DFS Baseball 101: FanDuel April Report

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Updated on May 3, 2017 8:57PM EST

Last year, I wrote an article each month based on team hitting. This is a huge thing to look at in daily fantasy baseball when selecting your starting pitcher, especially when you need a cheaper option as a second pitcher or tournament play. You want to find that underpriced pitcher who is in a great matchup. I will admit that those articles would take hours for me to compile all the data and break out all 30 teams, so I have a different approach this year.

Starting with FanDuel data, I will breakdown all the team pitchers/hitters and give you the rankings with the value reports on individual players.

TEAMS TO TARGET AGAINST FOR STARTING PITCHING

Just like 2016, the Padres at home are the team you want to pick on the most with your starting pitchers. Toronto has been one of the worst teams in baseball and got off to a slow start last April, as well. Seeing Houston on this list is surprising, but much like Toronto, the Astros also off to a slow start last April. The Royals are one of the worst hitting teams in baseball.

Road

TEAM	FANDUEL PPG	COUNT
at SD	39.11	9
at TOR	39.00	12
at ATL	32.57	7
at HOU	32.43	14
at KC	30.70	10

Home

TEAM	FANDUEL PPG	COUNT
OAK	36.67	12
SD	36.59	17
KC	36.31	13
TB	34.92	13
ARI	34.50	10

Overall

TEAM	FANDUEL PPG	COUNT
SD	37.46	26
TOR	34.71	24
KC	33.87	23
CWS	31.74	23
LAA	31.15	27

Top 10 Teams to Start LHP Against

TEAM	FANDUEL PPG	COUNT
STL	41.50	4
KC	40.33	6
CLE	36.40	10
TOR	35.33	6
BAL	34.50	10
TEX	34.17	6
SD	33.78	9
MIA	33.67	3
HOU	32.25	8
OAK	31.50	8

Top 10 Teams to Start RHP Against

TEAM	FANDUEL PPG	COUNT
SD	39.41	17
CWS	38.73	15
TOR	34.50	18
LAA	34.11	19
KC	31.59	17
HOU	29.65	17
OAK	29.41	17
ATL	29.14	22
CHC	28.88	17
STL	28.83	18

TEAMS TO AVOID STARTING PITCHING AGAINST

The Nationals are a team you absolutely want to avoid taking starting pitchers against, especially coming off their destruction of Coors followed by a 23-run performance against the Mets. Some surprises on this list would be the Rays and the Mariners, who are not known for being offensive juggernauts.

The Brewers and Diamondbacks are starting to play like Coors Lite with run totals approaching 10 and 10.5.

Road

TEAM	FANDUEL PPG	COUNT
at SEA	17.67	9
at TB	18.77	13
at COL	20.08	12
at NYY	22.08	12
at ARI	22.65	17

Home

TEAM	FANDUEL PPG	COUNT
MIL	15.63	8
NYM	18.70	10
WAS	20.46	13
TEX	24.78	9
DET	24.91	11

Overall

TEAM	FANDUEL PPG	COUNT
WAS	22.24	25
MIL	22.46	26
SEA	23.42	26
DET	24.00	24
PIT	25.33	24

Teams to Avoid LHP Against

TEAM	FANDUEL PPG	COUNT
MIL	15.57	7
CWS	18.63	8
CHC	21.86	7
NYM	24.17	6
PIT	24.60	10
LAA	24.86	7
NYY	26.80	5
SEA	27.50	6
ARI	28.00	10
BOS	28.75	4

Teams to Avoid RHP Against

TEAM	FANDUEL PPG	COUNT
CLE	19.31	13
BAL	20.85	13
DET	21.31	16
SEA	22.20	20
LAD	22.29	14
WAS	22.33	24
COL	22.60	15
TEX	24.11	19
MIL	25.22	18
PIT	25.86	14

TOP 10 VALUE STARTING PITCHERS

Start watching the salaries on these pitchers. If they keep outperforming their price, they will no longer be considered value plays.

PITCHER	FANDUEL PPG	VALUE	AVG SALARY	STARTS
Luis Severino	44.25	6.15	$7,125	4
Jesse Chavez	31.25	6.10	$5,425	4
Jason Vargas	44.75	6.10	$7,550	4
Wade Miley	43.50	6.08	$7,100	4
Mike Leake	41.00	5.90	$7,175	4
James Paxton	46.60	5.64	$8,300	5
Brandon McCarthy	37.50	5.60	$6,725	4
Miguel Gonzalez	38.25	5.55	$6,900	4
Trevor Cahill	32.50	5.45	$6,025	4
Amir Garrett	30.00	5.45	$6,350	4

BOTTOM 10 VALUE STARTING PITCHERS

Start targeting hitters and stacking against these pitchers.

PITCHER	FANDUEL PPG	VALUE	AVG SALARY	STARTS
Steven Wright	9.75	1.18	$8,475	4
Rookie Davis	6.67	1.47	$5,367	3
Kyle Gibson	9.20	1.54	$6,000	5
Dylan Covey	9.33	1.60	$6,033	3
Josh Tomlin	13.50	1.83	$7,500	4
Kevin Gausman	14.17	1.92	$7,433	6
Jon Gray	15.33	1.93	$7,900	3
Hisashi Iwakuma	17.20	2.24	$7,600	5
Jason Hammel	17.25	2.25	$7,725	4
Jordan Zimmermann	17.25	2.25	$7,825	4

TOP 10 STARTING PITCHERS -- PPG

The only pitcher I don't trust on this list is Vargas.

PITCHER	FANDUEL PPG	VALUE	AVG SALARY	STARTS
Chris Sale	56.00	4.92	$11,400	5
Clayton Kershaw	47.20	3.80	$12,240	5
James Paxton	46.60	5.64	$8,300	5
Jason Vargas	44.75	6.10	$7,550	4
Max Scherzer	44.40	4.02	$11,140	5
Luis Severino	44.25	6.15	$7,125	4
Dallas Keuchel	44.20	4.86	$9,120	5
Jacob deGrom	43.80	4.42	$9,940	5
Noah Syndergaard	43.75	3.95	$11,150	4
Ervin Santana	43.60	5.38	$8,120	5

BOTTOM 10 STARTING PITCHERS -- PPG

Start targeting hitters and stacking against these pitchers.

PITCHER	FANDUEL PPG	VALUE	AVG SALARY	STARTS
Rookie Davis	6.67	1.47	$5,367	3
Kyle Gibson	9.20	1.54	$6,000	5
Dylan Covey	9.33	1.60	$6,033	3
Steven Wright	9.75	1.18	$8,475	4
Adalberto Mejia	13.33	2.30	$5,633	3
Josh Tomlin	13.50	1.83	$7,500	4
Tyler Glasnow	14.00	2.38	$5,425	4
Kevin Gausman	14.17	1.92	$7,433	6
Jon Gray	15.33	1.93	$7,900	3
Ubaldo Jimenez	16.50	2.43	$6,775	4

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Michael Rathburn plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: burnnotice, DraftKings: burnnotice, Yahoo: burnnotice, Fantasy Aces: burnnotice, FantasyDraft: burnnotice.