MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Tuesday, April 30th

Welcome to our MLB DFS picks and playbook for Tuesday, April 30th, featuring a thrilling 12-game main slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel. As the season progresses, every game becomes increasingly crucial, making each lineup decision all the more important for DFS enthusiasts. 

With a plethora of matchups to choose from, strategic lineup construction becomes paramount in gaining an edge over the competition. Today's slate offers a diverse range of opportunities, with a mix of marquee pitching matchups and enticing hitter-friendly ballparks. From powerhouse offenses to underrated pitching gems, there's no shortage of potential game-changers to consider when crafting your winning lineup. 

Whether you're a seasoned veteran or new to the DFS scene, this playbook is your guide to navigating the complexities of Tuesday's slate. In this playbook, we'll dissect the matchups, analyze player performance trends, and identify key factors that could impact the outcome of each game. 

From identifying value plays to pinpointing high-upside stars, we'll provide the insights you need to construct lineups that maximize your chances of success. So, grab your spreadsheets, crunch those numbers, and let's dive into the world of MLB DFS picks for April 30th.

MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, April 30

MLB Weather Today, April 30

Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets

• Rain in the area, could cause delay during the game. Will need further updates closer to roster lock.

MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

The top end pitching on this slate is strong with Peralta and Lopez in their matchups against the Rays and Mariners. The mid-tier lacks a lot of punch and there is an obvious value play with Simeon Woods Richardson going up against the White Sox. 

Depending on how and where you save money will determine the lineup construction. I'm looking at targeting Hunter Brown with the Guardians lineup as a core stack today and think the Oakland A's could have some interesting pieces as a contrarian build against Mitch Keller who has really struggled since the second half of last season. This is also a slate where I look at the Minnesota Twins lefties even with their recent price increases.

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options For Strikeouts

• Freddy Peralta vs. Tampa Bay Rays
• Reynaldo Lopez vs. Seattle Mariners
• Mitch Keller vs. Oakland Athletics
• Cole Ragans vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Best Odds For A Win

• Freddy Peralta vs. Tampa Bay Rays
• Reynaldo Lopez vs. Seattle Mariners
• Jon Gray vs. Washington Nationals
• Logan Webb vs. Boston Red Sox
• Simeon Woods Richardson vs. Chicago White Sox

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Reynaldo Lopez, Atlanta Braves

We can't not go back to the well here with Lopez, especially in this matchup against the Seattle Mariners who boast the league's highest strikeout rate against right-handed pitching this season. Lopez has allowed two total earned runs this season with 24 strikeouts over 25 innings and Lopez is sitting as a Braves sit as road favorites today.

Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers

Top priced starter on this slate and getting most of the rostership today. The Rays offense has really struggled to start the season and we know Peralta can be a strikeout machine when he gets going. The Brewers are -185 home favorites here today which puts Peralta in a good spot to get the win here today.

Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants

The ground ball rates are insane for Webb right now and those ground balls are driving his recent run where he has allowed just three total runs over the last four games. The Red Sox offense has been better of late, and they are getting Vaughn Grissom and Garrett Cooper added to their lineup as soon as tonight, but I still have faith in Webb to limit the damage here and the Giants to score off the Red Sox pitching staff.

Simeon Woods Richardson, Minnesota Twins

He was the highest rostered pitcher when he started against the White Sox at min-price last time out and he met expectations. He's more expensive today but still the more popular value play on this slate. Yes, the White Sox offense have been scoring more runs lately than they were during the first few weeks, but SWR is a talented pitcher that can put up some decent strikeout numbers.

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

• Houston Astros vs. Carlos Carrasco
• Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Jordan Montgomery
• Minnesota Twins vs. Chicago White Sox
• Texas Rangers vs. MacKenzie Gore

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Jose Ramirez, 3B Cleveland Guardians

If you have paid any attention to the season Astros pitcher Hunter Brown is having this year then you know why to expect a lot of Guardians in my lineups here today starting with Jose Ramirez whose ability to hit for power and steal bases gives him a ton of DFS upside on a night-to-night basis.  As a switch-hitter, historically, this has been the stronger side of the split for Ramirez as well while lefties own a .462 wOBA, .580 slugging percentage and a .395 average against Hunter Brown this season.

Edouard Julien, 2B Minnesota Twins

It wasn't too long ago that Julien was cheaper on these DFS slates but when you hit .355 with three homers, one stolen base and an OPS of 1.201 over the last 10 games the cost goes up. We saw these hot streaks from Julien last season and the Twins lineups is again one of my favorite stacks today against White Sox starter Mike Soroka.

Trevor Larnach, OF Minnesota Twins

Sure, lets double up the Twins love here in the Core Plays section today. Larnach is hitting cleanup most days here for the Twins and has been on fire since being moved into their lineup, hitting .379 with two homers and an OPS of 1.096 on the season. He's still priced below $4,000 on DraftKings which makes him a nice bargain given the matchup.

Tyler Nevin, 3B/OF Oakland Athletics

If you watched the MLB DFS Preview Show you would have heard me call out the fact that I had been playing a lot of Nevin lately, which included last night and he once again came through with a homer and two RBI. He is dirt cheap and I don't think much of Alex Wood these days. Don't sleep on a near min-price play today that is hitting over .300 with an OPS over .900 over his last 10 games just because he plays on the Athletics.

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Player Pool

• DraftKings
• FanDuel

$ Tier	SP	1B	2B	3B	SS	OF
High	Reynaldo López $10,800		Mookie Betts $4,700	José Ramírez $4,000	Elly De La Cruz $4,400	Shohei Ohtani $4,400
	Freddy Peralta $10,400					Adolis García $4,000
	Logan Webb $10,200					Kyle Tucker $3,900
						Yordan Alvarez $3,800
Medium	Cole Ragans $9,200	Josh Naylor $3,600	Edouard Julien $3,300	Alec Bohm $3,700	CJ Abrams $3,800	Teoscar Hernández $3,400
	Simeon Woods Richardson $8,300	Pete Alonso $3,500	Andrés Giménez $3,000	Manny Machado $3,300	Trea Turner $3,600	Kyle Schwarber $3,300
		Rhys Hoskins $3,100			Dansby Swanson $3,100	Steven Kwan $3,200
		Justin Turner $3,000			Blaze Alexander $3,000	Trevor Larnach $3,200
						Byron Buxton $3,100
						Michael Conforto $3,100
Low		Alex Kirilloff $2,900	Nico Hoerner $2,900	Alex Bregman $2,700	Amed Rosario $2,800	Andy Pages $2,900
		Vladimir Guerrero $2,900	Xander Bogaerts $2,800	Tyler Nevin $2,400	Carlos Correa $2,800	Jacob Young $2,900
		LaMonte Wade $2,700				J.D. Martinez $2,800
						Jackson Merrill $2,600

Stacks

Phillies	Johan Rojas	Alec Bohm	Kyle Schwarber	Bryce Harper
DraftKings	3100	4800	5500	5900
Fanduel	2600	3700	3300	3500

Guardians	José Ramírez	Will Brennan	Steven Kwan	Josh Naylor
DraftKings	5800	3400	5000	5100
Fanduel	4000	2800	3200	3600

Astros	Jose Altuve	Jeremy Peña	Kyle Tucker	Yordan Alvarez
DraftKings	5600	4600	5800	5600
Fanduel	4000	3000	3900	3800

Twins	Ryan Jeffers	Trevor Larnach	Alex Kirilloff	Edouard Julien
DraftKings	4400	3800	4100	4400
Fanduel	3500	3200	2900	3300

Athletics	Seth Brown	Brent Rooker	Esteury Ruiz	Tyler Nevin
DraftKings	3100	4000	4200	2400
Fanduel	2300	3100	2800	2400

White Sox	Andrew Vaughn	Eloy Jiménez	Tommy Pham	Gavin Sheets
DraftKings	3000	3800	3200	3400
Fanduel	2300	3000	2600	2700