MLB DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups & Stacks Today: Friday Playbook
Published: Apr 25, 2025
Happy Friday, welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for April 25th!
We’re diving into the action with a 12-game slate on FanDuel and DraftKings. With a packed day of baseball ahead, our expert analysis is here to guide you through the top pitchers, value plays, and stackable offenses to target.
Whether you’re hunting for GPP glory or locking in cash game success, we’ve got tailored insights to help you conquer today’s matchups. Let’s dive into the key plays and strategies to dominate the slate!
This season's MLB DFS picks and playbook will consist of a pitcher and hitter core players section with written analysis, player pool grid and core stacks section.
The core player section should be used as a starting point for all lineups, you may not be able to use all players in the same lineup, but those players should be the building blocks for you on a given night.
The player pool grid will feature both players from the core player section along with additional plays to help you build a complete lineup. The grid will be broken into top priced players, mid-priced players and value tier players.
The stacks section will bring you our favorite lineups stacks for the day and which players we would look to include in those stacks based on matchups and pricing.
There will also be a daily MLB DFS Show with a variety of hosts ranging from myself, Jon Impemba, Howard Bender, and James Grande. The MLB DFS Show will give you an initial outlook on the day's MLB DFS slate and should give you a good base for the start of your research each day!
Make sure you subscribe to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel so you never miss a show! Also, join the Fantasy Alarm Discord to get your DFS lineup questions answered by our MLB DFS team! Plus, as always, be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the Daily MLB Projections, MLB DFS Rostership Projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting.
MLB DFS Picks & MLB Playbook
MLB Weather: Friday, 4/25
Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Guardians
- The only game with legit concern to be PPD. As we discussed on the preview show, it's going to rain the entire time. It's going to rain harder earlier in the game and lighter later in the game. With this being the first game in the series we could very easily see a PPD and a doubleheader played on Saturday or Sunday.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
This slate is loaded with top end starting pitching but as we discussed on the preview show, the mid-tier also prevents some nice viable options to held you really get creative with your pitching combinations on DraftKings where you need to start two pitchers or on FanDuel where you can spend down, save some cash, and still have some nice upside.
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers
He's the top priced pitcher on the slate and has a great matchup today against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Yamamoto has gone over 30+ fantasy points on DraftKings in each of his last two starts and on FanDuel that's turned out to 61 and 55 fantasy points.
The only slight drawback today with Yamamoto is the pitcher on the other side of this matchup as the Dodgers run up against Paul Skenes.
Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners
The current highest projected rostered starting pitcher today is Gilbert against the Miami Marlins. A heavy favorite tonight, Gilbert certainly has the ceiling to dominate a lineup and be the top scoring pitcher on the main slate and his slight price discount to Yamamoto is likely the reason he has the ownership bump.
The Marlins have a 25% strikeout rate against righties this season, offering some nice upside for Gilbert.
Hayden Wesneski, Houston Astros
We've talked plenty this season about the Royals offensive struggles and while they broke out against the Rockies during yesterday's double-header, Wesneski has pitched well enough and his underlying numbers suggest his performances have not been too fluky with his 3.91 ERA matched by a 2.99 xFIP.
Kansas City still ranks dead last in wOBA against right-handed pitching on the year with a .218 average and a .104 ISO.
Let's bet on this Houston righty to continue his hot start to the 2025 MLB season.
Matthew Liberatore, St. Louis Cardinals
Liberatore was a once highly touted prospect that the Cardinals just messed with over the last few seasons, giving him chances to start then moving him to the bullpen then giving him chances to start again.
This offseason the management team decided that he's going to sink or swim as a member of their rotation and so far he is swimming and looking good doing it, owning a 3.60 ERA but with a 3.06 xERA and a 2.77 xFIP. His 8.7 K/9 is solid and his 0.72 BB/9 is remarkable.
Today he faces a Brewers team that ranks 23rd in wOBA and 28th in ISO against left-handed pitching with a 22.3% strikeout rate.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
When you have Coors Field and Sutter Health Park on the same slate it's difficult building lineups and not getting some exposure to those two specific games, especially when they have the highest projected run totals on the board.
Finding the value today to spend up on pitching AND get some expensive exposure will be the challenge but if you watched the MLB DFS preview show from last night, we built a really nice lineup.
Core MLB DFS Hitters
Cincinnati Reds Stack
As I'm sitting here writing this right now the Cincinnati Reds are getting no ownership, in Coors Field, against Kyle Freeland and it just doesn't make any sense to me.
Sure, the Reds offense has struggled at times this season, and yes, some of their guys got the “Coors Field Bump” but, still, we are talking about a game with a 9.0 run total and a Reds team with a team total set at 4.5 and the over at -155.
While Elly De La Cruz and Austin Hays are the expensive plays here, Noelvi Marte and Spencer Steer are in my line of sight for stacks today.
Luke Keaschall, Minnesota Twins
Listen, I'm not going to sit here and say I was the first person on Luke Keaschall but you can rewind the tapes to the preview show we did the night before his first main slate when I was upset he wasn't even in the player pool yet and then he got added to the player pool at $2,500 and I was adamnt we put him in the lineup.
The Twins have now moved him up in the lineup as their #3 hitter and the guy keeps producing, hitting .368 with a 1.046 OPS while having already swiped five bags in his six games played.
The dude is a great contact hitter, who has walked five times while only striking out twice.
Plug and play for me today at the position.
Ben Rice, New York Yankees
I know you don't need me to break out his statcast page again but if you wanted to check it out you can just click this link right here.
The Yankees moved Rice out of the leadoff spot today, which I have mixed feelings on and instead have him hitting third, behind Aaron Judge. The move to third in the order can present some RBI opportunities as New York is looking for some protection for Aaron Judge in the lineup.
The Blue Jays are sending Jose Berrios to the mound today, Berrios has struggled against left-handed power hitters and that's what we got with Rice today in the favorable lefty power venue of Yankee Stadium.
Colorado Rockies Stack
Again, nobody is playing this game here today which just seems a bit suspicious to me. The Rockies offense has been pretty bad this year but they are home and facing Andrew Abbott, who has been good, but could see some regression in this ballpark today.
Hunter Goodman and Jordan Beck are some obvious options for Colorado today… UPDATE - BRENTON DOYLE SCRATCHED
Trent Grisham / Trevor Larnach
You could use both value outfielders in your lineup today if you are looking to maybe double-spend up at the pitching position today.
Grisham has been phenomenal to begin the season and the Yankees have him in the leadoff spot tonight against Jose Berrios.
Larnach continues to hit cleanup for the Twins, homered the other day and has a nice split advantage against Kyle Hendricks who had some really poor numbers against left-handed hitters last season.
Check Out Today's Livestream at 5pm ET
Player Pool
Player News
Daulton Varsho picked up three hits, three RBI and a homer in a win over the Angels on Thursday.
Varsho has only played in seven games this year, but they’ve been seven good ones. He’s homered three times already, and his slugging percentage is a remarkable — and entirely unsustainable — .727 over 22 at-bats. Varsho has been a mediocre offensive player in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, but it’s possible at the age of 28 he’s having a breakout campaign. Far from a guarantee, but possible.
Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in a loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday.
Ward, 31, gave the Angels a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer off Chris Bassitt in the first inning. He’s now gone deep in two of his last three games, and it ‘improves’ his slash to .181/.224/.391. Ward has been one of the most hot/cold players players in the sport over the last few years, so fantasy managers who can afford to make some roster moves may want to look at Ward while the going is good.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. picked up three hits and scored twice in an 8-5 win over the Angels on Thursday.
Guerrero also drew a walk. It gives the first baseman multiple hits in back-to-back games, and it’s the third time in May that he’s reached that mark. That’s helped raise his average from .268 to .295, and the only thing fantasy managers can be disappointed with is his .432 slugging percentage. That number should continue to climb as the season unfolds, but Vladdy Jr. has had some inconsistent seasons when it comes to power production.
Chad Green picked up his first save of 2025 with a scoreless ninth against the Angels on Thursday.
Green got the save after Jeff Hoffman worked in back-to-back games — and struggled — in the first two contests against the Angels. He struck out two and looked the part while needing just nine pitches to get through the inning. Hoffman should remain the closer, but Green is on his tail if the struggles were to continue.
Chris Bassitt allowed five runs — four earned — while working six-plus innings against the Angels on Thursday while picking up a win.
Bassitt allowed three runs over the first two innings on a pair of homers, but settled down over his next four frames. He came out to work the seventh, but ended up being charged for two more runs after leaving the contest. The 36-year-old veteran has forged a 3.35 ERA and outstanding 49/8 K/BB ratio over the first quarter of the season, but this wasn’t him at his best. He’ll get the Rays next week if the rotation order stays the same for Toronto.
José Soriano allowed three runs over five innings while not factoring in the decision Thursday against the Blue Jays.
Soriano left with a 4-3 lead, but it was erased quickly after his departure. The 26-year-old was not exactly dominant in his outing with eight hits allowed and four free passes, but he did strike out six to help balance things out a smidgen. Soriano takes an even ERA of 4.00 into a scheduled start against the Padres in San Diego on Tuesday. There should be better options for that one.