6 Daily Fantasy Baseball Studs to Target on 4/26/16

Tuesday gives us a full 15-game schedule on FanDuel’s main slate, presenting us with a plethora of options when it comes to assembling a lineup.

As always, when playing any sport on FanDuel, it’s imperative to hit on high-priced players, especially when it comes to pitching.

Let’s take a look at three hitters and three pitchers, who, despite costing a good chunk of change, are worth the investment.

Pitchers

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

FanDuel Price: $13,000

Clayton Kershaw made headlines by throwing a 46-miles-per-hour curveball in his last outing, but it wasn’t the most entertaining breaking ball he unleashed in the game.

This was:

Lol pic.twitter.com/uz8utwiBMi

— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) April 21, 2016

Poor Mallex Smith.

Through 30 innings, Kershaw owns a sturdy 2.67 SIERA and stellar 27.0 strikeout percentage. Amazingly, those numbers are his worst marks since 2013. That’s how good Kershaw has been over the past two seasons.

Kershaw -- who is posting a career-best 2.5 walk percentage, issuing just three free passes while facing 111 batters -- is the day’s most expensive hurler by more than $2,000, and he’s our top-ranked pitcher for Tuesday.

We project him to carve up the Miami Marlins to the tune of 42.72 FanDuel points. We forecast him to allow 1.76 earned runs on 5.59 hits and 1.25 walks while fanning 6.97 batters over 6.83 innings. Miami’s implied total of 2.43 runs is the night’s lowest mark.

Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals

FanDuel Price: $10,500

Through four starts and 25 innings of work, Max Scherzer has been a tad disappointing, posting a career-worst 3.88 SIERA and good-but-un-Scherzer-like 22.8 strikeout percentage. He has a great chance to get back on track tonight in a home matchup with Philadelphia, who ranks 28th with a .287 wOBA. The Phillies’ implied total for the night is a meager 2.73 runs.

While Scherzer’s numbers are down pretty much across the board, he has two things going for him. First, it’s just 25 innings. Secondly, his 14.3 home-run-to-fly-ball ratio is a career-high and out of line with his career average (10.0), meaning some regression is in store.

Our algorithms rate Scherzer as Tuesday’s second-ranked pitcher, pegging him to rack up 37.5 points. We project him to allow 2.50 earned runs on 5.68 hits and 1.43 walks while punching out 6.21 hitters over 6.63 frames.

Johnny Cueto, San Francisco Giants

FanDuel Price: $9,300

On a night when the top two arms are quite pricey, Johnny Cueto makes for an attractive option as Tuesday’s sixth-most expensive pitcher. We project him to score 33.36 points, making him our fifth-ranked pitcher.

The table is set for a good outing.

In a home start against the punchless Padres, we have Cueto allowing 2.29 earned runs on 5.67 hits while striking out 4.90 batters over 6.51 innings. San Diego’s struggling offense checks in 27th with a .288 wOBA, and the Giants’ AT&T Park is the third-best pitcher’s park, according to a three-year average of ESPN’s Park Factors. The Padres’ implied run total for the night is 3.01. 

Hitters

Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles

FanDuel Price: $4,700

At a loaded hot corner, Manny Machado is the third-most expensive player, but he is our top-ranked third baseman for Tuesday's matchup with Tampa Bay right-hander Jake Odorizzi.

Machado, a righty, has actually fared better against same-sided pitchers in his career, with the split becoming more discernible in his breakout 2015 campaign.

We project him to amass 13.89 points tonight, which ranks second among all hitters, and we give Machado the fifth-best odds (0.28) of hitting a home run.

Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox

FanDuel Price: $4,600

After accumulating 4.8 Wins Above Replacement, per  FanGraphs, in his age-22 campaign a year ago, Mookie Betts has started slowly this season, seeing his walk rate tumble and his strikeout rate rise. Like Scherzer before, the positive here is it has only been 91 plate appearances.

Betts is set to face Braves’ right-hander Matt Wisler. A righty himself, Betts has yet to display any meaningful splits in his career, posting a .350 wOBA versus righties and a .361 wOBA against lefties. Our models have Betts as the day’s fifth-ranked hitter as we project him to score 13.35 points.

Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates

FanDuel Price: $4,800

Andrew McCutchen has a lot of things going for him in tonight’s road game at Colorado. One, the game is at Coors Field. Two, he’s facing a lefty in Rockies’ hurler Jorge De La Rosa, and lastly, Pittsburgh’s implied run total of 5.6 is the day’s highest mark.

McCutchen has owned southpaws in his career, mashing his way to an eye-popping .416 wOBA against left-handers. 

We project McCutchen to total 13.41 points Tuesday, making him our fourth-ranked hitter.