Daily Fantasy Baseball 2015: Best MLB Pitcher Stats, Picks for April 16 – Bleacher Report

When daily fantasy baseball player pools get tighter in DraftKings‘ evening contests on Thursday MLB getaway days, selecting the best pitcher becomes even more important. We dive into the picks and stats here for April 16 action.

Best Buys

Archie Bradley, Arizona Diamondbacks ($6,400)

Bradley has just one major league start under his belt, but it was a very good one—six shutout innings, striking out six. He draws the San Francisco Giants here, a team that has scored just 2.6 runs per game. We knew the Giants offense wouldn’t score many runs, but just three teams have been less efficient.

Doug Fister, Washington Nationals ($7,700)

The problem with Fister is he pitches to contact and doesn’t rack up fantasy points through strikeouts. It makes it tough for daily fantasy baseball players to pick him for their lineups. The good news is the Philadelphia Phillies have also been one of the weakest offenses out of the gate. It shouldn’t take much for this safe, heavy favorite to come through.

Modest Buys

Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants ($10,500)

Bumgarner was outstanding against the Diamondbacks his last time out, even if he is unlikely to get a lot of run support, and he is the costliest pitcher on the board. Still, he gives you the best potential to dominate—what he can control anyway. We expect a solid performance in his first home start of the year.

Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies ($10,000)

He is in the same boat as Bumgarner. He could pitch well, but the likelihood of run support is limited. The good news is Hamels will rack up strikeouts even if he is stuck in a tough-luck losing effort. Hamels allowed just two hits in seven innings in his past effort, also against the Nationals.

Crapshoot Buys

We couldn’t find a great reason to play these arms, but there isn’t a real compelling reason to avoid them either. Here is a ranking of the four remaining starting pitchers to pick from on the board:

1. Aaron Sanchez, Toronto Blue Jays ($5,600)—After that awful first start, the only favorable number from him is his price. There isn’t enough to go on historically from the few at-bats the Tampa Bay Rays have had against him.
2. Dillon Gee, New York Mets ($7,100)—Only one Miami Marlin has a homer off him, but Giancarlo Stanton is just 1-for-9 against him (.111).
3. Chris Archer, Tampa Bay Rays ($7,500)—Jose Reyes has owned Archer at a .450 clip in 20 at-bats, including a triple, three walks and three stolen bases.
4. Jarred Cosart, Miami Marlins ($6,600)—He is another young starter with limited time against his opponent. One significant thing working in his favor is David Wright (hamstring) is on the DL.

Matchup data above is from DailyBaseballData.com unless otherwise noted.

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Eric Mack, one of the giants among fantasy writers, is the Fantasy Football Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, where you can ask him endless questions about your team, rip him for his content and even challenge him to a head-to-head fantasy game.