Welcome to our MLB DFS Building Blocks, DraftKings and FanDuel picks for 4/9/22! In this article, I’ll break down by top overall plays for today’s main slate. Last year was an extremely big year for the Karma team in MLB, and we are looking to continue that success in 2022. I will be providing Core Plays for every main slate (and day baseball) this season — you can gain access to that as well as our premium discord here. You can also try out the Core Plays package with a $5 daily pass. Let’s get to the plays…
Pitcher
Yu Darvish
We are almost through the first turn in the rotation for these teams, meaning this is the last day for a while that it will be pretty much all back-end starters. The lone number one at the top of this slate is Yu Darvish in a match-up with the San Francisco Giants. There were some pretty big concerns surrounding Darvish’s health coming into the season, but his velocity was up in his first start and he ended up throwing 92 pitches. That shows that any concerns were being overblown, and he should be the usual Yu Darvish that we know and love for now. San Francisco is a good team, but there are pretty much no pitchers that can rival Yu’s upside tonight. He is expensive, but the clear top option tonight even at what should be heavy ownership. A case for a fade can always be made in GPPs, but I would be comfortable eating the chalk in cash games.
Jesus Luzardo
I will continue to chase upside early on in the season, and Luzardo embodies that mentality. Eric Lauer would be the easy choice for the second-best pitcher on this slate, but he’s so much more expensive than Luzardo I’m fine just saving the salary in tournaments. Luzardo was once a top two or three pitching prospect in baseball, but was traded to the Marlins last season. He looked the part of a former top prospect in Spring Training, and actually saw an increase in his velocity as well. There are plenty of reasons to believe a breakout is coming, and tonight would be the night to get ahead of the field on that potential. He could struggle like we’ve seen in the past, but if he is on, he is much better than his salary indicates. Likely to come in low-owned, I think he’s a top tournament option on Tuesday.
Alex Cobb
Cobb is my go-to SP2 tonight even against the Padres. For starters, Cobb has never been an ace by any means, but he is a completely solid and respectable major league pitcher. On a pretty much unknown slate, I’m completely fine locking in someone that I know is decent and has some strikeout ability — over the last two seasons his strikeout rate is 24% and that comes with a 54% ground ball rate as well. There is reason to believe we could see a ceiling increase from Cobb in 2022, with him being another guy that’s seen a velo bump in Spring. Over the last few seasons, he’s averaged around 93 with his heater and topped out at 95. During camp, it’s been reported he would touching 97 on the gun. This type of velo bump could vault him to new heights, and I’m buying into Cobb tonight in all formats.
Building Blocks
Corey Seager
Seager won’t be a secret tonight, and I’ve already bet him over 1.5 total bases by itself and in multiple parlays. Chad Kuhl has been someone that’s never figured out left-handed batters — and is allowing a .226 ISO to them over the last two seasons. We know that Seager hits righties very well, and he matches up well with Kuhl’s pitch mix to top it off. Our SPF Predictor only has three players graded above 1.5 total bases tonight…Mike Trout, Juan Soto and…Corey Seager. I think he’s my top overall spend-up on the slate and I will be focusing on him and potentially a mini-Rangers stack in my main lineup.
Byron Buxton
Buxton was my MVP pick and I will continue to buy into him being an elite player. The issue has never been Buxton’s play, just merely if he can stay healthy or not. He has been locked in to start the season with a 100 mph average exit velocity. I want to buy players early on that I know are seeing the ball well and Buxton falls into that category. He also smashes left-handed pitching, and matches up with Andrew Heaney tonight — someone who has always struggled with power. He’s not catching a high early ownership projection – and I believe he can be used as a one off in tournament lineups tonight.
Connor Joe
Joe is one of my favorite value plays tonight, leading off again for the Colorado Rockies. Joe kind of broke out for the Rox in 2021, and is exceptional in terms of getting on base, hence why he is secure in the lead-off role. He doesn’t completely sacrifice power either, with a .222 ISO vs left-handed pitching. Martin Perez is toeing the rubber for the Rangers, and this is someone who has lost his ground ball ability vs right-handed batters — over the last two seasons it sits at 39% compared to 58% vs left-handed hitters. Joe typically has a high launch angle due to the way he swings the ball, which means he will be able to get the ball up in the air against someone that has relied on grounders for outs in the past. He also matches up well vs his pitch mix — with above-average marks against fast balls and cutters. Joe will come in under-owned and can be used as a one off on both sites.
Bold Call
Byron Buxton stays hot and hits for the cycle!
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
