlook the implied run total in this one. Michael Lorenzen will start for the Angels and is a converted center fielder/relief pitcher for the Reds. He struggled last season with a 5.59 ERA but gets a great matchup with this Marlins offense and I won’t hate him as a value option.

MIA 5-star plays: None

4-star plays: Jorge Soler, Jesus Aguilar, Avasail Garcia

GPP Note: Lorenzen can struggle with command, so I do think you can make a case for a Marlins stack if you want to get wacky here.

LAA 5-star plays: Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani

4-star plays: Anthony Rendon, Jared Walsh

GPP Note: I think I’ll prefer getting some exposure to Hernandez here, but the Angels have some elite one-off options.

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San Diego Padres (+125) @ San Francisco Giants (-146)

Implied Run Totals:

Padres – 3.7 IRT

Giants – 4.4 IRT

Rundown:

This game will look good for pitching in a cold San Francisco ballpark, the wind is blowing out at 20+ mph, but always remember that this Giants field is built to block out the wind a substantial amount. Alex Wood will start for the Giants and looks like a great pitching option here. His home ballpark is great for pitching and this Padres lineup doesn’t scare me with Tatis Jr. out. Nick Martinez will get the ball for the Padres and hasn’t pitched since 2017 in the big leagues, so I don’t know that we can confidently go to him as a pitching option and think this Giants stack could be interesting.

SDP 5-star plays: Manny Machado

4-star plays: Trent Grisham, Wil Myers, Luke Voit

GPP Note: Wood will be a guy I get to a good deal from a pitching perspective.

SFG 5-star plays: Mike Yastrzemski

4-star plays: Brandon Belt, Joc Pederson, Brandon Crawford

GPP Note: I like the Giants as a sneaky stack to round out the slate.

Stacks of the Day: Main MLB Slate 

1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Toronto Blue Jays
3. San Francisco Giants

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MLB DFS Dinger of the Day – Mitch Haniger (DK – $4.6k; FD – $3.2k)

I mentioned that Bundy can be home run prone in that game breakdown. He gave up a 0.527 SLG to righties on the season last year, so let’s take advantage of that with Mitch Haniger. Haniger has already hit two on the season and clearly is seeing the ball well. Tweet me (@MadnessDFS) your dinger predictions and if you’re right I’ll give you a shoutout on Twitter, let’s have some fun with this!

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