MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Tuesday, April 16

Published: Apr 16, 2024
We've got a 10-game slate starting at 7:07 p.m. ET tonight. With only one game in jeopardy of being postponed, plenty of different lineups will be built. While some pitchers are in a position to bounce back from poor outings to begin the year, other pitchers will likely take a step back after positive momentum to start the year.
That said, check out today's MLB playbook below before you get your lineups in on DraftKings and FanDuel as we present our MLB DFS picks for today, April 16th.
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Check Out Today's MLB DFS Playbook Preview Show
MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, April 16
MLB Weather Today, 4/16
Kansas City Royals vs. Chicago White Sox
- There's a chance for rain and thunderstorms in Chicago around game time. Therefore, this game could potentially rain out.
MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
If we're being honest, there aren't many pitchers I'd trust on this 10-game MLB slate tonight. That ultimately means that we'll see plenty of hits and runs throughout the night.
But while it's important to have the best pitcher on the slate, you'll also want the best hitters. As you'll see below, plenty of bats have good matchups that I'd consider. Find the best hitters that fit in your lineup and roll with it. Don't second guess it, or you'll probably regret it later!
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options For Strikeouts
- Hunter Greene (8.5 +125) vs. Seattle Mariners
- Dylan Cease (7.5 +100) vs. Milwaukee Brewers
- Logan Gilbert (7.5 +105) vs. Cincinnati Reds
- Jared Jones (6.5 +120) vs. New York Mets
- Lance Lynn (6.5 +110) vs. Oakland Athletics
Best Odds For A Win
- Brady Singer (-105) vs. Chicago White Sox (Chance of PPD)
- Lance Lynn (+120) vs. Oakland Athletics
- Dylan Cease (+130) vs. Milwaukee Brewers
- Hunter Greene (+165) vs. Cincinnati Reds
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres
Dylan Cease has struck out 30.3% of batters to begin the season. He's also held the 66 batters he's faced to a .138 ISO and a wOBA of .218. While he's been dominant against righties, Cease has struggled against lefties. Lefties have hit a .250 ISO and wOBA of .355 against him to begin the season.
But here's the thing. The Brewers' projected lineup only has four lefties in it. Those four lefties combined to hit a .143 ISO and wOBA of .320 since last season. They've also struck out 25.2% of the time. As an entire lineup, including righties, the Brewers' projected lineup has struck out nearly 24% of the time since last year and has only hit a .159 ISO. If Cease can get by those four lefties in the Milwaukee lineup, he should be able to get through at least six innings with plenty of strikeouts.
Logan Gilbert, St. Louis Cardinals
Logan Gilbert will pitch for the Mariners tonight. This season, he's struck out 29.9% of batters and walked only 3.9%. While he's allowed an ISO of .189, he's also held opponents to a wOBA of .261. He's struck out 41.2% of lefties this season and has led lefties to a 15.8%-line drive percentage.
Gilbert is in line to face more lefties than righties in the Reds' lineup tonight. Those five lefties in the Cincinnati lineup have struck out 25.5% of the time since last year. While Gilbert could get caught for a long ball, it'll likely come with nobody on base. That's the best-case scenario. The strikeouts will be there for Gilbert tonight.
Hunter Greene, Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati ace has already accumulated 30.1% of strikeouts this season. He's also limited walks to 8.2% and has allowed just a .117 ISO and wOBA of .305 this year. Greene has been dominant against righties. However, despite 35.9% of strikeouts against lefties, Greene has also allowed a .194 ISO and wOBA of .372 to 39 lefties.
While the Mariners certainly have some left-handed power in the lineup, they've also got plenty of batters who strike out at a high rate. The entire Seattle lineup has struck out 25% of the time against righties since last season. Although Greene is a bit of a risk against J.P. Crawford, Jorge Polanco, Cal Raleigh, and Luke Raley, it's a risk worth taking, given that many of the pitchers on the slate are below average.
Lance Lynn, St. Louis Cardinals
With Lance Lynn, you get a mixed bag. While he's struck out 29.5% of batters this season, he's also allowed a .250 ISO and wOBA of .331 to his first 27 righties faced. However, he's in line to face an Athletics lineup that should have only four righties. The rest of the lineup will be left-handed. Lynn has held lefties to a .097 ISO and wOBA of .306.
Beyond all that, this A's projected lineup has also struck out 29% of the time against righties since last year. The entire lineup, including Esteury Ruiz, who has returned to the Athletics, has struck out at least 20.7% of the time against righties since last year. Lynn should rack up the strikeouts. He might get caught for a home run ball or two. But he's got the best odds for a win and should tally a high rate of strikeouts.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Los Angeles Dodgers (5.5, -120) vs. Washington Nationals
- Arizona Diamondbacks (5.5, +114) vs. Chicago Cubs
- Atlanta Braves (4.5, -145) vs. Houston Astros
- Chicago Cubs (4.5, -135) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
- Kansas City Royals (4.5, -120) vs. Chicago White Sox (Potential for PPD)
- San Diego Padres (4.5, -110) vs. Milwaukee Brewers
- Houston Astros (4.5, -105) vs. Atlanta Braves
Core MLB DFS Hitters
Rafael Devers, 3B, Boston Red Sox
The Guardians have penciled in Tanner Bibee for tonight's game against the Red Sox. He's a right-handed pitcher who has already allowed a .303 ISO and woBA of .464 to his first 40 lefties. Bibee is coming into this game with an ERA of 5.93 and has struck out only 17.5% of lefties while giving up 15% of walks.
Meanwhile, Rafael Devers has slugged a .238 ISO and wOBA of .367 against his last nearly 500 righties faced. He's also struck out just 18.8% of the time against righties since the previous year and has walked 9.6% of the time. The Red Sox have many lefties in the lineup against Bibee. That would likely help Devers come up to the plate with runners on.
Ronald Acuna, OF Austin Riley, 3B, Marcell Ozuna, OF
You can pretty much ride with anyone on the Braves but Orlando Arcia and Travis d'Arnaud. The Astros will pitch Hunter Brown, who has imploded to begin the year. The young Houston pitcher is already 0-2 with a 16.43 ERA. He's ultimately been worse against righties, allowing a .300 ISO and wOBA of .737 with only 8.7% of strikeouts and 13% of walks.
Strikeouts and walks weren't issues for Brown last year. However, against 368 righties last season, Brown still allowed a .224 ISO and wOBA of .365. He was still caught by righties many times last year. Therefore, I'm looking at the righties in Atlanta's lineup. Since last season, Ronald Acuna has hit a .249 ISO and wOBA of .436 with only 11.7% strikeouts against righties.
Meanwhile, Austin Riley has slugged a .223 ISO and wOBA of .366 against his last 608 righties. Finally, there's no hotter bat in the National League than Marcell Ozuna since last year. Since then, Ozuna has slugged a .283 ISO and wOBA of .395 against righties.
Willson Contreras, C, St. Louis Cardinals
It can be challenging to get consistent production out of the catcher position. However, Willson Contreras hasn't had an issue producing against lefties since he's been with the Cardinals. Since last season, Contreras has slugged a .234 ISO and wOBA of .398 against lefties. He's also worked 11.1% of walks and has hit 56.1% of hard contact with a 13.4%-barrel percentage.
Tonight, he'll take on JP Sears of the Athletics. He's a lefty who has allowed a .222 ISO and wOBA of .334 to his first 53 righties faced this season. In addition, Sears has induced only 25.6% of grounders from righties and has allowed over 30% of line drives and fly balls from righties instead.
Corbin Carroll, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks should tee off against Kyle Hendricks tonight. Hendricks has already given up a .355 ISO and wOBA of .524 to his first 66 batters of the season. Beyond that, Hendricks has earned just 12.1% of strikeouts and allowed nearly 26% of line drives to begin the year. Hendricks will face many terrific hitters against righties. However, Arizona's best hitter is easily Corbin Carroll against righties.
Since last season, the left-handed hitter has slugged a .254 ISO and wOBA of .385 with only 21.2% strikeouts and 10.2% walks. Carroll has also hit a 49.9% hard contact rate and has knocked nearly 24% of line drives against righties. Hendricks' days are numbered. Back Carroll to have a big day against the Cubs.
Player Pool
Stacks
Blue Jays | Bo Bichette | Justin Turner | Danny Jansen | Davis Schneider |
![]() | 4900 | 4300 | 3100 | 3800 |
![]() | 3200 | 3300 | 2600 | 2800 |
Red Sox | Enmanuel Valdez | Triston Casas | Masataka Yoshida | Wilyer Abreu | Jarren Duran | Rafael Devers |
![]() | 3300 | 4700 | 3800 | 3100 | 4800 | 5100 |
![]() | 2500 | 3000 | 2800 | 2700 | 3400 | 3200 |
Braves | Ozzie Albies | Austin Riley | Marcell Ozuna | Matt Olson | Ronald Acuña | Michael Harris |
![]() | 5700 | 5800 | 5200 | 6000 | 6400 | 4600 |
![]() | 3900 | 3600 | 4000 | 3900 | 4300 | 3200 |
Diamondbacks | Ketel Marte | Lourdes Gurriel | Joc Pederson | Corbin Carroll | Christian Walker |
![]() | 5400 | 5300 | 3900 | 5700 | 5100 |
![]() | 3600 | 3500 | 2600 | 3800 | 3700 |
Dodgers | Mookie Betts | Teoscar Hernández | Will Smith | Shohei Ohtani | Max Muncy | Freddie Freeman |
![]() | 6500 | 5000 | 4600 | 6200 | 4500 | 5900 |
![]() | 4500 | 3500 | 3100 | 4400 | 3400 | 3600 |
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.