Fantasy Baseball Picks: Top DraftKings MLB DFS Lineup Strategy for Pirates vs. Padres Showdown on May 4

The San Diego Padres are winners of four of their past five games, stabilizing after a little hiccup in their young season. The runs have come in bunches, though in Monday’s win over the Pirates just two were required for victory. That’s because the Padres were facing a left-hander in Tyler Anderson, and they don’t handle that split very well. Tonight against a hittable righty in Mitch Keller ($9,600), things should be different. Without further ado, let’s get into how to construct your DraftKings lineups for Tuesday night’s Showdown contest.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. San Diego Padres

Captain’s Picks

Dinelson Lamet ($16,200 CP) - Even if he goes three innings in this game, Lamet still has a strong chance to be the top performer on this slate with his incredible strikeout upside. In his only other outing this year, he threw two scoreless innings with four strikeouts against the Brewers, allowing just one hit. Against a lineup as bad as Pittsburgh’s, I think you’re looking at a guy who could strike out seven over four innings, realistically, and considering he’ll hardly be owned by anyone, that puts you at an advantage.

Eric Hosmer ($13,500 CP) - You know what Mitch Keller does? He throws fastballs. Over 55% of the pitches he’s thrown this year have been four-seamers, and the top hitter of four-seamers on the Padres is none other than Hosmer. The lefty was on something of a heater before being given the day off for the series-opener against the Pirates, racking up three hits over three games, and should continue seeing the ball here in a matchup he’ll thrive in. It doesn’t hurt that he’s got the splits advantage, either.

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Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $10K Extra Inning [$2K to 1st] (PIT vs SD)

Value Plays

Adam Frazier ($8,600) - The only guy on this Pirates team who I can never take my eyes off of is Frazier, who consistently gets on base and makes contact. He’s picked up a hit in five straight games and because of that, offers a non-zero floor. That’s valuable in a Showdown like this one, as is the fact that he’ll bat leadoff for Pittsburgh and has a .414 xBA over his four at-bats against Lamet in his career. Simply put, he’s one of only two good bats in this lineup after Colin Moran ($8,200).

Jurickson Profar ($5,200) - Profar is one of just three Padres with a positive run value against four-seam fastballs, and has been one of the more consistent producers in this order despite hitting near the bottom at seventh. It’s always a mystery whether or not he’ll be in the lineup, but given he is, I love him tonight. He also comes in with five hits in four games and will get to face an insanely hittable pitcher.

Fades

Ha-Seong Kim ($6,400) - I’m not sure what Kim is doing at this price, but I can’t recommend enough that you stay away. The 25-year-old has just a .214 expected batting average and has looked lost at the plate for most of the season. He also should be locked into the eighth spot in the order, if he plays, of course, giving him absolutely no appeal.

The Outcome

Behind the return of Lamet, I think the Padres should be able to keep the Pirates off the board early, and this Pittsburgh side, which owns the second-worst wOBA in the league over the past two weeks, shouldn’t have much luck against a strong bullpen, either. San Diego’s bats haven’t exactly been inspiring, but they’ll score enough here to get the job done.

Final Score: Padres 4, Padres 2

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $10K Extra Inning [$2K to 1st] (PIT vs SD)

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