Welcome to our MLB DFS Building Blocks, DraftKings and FanDuel picks for 4/24/22! 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
Gerrit Cole
Cole has definitely struggled this season, mainly due to a 14% walk rate, but we still have years of long-term data to go off that suggests he’s a good pitcher. He’s still generating swings and misses at a 16% rate this season, which tells me he can be an elite strikeout pitcher like we’ve come to know and love. Cleveland had a hot start to the season, but I’m not really a long term believer in this offense at the moment. They have some solid pieces, but since the start of last season the projected lineup carries a .165 ISO into today. There are strikeouts to be had here as well, and there just aren’t any other pitchers that can rival Cole’s upside when he’s on.
Chris Archer
I’ve already written Archer up once this season, and I can’t believe I’m doing so again but here we are. The advanced stuff doesn’t look amazing, but the 25% strikeout rate is legit and racking up a few K’s is all we need when someone is priced around $6,000 on DraftKings. The White Sox have been pretty ice-cold to start the season, and now they will be without Eloy Jimenez who was injured on Saturday. There’s not a lot to love in the mid-tier on Saturday, so dropping down to Archer and hoping for 10 DK points while jamming in any stack you want is a viable strategy in all formats.
Building Blocks
Ian Happ
JT Brubaker and the Pirates bullpen has been something we’ve attacked all year already, and I will continue to do so today with the Cubs. Over the last two seasons, Happ has been the best hitter on this team vs right-handed pitching owning a .347 wOBA and a .233 ISO. He also matches up well with Brubaker’s pitch mix — he throws his slider 40% of the time vs left-handed hitters — a pitch Happ owns a massive .540 expected wOBA against. I’m not worried about a let-down after the 21 run game yesterday, and the Cubs are clearly one of the best spots on Sunday’s slate.
Alex Bregman
Given how cheap Archer is, we will have money to spend up on hitting and Bregman and the right-handed Astros vs Kikuchi fit the mold. Over the last two seasons, Kikuchi allows a .357 wOBA and 40% hard-contact to right-handed batters. Bregman’s batted-ball profile is great vs left-handed pitching and I’m not surprised to see Houston with one of the highest team totals on the board.
Bold Call
Coe returns to form and strikes out 10 over seven one run innings!
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
