Our next installment of “The Hard Nine” has been released. So far, the reviews have mentioned it looks very promising for beginners. If you want to see what will be covered at a glance click on OVERVIEW. This is a 9+ part series that should bring you up to speed on questions the newest player has like key stats, stacking, how to breakdown a slate, etc. We should see a few more articles released this week.

**Editors Note – Get $25 in Free Fanduel Bucks When You Register For a New Fanduel Account with a Minimun $10 Deposit Via This Link! Remember to use Promo Code: CHIEFST

**In case I haven’t mentioned it, and you don’t know where to find the DFS ARMY, just look HERE. We are a growing community of soldiers dedicated to teaching YOU how to build better LUs through education, not selling player picks. Sure, we have premium content if you want a little extra depth, but we don’t have anything lined up for MLB until at least May. So, get in while it’s a free-for-all and see if you like us. You can follow us on Twitter with @ffootballgeek, @dfsarmy, or by hashing our LU clubs….. #50Club for NHL, #300Club for NBA, #Club200 for MLB and see the lineups we’ve taught our platoon to build. Also, #Learn2Build is another great one we use.**

First, an overall view of our games today, where they are played, Vegas view, run line, relevant weather and start times.



Home and Away teams are simple. Ballparks are something you are going to want to know. Great American Park in CIN is a homerun launching pad. Yankee Stadium gives HRs up to lefties. Camden Yards is a nice hitters park. Some others are nasty like San Diego and even STL’s Busch is a pretty bad hitters park. Those tend to benefit pitchers, though. We will break ballpark factors down more in our 10th Inning of “The Hard Nine” when we get there.

The next three columns are from Vegas. Vegas P is more for pitching. The bigger the number, the darker the green, the better your pitcher has a shot at earning the win, per Vegas odds. Vegas B is more for hitters/batters. It’s simply the run total for the game, or the “over/under.” Again, the bigger the better for offensive purposes (darker green). For pitching, you want smaller (red) because you don’t want your pitcher in a high-scoring game obviously. These are further broken down in our 4th Inning of “The Hard Nine” series.

Wx is a “weather” column. Weather in baseball matters. BIG TIME! Again, green is good and red is bad. Yellows and oranges indicate some delay possibilities. Delays are somewhat tolerable for hitters, but really, really bad for starting pitchers. The closer to red, the more you should be off the game for pitching purposes. The number zero indicates a dome team……always nice weather in a dome. This is our 9th Inning piece.

For 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.

For 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.

I will only cover the evening games in this edition of Chin Music….

*Weather is obviously not a concern today.*

ATL @ WAS – This game begins and ends with Strasburg imo. Yes, he’s chalk. No, that shouldn’t surprise you coming out of my mouth. But, I don’t gamble with pitchers often….nor should you. Believe it or not, ATL is currently 9th in all of baseball in striking out at the dish. That falls right into Strasburg’s elite stuff. I’m off ATL bats as they are just not scoring right now. I am on WAS bats and plan to do the anti-ATL thing most of the year.

DET @ PIT – Middle of the pack offenses right now, but oh so much potential in either LU. Vogelsong is not a great pitcher, but man that Vegas line and his near minimum pricing has me intrigued as a GPP punt. Personally, I’m too big of a wuss to pull that trigger, but you might balls up and do it. I wouldn’t argue the logic. Looking at OBP numbers for the last week, I’m pretty excited about how both teams’ bats are reaching base, especially when facing mediocre pitching.

SDP @ PHI – Of course, I’m off the pitching here. A neat little “value stack” that’s nice for cash games is Caesar Hernandez and Mikael Franco. Those guys almost always remain relatively cheap by position and when facing bad pitching like tonight, they can be a great way to stud-up elsewhere. Think about it. I’m rather lukewarm on the SDP bats.

NYY @ TOR – Didn’t work last night, did it? Ha. But, non-elite pitching and some power bats in a home run hitters park? Not anywhere near the mistake like when you took that ugly chick’s phone number at closing time…….and actually called her. I’d be rostering up both sides here in an effort to get away from the chalky games down this list. This rivalry usually produces. I’m inclined to think last night was an outlier and things will normalize at some point.

BAL @ BOS – Another just like above, only those O’s came out swinging last night. Wish I’d told you to be all over Hardy, but I’m rarely going to say that about him. He’s fine, just not elite. BOS is set to launch again with the highest total outside of Coors. Jimenez is just ok, and Joe Kelly strikes fear in no bat.

CLE @ TBR – Vegas is flipping a coin here and giving a rather low total. If you are into some GPP action, Carlos Carrasco is likely your dude. Elite K potential and the Rays are currently 11th in the league when it comes to striking out. If he gets the win, you might have yourself a decent night. Not worth that risk in cash imo, but definitely in GPPs. I’m off both bats.

CIN @ CHC – Normally, I’d see a Vegas line like -220 for Lackey and just scream he should be in your LU. But, here’s what I’m looking at and why I’m taking pause. Spring at Wrigley is really no cause for alarm……summer is. But, Lackey doesn’t carry elite strikeout stuff. Add to that the fact the Reds are ranked 24th in K’s so far and you have a non-strikeout pitcher going against a team that just isn’t striking out. Add in the run scoring (Reds ranked 14th) and you see the Reds aren’t exactly an inept offense. You might get the win here, but you might not have the floor of strikeouts if this game doesn’t go according to Vegas. I don’t like it much. (Hint: Look at Billy Hamilton’s OBP vs Lackey, too……) I’m not afraid to stack Cubbies, though. Alfredo Simon is NOT good. I might use some CIN bats sparingly, but I’m likely on some Cubbies.

CWS @ MIN – Another 50/50 game from Vegas, so I’m not really on any pitching. But, another GPP possibility is Rodon vs MIN. Don’t look now but the Twins are off to a horrid start. They lead the league in strikeout percentage and have scored the fewest runs by a stout margin. You might land a sneaky one here if you have the cojones to roll out Rodon. Also, Phil Hughes sucks and you might want to look at Adam Eaton and Jose Abreu…..maybe some Todd Frazier if you dig the longball. I’m not stacking, but I’ll have some Sox exposure.

KCR @ HOU – Dude….just go basic and roster players in hitters parks. Ventura is a sneaky/risky GPP pitcher, but I’m full on stacking this game when I don’t have pitching exposure. Both sides.

MIL @ STL – Ok, ok….I need to start tasting the crow. My Cardinals actually currently lead the league in runs scored. I’ll tell you the chalkiest thing of all……Hazelbaker, Diaz, and company won’t keep this pace up. But, you can certainly ride the lightning for all it’s worth. I think I’ll have some Cardinal bats today as well….for the first time all year, shamefully. Mike Leake is a heavy Vegas fave, but he is a pitch-to-contact guy with a horrid strikeout rate. He’ll fan a few Brewers because they’ll chase some, but they are also going to put the ball in play. I’m off the MIL bats though because STL is a pitchers paradise and Leake is a ground ball producing machine. Working with the Cardinals is actually going to be a match made in heave for him for quite a few years imo.

SFG @ COL – Double Dude. Do I really need to say it? Avoid pitching, stack hitting. Both sides. Although I’m leaning SFG bats again. It just doesn’t get any juicier than a 12 run total. And, if I was in Vegas I might toss money on the over……it’s Coors.

ARI @ LAD – Dodger stadium blows for hitters. But, that doesn’t mean I’m not taking them. I’m not the least bit scared of stacking Doyers against Rubby de la Rosa. None of these current Dodgers have more than about 10 ABs against him, yet 5 of the bats have rung the Bell de la DingDong. In other words, he sucks….stack against him. As a team, the Dodgers are 4th in runs scored and 10th in OBP. Those numbers facing a notoriously bad pitcher are potential for fantasy gold. We shouldn’t be afraid of Alex Wood either, unless considering rostering him as your pitcher. The D’Backs bats are in play, too. They just aren’t off to the hot start they wanted to be. Segura is swinging the bat well, though. He’d be where I look first.

Pitchers we like – Strasburg, then a bunch of crapshoots. Don’t worry. We’ll get some slates full of better pitching options.

Stacks we like – SFG, COL, BOS, NYY, TOR, WAS, LAD, HOU, KCR, jesus….who’s left?

Look, it’s important to recognize slates like this will backfire. You can take a balanced approach. You can stack. I tend to go balanced when I can’t narrow my stacks down to about 3 teams. The only other way to do this is with multiple LUs. But, on an offensive slate like this, you can still miss.

My recommendation is to pick your spots, play light, and have fun with it. When you don’t have a clear vision of where to go it’s not the time to burn your bankroll on every possibility hoping one pans out. Baseball is funny and you can still swing and miss…..just like your cleanup hitter.