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It’s the first Wednesday slate of the 2021 MLB season! That means we’ve got a 10-gamer starting in the afternoon at 1:10 p.m. ET. The afternoon slate is always fun but it’s key to keep track of lineups and injury news throughout the day to adjust your lineups. We’ve got a couple of heavy-hitting starters on the hill in Trevor Bauer and Shane Bieber, plus Blake Snell and Kenta Maeda. Let’s get into some MLB DFS picks on DraftKings to get your lineups going.
Top Pitchers
Blake Snell, SDP vs. SFG ($9,900) — Snell didn’t last 5.0 innings in his Padres debut last week. He did manage to fan 8 batters while allowing no earned runs on 4 hits and 2 walks, which resulted in 22.9 DKFP. Snell should have an easy time getting Giants’ bats to miss. A good portion of San Fran’s lineup is left-handed, including Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Alex Dickerson and Mike Yastrzemski. Snell isn’t a bad chalk option given his price is a bit cheaper than Bauer and Bieber.
Ryan Yarbrough, TBR vs. BOS ($7,100) — The Rays used Yarbrough as the long reliever following an opener often the past couple of seasons. Yarbrough will start against the Red Sox. Boston blew up veteran Michael Wacha on Monday for 11 runs. The Red Sox offense shouldn’t perform nearly as well against Yarbrough, who will likely go a bit overlooked on the 10-game slate and isn’t a bad GPP play.
Top Hitters
Luis Robert, CWS vs. SEA ($5,900) — Robert has been slumping a bit to start the season, going 5-for-20 entering Tuesday night’s contest. The Mariners will send Justin Dunn to the hill for his first start of 2021. Dunn gave up a HR per start in 2020, so this could be a spot we see the White Sox high-powered offense really bust out. If we’re stacking up the ChiSox that stack should start with Robert, who has a ton of raw power we haven’t really seen much of early in his MLB career.
Whit Merrifield, KC vs. CLE ($5,700) — Merrifield is going to be the ultimate boom-bust GPP play on the early slate. You’ve got to think a lot of lineups will be scared off of the Kansas City Royals with Shane Bieber on the mound for the Cleveland Indians. If that’s the case, the Royals as a stack will be pretty contrarian. Merrifield has 8 hits, 3 HRs and 9 RBI through four games entering Tuesday’s action. He’s an incredibly difficult out and Bieber looked a bit shaky in his first start in the opener.
Value Pitcher
Hyun Jin Ryu, TOR vs. TEX ($7,300) — I gave you a cheaper option above in Yarbrough. If we’re talking price-per-point, Ryu could end up being one of the best plays (if not the best) on Wednesday afternoon’s slate. Remember, this is a guy who finished 3rd in AL Cy Young voting in 2020 (shortened season, sure). The three heavy hitters from the Texas Rangers’ lineup are all left-handed — Joey Gallo, Nate Lowe, David Dahl. A lot of tournament lineups will get scared off Ryu in a game that will likely have a high total being played at Arlington.
Value Hitter
Byron Buxton, MIN vs. DET ($3,900) — Buxton isn’t your traditional value but the Minnesota Twins have a ton of that if you’re looking for cheaper options. I think given the price for Buxton, he’s got a lot of upside. Through the first four games, Buxton has gone yard three times. He also has a hit in each game this season. I’m not crazy about the matchup vs. LHP Matthew Boyd, but believe it or not, Buxton is sort of better against lefties in his career (.329 BABIP with a better OBP). It’s not an eye-popping split, but it’s also not a matchup we need to worry about. If Buxton keeps cranking em deep, that’s all we need.