Yesterday, I made my bed for Opening Day by picking Clayton Kershaw as my starting pitcher – and now I’ll have to lie in it.

I spent $11,700 – or about one-third of my $35,000 salary cap – on one player. Now there’s only $23,300 left to allocate on the remaining eight hitters – which works out to an average of $2,913 per player. For sure, I’m not going to find any power hitters.

But based on my initial research, when you’re playing in contests with 100 players or less, the way to go is to select the best pitcher available. You don’t pretend you’re Andy Reid – to mix sports metaphors – and try to outsmart everyone else. You pick the best pitcher, patchwork your lineup around him, and hope he follows form.

So Clayton Kershaw is my starting pitcher. Based on his past performance against the San Diego Padres last season, he should earn somewhere between 20 and 24 points.

When I selected Kershaw for $11,700, that left $23,300 – or $2,913 per player to be spread among the eight players I need to draft.

Now I’m going to go through position by position by scrolling down the lists and looking for players in the $3,000 range.

Remember – You can make changes to your lineup between now and when the lineups are posted on Opening Day in case the player you want is benched or injured.

Note – FPPG stands for “Fantasy Points Per Game.”

FanDuel does the heavy lifting by calculating everyone’s FPPG for you. In a situation like this, where I’m just trying to fill out my roster, that comes in handy. At each position, I’ll find a range of players who meet my salary requirements. Then I’ll have to subjectively decide who to play by – for the most part – relying on FanDuel’s FPPGs. Of course, I might make a couple of decisions by flying by the seat of my pants.

OK – let’s go.

Catcher – Scrolling down, there’s a spread of nine catchers between Yasmani Grandal at $3,000 and Chris Iannetta at $2,770. Their FPPG’s range between 1.6 and 2. Russell Martin’s 2.6 FPPG was a little too rich for $3,100 – the way I figure – playing in 60-degree Yankee Stadium against Masahiro Tanaka.

I like Jarrod Saltalamacchia – 1.8 FPPG for $2,700 – because I think Miami, playing at home, will beat the Braves. I also hope the switch-hitting Saltalamacchia has a productive day off of Julio Teheran or whoever comes in to relieve Teheran.

Taking Saltalamacchia bumped my Avg/Player up $30 to $2,943 – every little bit helps at this point.

First Base – There’s an array of eight first-basemen from Jonathan Singleton at $2,800 to Justin Smoak at $2,700. Their FPPG’s range from Smoak’s 1.5 to the Twins DH (listed at 1B) Kennys Vargas at 2.6 – which stands out like the proverbial sore thumb.

Vargas looks like a steal to me – so I take him . . .

. . . and bump my Avg/Player up to $2,983.

Second Base – Seven players from Rougned Odor at $3,000 to Rickie Weeks at $2,800 and ranging from Micah Johnson’s zero – guessing he’s a rookie – to Justin Turner’s 2.1.

I picked Justin Turner for $2,900 and bumped my Avg/Player to an even $3,000.

Third Base – I’m trying to steal one here by playing a hunch and taking Phillies third-baseman Cody Asche for $2,500. The Phils are hosting the Red Sox and facing Clay Buchholtz with a 5.34 ERA. I’m hoping Asche will try to impress the Opening Day crowd in Philly with a big game.

That move bumps my Avg/Player to $3,125 – which will give me a little flexibility when picking the rest of my players.

Shortstop – Decided to use some of that flexibility at short. Considered Daniel Santana (2.9 FPPG for $3,300) and Alexei Ramirez (2.3 for $3,200). Went with Santana’s 2.9 FPPG – a slashing switch-hitter playing in a hitter’s ballpark – which dipped my Avg/Player to $3,067.

Outfield – There’s $9,200 left to spread around the outfield.

There are some good options in my price range. I’m looking at four outfielders – Carlos Beltran (2.1 FPPG and $3,100), Michael Cuddyer (3.1 and $3,100), Tori Hunter (2.4 and $3,000), and Ben Revere (2.2 and $3,000).

I took Carlos Beltran and Tori Hunter for two OF positions.  That leaves me with $3,100 for my last pick – which I narrowed down to a choice between Michael Cuddyer and Ben Revere.

Michael Cuddyer with a 3.1 FPPG looks like a no-brainer over Ben Revere at 2.2 FPPG. But Cuddyer’s facing $-zillion hired-gun Max Scherzer on the road in D.C. while Revere is batting against Clay Buchholtz at home.

For this pick, I chose to defy the Law of Averages and went with Ben Revere – which brought me in $100 under the cap.

So my lineup for Opening Day is set . . .

. . . but my lineup is not set in stone. I’ll be able to check for benchings and/or injuries, or to change my mind right up to the first pitch on Opening Day.

Good luck to you – and me.

If you haven’t opened up an account at FanDuel yet, enter the code BMF100 to receive a 100% deposit match bonus for your first deposit – limit $200. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP AND GET YOUR BONUS.

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