Daily Fantasy Baseball 2015: Best MLB Pitcher Stats, Picks for April 23

As busy as Thursday's getaway day is for daytime daily fantasy baseball action, we get the manageable variables of MLB's four-game evening slate to break down the best pitcher starts and picks for April 23. There are a number of cost-efficient pitchers to pick through if you're not going with the sole ace on the board, Chris Sale ($11,000).

1. Yordano Ventura, Kansas City Royals ($7,100)

Here is the best number with regard to our top starting pitcher daily pick of Thursday night: Ventura's price. He comes to us at a bargain because of his poor past outing, which ended in an ejection. Also, in Ventura's first start against the White Sox earlier this season, he allowed just a solo homer in six innings. Sure, he is opposing Chris Sale, but the price on Ventura is better.

2. Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox ($11,000)

Even if Sale is on the short end of the result Thursday night against the first-place Royals, he is going to score his DraftKings points through strikeouts. He has 14 in his first 12 innings. We are cold on his price and matchup, but you cannot ignore the strikeouts racking him up 15-plus fantasy points here.

3. Chris Tillman, Baltimore Orioles ($6,500)

Tillman is next in the line of bargain plays. He has had two good outings, but the awful one against the Toronto Blue Jays—his Thursday night opponent—is keeping his price low. Tillman bounces back here with six quality innings and six strikeouts.

4. Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox ($7,400)

It is not that we don't believe in Buchholz, especially against the Tampa Bay Rays. It is just that we cannot trust him. Buchholz, like Tillman, has had two good starts and one woefully bad one. We have a hunch we will see the good Buchholz, who has also carried with him a lot of strikeouts this season. Buchholz has fanned 19 batters in just 16.1 innings. He hasn't tended to be a high-strikeout pitcher in his career, though.

5. Jake Odorizzi, Tampa Bay Rays ($8,200)

The Boston Red Sox are not a favorable matchup, but even a loss can feature a strikeout per inning and double-digit fantasy points. Most of the Red Sox's primary offensive weapons don't have great past numbers against the young right-hander, with David Ortiz (.100, 1-for-10) being eye-poppingly the worst.

6. Jesse Chavez, Oakland Athletics ($4,300)

Chavez, the A's swing man earning a spot start—his first of the season—is either going to be a DFS steal or a huge bust. We are going with the latter because he is not stretched out to last long as a starter. We might be looking at five innings at best. The good news is the basement price would allow you to stock some monster bats in your lineups.

7. Drew Hutchison, Toronto Blue Jays ($6,700)

His price is inexplicably high for a pitcher with a 7.20 ERA on the season. Hutchison hasn't made it through the fifth inning in either of his past two starts, so he is a dangerous pick. With the superior options above on the board, you should avoid this risky play at any price.

Note: Nick Tropeano is making the spot start for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's C.J. Wilson (elbow). Tropeano is not listed in the DraftKings player pool for Thursday's action, so we ignore him here.

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Eric Mack, one of the giants among fantasy writers, is the Fantasy Football Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, where you can ask him endless questions about your team, rip him for his content and even challenge him to a head-to-head fantasy game.