This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
It's the first Sunday of the MLB season, which means we're dealing with a ton of afternoon games. As such, you'll need to have your lineups in early. Additionally, since we are now a few days into the year, a lot of teams are starting pitchers on the deeper end of their rotation. That will certainly have an impact on your daily fantasy decisions. Here are some recommendations to help kick April off right.
STARTING PITCHER
Jose Quintana, CHC at MIA ($45): Quintana may have had a 4.15 ERA last season, but his 3.59 FIP is a sign that he found himself a bit unlucky. Plus, he also posted a career-high 9.87 K/9. It's hard to truly assess the offensive power of the Marlins, since looking at last year's stats doesn't really make sense given the offseason fire sale. However, any team that trades away the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, Marcel Ozuna, and Christian Yelich is going to regress offensively.
Sonny Gray, NYY at TOR ($42): The move from Oakland to New York should get Gray more offensive support, and any concerns about Yankee Stadium leading to more homers from the 28-year-old is mitigated on the road. He's also coming off a season where he had an 8.48 K/9 ratio. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays only had a .240 batting average last year, worst in the American League.
CATCHER
Evan Gattis, HOU at TEX ($15):Mike Minor pitched well out of the bullpen last season, but the Rangers have decided to stretch him out and turn him back into a starter. The last time the 30-year-old was a starter, which was back in 2014 (and pre-torn labrum), he had a 4.77 ERA. While Brian McCann ($13) doesn't hit lefties great, Gattis had slugging percentages of .448 and .545 against southpaws in 2017 and 2016 respectively.
FIRST BASE
Cody Bellinger, LAD vs. SFG ($19): As you likely remember, Bellinger burst onto the scene as a rookie with 39 homers in 132 games while posting a .581 slugging percentage. Chris Stratton was also a rookie last season, but a 26-year-old one who had a 3.68 ERA and 4.05 FIP. That gives the Dodgers' big bat at first base the clear advantage in this matchup.
SECOND BASE
Jed Lowrie, OAK vs. LAA ($14): Lowrie surprised a bit last season, posting a slash line of .277/.360/.448 while hitting 49 doubles and 14 homers. His .314 BABIP wasn't completely out of the norm either, so it's not likely he got incredibly lucky. All eyes are going to be on this game since Shohei Ohtani will be making his first real start in the majors. It doesn't make sense to overlook all his success in Japan based on a bad spring, but he did have a 27.00 ERA and 4.13 WHIP in his first taste of American baseball in March. If he is struggling at all to make the transition, now is the time to take advantage of that.
THIRD BASE
Mike Moustakas, KAN vs. CWS ($17): Moustakas has had issues getting on base pretty much his whole career, but his batting average over the last three seasons is .274. He also hit 38 homers last year, 29 of which came off righties like Chicago's starter Reynaldo Lopez. Last season, his first with the White Sox, Lopez had a 4.79 FIP and allowed 1.32 home runs per nine innings.
SHORT STOP
Manny Machado, BAL vs. MIN ($18): Last year was the first time Machado has had anything approaching an "off" season, but a .265 BABIP can shoulder a lot of the blame. Besides, even with his struggles he still picked up 33 homers, putting him over 30 for the third straight season. Jose Berrios numbers were better last year than in his first campaign, but it was largely because he pitched much better at home. On the road he had a 5.17 ERA and gave up 12 homers in 78.3 innings.
OUTFIELD
Bryce Harper, WAS at CIN ($23): Health is the only skill Harper has shown in his MLB career, but when he's healthy few can rake like him. That's why he has a slash line of .297/.417/.554 over the last three seasons. Sal Romano managed to secure a spot in the rotation for the Reds this spring, but the competition wasn't that stiff. He had a 4.45 ERA as a rookie in 2017, but that ERA jumped to 4.91 at home.
Andrew Benintendi, BOS at TAM ($16): Benintendi was considered a Rookie of the Year favorite last season, and while he couldn't make that happen the talent is still there. Plus, any issues he had were against lefties. Hitting against righties the outfielder had a .458 slugging percentage and hit 19 homers. Tampa Bay's Jake Faria is a righty, one who allowed 1.14 homers per nine innings as a rookie to boot.
Byron Buxton, MIN at BAL ($15): Buxton is still coming into his own as a hitter, but he managed 16 homers in 14 games last season. He also stole 29 bases, making him the rare speed demon still left in the majors. Kevin Gausman really struggled for the Orioles last year, notching a 4.68 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. He's also struggled to limit homers, as his HR/9 ratio in his career is 1.25.
