MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Wednesday, April 3
Published: Apr 03, 2024
We're about to be one week into the season. However, there are still two teams without a win.
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers are undefeated heading into today's slate, which is not something anyone would've predicted a year ago.
We've got a six-game daily fantasy slate that begins at 1:05 pm ET. There's plenty of rain in today's forecast, so we'll try to tip-toe around those games with concerns.
That said, make sure to get your early lineups in on DraftKings and FanDuel as we present to you our MLB DFS picks for today, April 3rd.
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MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, April 3
MLB Weather Today, 4/3
- Kansas City Royals vs. Baltimore Orioles: A lot of rain is coming in Baltimore. The only real way for the Royals and Orioles to get this game in is to move it to later in the day.
- Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies: It's also likely that this game will be pushed back to the late afternoon if the Phillies and Reds intend to play today. It will also be 40 degrees, with winds nearing 20 mph.
- Atlanta Braves vs. Chicago White Sox: There might be some snow in Chicago today! While this game could be played, you should know that the temperature will be in the 30s with 10-15 mph winds.
MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
The obvious is to avoid those three games with weather implications. There are still three games on the early slate that you don't need to worry about the weather.
While a couple of those bad-weather games could play later in the day, you might not get a full nine innings out of batters in those lineups. Your best bet is to stick with the guys you know who will play a full nine innings. This way, you'll have a full lineup of points.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options For Strikeouts
- Corbin Burnes (6.5, -105) vs. Kansas City Royals
- Cole Ragans (6.5, +120) vs. Baltimore Orioles
- Spencer Strider (TBD) vs. Chicago White Sox
- Aaron Civale (5.5, -110) vs. Texas Rangers
- Nathan Eovaldi (5.5, -105) vs. Tampa Bay Rays
- Joe Ross (5.5, -110) vs. Minnesota Twins
Best Odds For A Win
- Nathan Eovaldi (+170) vs. Tampa Bay Rays
- Patrick Sandoval (+180) vs. Miami Marlins
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Chris Paddack, Minnesota Twins
Chris Paddack only threw two games last season and had mixed results. While he struck out eight batters in five innings, he also had a WHIP of 1.40 and an ERA of 5.40.
But if you dig into the analytics of those five innings, he struck out 41.2% of batters and only walked 2.9%. He also allowed an ISO of just .121 and a wOBA of .250. He was maybe just a little unlucky in those five innings.
In Spring Training, he wasn't excellent, but he still struck out ten batters in 13.1 innings and walked just three batters in those same innings.
He'll face a Brewers projected lineup that struck out 24.1% of the time against righties dating back to last year. Five batters in the lineup struck out at least 24.2% of the time, and eight targets struck out at least 21.7% of the time against righties.
Patrick Sandoval, Los Angeles Angels
You're getting a solid price with Patrick Sandoval after his 1.2-inning performance against Baltimore.
Sandoval was bad against the Orioles in his season debut after allowing six hits, two walks, and three runs. But now he's facing a Miami offense that has hit just a .154 ISO and wOBA of .302 against lefties dating back to last year. Only Josh Bell and Jake Burger really stand out against Sandoval. I'd expect Sandoval to bounce back with a quality outing today.
Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers
We would've liked to see more strikeouts in Nathan Eovaldi's first start of the season. He pitched six innings and allowed only two runs, and his WHIP was .83, but the strikeouts just weren't there.
Today, I think we'll see more of them. He's got plenty of high strikeout targets on the Rays, including Brandon Lowe, Randy Arozarena, Jose Siri, and Jose Caballero.
Last year, Eovaldi struck out 27.3% of righties. He's expected to face at least six righties in the Tampa Bay lineup today.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Miami Marlins (4.5, +105) vs. Patrick Sandoval
- Minnesota Twins (4.5, +110) vs. Milwaukee Brewers
- Los Angeles Angels (4.5, +114) vs. A.J. Puk
Core MLB DFS Hitters
Note: Will Be Updated as Official Starting Lineups Are Released
Max Kepler, OF & Matt Wallner, OF - Minnesota Twins
The Milwaukee Brewers are sending Joe Ross to the mound for today's matchup against the Twins.
Ross hasn't thrown in a Major League game since 2021. In 98 career games, he's got a 4.26 ERA with a WHIP of 1.33. He's also struck out just 403 batters in 443.1 innings pitched. That's not even a strikeout per inning for Ross.
In Spring, he also had a 4.50 ERA in four games. He threw 12 innings and allowed 12 hits and six runs. While he struck out 17 batters, don't expect him to sustain that in actual Major League games.
Meanwhile, he'll face a Twins lineup with so much power. Max Kepler has hit a .228 ISO and wOBA of .351 against righties since last season, and Matt Wallner has also hit a .268 ISO and wOBA of .408 against righties during that same time period.
I'm recommending a Twins stack below.
Mike Trout, OF Los Angeles Angels
In 18 at-bats this season, Mike Trout has slugged three home runs and has an OPS of 1.094.
He'll take on A.J. Puk of the Marlins, who struggled against righties last year. Puk, a lefty, allowed a .192 ISO and wOBA of .327 to 167 righties.
On March 29, against Pittsburgh, Puk lasted two innings against the Pirates and allowed four earned runs with three hits and six walks.
Trout has potential, and there might even be guys on base for Trout to hit home in this game!
Adolis Garcia, OF Texas Rangers
Aaron Civale has been much more impressive than many could've imagined. He also seemed like your average pitcher. But then he got to Tampa Bay, and he excelled.
However, Civale only struck out 20% of right-handed batters last season. He also induced just 39.1% of ground balls against righties and allowed 26.3% of fly balls to righties.
The more he allows balls in play, the harder it'll be for him to sustain these numbers.
Meanwhile, Adolis Garcia has slugged a .289 ISO and wOBA of .373 with 8.1% of walks in 546 plate appearances against righties. Garcia has hit 58.8% of hard contact and more than 36% of fly balls against righties. He's got plenty of potential to hit one out today.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Corbin Burnes  $11,200 |  Marcus Semien $3,600 | Corey Seager $3,800 | Adolis García $4,100 | |||
 Mike Trout $3,800 | |||||||
 Christian Yelich $3,800 | |||||||
| Medium | Nathan Eovaldi $8,000 | Jonah Heim $2,800 |  Josh Bell $2,900 |  Edouard Julien $2,800 | Jake Burger $3,400 | Byron Buxton $3,400 | |
 Patrick Sandoval $6,200 | Logan O'Hoppe $2,700 |  Carlos Santana $2,700 | Taylor Ward $3,200 | ||||
| Evan Carter $3,000 | |||||||
| Sal Frelick $2,700 | |||||||
 Leody Taveras $2,700 | |||||||
| Low | Chris Paddack $6,900 | Alex Kirilloff $2,600 |  Brandon Drury $2,500 | Anthony Rendon $2,600 | Zach Neto $2,400 | Matt Wallner $2,600 | |
| Jake Bauers $2,400 | Aaron Hicks $2,200 |
Stacks
| Twins | Alex Kirilloff | Carlos Santana | Matt Wallner | Max Kepler | Byron Buxton | Edouard Julien |
 DraftKings | 3100 | 3800 | 2900 | 3700 | 4600 | 3500 |
| Fanduel | 2600 | 2700 | 2600 | 2900 | 3400 | 2800 |
| Angels | Brandon Drury | Aaron Hicks | Anthony Rendon | Mike Trout | Logan O'Hoppe | Taylor Ward |
| DraftKings | 4100 | 3400 | 3500 | 5900 | 4000 | 4300 |
| Fanduel | 2500 | 2200 | 2600 | 3800 | 2700 | 3200 |
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.