MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Wednesday, April 24
Published: Apr 24, 2024
Welcome to Wednesday! We have had a strong start to the week, with a lot of winning MLB DFS lineups being made through the playbook and the Fantasy Alarm shows. We are going to keep things rolling today with another great day of baseball games, which means more opportunities to win!
We have a 7-game main slate today on both DraftKings and FanDuel that will be getting underway at 7:05 PM ET. There are a few daytime games as well to keep you occupied while you put your lineups together for this evening, with the Diamondbacks and Cardinals facing off this afternoon and then the Mets and Giants continuing their series after that.
We are dialed into our seven games this evening, though, with plenty of exciting matchups and many different ways we could build our lineups. Let’s dive into some of my favorite MLB DFS picks today and playbook for April 24!
MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, April 24
MLB Weather Today, 4/24
Nothing on today’s slate is looking concerning so far.
MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
Today is a day where I am living on the higher end of pitching.
The cheaper options do not interest me today, and I don’t see much upside possibility, so I am willing to pay a little more for pitching with real upside and find some cheaper options for my offense, with all my favorite pitchers today being in the top 5 most expensive options. The only pitchers I would consider outside of my favorites today are Jon Gray and Spencer Arrighetti, but there is a reason they aren’t among my favorites today: play at your own risk.
On the offensive side, some of my favorite lineups to target today include the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, and Toronto Blue Jays.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options For Strikeouts
- Clarke Schmidt vs Oakland Athletics
- Joe Ryan vs Chicago White Sox
- Garrett Crochet vs Minnesota Twins
- Jon Gray vs Seattle Mariners
Best Odds For A Win
- Reynaldo Lopez vs Miami Marlins
- Clarke Schmidt vs Oakland Athletics
- Joe Ryan vs Chicago White Sox
- Yariel Rodriguez vs Kansas City Royals
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins
There is a reason that Joe Ryan is the most expensive pitcher on today’s slate: he is the best. He has a 29% K-BB rate, which isn’t even that far off from the numbers he put up through over 160 innings last season. We already saw a 12-strikeout game against the Tigers this month, and the White Sox are the worst offense in baseball right now.
A double-digit strikeout game is extremely possible, and it will be shocking if the White Sox are able to put up any offense against him today.
Reynaldo Lopez, Atlanta Braves
Reynaldo Lopez has only given up 1 run through his first 18 innings this season. He has gone 6 innings in each of his 3 starts and has increased his strikeout total in each game, putting up 5, 6, and 7 in each outing. The Miami Marlins offense has been poor so far this season, and they are missing their best power bat, Jake Burger.
The strikeout upside and win potential combination for Reynaldo Lopez is fantastic and he is a good pivot from Joe Ryan if you need to save some money or can pay up and secure both of them today and have a really strong pitching duo if you can build a cheap offense around them.
Clarke Schmidt, New York Yankees
Speaking of strikeout and win potential, Clarke Schmidt is the top strikeout option according to DraftKings (I would argue that Ryan still has better strikeout upside) and the second-best odds to win behind Reynaldo Lopez. The results have been great so far. His WHIP has not been good, sitting at 1.55, but that has come with a .404 BABIP, which certainly won’t remain that high.
He put up 7 strikeouts in each of his last two outings, and the Athletics have the highest strikeout rate against right-handed pitchers.
Garrett Crochet, Chicago White Sox
Garrett Crochet is a much riskier play than the other three today. He has a much higher blowup potential and almost no-win potential. What he does have is strikeout upside. He has over a 32% strikeout rate on the season and has struck out 8 or more in 3 of his 4 starts. Going less than 5 innings in his last two outings isn’t promising, but one of those starts still came with 10 strikeouts.
He will give up some hits and almost certainly not secure you a win, but he might have more strikeouts than anyone else today, so it can still be worth a shot, especially if you aren’t paying up for Joe Ryan.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Atlanta Braves vs Sixto Sanchez
- New York Yankees vs Joe Boyle
- Texas Rangers vs Bryce Miller
- Toronto Blue Jays vs Alec Marsh
Core MLB DFS Hitters
*Note: Will Be Updated As Official Starting Lineups Are Released
Nico Hoerner, 2B Chicago Cubs
Nico Hoerner went 0 for 5 yesterday, but before that, he had a stretch of 7 games in which he piled up 14 hits, including 5 doubles and a triple. He still hasn’t managed to hit a homer yet and only has one stolen base, but certainly, those will start to come as he keeps hitting.
In his first 13 games, he had a .547 OPS, but in his 9 games since, he has had a .940 OPS and is now having a pretty good first month of the season. More importantly, he has been back batting leadoff for the Cubs over the last 5 games, which gives him even more value.
Ha-Seong Kim, SS San Diego Padres
To get an idea of Ha-Seong Kim's fantasy upside, check out his score from Sunday's game against Toronto. He put up 18 fantasy points on DraftKings without recording a hit. He crushed lefties and now gets to face Ty Blach, making his first start of the season in Coors Field.
It is just too hard to ignore the matchup today of getting to face a lefty in Coors to not go after Ha-Seong Kim, even if you aren’t stacking any other Padres with him today (though I would probably throw at least one more in there with him).
Julio Rodriguez, OF Seattle Mariners
Julio Rodriguez was off to a slow start to the season, but he also started pretty slow last season and ended up with 32 homers, 37 steals, and over 100 runs and RBIs as one of the most valuable players in all of baseball.
He is now on a 7-game hitting streak that includes 5 multi-hit games (as well as a 4-hit game), 4 steals, and notching his first homer of the season yesterday. J-Rod looks to have figured things out, and I am ready to jump back in, especially while his price remains this low.
Daulton Varsho, OF Toronto Blue Jays
Daulton Varsho remains incredibly cheap and has been providing great production every day. He was one of my favorite plays on Monday and my home-run call, and he came through. The next day, he delivered yet again with a double, a walk, and a steal.
I really like stacking the Blue Jays again today as they face Alec Marsh, and Daulton Varsho is not just a cheap part of that offense but the best part right now. Varsho leads the Blue Jays in homers, runs, RBIs, Slugging, tied for the lead in steals, and is only 6 points back from Justin Turner in OPS.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Joe Ryan  $10,400 |  Yainer Diaz $4,200 |  Vinnie Pasquantino $4,800 | Jose Altuve $5,500 |  Austin Riley $5,800 | Bobby Witt $6,300 |  Juan Soto $6,200 |
| Reynaldo López $9,200 |  Cal Raleigh $4,000 |  Vladimir Guerrero $4,600 |  Ryan McMahon $5,200 |  Fernando Tatis $6,100 | |||
 Aaron Judge $6,000 | |||||||
| Ronald Acuña $6,500 | |||||||
| Marcell Ozuna $5,500 | |||||||
| Medium | Clarke Schmidt $8,900 | Luis Campusano $3,900 |  Justin Turner $4,200 | Nico Hoerner $4,200 |  Christopher Morel $4,300 | Ha-Seong Kim $4,500 | Julio Rodríguez $5,000 |
 Garrett Crochet $8,600 |  Gleyber Torres $4,100 | Ezequiel Tovar $4,700 | Giancarlo Stanton $4,600 | ||||
| Bo Bichette $4,400 | MJ Melendez $4,500 | ||||||
| Dansby Swanson $4,300 | Jurickson Profar $4,000 | ||||||
| Low | Danny Jansen $3,400 | Anthony Rizzo $3,700 | Cavan Biggio $3,100 | Oswaldo Cabrera $3,800 | J.P. Crawford $3,800 | Daulton Varsho $3,500 | |
 Josh Rojas $2,900 | Alex Verdugo $3,300 |
Stacks
| Yankees | Juan Soto | Anthony Volpe | Anthony Rizzo | Aaron Judge | Giancarlo Stanton |
| DraftKings | 6200 | 4800 | 3700 | 6000 | 4600 |
 Fanduel | 4300 | 3100 | 2700 | 3600 | 3000 |
| Blue Jays | Daulton Varsho | Bo Bichette | Justin Turner | Cavan Biggio | Vladimir Guerrero |
| DraftKings | 3500 | 4400 | 4200 | 3100 | 4600 |
| Fanduel | 3100 | 3000 | 3000 | 2600 | 3100 |
| Padres | Luis Campusano | Xander Bogaerts | Jurickson Profar | Fernando Tatis | Ha-Seong Kim |
| DraftKings | 3900 | 5000 | 4000 | 6100 | 4500 |
| Fanduel | 3200 | 3600 | 3500 | 4700 | 3800 |
| Astros | Jose Altuve | Alex Bregman | Yainer Diaz | Kyle Tucker | Yordan Alvarez |
| DraftKings | 5500 | 4600 | 4200 | 5600 | 5400 |
| Fanduel | 4000 | 2700 | 2900 | 3900 | 3700 |
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.