Tastefully curated M-F by LineStar fantasy experts.

• NOTE: PIT/DET and WAS/CIN have been post-poned!

Today is the first issue of Daily Ledger for the 2018 season! That smell is back. Yes in the Spring the dumpster behind Long John Silver's does get a little ripe but the aroma we're talking about is baseball. It's Opening Day which means the crack of the bat and the snapping of the catcher's mitt are going to be our white noise for the next 6+ months.

It's a glorious opening day too as all 30 MLB teams are in action. Is the 1st game (or week) a bit hard to gauge in terms of daily fantasy plays? A little bit, but your competition is in the same boat which means there's actually more opportunities for big wins. 

Last year, we started Daily Ledger with 4/5 homerun calls, let's see if we can best that this time around 🤑

TOP MLB Plays Today 3/29/18

Being named opening day starter is a special honor so every team is sending their stud hurler to the mound today. 

Power Pitching Targets:

1. Chris Sale ($12,200 DK, $11,200 FD)The lefty is not as sure of a thing on Thursday because of a lingering hip issue, but Sale is still worth a play any time he takes the mound. He likes to get out of the gate with a solid start after going 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA when getting the nod on opening day. Plus, the Red Sox are facing a depleted Rays lineup that has seen Sale less than 100 times total, striking out nearly 1/3 of the time. 

2. Justin Verlander ($11,600 DK, $9,500 FD With Max Scherzer and the Nationals having their game postponed due to weather, the #2 slot in power plays for today is Verlander. Is he going to be as effective after marrying Kate Upton in December? Who knows, maybe by now the honeymoon is over and she's getting “naggy” which could mean Verlander pitches angry. Of course that's not the only ring Verlander got last year, he went 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA with the world champion Astros and has struck out today's Texas lineup about 29% of the time. 

Value Pitchers:

1. James Shields ($5,500 DK, $5,800 FD)Some people, especially White Sox fans, may be saying put down the Jameson and step away from the Fanduel. Yes Shields has had his ups and downs and downs and downs with Chicago but he lowered his arm angle towards the end of last year and is said to have had a great offseason. He's up against the Royals today who lost Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain among others in the offseason and trot out a new-look lineup. 

2. J.A Happ ($5,700 DK, $7,100 FD)The Blue Jays are up against the pre-crowned 2018 World Series champion Yankees today, but there's still good value in Happ. The current Yankees lineup is hitting .233 against Happ, but he limited them to 2 ER in 11-2/3 innings a year ago. 

#HomeRunWatchlist

HRW brought to you by Daily Matchup Tool

Who's hot? Everybody. Who's not? Also everybody. The only thing you can rely on in the opening day home run watch is past results. 

• Manny Machado – The 25 year old is entering his walk year and the Orioles are probably already sellers. Machado is in for a huge pay day soon and that seems to be the best motivator for success we've ever seen. Machado has 4HR and 11 RBI in 46 plate appearances against Jake Odorizzi.

• Evan Gattis – The 'big polar bear' or whatever his nickname is, has hit Cole Hamels pretty well in his career launching 3HR in 25 AB. All eyes are going to be on the world champions in a nationally televised ESPN game so expect something big from the 'white cat'?

• Wilson Ramos – Having success in DFS means taking chances. Ramos probably isn't the best play for a HR considering he's up against Chris Sale, but what if Sales' hip injury is more serious than he's leading on? Also, Ramos has 2HR in 11 career AB against the lefty so maybe it's just a good matchup.

• Mookie Betts – In that same game, Betts is up against Tampa Bay's ace in Chris Archer which usually isn't ideal. All that really does is give you great value though and Betts has 12 hits in 31 AB against Archer including 4 HR. The 4:00 PM EST start is cutting into supper time and Matlock for the Tampa Bay crowd so expect Betts to make the Rays fans even angrier.

• Kris Bryant – he hasn't faced today's opposing pitcher Jose Urena much, but Bryant has drawn 4BB in 9 career plate appearances. Does Bryant see him good? Is Urena afraid of KB? Either way, we'll take our chances for a long ball in this matchup. 

Take a Flier

• Christian Yelich – The Brewers new outfielder is only projected for 17 HR on the year but the best way to get car dealership endorsements in a new city is by starting off strong. Plus, he's up against the Padres and Clayton Richard who led the league in hits allowed last year. 

Stacks on Stacks 🥞

Opening Day Stacks

• BAL – Machado/Davis/Jones – the trio have hit 9HR total against Odorizzi

• CHI – Bryant / Rizzo / Schwarber – Schwarber displays his new, slimmer body and the Marlins are bad

• HOU – Gattis / Altuve / Correa – basically a world title celebration and a baseball game broke out

• PIT – Harrison / Polanco / Marte – Zimmerman has a 5.60 ERA the last two years 

The Godsmack Play

“Do Like I Told You and Stay Away From Me:”

• Albert Pujols – he has 3 HR in 30 career AB with a .433 average against Oakland's Graveman which would make him a tempting play. He's also 38.  

There's plenty to celebrate today as baseball is back. If you didn't burn all your sick days during March Madness, it's a great day to use them. The beer and wings can start flowing early as the first pitch of the year is scheduled for 12:40 EST in Miami.

Catch us on LineStar MLB Chat!