Welcome back to the blogosphere that is, AlWalshDFS.com. I won’t be able to physically and mentally do a thorough game-by-game breakdown for MLB each day like I usually do for NBA games, but today is a special circumstance since there are only three games on the slate today.

Going forward, things will be different every day- some days (like Monday), I’ll have an all-value lineup article; others will have different themes like top pitchers or Calling Shots- where I act like the Bambino and try to predict who will go yard that day and why.

Stay tuned this summer, we’re going to have a lot of fun and win some money around here.

ST.LOUIS CARDINALS (Adam Wainwright) @ PITTSBURGH PIRATES -121 (Francisco Liriano) – 1:05 pm

A good ol’ fashioned NL Central matchup to start the season never hurt anyone, except the people playing in it. This may not be a Cardinals/Cubs type of rivalry, but don’t get it twisted, these two teams absolutely hate each other.

The Liriano-Wainwright pitching matchup is as good, and experienced, as we’ll find these next two days. Liriano is coming off one of his better seasons in 2015 where he went 12-7 with a 3.38 (second consecutive year with that ERA total). He allowed 15 HRs last season, but only five of them came after the All-Star break. Liriano was a pitcher that induced slightly more ground balls than fly balls, but those numbers were pretty similar down the stretch. The Pirates southpaw does have a bit of an advantage here as the Cardinals were the worst hitting team in the majors against left-handed pitching last season (.230 BA) and their lineup got a little bit worse. All in all, Liriano is in a favorable spot here with the lowest total on the slate, but be aware that his numbers weren’t as good at home than they were on the road last season. Most of his home struggles came earlier in the 2015 season, but take a look at his splits from last year:

Wainwright is coming off a much different season in 2015 as he only pitched 25 innings in April before missing nearly five months with an Achilles injury. He did come back and was used sparingly out of the bullpen at the end of the regular season and their only round of the playoffs, allowing 2 ER in 8.1 IP. What most people don’t remember about Wainwright is that prior to last season, he was coming off of minor elbow surgery and an abdomen pull. For a guy that will turn 35 later in the season, these are all things that clearly forecast a downfall.

Neither offense is one that I would certainly incite the full fade on. In addition, PNC Park surrendered the 11th most homers on average last season and the wind is supposed to be blowing out at around 20 MPH.

Here are the career numbers for each pitcher against the current members of each opponent:

OUT: Jung-ho Kang

According to the numbers, it’s feasible to think that the Pirates can jump on the Cardinals a couple times at the top of their lineup. Gregory Polanco, Josh Harrison, Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte would all be in play for me.

OUT: Jhonny Peralta

It’s going to be uphill battle for the Cardinals without their starting shortstop, but I think you could find some success in guys like Matt Holliday or Randall Grichuk.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS -108 (Marcus Stroman) @ TAMPA BAY RAYS (Chris Archer) – 4:05 pm

The bottom and top of North America do battle down in St. Petersburg, Florida today and a lot of people are interested to see how the Blue Jays come back after winning the AL East. Their first test this season won’t be an easy one, though, but the big bats should be a nice mix with the big arm.

Archer faced the Jays a whopping six times last season and had a tale of two cities against them, going 3-0 in his first three stars, posting stats of 22 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 25 K- pretty damn good, lad…pretty damn good! (Hopefully you saw EuroTrip) – The last three times Archer faced the Jays, all after the All-Star break, he posted stats of 15.2 IP, 20 H, 12 E, 12 K. Did he get tired? You could say that; it should be noted that Archer only lasted seven innings or more four times in 15 starts after the break. I’d be willing to bet that we see the pre-break Archer today.

Here’s the numbers for Archer against all of the current Jays he’s faced in his career. It’s worth noting that they’re collectively batting a putrid .174 against him and have struck out once every 3.76 at-bats.

Since the Jays lost David Price, they have to turn to Stroman as their ace. Since he’s not a household name amongst casual baseball fans, people will think of Stroman and say, “Oh man, that sucks.” However, he only pitched in four games last season due to an ACL tear, but in 2014 he had an 11-6 record with a 3.65 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. In this matchup, it’ll be a difficult task to pull out the win head-to-head over Archer, but he does take on a Rays’ offense that scored the sixth-fewest runs in the MLB in 2015 and also struck out the ninth-most (most in 2015 out of all teams on Sunday’s slate).

NEW YORK METS -119 (Matt Harvey) @ KANSAS CITY ROYALS (Edinson Volquez) – 8:37 pm

We have a rematch of last year’s World Series, which is incredibly unusual, but with MLB’s exciting new season-long interleague matches this is the fun we’re afforded tonight. For me, it seems like the Mets’ bats are the ones to target as Volquez is the most erratic of the pitchers on the slate. However, if that’s the route you choose to go in, just know that the Royals bullpen is one of the best in the business. There’s not much of a history with Harvey against the Royals, but Volquez spent most of his career with the Reds before coming to KC. Here are his numbers against the current roster of Mets:

In the beginning of the season, it’s tough to gauge these teams but I’ll put my monies on the Mets’ offense tonight in the late night hammer. Travis D’Arnaud, Lucas Duda, Asdrubal Cabrera and Michael Conforto are all great sources of value priced under $3000. Statistically, right-handed hitters had more success against Volquez last season as they batted 22 points higher than lefties; in this scenario you could pay up a little more for Yoenis Cespedes or David Wright, but they’re not my cup of tea tonight.

On the other side of the diamond, the Royals certainly have some guys in play tonight as well. First and foremost, one of my favorite players in MLB DFS to use is Alcides Escobar– he’s the leadoff hitter for the defending champs and priced ridiculously low. That’s mostly because he doesn’t have the greatest offensive statistics, but what he lacks in that area, the Royals shortstop makes up for it with steals and timely hits. Escobar is even a little more valuable this year on FanDuel since there aren’t any negative points, but his price is still very low because he’s had more than a few 0-fors in his career.

I really like rollin’ out Lorenzo Cain more often than not- the guy has every single tool in his arsenal and can load it up on fantasy boards all over the joint. Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales also in play for me as well. Morales has homered in two of his last three spring training games.