MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Thursday’s Games: MLB Opening Day, 3/27
Published: Mar 27, 2025
Opening Day for the 2025 MLB season is finally here!
We've gotten through MLB Spring Training, and we've even already had two regular season games with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs taking part in the Tokyo Series but here we have the official start of the MLB year for the other 28 MLB teams.
With MLB Opening Day kicking off we welcome you to the official start of the MLB DFS season with nine games over on DraftKings and 11 games over on FanDuel. The latter includes both games starting at 3pm ET while the former is sticking with just the 4pm window.
This season's MLB DFS picks and playbook will consist of a pitcher and hitter core players section with written analysis, player pool grid and core stacks section.
The core player section should be used as a starting point for all lineups, you may not be able to use all players in the same lineup, but those players should be the building blocks for you on a given night.
The player pool grid will feature both players from the core player section along with additional plays to help you build a complete lineup. The grid will be broken into top priced players, mid-priced players and value tier players.
The stacks section will bring you are favorite lineups stacks for the day and which players we would look to include in those stacks based on matchups and pricing.
There will also be a daily MLB DFS Show with a variety of hosts ranging from myself and James Grande. The MLB DFS Show will give you an initial outlook on the day's MLB DFS slate and should give you a good base for the start of your research each day!
Make sure you subscribe to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel so you never miss a show! Also, join the Fantasy Alarm Discord to get your DFS lineup questions answered by our MLB DFS team! Plus, as always, be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the Daily MLB Projections, MLB DFS Rostership Projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting!
With that said, let's get to breaking down my top MLB DFS picks for the slate on Opening Day of the 2025 MLB season!
Opening Day DFS Picks & MLB Playbook
MLB Weather: Opening Day, 3/27
San Francisco Giants vs Cincinnati Reds
- Rain in the area which could cause a late start.
Cleveland Guardians vs Kansas City Royals
- 30% Chance of rain, winds blowing out.
Minnesota Twins vs St. Louis Cardinals
- Could see delayed start but nothing that would cause too much issue once game begins. Winds blowing out.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
It's MLB Opening Day which means each team is sending their best starting pitcher to the mound. To no surprise the most expensive pitcher on today's slate is Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes as he takes on the Miami Marlins. Ownership is heavy on Skenes. On FanDuel you only need one starting pitcher so using Skenes and moving on is certainly the easy thing to do. On DraftKings we need a second starting pitcher and there are a few mid and value tier options that are getting a lot of love right now when it comes to the rostership projections.
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
As I said above, Skenes is the highest priced and highest projected rostered pitcher on today's main slate. The Pirates are -155 favorites on the moneyline against the Marlins in a game with the lowest implied run total which is set at 6.5 runs.
Skenes had a dominant spring, making five appearances and finishing with 23 strikeouts over 18.0 innings. Pitch count shouldn't be a concern here either with Skenes maxing out at 85 pitches during his second to last spring outing.
Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox
Yes, I am a Red Sox fan but I'm not going to let any homer tendencies cloud my judgment when it comes to building MLB DFS lineups and therefore, allegiances aside, I find Crochet to be AS VIABLE of a play on this slate as Paul Skenes and you get him at a price discount.
Crochet, of course, had a very interesting 2024 season which saw him burst onto the scene and become one of the leagues most dominant starting pitchers. He then demanded a contract, made some veiled threats about not pitching in the postseason if he is traded and doesn't get extended and the White Sox didn't trade him and decided to limit him to 3-to-4 innings per game.
This offseason saw the blockbuster trade to the Red Sox and Crochet was utterly dominant this spring, allowing just a single earned run over 15.2 innings while racking up 30 strikeouts.
The Rangers last season had the 10th highest team strikeout rate against left-handed pitching and the Red Sox are road favorites in this game with their revamped offense taking on Nathan Eovaldi.
Yusei Kikuchi, Los Angeles Angels
Kikuchi signed a deal in the offseason with the Los Angeles Angels and he's now taking the ball from them on Opening Day. The Angels open the season on the road against the woeful Chicago White Sox who project to be the worst team in the MLB this season.
Given the matchup it makes sense that on DraftKings we see Kikuchi has one of the most popular plays on the board as he finds himself at a cheap price tag and with an elite matchup.
The Angels are -155 road favorites in this game which should really tell you all you need to know.
It also helps that Kikuchi is a decent strikeout pitcher and the White Sox last season had 24% strikeout rate vs southpaws.
The Chicago lineup is pretty dreadful and should be ripe for the picking by Kikuchi.
Clay Holmes, New York Mets
If you want a dart throw for tournaments then take a look at Clay Holmes of the Mets.
Holmes converted to a starting pitcher for the Mets this spring and looked really good doing it.
On DraftKings he is the cheapest pitcher on the board and while the Astros have some good offensive talent at the top of their lineup there is plenty of unproven talent at the bottom of the lineup.
There is certainly some risk here given the opponent but this spring Holmes allowed just two earned runs over 19.1 innings while striking out 23 and if THAT version shows up on Opening Day then he could be a GPP winner.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
The hardest part about building lineups on MLB Opening Day is the fact that every team is pitching their top pitcher on the staff for the most part. What this means is that the hitting matchups are less than ideal and more often than not we are going to get some disappointing scores from some elite players.
Remember, a hall of fame baseball player gets out two out of every three at bats. This is a tough game to be great at and thus the reason that sometimes you can still win some money in MLB DFS even when you have a zero in your lineup.
The highest implied run total today is in the game you can find if playing on the FanDuel slate with the Blue Jays and Orioles game total sitting at 8.5 runs.
For the rest of the main slates we have a couple of games with 8.0 totals with the Giants vs Reds, Angels vs White Sox and Mets vs Astros all tying for the second highest total.
Stacking is key in DFS and finding the right stacks, especially today where offense could come at a premium, will be the key to success.
Core MLB DFS Hitters
Bobby Witt, SS Kansas City Royals
The shortstop position is full of elite talent but let us start off the season with a potential MVP candidate in an offense that should be much improved this season with the addition of leadoff hitter Jonathan India and hopefully a fully healthy year from first basemen Vinny Pasquantino to bolster the top half of the lineup.
Of course, Witt himself has elite power and speed upside which is great when it comes to DFS because it means we can get fantasy production in a number of different ways, especially when he gets on base.
Jarren Duran, OF Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox lineup made some improvements this season by adding Alex Bregman and solidifying their second base position with top prospect Kristian Campbell.
At the top of that lineup is Jarren Duran who is coming off of a career year which saw him hit .285 with 21 homers, 34 stolen bases and 111 runs scored.
Given his spot at the top of a Red Sox lineup that should be scoring plenty of runs and a matchup against veteran righty Nathan Eovaldi who had a very shaking spring and this could be the start to the season the Red Sox are looking for.
Matt Wallner, OF Minnesota Twins
Probably not a name you would have expected to see in the leadoff hitter position but there are reports out there that Wallner will be the Twins leadoff hitter on Opening Day against the Cardinals and this is a prime matchup for the power hitting lefty.
Last season against right-handed pitching Wallner has an ISO of .291 with a .407 wOBA.
He faces Sonny Gray who had a hell of a time keeping the baseball in the ballpark last season, especially in the second half where he allowed 13 of his 21 homers.
Lets look for Wallner to keep his strong splits against right-handed pitching going here this afternoon.
Kristian Campbell, 2B Boston Red Sox
Again, not coming from a place of bias here but the Red Sox have given their starting second base job to rookie Kristian Campbell who was the 2024 Minor League Player of the Year.
After a slow start to the spring we've seen Campbell really mash over the last two weeks and he figures to slot towards the middle of the Red Sox lineup with some projections having him hit as high as sixth.
He has tremendous power and he flashed some speed upside with 20 stolen bases last year across the minors.
Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi had a rough spring and if he struggles with command and pitch location to someone like Campbell he has the bat speed to send that ball a long way.
Player Pool
Stacks
| Angels | Jorge Soler | Luis Rengifo | Mike Trout | Taylor Ward |
 DraftKings | 4200 | 4200 | 5100 | 4400 |
 Fanduel | 2900 | 2900 | 3800 | 2900 |
| Twins | Trevor Larnach | Carlos Correa | Matt Wallner | Byron Buxton |
| DraftKings | 3300 | 4800 | 3900 | 4000 |
| Fanduel | 2800 | 3600 | 3000 | 3400 |
| Royals | Vinnie Pasquantino | Bobby Witt | Jonathan India | Salvador Perez |
| DraftKings | 4600 | 5900 | 4100 | 4200 |
| Fanduel | 3000 | 4300 | 2900 | 3100 |
| Red Sox | Triston Casas | Alex Bregman | Jarren Duran | Rafael Devers | Kristian Campbell |
| DraftKings | 3900 | 4800 | 5400 | 4900 | 3100 |
| Fanduel | 3100 | 3300 | 3700 | 3800 | 2000 |
| Blue Jays | George Springer | Bo Bichette | Anthony Santander | Vladimir Guerrero |
| DraftKings | - | - | - | - |
| Fanduel | 3000 | 2800 | 3400 | 3900 |
| Yankees | Jazz Chisholm | Aaron Judge | Cody Bellinger | Austin Wells |
| DraftKings | - | - | - | - |
| Fanduel | 3100 | 4500 | 3300 | 2800 |