Here at Chin Music, our goal is to bring you the fastest and most comprehensive look at the day’s slate of games as related to daily fantasy baseball. Inside, you will find both a graphic for quick glancing and a quick breakdown of a few relevant players for the day. Occasionally, I even toss a tip or two in there to help you construct your lineups and become a better DFS player overall.

We also like to brag about our players that are seeing success. @sj88 is an avid regular and contributor to our Slack Forums inside @DFSArmy and https://www.dfsarmy.com/. Not only did he win a 100man league last night with a nice score, but the score below it also ran up a nice climb in our Ladder Strategy of betting allocation. We pride ourselves in teaching you how to build your own competitive lineups, and this is just one example of many successful results our players have been receiving.

Let’s jump into our slate of games for this Tuesday, April 26th. We have 15 games to choose players from and that can be an overwhelming task for the newer player. TIP: Noobs should look for smaller slates within the bigger slate. Look for Express slates or Late slates as these will allow for a little more player overlap and give you a better shot at winning in the beginning. Experienced players should look for larger slates that allow more choices and therefore more ways for newer players to mess up……broadening your edge.

Weather Notes: Outside of the rating in the graphic you will see, here are a little more specific words to help a bit more. CIN @ NYM looks like chances of rain will fade as the evening goes. Late start or early delays may be imminent but the game might play to completion. Watch the pitchers here. NYY @ TEX looks bad all the way through. I’m off this one for sure. PIT @ COL looks to have slight chances of spot showers around game time. I’m not that worried overall.

For more details on reading this graphic, look to the very bottom of this page…..

PITCHERS

Clayton Kershaw (13000) – In cash, it almost goes without saying to roster Kershaw and squeeze in bats. MIA doesn’t scare me with his elite strikeout stuff. I will start here today and see what bats I can fit in around him. But, if I find it hard to grab value bats…….

Max Scherzer (10500) – I will be looking here. More elite strikeout stuff and a 2500 dollar savings? Where do I sign? PHI is a top 10 strikeout team right now. I will likely wind up on Scherzer.

Kyle Kendricks (7300) – This one will leave some heads scratching, but I might actually do it. It’s risky again, but it’s to save money. Vegas seems to love Kendricks to win tonight, MIL is striking out at an alarming rate again. If the wind is blowing in at Wrigley, I don’t see MIL having a ton of success and I see my risk in this move being significantly cut down. I’d also be stacking Cubbies with this play and attacking Coors.

Also consider: There are others, but I’m not considering them personally.

CATCHERS

Victor Martinez (2600) – Great spot vs mediocre pitching. This game carries a high total and you get the heart of the order for under 3k.

Stephen Vogt (2700) – We love attacking Pelfry and Vogt has put up some nice numbers with some pop here lately. Another sub-3k price for a guy that figures to be in the thick of it should OAK do what they should to Pelfry tonight.

Also consider: Molina (STL), Posey (SFG), Saltalamacchia (DET)

1st BASEMEN

John Jaso (3300) – Getting on base for the others to drive in. This is regular play in favorable spots for PIT and Coors is a favorable spot for sure.

Billy Butler (2100) – Not off to a great start, but he faces mediocre pitching in the heart of an order figuring to score some runs. You can definitely spend more for less today.

Also consider: Adams (STL), Moss (STL), Park (MIN)

2nd BASEMEN

Brian Dozier (3000) – Still too cheap for him. It’s not as if we fear Cody Anderson much. He’s too good a hitter to stay down much longer.

Ian Kinsler (3800) – A bit pricey, but not a horrible option in a position that once again looks a little scarce tonight. Kinsler has pop and is also facing some mediocre pitching of his own.

Also consider: Kipnis (CLE), Panik (SFG), Zobrist (CHC), Walker (NYM)

SHORTSTOPS

Jordy Mercer (3500) – This is the play I wanted yesterday with a lefty on the mound in Coors. Mercer has great numbers vs lefties so far with some pop…..just what you need in that thin air.

Eduardo Nunez (2800) – Facing mediocre pitching and mini-stacked with Dozier is where I’d be here. One of them is likely to have a nice game should MIN warm up a bit with the bats.

Also consider: Story (COL), Diaz (STL), Escobar (KCR), Russell (CHC)

3rd BASEMEN

Chris Coghlan (2600) – Again with the picking on Pelfry. Should be hitting 2nd and should score a few runs. Coghlan also has some sneaky pop in his bat and just might run into one should it get served up for him.

Matt Carpenter (3900) – Finding his power stroke a bit lately and sitting in a park where the ball really carries vs a fly ball pitcher? Doesn’t get a lot better than a spot like that for a leadoff hitter. I’m looking for some runs to be scored a Chase tonight and expect Carpenter to ignite some of it.

Also consider: Castellanos (DET), Lamb (ARI), Arenado (COL)

OUTFIELDERS

Billy Burns (2900) – Leading off for what should be some run scoring tonight. I don’t target OAK a lot, but I do target Pelfry. Burns is really fast, too, and can swipe you some bags adding to his night.

Starling Marte (4400) – If at first you don’t succeed……. Well, he didn’t have a terrible night, but he didn’t have a lineup winning night, either. I’m going back to the well over and over and over with heart-of-the-order guys facing mediocre pitching in hitter’s ballparks that have power AND speed.

Josh Reddick (3400) – 3-hole hitter facing Pelfry. Again, if I haven’t beat this drum enough it’s a great spot. Reddick also has nice numbers against righties this season with a few homers.

Melky Cabrera (3300) – Everyone will flock to Miggy Cabrera, but the BvP numbers for Melky vs Dickey are pretty sweet tonight. Rogers Centre is a place homers fly, so he’s in a good spot.

Dexter Fowler (4100) – Still worthy of considering against any OF, including the guys in Coors tonight. Fowler is getting it done like Marte……in every way. He can be considered almost an auto-roster in my book.

Also consider: Martinez (CarGo in COL), Holliday (STL), Parra (COL), Polanco (PIT), Harper (WAS), Stanton (MIA), Sano (MIN)

How to read the graphics above:

Home and away teams are pretty simple. Pitchers tend to pitch better at home.

Weather matters huge in MLB. Green is good, red is bad. Anything over a “5” should give you pause in rostering a pitcher. Hitters aren’t as affected, but warming up and shutting down and warming up and shutting down isn’t something managers like to do to their pitchers. Any delays will shorten the “lifespan” of your pitcher and affect the opportunity he has to score you points. A “0” indicates a dome team.

Favored team according to Vegas. Vegas P gives the moneyline and by how much the favored team is favored. The bigger the number, the better our pitchers has a shot at earning the win. I typically look for a number larger than 150. Vegas B shows how many combined runs Vegas is projecting the hitters to score. For hitters, the bigger the better. For pitchers, the smaller the better. The last thing you want is your pitcher on the mound in a slugfest.

Park Factor is a rating assembled by combining historical numbers of runs and home runs scored over the past few seasons. This rating is expressed in comparison to the “average” ballpark. Average is a score of 100. The greater the difference from average, the more the park favors hitters (greater than 100) or pitchers (less than 100). This number is not foolproof, though. For example, if we assembled a team of weak hitters and had them play half their games in a great ballpark, we would undoubtedly see a suppressed ballpark factor rating. But, it does give us a great idea on a given slate where we may/may not see runs scored. Use in conjunction with the Vegas B column. If you see a green number in both columns, you can consider rostering hitters from that game.

In researching pitchers, I want a heavy favorite in Vegas, a red number in Vegas B, and good weather. I also want to see a ballpark that’s bad for hitters, if possible. That’s really about it to narrowing down my list of choices for who I’ll start as a pitcher.

In researching hitters, I want a green Vegas B number, good weather (but it doesn’t have to be perfect), and a hitter’s park to play in, if possible. But, mostly I want terrible pitching on the mound. This is indicated by high run totals (green Vegas B) and even the Vegas P column because a team that is heavily favored “can be” facing terrible pitching. But, that’s getting a bit specific for this quick-hitting column. That simple graphic can really tell you a lot in 30 seconds.