Welcome to our MLB DFS Building Blocks, DraftKings and FanDuel picks for 4/26/22! 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
Carlos Rodon
I think I’ve written up Rodon for every start of his season thus far, and I won’t stop tonight! He continues to be one of the best fantasy pitchers in baseball with a 36% strikeout rate dating back to the start of 2021. He also draws one of the top induvial spots against the Oakland A’s, who rank top-ten in baseball this season with a 24.5% strikeout rate vs right-handed pitching. I’ve noted a few times a lot of Rodon’s success comes from his slider, a pitch that Oakland as whole struggles with. He’s expensive, but there is tons of value at our batter spots on a big slate like this and I will be choosing Rodon to anchor my build.
Luis Severino
I wanted to make Sevy my top arm on tonight’s slate, but it does look like we have some weather concerns in the Bronx. This is something I’ll be monitoring closely up until lock — if the game is good to go with no issues I will likely be going double-spend on DK with Rodon + Severino. Much was made about Sevy’s injury concerns in Spring Training, but he has responded in the best way. His velocity is back up to what we are accustomed to, and he has struck out 25% of batters this season with over 50% ground balls. He looks pretty healthy to me, and this is a great spot at home against a team with a big-time K-rate vs right-handed pitching since the start of last season. Overall, only the weather can hold me back here. I think Severino is a top play on Tuesday night.
Chris Paddack
If the weather ends up too sketchy in New York, most will likely drop down to Eduardo Rodriguez against the Twins. I actually prefer the other side of that game with Chris Paddack facing the Tigers. Paddack has not found much success striking batters out, but he is cheap and has actually been quite good for the Twins since joining the team. He owns a ground ball rate north of 50% and is one of the league leaders in expected ERA through the first month. He has a pretty short leash, not topping 80 pitches yet, but that’s baked into his price tag. I normally don’t target lower strikeout pitchers but he is cheap, and matching up with a K-happy lineup. I think Paddack is the top value pitcher on the board and viable in all formats.
Building Blocks
Cody Bellinger
I wrote Bellinger up on Monday, and will likely continue to plug him into lineups while he is this cheap. Los Angeles has the top match-up on the board tonight against Zach Davies — who is allowing a .350 wOBA to left-handed batters over the last two seasons. Bellinger had a tough spring and start to the season, but the advanced numbers look good with a .375 wOBA and 53% hard-hit rate. He’s going to be insanely chalky tonight, but is just too cheap to pass up in cash game formats. If you’re not stacking the Dodgers you can easily fade him, but I will take the savings and spend up at pitcher on Tuesday.
Chas McCormick
McCormick is another example of being too cheap, priced below $3,000 on DraftKings and projected to lead-off for the Astros tonight. Houston as a whole is in a great spot against Taylor Hearn. Hearn has really struggled with right-handed batters over the last few seasons allowing a .352 wOBA and 46% hard-hits. McCormick doesn’t have the name brand value of Bregman or Altuve, but he has actually been quite good vs southpaws. Since the start of last season he owns a 50% hard-hit and fly ball rate in the split. His weakness is striking out, but Hearn K’s just 19% of the righties he faces. I think he is the top value play on this slate.
Bold Call
Luis Severino tosses seven shutout innings!
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
