MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Thursday, April 11
Published: Apr 11, 2024
Welcome to Thursday’s MLB DFS Picks and Playbook! We have a travel day today for a handful of teams, so it's a lighter slate than most, but that also means we get day games, which is always great.
The weather not being great today has put a bit of a damper on things, though. This slate definitely is riskier than most, with it being a smaller slate and weather threatening other games as well, but if you want to put a lineup today, you have come to the right place!
Today we get early main slate with a 4-game slate starting at 12:20 PM; this was supposed to be a 5-game slate, but the Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers game has been postponed. This was the game with the top two pitchers of the slate as well, which changed things quite a bit.
Hopefully, the weather cooperates for the other games, and we can still get a good 4 games today and can make some winning MLB DFS lineups, but we will have to keep a close eye on the weather! With that said, let’s jump right into today’s playbook and some of my favorite MLB DFS picks for today!
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MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, April 11
MLB Weather Today, 4/11
- Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers: Postponed
- New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves: Some more rain is coming here later this afternoon, but it looks like it should be clear through game time.
- Milwaukee Brewers vs. Cincinnati Reds: Postponed
MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
The weather has changed everything today. I had written up both Tarik Skubal and Pablo Lopez as favorites today, but neither of them is an option, which makes us pivot. That does mean there will be more money to spend on the offensive side since those were the top 2 options on the slate.
On the offensive side, some of my favorite lineups to target today include the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, and Kansas City Royals.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options For Strikeouts
- Freddy Peralta vs. Cincinnati Reds
- Jon Gray vs. Oakland Athletics
- J.P Sears vs. Texas Rangers
- Allan Winans vs. New York Mets
- Hunter Brown vs. Kansas City Royals
Best Odds For A Win
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Postponed: Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers
There are plenty of reasons to avoid this one: the Cincinnati Reds have a solid offense, the weather isn’t looking great, and Great American Ballpark is tough to pitch in. However, Freddy Peralta is an ace, and with Tarik Skubal and Pablo Lopez gone, he is by far the best pitcher on this slate, even with those concerns. He has huge strikeout stuff, and as long as this game happens, I will be shocked if he is not the top-scoring pitcher of the day.
Jon Gray, Texas Rangers
The first two starts have not been dazzling for Jon Gray, who only went 3.2 innings in each of his first two starts with 5 combined strikeouts. That was against the Cubs and the Astros, and he now faces the Oakland Athletics, so I think we will see him get his first great outing of the year. I think we could see him go at least 5 innings today and still have the strikeout stuff to push 6+ pretty easily against this Oakland team.
Hunter Brown, Houston Astros
He hasn’t been that great so far, but it was really just one terrible inning against Texas that crushed his numbers and other than that, he has still looked pretty good. Kansas City is still a decent place to pitch, even with the Royals' offense being much better than the last few years, but I am okay with going back to Hunter Brown today as a pitcher I really believe in.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Atlanta Braves vs. Jose Quintana
- Texas Rangers vs. JP Sears
- Milwaukee Brewers vs. Nick Martinez
- Houston Astros vs. Brady Singer
Core MLB DFS Hitters
Note: Will Be Updated as Official Starting Lineups Are Released
Jonah Heim, C Texas Rangers
Jonah Heim hit his first homer of the season on Tuesday and then followed it up with another two hits and two RBIs yesterday. He is a better hitter against lefties and has a good matchup against Sears today. This Rangers offense is so strong, and with Heim hitting in the middle of it, he is a great option at Catcher today, coming in at a reasonable price for the matchup he gets.
Postponed: Rhys Hoskins, 1B Milwaukee Brewers
Rhys Hoskins kicks off my Brewers love for the day. This weather is concerning me, though, so hopefully, this stack doesn’t get killed by that. I know he hasn’t done anything incredible yet this season, but he is looking solid at the plate for someone who hasn’t played since 2022. He gets to face Nick Martinez today in the best home run park in all of baseball in Cincinnati and is a great choice at first base.
Postponed: Brice Turang, 2B Milwaukee Brewers
Going to another Brewer today at second base. Brice Turang, this season, is batting .353 with 7 steals and a homer already. While he isn’t going to keep that up all season, he has been locked in at the plate to start the year and is still incredibly cheap, so I am happy to ride the hot hand and pair him up with some of these other Brewers I like today in Great American Ballpark (aka Coors Lite).
Postponed: Willy Adames, SS Milwaukee Brewers
I tried to find someone I liked better, so I wasn’t giving you three straight Brewers hitters as my favorites, but I don’t like anyone better than Willy and I am not going to give you a write-up on what I think is a worse option just to avoid being repetitive but be prepared to pivot with me if this game gets postponed.
Willy Adames crushes right-handers, is hitting right in the heart of what has been a very productive offense so far and is cheaper than many of the other options today (many of which have much worse matchups), making him incredibly appealing.
MJ Melendez, OF Kansas City Royals
MJ Melendez has been fantastic through his first 10 games this season, with a .333/.421/.727 slash line, which includes 3 homers and a steal. Hunter Brown is a pitcher I like, but if you aren't playing Brown, I think this young Royals team still has the potential to do some damage against him today. I think Melendez is coming in too cheap for how talented a hitter he is.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Freddy Peralta  $9,900 | William Contreras $3,500 |  Matt Olson $4,400 | Ozzie Albies $4,200 | Austin Riley $3,800 |  Bobby Witt $3,800 | Ronald Acuña $4,100 |
 Marcus Semien $3,700 | Corey Seager $3,600 |  Yordan Alvarez $4,500 | |||||
| Christian Yelich $3,900 | |||||||
| Medium | Jon Gray $7,400 | Rhys Hoskins $3,100 | Brice Turang $3,200 | Maikel Garcia $3,100 |  Willy Adames $3,000 |  Kyle Tucker $3,400 | |
 Pete Alonso $3,000 |  Zack Gelof $3,300 |  Alex Bregman $2,800 | Francisco Lindor $3,000 | MJ Melendez $3,200 | |||
 Will Benson $3,200 | |||||||
| Low | Hunter Brown $6,900 | José Abreu $2,400 | Jeff McNeil $2,600 | Brett Baty $2,600 | Brandon Nimmo $3,100 | ||
| Jackson Chourio $3,100 | |||||||
| Wyatt Langford $2,900 |
Stacks
| Brewers | William Contreras | Rhys Hoskins | Christian Yelich | Brice Turang | Willy Adames |
 DraftKings | 4800 | 4700 | 5200 | 3400 | 4400 |
| Fanduel | 3500 | 3100 | 3900 | 3200 | 3000 |
| Braves | Ozzie Albies | Austin Riley | Marcell Ozuna | Matt Olson | Ronald Acuña |
| DraftKings | 5500 | 5700 | 4800 | 6000 | 6500 |
| Fanduel | 4200 | 3800 | 3900 | 4400 | 4100 |
| Astros | Jose Altuve | Alex Bregman | Yainer Diaz | Kyle Tucker | Yordan Alvarez |
| DraftKings | 5200 | 4600 | 4200 | 5600 | 5900 |
| Fanduel | 3600 | 2800 | 2800 | 3400 | 4500 |
| Rangers | Adolis García | Marcus Semien | Corey Seager | Jonah Heim | |
| DraftKings | 5300 | 5000 | 6100 | 3800 | - |
| Fanduel | 4300 | 3700 | 3600 | 2700 | - |
Player News
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that Zach Eflin (lat) is likely to return and start Sunday against the Angels
It was assumed that Eflin would be back this weekend, but now we have a concrete date. The 31-year-old may not be at full strength after throwing fewer than 60 pitches in his rehab start, but the Orioles feel confident enough to have the right-hander back on the bump for the series finale against the Angels.
Riley Greene is not in the lineup for the first game of a doubleheader against the Rockies on Thursday.
Greene will get a break and likely return to the lineup for the second game of the twin-billing. Zach McKinstry will get the start in left field while Greene rests.
Yu Darvish (elbow) is facing live hitters on Thursday.
Darvish has been throwing bullpen sessions and traveled to the team’s complex in Arizona to face live hitters on Thursday. It will be his first time facing live batters since a spring training appearance on March 13th. He will likely need a few sessions like this before the Padres can map out a rehab appearance timeline for him.
Adael Amador is starting at second base and batting ninth for the Rockies on Thursday.
Amador has now started three of the last four games at second base for the Rockies. He’s gone just 7-for-43 this season with 15 strikeouts in 16 games. He’s just 22 years old, so there is plenty of time for him to adjust to the MLB level, but he doesn’t need to be on redraft radars right now.
Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting second for the Orioles on Thursday against the Twins.
With Cedric Mullins sitting out on Thursday, Gunnar Henderson will bat lead off, and Holliday will jump up from sixth in the order to second. Holliday is riding a hot streak right now, and the Orioles are taking advantage. This is likely just a one-game sample with no Mullins or Adley Rutschman in the lineup, but Rutschman has been struggling, so perhaps it could become a more permanent spot in the lineup for Holliday moving forward.
Endy Rodriguez (finger) had his splint removed this week.
Rodriguez suffered a lacerated right index finger on April 14th. Now that he is out of his splint, he “is playing catch and doing a slightly modified swing.” Once he can progress to taking full swings, we’ll have a better sense of the timeline for his return.