I’m in the hunt for a win in my first Fantasy Baseball contest at FanDuel after picking Adam Wainwright as my pitcher in last night’s season opener between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Learned a couple things in the process:

(1) Make sure the contest you want to play is going to fill up with enough players.

I’d first entered a contest for 100 players, but as the first pitch neared last night in the Opener, it became obvious that not enough players were going to enter.

So I found a contest with 50 players that was near its quota – and entered that one.

(2) My pitcher last night was Adam Wainwright. But one of the hitters I picked was Cubs right-fielder Jorge Solera. In effect what I was doing was playing against myself whenever Solera came to bat against Wainwright.

As it worked out, it didn’t cost me that much because Solera went for the collar.

I lost .25 points when Solera made an out while Wainwright picked up .33 points for getting him out. The net was +.08 points, but I short-changed myself. And if Solera had a big day at the plate, it could’ve cost me dearly.

Lesson – Don’t pick hitters who are batting against your pitcher.

OK – so after last night’s game, I’m in fourth place out of 50 players. Playing a 50/50 contest, I have to finish within the top 25 players to collect.

I like my chances.

Your pitcher is your most important player.

Adan Wainwright won last night’s game and earned 16 points. Going forward into this afternoon’s games, I’m one of nine players who have Wainwright. They can’t pick up any ground on me pitcher-wise. Seven players had Jon Lester last night – and that’s going to hurt them today. They will most likely finish in the bottom 25 and lose.

That leaves 34 players who have a pitcher other than Wainwright or Lester. I’ll be rooting against their pitchers racking up 16 points, or more, and hoping my hitters rack up as many points as possible.

I also had Matt Holliday last night and he earned ­6.5 points with 2 singles, 2 RBIs, 1 walk, and 1 stolen base while making 2 outs.

As previously mentioned, I also had Jorge Solero and lost a full point when he went 0-for-4.

I’ve got six hitters who can add to my point total in this afternoon’s games. Like I said, I like my chances.

Now I’m going to get to work and pick my lineup for another contest – one for just this afternoon’s games.

Barry Bowe is the author of Born to Be Wild, 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant, and 12 Best Eagles QBs.