Opening Day in Major League Baseball has the aura of a holiday to me. People can say that football is America's sport, but that first day when the aces all take the mound I think we're all holding our breath in anticipation. Part of the magic of baseball, and all sports to some extent, is that any given day you can see something you've never seen before. Every home run is different, every double play unique and every throw home for a play at the plate is one I can watch over and over.
The start of season-long fantasy baseball adds to the intrigue and excitement. I'm playing in a head-to-head points league for the first time this year, because I love trying new formats in fantasy sports. Hopefully during the past few weeks I've convinced you to try something new, namely daily fantasy baseball.
A few reminders before we get down to the business of constructing a lineup or two:
Try playing on multiple sites. DraftDay, DraftKings, FanDuel and Fantasy Aces are the top destinations, in my opinion, but one site does not fit all. I encourage you to find your own best experience.
Be mindful of bankroll management, if this is something you think you want to do regularly for a profit. That means making smart decisions about how much money to put in play and how to allocate it across different games.
Develop a research process that takes advantage of predictive stats and data. This will help you zero in on teams and players to target. Remember that different days and different games require prioritizing different strategies, so be flexible in your approach.
Lineup 1
You'll hear me and others say things like "lineup construction" or "build a lineup," rather than draft or pick a team, to reflect the step-by-step nature of the process. Doing the research is like creating a blueprint to follow for the night. I like to start building from the solid foundation of starting pitcher (SP). There are five SPs I like a lot for April 6. Clayton Kershaw is the clear No. 1 option. Behind him, and not by much, are David Price, Max Scherzer, Corey Kluber and Madison Bumgarner. All five have elite K/9 (range of 9.1-10.9), pitch deep into games and face relatively weak offenses to start the season. We don't have Vegas lines at the time of this writing, but it's safe to assume all five SPs are decent-to-heavy favorites.
There are four guys that are priced similarly in the elite tier that I'm not interested in for Monday: Masahiro Tanaka, Johnny Cueto, Cole Hamels and Felix Hernandez. Tanaka and Cueto take on the Blue Jays and Pirates, respectively, both of which are formidable against right-handed pitchers (RHP). I admit that I don't quite know what to make of the Red Sox yet, and for that reason, I'm not willing to pay such a steep price for Hamels on Opening Day. Hernandez has had a brutal spring, but I'm fading him more due to this matchup with the Angels. With so many aces to choose from, there's little reason to spend top dollar on King Felix. That's the beauty of DFS.
It's reasonable to start trying to build a FanDuel lineup with Kershaw, because he and Kluber (the least expensive of my top-5 SPs) are separated by just $1,300 there, and the upside Kershaw brings is usually worth that amount of salary-cap difference. Do so, and you're left with just $2,900 for each of your eight hitters. Remember the minimum salary is $2,200 and that's for guys who are mostly not playing. We're going to learn a big lesson in compromise here.
Starting pitcher: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers, $11,700, versus SD. Needs no further justification to this audience.
Catcher: John Jaso, Rays, $3,100, versus Chris Tillman. It's a decent matchup, and he is probably batting fifth as the DH for Tampa Bay. He had great power versus RHP last year and is a classic platoon guy to take advantage of. Unfortunately, his salary reflects that.
First base: Adam Lind, Brewers, $2,800, versus Kyle Kendrick. Great matchup, good power versus RHP.
Second base: Dan Uggla, Nationals, $2,200, versus Bartolo Colon. We don't even know for sure if he'll be in the Opening Day lineup, and he was terrible last year, but using the likely eighth batter in this lineup for minimum salary is going to help us in the outfield. He showed signs of improvement in spring training.
Third base: Casey McGehee, Giants, $2,600, versus Josh Collmenter. Good matchup. Casey was a .303 hitter with a .739 OPS versus RHP last year. He'll likely bat fourth or fifth.
Shortstop: Brad Miller, Mariners, $2,600, versus Jered Weaver. It's a compromise, you guys. With a .238 average and just .692 OPS versus RHP, Miller will be at the bottom of the order, and I have low expectations.
Now we've managed to get our outfield spending up to $3,300 per player. Andrew McCutchen, Mike Trout and Giancarlo Stanton all have amazing numbers against righties. They're just too expensive for this lineup at approximately $5,000 apiece. Corey Dickerson, on the other hand, led the league in OPS versus RHP last year at .985 and his ISO was .278, behind only Trout and Edwin Encarnacion. In what I'm guessing will be a high-scoring game in Miller Park, Dickerson projects as a high-upside play. He'll be our splurge in the OF.
Outfield 1: Dickerson, Rockies, $3,900, versus Kyle Lohse. See above.
Outfield 2: Ben Revere, Phillies, $3,000, versus Clay Buchholz. Revere stole 49 bases last season and typically leads off.
Outfield 3: Alejandro De Aza, Orioles, $2,900, versus Chris Archer. Projected as the leadoff hitter and a sleeper for speed. He's much better against righties and I like this O's lineup to knock him in a lot this season.
Lineup 2
At DraftKings, you need to roster two SPs. The difference between Kershaw and Bumgarner/Kluber (tied for cheapest of my top 5 at $9,800) is $2,600. David Price is the best value here, at $10,400. For a second SP, I previously said I'd be up for whomever the Marlins are starting against the Braves. That someone is Henderson Alvarez, a DFS favorite of mine from last season and the newest member of my season-long points league team. At $6,200, this is a no-brainer for me. With a solid 11th-best 2.65 ERA but a poor K/9 of 5.34 in 2014, Alvarez is not a flashy pick, but for this price, I think he's very safe.
Starting pitcher 1: Price, Tigers, $10,400, versus MIN
Starting pitcher 2: Alvarez, Marlins, $6,200, versus ATL
Catcher: Mike Zunino, Mariners, $3,500, versus LAA
First base: Michael Morse, Marlins, $3,900, versus ATL
Second base: Martin Prado, Marlins, $3,700, versus ATL
Third base: Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox, $3,500, versus PHI
Shortstop: Ian Desmond, Nationals, $3,500, versus NYM
Outfield 1: Stanton, Marlins, $4,900, versus ATL
Outfield 2: Dickerson, Rockies, $4,700, versus MIL
Outfield 3: Jose Bautista, Blue Jays, $4,900, versus NYY
A few highlights of this lineup: I can get away with using strikeout-prone Zunino (33 percent K rate last season, though he has looked better this spring) because hitters don't take a deduction for making outs on DraftKings. He hit 22 HR last season, 17 of them off RHP. I went with a mini-Marlins stack here, pairing Morse and Prado with my most-expensive hitter, Stanton. All three guys should bat in the top of the order, so I'm hoping for the hits, runs and RBIs to synergistically boost my score. Dickerson (see above) and Bautista round out the outfield with solid power. Third base is tricky for me this year. Bogaerts gets a tough matchup with Hamels, but is better versus LHP. Though I don't read too much into preseason stats, he has a pair of homers and an OPS of .831 this spring, substantially better than last year.
Pivot Plays
Starting pitcher
I don't want to completely punt pitching with so many terrific options out there, but saving some money and going with a guy who will have lower ownership gives you the best chance of differentiating your lineup from the crowd on Opening Day.
Kluber, Indians, ($10,400 FD, $9,800 on DK) should be great against the Astros, who struck out a ton last year (1,442 K's, second most).
Sonny Gray, A's, ($9,800 FD, $8,300 DK) is never a popular pick but should fare well against the Rangers, an average offense at best that struggled mightily in the Cactus League.
Catcher
Going high end is often the contrarian play at catcher, as many people prefer to spend up at first base or outfield.
Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers, ($3,800 FD, $4,300 DK) gets a great matchup with Kendrick, has a low K rate given his considerable power and should bat third, as usual.
First base
Maximize power, if you can afford it.
Jose Abreu, White Sox, ($4,500 FD, $4,800 DK) is the epitome of upside. He faces Yordano Ventura, whom I like in general, but is not a matchup to avoid by any stretch. Abreu's 36 homers tied Trout for fourth most last year and his .250 ISO, which correlates well with first base fantasy points, puts him in elite company.
Second base
Beware of paying up for speed for players facing great pitching; you can't steal first, as they say. Thinking of you, Jose Altuve.
Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox, ($3,400 FD, $3,700 DK) is just so cheap to start the season. He is coming off his worst statistical season in the majors, it's true, but historically is worth more than this price tag. None of the Cole Hamels believers or recency-biased folks will be using him and he's looked good in spring training.
Third base
Go high or go home here.
Kyle Seager, Mariners, ($3,700 FD, $4,100 DK) is one way to take the high route. With a .221 ISO and .862 OPS versus RHP last year, Seager was a favorite play at 3B for me.
Nolan Arenado, Rockies, ($3,500 FD, $4,200 DK) is one of my favorite players in baseball. I'm a sucker for defense, which doesn't help us here at all, but his power does. Five home runs this spring!
Shortstop
I like to use shortstop as a stacking tool, pairing the SS from the team I'm targeting for big power. So if you're going with Abreu, try Alexei Ramirez. If you like Bautista, fit Jose Reyes in with him. Check Everth Cabrera's spot in the lineup, he's incredibly cheap in a good offense facing a so-so pitcher in Chris Archer, and can be paired with Chris Davis and/or De Aza.
Outfield
There are plenty of options to play with in the outfield.
Top Tier: Andrew McCutchen, Mike Trout, Yasiel Puig, Carlos Gomez
Mid-Low Tier: Mookie Betts, Joc Pederson, Dalton Pompey
Bottom Tier: Michael Taylor
Be sure to check the starting lineups on Monday before locking your DFS lineup in. Good luck in your first week playing DFS baseball. Feel free to comment below or on Twitter with any questions!