Written by Ryan Humphries | @N1TRO on LineStar | @NitroDFS on Twitter

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The wait ends in mere hours. We have arrived at the precipice to the 150th anniversary of professional baseball. Over the course of the next 187 days, we’ll have some MLB action to look forward to nearly every day leading into the postseason that kicks off on October 1st. In case you missed it, be sure to give the 2019 MLB Preview and Strategy Guide a quick read to get an idea of what you can expect from these newsletters as well as some tips and other information that you may find useful in your DFS ventures this season. Now, let’s jump into it!

There are, of course, 15 games altogether today and typically both DraftKings and FanDuel will have identical main slates but Opening Day is an exception. FanDuel includes all 14 of the afternoon games on their main slate while the DraftKings main slate kicks off with the nine games starting between 4:00-4:15 ET. Those nine games will be the ones we’ll focus on here.

HOU@TB (6.5 O/U) currently carries the lowest total on the slate with two Cy Young award winners dueling it out. Our best bets for offensive production come from the following four games which all carry totals over 8.0 runs: CHC@TEX, LAA@OAK, PIT@CIN, and CWS@KC. As far as weather is concerned, CWS@KC stands out as the only game with major postponement risk. Rain is projected to enter the area at the start of game time with more entering later in the afternoon. Definitely keep an eye on more up-to-date forecasts as we get closer to first pitch.

It will be at least a couple weeks before we get a true idea of how teams and players are going to be performing this year. As a result, relying on a lot of 2018 data is our best bet to find worthy DFS plays for now. Be careful of leaning on your bankroll too heavily until we can get a better feel for the 2019 MLB season!

Pitchers to Consider

Justin Verlander (DK: $11k | FD: $11.4k)

Verlander will likely carry the highest ownership on this slate and presents as a fairly risky guy to fade. I’m sure many people don’t like paying top dollar for a pitcher on Opening Day, and some of you GPP-centric players just opt to fade the priciest pitcher no matter the day, which I can understand! There's always a huge edge to be had if the top ace on a slate ends up tanking. But against a weak Rays lineup in a pitcher-friendly park, Verlander should hold plenty of equity in both the ‘safety’ and ‘upside’ departments. He had the second highest kRate in 2018 at 34.8% as well as the second best SIERA at 2.63 -- trailing only Chris Sale in both categories. Verlander was excellent in limiting walks last year as well with a BB% of just 4.4%. He’s gotten quite a bit of work in during spring training so expect him to step into a full workload right away. Opposing pitcher Blake Snell should do well enough to keep this match competitive, thus hopefully preventing the need for an early exit from Verlander. Let's see if the 36-year-old still has 'it'.

Jose Berrios (DK: $9k | FD: $8.9k)

Normally the prospect of facing the Cleveland Indians offense, which scored the third most runs in 2018, isn’t an ideal situation to target a pitcher in. However, the Indians lineup is ailing with Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis set to miss some early season action and Jose Ramirez, while probable to play today, may not be at 100%, as he is dealing with a knee injury sustained in spring training. Berrios is also pitching at home where he averaged 48.6% more fantasy points last season. He had a strong kRate of 25.4% last season and was often solid about limiting walks with a BB% of 7.7%. The Twins are a slight +110 underdog but Berrios pitching at home against a banged up Cleveland squad can absolutely bring some upside to the table and he makes for a nice pivot play away from Verlander for tournaments.

Eric Lauer (DK: $5.6k | FD: $7.2k)

Lauer profiles as a very viable SP2 for DraftKings and a reasonable guy to target on FanDuel if you’re looking to load up on big bats. Petco Park isn’t exactly a pitchers park but it’s not the most hitter friendly place either, as it had the 13th most runs scored in 2018. Lauer will face a Giants team that had the 8th highest kRate against LHP last season (23.3%) and the lowest BB% at 7.0%. Lauer himself only had a kRate of 19.8% but given the match-up, I think it’s reasonable to expect him to stay on the mound for about 90 pitches with a strong shot at four or five Ks and the always important win bonus.

Team Stacks to Target

Chicago Cubs vs. Mike Minor (LHP - Texas Rangers)

The Cubs' bats are in a great spot today against Mike Minor who had a fairly modest kRate in 2018 of 20.6% and allowed a Hard Contact Rate of 37.9%. He also gives up his fair share of long balls with 1.43 HR/9. Minor has trends of reverse splits as well, so left-handed batters should be just as viable as right-handed bats and could come in as lower owned options in what will be a chalky stack to begin with. I think you can mix and match any Cub batting 6th or higher: Zobrist, Bryant, Rizzo, Baez, Contreras, and Schwarber are all appealing in their own right. Not only is the pitching match-up juicy, but Globe Life Park in Arlington was home to the most runs scored (and second most home runs hit) in baseball last season. Unsurprisingly, the Cubs have the highest implied total of 5.1 runs.

Los Angeles Angels vs. Mike Fiers (RHP - Oakland Athletics)

Fiers has often been a pitcher worth stacking against for a few years now and he’s very prone to giving up the long ball, with a 1.60 HR/9 rating last year and a Hard Contact Rate of 39.1%. He’s also coming in off of a poor outing in the Opening Series in Tokyo against the Mariners where he gave up five earned runs on four hits, including a grand slam and two walks in just three innings. The Angels are a solid hitting team that also possesses some power against right-handed pitching. Last season they had the 10th highest wOBA versus righties (.322) and the 7th highest ISO (.182). Mike Trout is going to be one of the most popular hitters to roster no matter who he faces on any given day, but some other Angels bats that I’d be looking to stack alongside him would be Calhoun, Bour, and Cozart. Winds should be blowing out at around 13 mph and the Angels have a team total of 4.2 runs.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Luis Castillo (RHP - Cincinnati Reds)

I expect the Pirates to be a bit of a contrarian GPP stack on this slate, considering Castillo had a strong 2018 season, but he really struggled against lefties. He gave up a robust Hard Contact Rate of 42.4% to left handed batters along with a 2.06 HR/9, .373 wOBA and a .324 BABIP. I’ll be happy to take a shot on a Pirates lefty stack in this match-up. Dickerson, Frazier, and Bell would be my primary targets here. For righties, give Marte and Kang a look as well -- but lefties would definitely be my priority.

Value Bats

Want to fit in an ace pitcher and some big bats? Here are a few guys that may help you do just that.

Jesse Winker (DK: $3.3k | FD: $2.7k)

Winker should be a great salary saving option in a lead off spot. He had elite numbers versus RHP last season with a .379 wOBA and .356 BABIP. His recent history against Jameson Taillon is appealing as well: .444 AVG, .571 wOBA, and a HR in 10 plate appearances.

Jorge Polanco (DK: $3k | FD: $3.2k)

Polanco is currently listed as day-to-day, but assuming he suits up, he should check in at the top of the order. He gets a tough match-up against Corey Kluber but Polanco did very well versus righties last season with a .368 wOBA, .382 BABIP, and .387 OBP. He had a .370 wOBA versus Kluber in 13 plate appearances last season and he can carry some stolen base upside as well. There’s a very strong chance he can nab you double digit fantasy points in a variety of ways.

Tyler White (DK: $3.3k | FD: $2.5k)

White would be more of a GPP only play, as he has a tough match-up against Blake Snell and may not bat very high in the order but he has shown some great power hitting versus lefties. Last year he had a .288 ISO, .423 wOBA, and 176 wRC+ against LHP. If he happens to send one deep, you’ll likely have him at <3% ownership.

LineStar MLB Freeroll

We will be doing an MLB freeroll on DraftKings every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! Be sure to keep an eye out for a link to join on those days. Also, use the image below as your avatar to win 2x the prize!

That will wrap up things for Opening Day! As I mentioned in the season preview article, this newsletter may change a bit throughout the season depending on public feedback, so feel free to let us know if you’d like to see any changes. Best of luck today!