Covering the Bases: Saturday, April 15
STLCardinals84, one of the best tournament players in the game, is here to cover the bases for the upcoming MLB DFS slate. Whether you are looking for the top pitchers or the best stacks, Cards has you covered with an extensive deep dive into his MLB DFS picks.
Happy Saturday, everyone! While it’s not officially “tax day” with April 15 falling on the weekend, yours truly is excited to be (largely) through another tax filing season. This allows me to turn a little more attention back to the DFS world. As such, it’s time for me to start writing this piece on the weekends to give Cheese a breather. Let’s see if we can sort through some MLB DFS picks for this Saturday!
As for the slates today, we have a bit of a weird one. There are a whopping 12 day games today, with large main slates on both FanDuel and DraftKings. That leaves us just three games for the night slate. I’ll provide a few notes on that at the end of the article, but we will provide the primary focus on the 12 day games. There’s no time to waste, so let’s get to it.
Saturday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings
The Top Option
Maybe I should ask Cheese to cover one more Saturday, because there are none.
The Best Option
Freddy Peralta vs. Padres – 3.57 ERA, 3.58 SIERA, 27% K, 9% BB
(NOTE – For now, all statistical references for pitchers are for 2022 full season data given that we still only have two starts for 2023 for most of them. I will probably switch to 2023 data in a week or two).
In terms of talent, Peralta is the clear SP1 on this slate. His hard contact rate allowed has been decreasing for three years now, and his data on that front is some of the best you will find in the league. We can’t argue with the swing and miss stuff, or the 27-29% strikeout rate. If Peralta was facing the Nationals or A’s today, he would be chalk by a country mile, and nobody would bat an eye given how thin the slate is for arms.
However, I don’t think you absolutely NEED to prioritize him. He draws a tough matchup against the Padres, and the walks do worry me in this spot. He does get a park upgrade in Petco, though, and his ability to neutralize the hard contact should help. If you are spending up for a pitcher today, he is definitely the choice.