Squad Up Daily MLB Early Fantasy Dose: Going, going, Gonzalez

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Here is a look at the Squad Up daily MLB fantasy picture for the seven-game slate beginning at 1:05 p.m. EST on Thursday, April 27:

Hitter Stacks

• Colorado Rockies vs. Washington Nationals (LHP Gio Gonzalez): With a left-handed pitcher taking the mound, the Rockies -- who rank fourth in team wOBA vs. LHPs at .356 -- should be chomping at the bit. There's a number of ways you can construct your stack, but you absolutely want to make sure you roster 3B Nolan Arenado, who boasts an absurdly high .719 wOBA in 25 PAs vs. LHPs.

3-player stack: OF Charlie Blackmon (60K), 2B DJ LeMahieu (57K), 3B Arenado (69K)

• Detroit Tigers vs. Seattle Mariners (RHP Hisashi Iwakuma): Iwakuma made it through two quality starts to begin the season before luck caught up with him. Now, the Mariners' righty holds a poor 5.31 ERA and an even worse 7.51 FIP. As a team, the Tigers rank second in wOBA vs. RHPs -- .348. Even with 1B Miguel Cabrera hurt, Iwakuma could be in for a rough day.

3-player stack: 2B Ian Kinsler (51K), OF Justin Upton (53K), 3B Nicholas Castellanos (52K)

• Atlanta Braves at New York Mets (RHP Matt Harvey): Feeling lucky? Try this Atlanta stack against Harvey. 1B Freddie Freeman and OF Matt Kemp each boasts a wOBA of .394 or better against righties so far this season. Obviously, there is a high risk of failure in exposing your lineup to the once-dominant RHP, but Braves' backers will be in the minority who benefit greatly if he fails.

2-player stack: 1B Freeman (60K), OF Kemp (48K)

Pitcher Breakdown

• TARGET/BARGAIN - RHP Justin Verlander (67K), Tigers (vs. Mariners): Sure, there are cheaper options on the slate, but rolling with Verlander still gives you a healthy 58K per player to spend on your bats -- enough to assemble a veritable all-star team without sacrificing too much pedigree on the mound.

• FADE - LHP Gio Gonzalez (56K), Nationals (at Rockies): Gonzalez has been tremendous so far this season, posting a 1.35 ERA through four starts. A game at high altitude doesn't bode well. His fastball velocity is down along with his strikeouts, and the rate at which he has thrown his curve ball is up. If he hangs a ball over the plate, it's liable to go 400 feet in the opposite direction in quite a hurry.

• CONTRARIAN - RHP Jeremy Hellickson (59K), Phillies (vs. Marlins): The Marlins have a middle-of-the-pack lineup with a number of notable fear-inducing sluggers. Hellickson has a 1.88 ERA through four starts, but a K/9 of just 3.8 -- dangerously low. His ERA isn't going to stay this low, but if he can avoid falling victim to OF Giancarlo Stanton's power, he could hurl another quality start.

Bargain Plays

• C Russell Martin (36K), Blue Jays (at Cardinals): Martin's 23 plate appearances over the past seven days is tied for second-most among all third basemen catchers. His .435 OBP in the span has led to plenty of opportunities to drive in runs -- and score a few himself. Martin ranks second in runs scored among all catchers.

• OF Cody Bellinger (30K), Dodgers (at Giants): Bellinger, one of the top hitting prospects in the game, hit eighth in his debut and then immediately found himself elevated to the very top of the order. Baseball America's No. 7 prospect has put up a .343/.429/.627 triple-slash line in 18 games at Triple-A before his call-up. If he leads off again, there's no reason to think he can't return big value at his price.

Top Fades

• 3B Anthony Rendon (59K), Nationals (at Rockies): Like his teammates, Rendon gets the patented Coors Field price bump. He has gotten off to a slow start so far, hitting just .247 with two doubles and no HRs through 19 games. For just 3K more, spend up on teammate 1B Ryan Zimmerman, who has earned his sky-high salary by hitting .371 with seven HRs and seven doubles.

• SS Carlos Correa (48K), Astros (at Indians): The Astros have a tough draw against Cleveland's former Cy Young winner Corey Kluber. Correa has hit just .209 against RHPs to start the season, and with 2B Jose Altuve dealing with injury, the protection around him in the order is decidedly weaker than usual. If you're looking for a contrarian angle, you may as well just roster Altuve for a similar price if he does indeed play.

• OF Yasiel Puig (47K), Dodgers (at Giants): Puig's season has had mixed results to date. He's batting a career-low .247 but with a career-best 13.8 percent walk rate and has also showed off his power-speed dynamism. Unfortunately, with a .179 wOBA vs. LHPs through 35 plate appearances, Puig is a prime bust candidate against Giants southpaw Matt Moore.

Contrarian Plays

• OF Hunter Pence (44K), Giants (vs. Dodgers): Pence ranks second only to C Buster Posey in terms of effectiveness against left-handed pitchers so far, but with Posey catching Wednesday's late game, he may be held out of Thursday's early afternoon outing. Pence (with a .397 wOBA vs. LHPs this season) is the top contrarian play against Julio Urias.

• C Matt Wieters (50K), Nationals (at Rockies): Wieters is the priciest catcher on the slate -- 3K more than Posey. Bank on most Squad Up players landing on Posey, ignoring the premium matchup Wieters has at Coors Field against rookie Antonio Senzatela.

For up-to-the-minute starting lineups, check out Baseball Press.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)