MLB DFS Picks Today (4/26/22): Spotlight Pitchers & Top Stacks Tuesday

Tuesday, April 26, has an 11-game main slate beginning at 7:05 p.m. ET on Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel. There are some tenuous weather spots to monitor, so today’s article will focus on games that are likely to play. 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 | Tuesday, April 26

Yahoo Stack of the Day: Houston Astros at LHP Taylor Hearn — 4.7 implied runs

In a fun twist, the Yahoo salary algorithm seems to have capped all of the Houston batters at $19. Tonight they will be squaring off against southpaw Taylor Hearn in Arlington. It should be no surprise that Hearn has struggled this season as he continues to stick in the starting rotation. In his three appearances, he has lasted just 10.2 innings, allowing seven extra-base hits and half a dozen walks, culminating in a 7.59 ERA and 2.25 WHIP.

It looks like rookie Jeremy Pena ($19) has been moved from the leadoff role down to the bottom of the order. It was a tough ask for him to fill in for Jose Altuve, so it makes sense that veteran Chas McCormick ($13) will take over those duties. Both are fine plays, but the focus should be on Alex Bregman ($19), Yordan Alvarez ($19) and Kyle Tucker ($15). This trio has a long history of excellent performance against lefties, and reigning American League batting champion Yulieski Gurriel ($14) is also worthy of consideration.

Late Slate: Los Angeles Dodgers at RHP Zach Davies — 6.1 implied runs

Though the Dodgers disappointed last night, plating just four runs in a victory over the Diamondbacks, we should go right back to them again tonight. The Chase Field roof is scheduled to be open so fans can enjoy the “cooler” 90-degree temperatures in Phoenix. Zach Davies is a perfectly league-average pitcher who has been a consistent performer across his eight seasons in The Show. However, he is susceptible to power from both sides of the plate when he is not able to induce ground balls. Plus, he does not strikeout enough batters to pitch himself out of jams, which, in turn, can lead to crooked numbers in a hurry.

Former MVPs Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Cody Bellinger will all be playing prominent roles in the Los Angeles offense this season, and they are surrounded by future MVP candidate Trea Turner, along with All-Stars in Max Muncy, Justin Turner and Chris Taylor. That leaves catcher Will Smith and Gavin Lux as the “weak links” in the order, and they both would start for over half of the teams in baseball. The Dodgers will be popular on all slates, but this is a spot where joining the masses seems like a savvy strategy.

Early Slate: San Diego Padres at LHP Reiver Sanmartin — 4.7 implied runs

Though Reiver Sanmartin has shown glimpses of talent, the 26-year-old lefty has just 24.1 major league innings under his belt. In this time he has a 4.44 ERA with a 1.40 WHIP in five appearances. In six minor league seasons, beginning at age 19, Sanmartin averaged nearly a strikeout per inning and did an excellent job limiting power. However, he has only 82.1 innings at Triple-A and a lot left to learn about pitching against big league batsmen. Look to the usual suspects with Manny Machado, Wil Myers, Jake Cronenworth and Jurickson Profar leading the way. Austin Nola is a solid option to knock out the pesky catcher requirement on the early slate if he is in the lineup.

Spotlight Pitchers

Top MLB DFS Picks Target: LHP Carlos Rodon vs. Oakland Athletics — 2.6 implied runs

  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $53 | FanDuel $11,100 | DraftKings $10,100

Tonight Carlos Rodon is facing the Athletics, who have a 2.6 implied run total. That is really all the analysis we need, as that is by far the lowest team total on the season. Heck, that looks more like the product of something associated with the seven-inning doubleheader games of last season. It is going to be in the low-50s tonight, and the projected Oakland lineup has only one player with an isolated power of .200-plus against southpaws. Rodon has yet to allow a home run, and he has been charged with only two earned runs in 17 innings. This has all been entirely offset by his 29 — yes, 29 — strikeouts. Enjoy!

Secondary MLB DFS Picks Target: Chris Bassitt at St. Louis Cardinals — 3.5 implied runs

  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $45 | FanDuel $9,900 | DraftKings $9,800

Veteran Chris Bassitt has finally been able to stay healthy the last couple of season, and he is looking like a solid late bloomer. Tonight will be his fourth start of the season, and other than a five-run blip against the Giants, he has an otherwise sterling stat line. It has been mentioned in this article many times already, but it is important to note that the Cardinals, once again, have a right-handed-heavy lineup. In his last 338 same-handed matchups, Bassitt has allowed a miniscule .087 ISO will striking out batters of either handedness at a 25% clip over the last two seasons. The bottom third of the St. Louis order is not imposing at all with Edmundo Sosa, Yadier Molina and the strikeout-happy Harrison Bader.

Early Slate – MLB DFS Picks Target: Brandon Woodruff at Pittsburgh Pirates — 3.1 implied runs

  • DFS Salary: Yahoo N/A | FanDuel $10,000 | DraftKings $8,500

On the four-game early slate, both Joe Musgrove and Brandon Woodruff are deserving of top honors. Essentially we are splitting hairs, but Woodruff gets the slightest of nods for his discount. Pittsburgh will be putting as many lefties in the lineup as possible, but considering that Dan Vogelbach, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Ben Gamel, Cole Tucker and Andrew Knapp all strike out at a 25% or higher clip against opposite-handed hurlers, that is far from a deterrent. Woodruff is coming off a nine-strikeout game, and in his last 392 matchups against lefties, he has a 31.1% strikeout rate.

Final MLB DFS Thoughts & Weather Notes for the Tuesday, April 26 Fantasy Baseball Slate

There are some storms on the East Coast that could impact the games in New York, Philadelphia and Washington. Keep tabs on the forecast, as things are still too far out to know how each team is going to handle their particular situation. Plus, DFS gamers are all too familiar with the weather-related shenanigans of the Washington Nationals over the last few seasons.

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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