MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Tuesday, April 2
Published: Apr 02, 2024
Welcome to Tuesday! You get back-to-back playbooks from me to start the week before I take a quick hiatus while traveling. I may have missed the no-hitter call on Ronel Blanco yesterday, but I am willing to take the loss on missing out on a 30-year-old making his 8th major league start going out and throwing a no-hitter.
There is plenty more excitement to come today as we have a handful of guys making their second start of the season now that we have worked back to the front of the rotation for some teams, which makes the DFS landscape a lot more interesting.
We get a great slate of games today, with a 9-game slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel getting underway at 7:10 PM ET. Some fun matchups today with the Toronto Blue Jays looking to bounce back after being no-hit, the Yankees and Diamondbacks continuing their series of high-powered offenses, and the good rivalry ending the evening as the Giants will take on this amazing Los Angeles Dodgers team.
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 2
MLB Weather Today, 4/2
- Detroit Tigers vs. New York Mets: There is a lot of rain in New York today. This one worries me quite a bit, and I would consider avoiding it completely, but maybe things will start to clear up.
- Colorado Rockies vs. Chicago Cubs: There is a lot of rain throughout the day at Wrigley Field. It is supposed to start to clear up around game time, so it should be more of a delay concern than a postponement concern but keep a close eye on it.
- Atlanta Braves vs. Chicago White Sox: See the previous game; this one is also in Chicago.
MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
With rotations turning over, we have a lot of aces going back out on the mound mixed with some lower-end pitchers, which makes for an interesting pitcher landscape. I really don’t trust most of the lower-end pitchers today. I know Crochet just had a great outing, but he now must face the Atlanta Braves.
There are plenty of great options at the top end, though, with Shane Bieber, Framber Valdez, Logan Webb, and Yu Darvish all worth honorable mentions for me. I would avoid Zac Gallen personally, his velocity was way down, and I want to see another start from him before I am paying that price.
On the offensive side a lot of solid options with some of my favorite lineups to target including the Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options For Strikeouts
- Shane Bieber vs. Seattle Mariners
- Yu Darvish vs. St. Louis Cardinals
- Luis Castillo vs. Cleveland Guardians
- Brayan Bello vs. Oakland Athletics
Best Odds For A Win
- Yu Darvish vs. St. Louis Cardinals
- Brayan Bello vs. Oakland Athletics
- Luis Castillo vs. Cleveland Guardians
- Framber Valdez vs. Toronto Blue Jays
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Luis Castillo, Seattle Mariners
Luis Castillo had a bit of a meh start on opening day for the Mariners that may be keeping some people away today but not me. I think Castillo is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball and now gets to face an easier offense in the Cleveland Guardians. I am jumping right back in and think he is the ace to pay up for today if you want to be at the top end of pitching.
Brayan Bello, Boston Red Sox
Braya Bello was the only Red Sox pitcher that didn’t stack a ton of strikeouts in his first outing. Despite only two strikeouts against the Mariners, he still looked solid. Getting to face the Oakland Athletics even if he doesn’t match the strikeout totals that the other Boston starters have been putting up it should certainly be more than two along with a great chance at a win.
Casey Mize, Detroit Tigers
Casey Mize grabbed himself a spot in the starting rotation off of a very strong spring. I’m really excited to see what Mize can do today against the New York Mets. Hopefully he holds a bit of the increased strikeout rate he had through the spring and can put together a strong outing today and is definitely my favorite option on the cheaper end of the pitchers today. Keep an eye on the weather though as that is a concern for this game.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Atlanta Braves vs. Garrett Crochet
- Boston Red Sox vs. Alex Wood
- Houston Astros vs. Jose Berrios
- Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Nestor Cortes
- New York Yankees vs. Zac Gallen
Core MLB DFS Hitters
Note: Will Be Updated as Official Starting Lineups Are Released
Spencer Torkelson, 1B Detroit Tigers
First off, at no other point in the season would you be weighing 3 games of data super heavily when making your decisions so we shouldn’t be doing it now either. Slow start for Tork, but that doesn’t worry me at all. He is a great hitter, and I don’t trust Adrian Houser, so I am very happy taking Torkelson at the first base spot and think he gets things going today.
Ketel Marte, 2B Arizona Diamondbacks
Ketel Marte is a better hitter against lefties in his career. Going against Nestor Cortes who looked very hittable in his first start should be a great opportunity for him to do some damage. He isn’t necessarily a cheap option, and he isn’t Mookie Betts either, but I think this is an ideal spot for Marte.
Eugenio Suarez, 3B Arizona Diamondbacks
Eugenio Suarez has looked locked in at the plate so far as a Diamondback. He provides so much power at the price he comes in at and is hitting in a fantastic Diamondbacks lineup. I clearly am in on the Diamondbacks once again today, but I think Suarez is a fantastic option to go to at third base as a one off even if you don’t want to stack other Diamondbacks with him today.
Xander Bogaerts, 2B/SS San Diego Padres
Xander Bogaerts has been one of the best hitting shortstops for about a decade now (granted he is a second baseman now). He provides a little power, a little speed, is in a great lineup, and gets to face Miles Mikolas today who just isn’t that difficult to hit (he gave up 7 hits and two homers in his first outing). I love the Padres lineup going against Mikolas and if I can have any of them, I probably want it to be Xander Bogaerts at his price.
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Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Luis Castillo  $9,900 |  Christian Walker $3,800 |  Ketel Marte $3,900 |  Austin Riley $3,900 |  Mookie Betts $4,600 | Ronald Acuña $4,500 |
 Shane Bieber $10,200 |  Cody Bellinger $3,400 | Jose Altuve $3,700 |  Rafael Devers $3,700 |  Xander Bogaerts $3,400 |  Juan Soto $4,300 | |
| Yordan Alvarez $4,100 | ||||||
| Medium | Brayan Bello $8,800 |  Spencer Torkelson $3,100 | Gleyber Torres $3,100 | Alex Bregman $3,100 |  Dansby Swanson $3,300 | Kyle Tucker $3,600 |
| Framber Valdez $9,100 | Anthony Rizzo $3,000 |  Ha-Seong Kim $3,300 | Eugenio Suárez $3,200 | Ian Happ $3,400 | ||
| Christopher Morel $3,400 | Jarren Duran $3,300 | |||||
 Tyler O'Neill $3,200 | ||||||
| Low | Casey Mize $7,200 | Jake Cronenworth $2,900 |  Thairo Estrada $3,000 |  J.D. Davis $2,900 | Orlando Arcia $2,900 | Jorge Soler $3,000 |
| Oswaldo Cabrera $2,700 | Trevor Story $2,800 | Chas McCormick $2,900 | ||||
 Mark Canha $2,700 |
Stacks
| Cubs | Dansby Swanson | Christopher Morel | Seiya Suzuki | Cody Bellinger | Ian Happ |
 DraftKings | 4900 | 4500 | 4400 | 5400 | 4600 |
| Fanduel | 3300 | 3400 | 3200 | 3400 | 3400 |
| Astros | Jose Altuve | Alex Bregman | Yainer Diaz | Kyle Tucker | Yordan Alvarez |
| DraftKings | 5300 | 4800 | 3300 | 5500 | 5600 |
| Fanduel | 3700 | 3100 | 2700 | 3600 | 4100 |
| Red Sox | Ceddanne Rafaela | Tyler O'Neill | Jarren Duran | Trevor Story | Rafael Devers |
| DraftKings | 4000 | 4300 | 4700 | 4200 | 5400 |
| Fanduel | 2500 | 3200 | 3300 | 2800 | 3700 |
| Diamondbacks | Ketel Marte | Lourdes Gurriel | Eugenio Suárez | Gabriel Moreno | Christian Walker |
| DraftKings | 5200 | 5100 | 4400 | 3900 | 5000 |
| Fanduel | 3900 | 3600 | 3200 | 2800 | 3800 |
Player News
Cole Ragans (groin) will not make his next start on Wednesday against the Rays.
Royals manager Quatraro added that top pitching prospect Noah Cameron, who holds a strong 3.22 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 27/8 K/BB ratio across 22 1/3 innings (five starts) this season for Triple-A Omaha, will be called up to take the ball in his place. It sounds like the Royals simply want to give their ace a few extra days to recover following an early exit from last Thursday’s start with a mild left groin strain, but we can’t definitively rule out the possibility of an injured list stint. It’s a tough matchup, but there’s definitely some streaming appeal with Cameron in deeper fantasy formats.
Nationals released OF Stone Garrett.
Garrett was off to an abysmal start at Triple-A Rochester this season, hitting .087 (4-for-46) with one steal in 15 games. The 29-year-old corner outfielder got into two games last year for the Nationals after making it back from a gruesome left leg injury that he suffered during the 2023 season. There’s probably an organization out there willing to bring him in on a minor league deal.
Clayton Kershaw (toe, knee) has been scratched from Tuesday’s minor league rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City due to weather conditions.
Kershaw is healthy. The Dodgers aren’t going to take any chances with inclement weather in the forecast and will push his next rehab outing back for now. The 37-year-old future Hall of Famer is eligible to return from the injured list in mid-May.
Mariners placed INF/OF Dylan Moore on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 26, with right shoulder inflammation.
No word yet on how much time Moore is going to miss. The versatile 32-year-old was off to an exceptional start at the plate, hitting .286/.346/.557 with six homers and five steals through 23 games. It’ll be Samad Taylor coming up to take his spot on Seattle’s active roster. There should be some clarity on Moore’s status in the coming days.
Mariners transferred RHP Gregory Santos to the 60-day injured list.
Santos underwent right knee surgery on Tuesday and is facing a lengthy absence following the procedure. The 25-year-old righty has made just 16 relief appearances for the Mariners over the last two years due to injury. The procedural move frees up a spot on Seattle’s 40-man roster.
Cam Smith is not in the lineup for Tuesday’s game against the Tigers.
Smith has gone 4-for-22 in his last games since an impressive two-homer explosion back on April 18. He’s taking a seat for the third time in the past six games. It’ll be Zach Dezenzo in right field on Tuesday night against the Tigers.