MLB DFS Picks Today (4/18/22): Spotlight Pitchers & Top Stacks Monday

Monday, April 18, starts off the week with an nine-game main slate at 7:10 p.m. ET on Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel. Let’s get into the top MLB DFS picks for pitchers and stacks for Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel daily fantasy baseball lineups. As always, you can head over to the Awesemo MLB DFS & Fantasy Baseball home page for all the fantasy baseball content you need for any given slate.

MLB DFS Picks Today: Spotlight Pitchers and Top Stacks | Monday, April 18

Yahoo Stack of the Day: Milwaukee Brewers vs. RHP Zach Thompson — 5.0 implied runs

Fortunately, weather is not an issue in Milwaukee with the retractable roof. The Yahoo salary algorithm is giving a lot of credit to Zach Thompson, as none of the Brew Crew bats are going to break the bank tonight. While Milwaukee is averaging only 3 runs per game, it does project for a decent amount of power against right-handed pitching with a 0.195 ISO over the last two seasons. Rowdy Tellez, Hunter Renfroe and Willie Adames are not exactly household names, but they all can bring the lumber against a pitcher like Thompson. Thompson has below average strikeout stuff with an elevated 41.7% hard-hit rate and a marginal 11.1% swinging strike rate. Omar Narvaez is a solid option to knock out the pesky catcher requirement and Tyrone Taylor is a near-minimum-salary option across the board. That still leaves Kolten Wong, Andrew McCutchen and two-time batting champion Christian Yelich to round out full stacks.

Late Slate: San Diego Padres vs. LHP Nick Lodolo — 4.4 implied runs

Of course, the Coors Field Extravaganza is going to be an excellent source of offense on the main slate. On the late slate, the Dodgers will always be in play unless they are squaring off against one of just a handful of true aces. Finally, it does not take a genius to recognize the Orioles rotation is, one again, a disaster.

The Padres are without Fernando Tatis Jr., and while that is a big blow, they sill have a strong lineup with very few weaknesses up and down the batting order. Tonight, they are facing rookie Nick Lodolo, who was knocked around in his debut, giving up two home runs and five total runs in just four innings against the Guardians. Though he is only 24 years old, Lodolo projects as a crafty lefty and should find success with his command and breaking pitches being used to set up his marginal fastball. However, he has a lot to learn about pitching in The Show, and this is not going to be an easy matchup. Manny Machado, Luke Voit and Wil Myers are the key hitters to target from the right side of the plate. Eric Hosmer, Trent Grisham and Jake Cronenworth will all be able to hold their own in this lefty-lefty matchup until a right-hander is eventually brought in from the bullpen.

Spotlight Pitchers

Top MLB DFS Picks Target: RHP Frankie Montas vs. Baltimore Orioles — 3.4 implied runs

  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $52 | FanDuel $9,900 | DraftKings $7,500

The weather in Oakland should not be an issue for Frankie Montas, as any precipitation risk looks like it will be in the later innings after he has hit the showers. Depending on your MLB DFS site of choice, the salary for the 29-year-old righty is all over the board. Yahoo got ahead of the matchup with Baltimore, while DraftKings seems to be asleep at the switch. The Orioles do have some young talent in Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander and Ryan Mountcastle, though the remainder of their lineup is replacement level at best. Trey Mancini is much better against southpaws and while journeyman Rougned Odor will have the platoon advantage, he strikes out in nearly one-third of his at-bats. In his first two starts of the season, though Montas ceded one home run in each, he also had six strikeouts in both appearances and he should be good for around 95 pitches tonight.

Secondary MLB DFS Picks Target: LHP Sean Manaea vs. Cincinnati Reds — 3.3 implied runs

  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $47 | FanDuel $9,700 | DraftKings $9,100

Lefty Sean Manaea is already in mid-season form and he has been dealing in his first two appearances. Logging a combined 13 innings, he has allowed just four hits, three walks and two earned runs. This has been more than offset by his 13 strikeouts and while we do not want to count on wins, the Padres are nearly two-to-one favorites to bring home a victory tonight. Cincinnati has a solid offense, though its best hitters all swing the stick from the left side of the plate. Joey Votto, Tyler Naquin and Mike Moustakas can make hard contact in lefty-lefty matchups, but they also strike out well above league average in these situations. Now that Nick Castellanos, Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez are plying their trade elsewhere, human wind machine Aristides Aquino has become an everyday player and he strikes out nearly 30% of the time against southpaws.

Wild Card MLB DFS Picks Target: LHP Clayton Kershaw vs. Atlanta Braves — 3.3 implied runs

  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $52 | FanDuel $11,000 | DraftKings $10,300

In his debut on Wednesday, Clayton Kershaw spun a gem with seven innings of no-hit action along with 13 strikeouts against Minnesota. Most impressive is that he did this on just 80 pitches and manager Dave Roberts held firm in pulling the three-time Cy Young Award winner before he overextended himself. The Dodgers are looking at making a deep postseason run, and they are going to need a healthy Kershaw to see those dreams come to fruition. The combination of salary and matchup land Kershaw in the Wild Card section and while the implied run total is low, Atlanta has a projected lineup against southpaws that strikes out just 17.9% of the time. This makes Kershaw a subpar option from a point-per-dollar perspective, though if the weather takes away any more games, he will see his popularity surge in tournaments.

Final MLB DFS Thoughts & Weather Notes for the Monday, April 18 Fantasy Baseball Slate

Weather has already postponed the games in Cleveland and Washington. Currently, the action in New York and Chicago is at risk along with late-inning showers brewing in Oakland. Forecasts will be more accurate as first pitch approaches, but have contingency plans in place tonight.

Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].

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