This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
It's the final weekend of April, and Friday offers up plenty of MLB action. There are 12 games on the slate starting at 7:05 p.m. ET or later. To try and help you sort through your options and find some DFS success to kick off the weekend, here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Logan Gilbert, SEA vs. MIA ($10,200): Call me stubborn. Call me obstinate. I fear no reprisals. The Marlins are going to be a bottom-10 offense this season, and could very well finish in the bottom five in runs scored again. There has been some talk of Gilbert perhaps being Cy Young caliber in the past, and this year he seems to have rounded into that form. Through five starts he has a 2.22 FIP and 6.83 K/BB rate. It's early, but those are elite numbers, and most pitchers won't have a five-game stretch that good.
Luis Severino, ATH vs. CWS ($8,000): It's been interesting for Severino in his first season with the Don't-Call-Them-The-Sacramento Athletics. He's had two bad starts, but three very good starts. His bad starts were against the Cubs, who are pacing MLB in runs scored, and the surprising Padres. The White Sox are definitely not their North Side neighbors. This is an opponent that has barely been able to keep its slugging percentage, much less its OBP, above .300.
Seth Lugo, KAN vs. HOU ($7,200): I am not sweating Lugo's homer issues. He's allowed 1.04 home runs per nine innings in his career, and he gave up a mere 0.70 last season. Lugo allowed four homers at Yankee Stadium, and that is a robust lineup in a park that is kind to lefties facing right-handed pitchers. Houston has one viable lefty hitter in Yordan Alvarez. The Astros have also hit 19 home runs in 24 games, so they lack much in the way of power.
Top Targets
It's hard to pull off, "He's hitting .165, but who cares?," and yet Jazz Chisholm ($4,800) is doing just that. You can make that "work" when you have seven homers and six stolen bases. Also, I mentioned Yankee Stadium and its benevolence to lefties, and Chisholm has an 1.014 OPS at home. His struggles have exclusively been on the road. Meanwhile, Jose Berrios allowed 1.45 home runs per nine innings last year, and he's given up 1.88 this season.
Could Steven Kwan ($4,800) plausibly have developed some real power in his age-27 season? Last season he hit 14 homers and slugged .425, both personal highs. This year he's already hit four home runs (and stolen four bases) and has slugged .495. While Tanner Houck's 7.66 ERA is built mostly on allowing 11 runs in 2.1 innings to the Rays…he allowed 11 runs in 2.1 innings to the Rays.
Bargain Bats
The addition of Randy Arozarena ($4,500) last season is paying off this season for the Mariners. He's picked up four homers and eight stolen bases. Also, while many Mariners struggle with the club's pitcher-friendly park, Arozarena has an .847 OPS at home. Even if Cal Quantrill's 8.31 ERA involves some bad luck, he's been as bad as any starter this season. He has a 5.33 FIP, a woeful 0.89 K/BB rate, and his fellow righties have hit a staggering .474 against him.
Drafted fourth overall just last year, and earning Jim Thome comps due to his size and power, Nick Kurtz ($3,500) made swift work of Triple-A. He had an 1.040 OPS in the minors and earned the call-up to play first base (and probably rotate between first and DH with Tyler Soderstrom). Sean Burke looked surprisingly good in his first start of the season, but since then the bloom has fully come off the rose. The righty has a 6.90 FIP and has allowed 2.49 homers per nine innings.
Stacks to Consider
Reds at Rockies (Kyle Freeland): Matt McLain ($6,000), Austin Hays ($5,000), Noelvi Marte ($3,900)
Weather has complicated the "targeting the Rockies" element of this season, and indeed it may rain in Denver on Friday. However, a game is on the docket at Coors Field, and that's going to draw my eye. Freeland has a 4.89 ERA over the last four seasons. Since 2023, righties have hit .302 against the southpaw. The right-handed options for the Reds are a limited selection, but by dint of finding three righties to face Freeland at Coors, I'm content.
McLain has four homers and three stolen bases, but he is still struggling this year. That being said, he's really had issues with his fellow righties. In his career, McLain has a .993 OPS versus lefties. Hays has been remarkable since entering the Reds' lineup. He's played in nine games, but he has an 1.049 OPS in that time. Since 2023, he's slugged .481 versus southpaws. Marte started the year in Triple-A and managed an .860 OPS. Since getting the call to rejoin the Reds, Marte has managed a .996 OPS.
Blue Jays at Yankees (Carlos Carrasco): Vladimir Guerrero ($5,000), Andres Gimenez ($4,700), George Springer ($4,700)
The Yankees, such as Chisholm, have an opportunity against Berrios. Toronto has an even better opportunity against Carrasco. With a 6.53 ERA this year, Carrasco is on pace to finish with an ERA over 5.50 for the fourth time in five seasons. He's also on pace to allow over two home runs per nine innings for the third time since 2019. Now, the Blue Jays lack for lefty bats, but fret not. Carrasco may be a righty, but since 2023, right-handed hitters have averaged .312 against him.
After rebounding and hitting 30 home runs last year, Guerrero has only one this season. However, he's hit .277 with a .373 OBP and six doubles. Vladito is honestly more of a doubles hitter, all things considered, but since 2023 he has slugged .494 against his fellow righties. Last year with Cleveland, Gimenez had a sub-.300 OBP, but managed 22 doubles, nine homers and 30 stolen bases. This season, the second baseman has a sub-.300 OBP once again, but he has four doubles, three home runs and eight stolen bases already. After years of slow decline in Springer, I don't know what's gotten into him, but I hope it continues for at least one more game here. He's slashed .333/.420/.536 with nine extra-base hits and four stolen bases.
