MLB DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups & Stacks Today: Monday Playbook
Published: Apr 14, 2025
Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Monday, April 14th!
We’re diving into the action with a 8-game main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. 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: Monday, 4/14
New York Mets vs Minnesota Twins
- Rain definitely in the forecast here and winds are blowing out 20 MPH to center field. Could see delays.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
He's got the highest strikeout potential on the slate and the Brewers numbers against left-handed pitching are not very good this season, owning just a .226 average with a .098 ISO and a .283 wOBA.
He is the highest rostered pitcher on today's slate and for a good reason at that.
Dustin May, Los Angeles Dodgers
I continue to be stunned that a pitcher in a game where his team is a -360 favorite on the ML isn't getting a ton of ownership love but that is what we have here with May against the Rockies. Sure, his strikeout numbers are inconsistent and there is a -150 lean on his under 5.5 strikeouts today but unless there is a complete disaster he should be locked in for the win bonus points against a really bad Rockies lineup.
Shane Baz, Tampa Bay Rays
Baz has looked stellar in his first two starts of the season and even more important has been the pitch count with him reaching 96 pitches in both outings this season.
The Red Sox offense has really struggled this year outside of a series against the Cardinals and just this past weekend they were held in check by the Chicago White Sox of all teams.
Baz is better than any pitcher they just faced over the weekend and I'd be willing to bank on him here in this spot.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
Core MLB DFS Hitters
Los Angeles Dodgers
Just putting the Dodgers in one spot here today. When looking at ownership you see Ohtani as the highest rostered player on the slate but I like the entire lineup here today against Antonio Senzatela who has allowed nearly 30 hits in his three starts this season.
The Dodgers are not a cheap lineup so you will need to find value to fit them but the upside here is tremendous as they not only face Senzatela but also get the Rockies bullpen as well.
Cam Smith, Houston Astros
Needing value we go to Cam Smith. The centerpiece of the Kyle Tucker deal, Smith is starting to heat up and now faces Sonny Gray who is prone to giving up hits and home runs. This is a very talented player with a ton of upside and he will not be THIS CHEAP for much longer. I also like pairing him up with Isaac Paredes who has homers in three straight games.
Brooks Lee, Minnesota Twins
He was activated off of the IL yesterday and immediately contributed. Lee was a Top 100 prospect in baseball last season and flashed some nice potential when able to stay healthy.
This matchup against the Mets is a favorable one with Clay Holmes dealing with some control problems and the wind is blowing 20+ MPH out towards centerfield.
Anything hit in the air with good enough contact could be a homer today in Minnesota.
Jonathan Aranda / Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays
Left-handed hitters are doing a ton of damage against Tanner Houck this season which puts Aranda, Lowe and to a lesser extent someone like Misner in play for us today.
Aranda and Lowe both have a ton of home run upside, especially in their new ballpark of George Steinbrenner Field.
Tune Into Today's MLB DFS Livestream 5pm ET
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Tarik Skubal  $10,300 |  Freddie Freeman $3,700 |  Jose Altuve $3,600 |  Manny Machado $3,700 | Mookie Betts $4,100 |  Aaron Judge $4,700 |
 Shane Baz $10,100 | Tommy Edman $3,300 |  Bobby Witt $4,000 |  Kyle Tucker $4,500 | |||
 Clay Holmes $9,600 | Shohei Ohtani $4,300 | |||||
| Fernando Tatis $4,200 | ||||||
 Jackson Chourio $4,000 | ||||||
| Medium | Dustin May $8,700 | Ben Rice $3,300 | Jazz Chisholm $3,200 | Isaac Paredes $3,000 | Nico Hoerner $3,100 |  Marcell Ozuna $3,800 |
| Spencer Torkelson $3,200 | Ozzie Albies $3,100 | Austin Riley $3,100 | Yordan Alvarez $3,500 | |||
 Vladimir Guerrero $3,100 | Brandon Lowe $3,000 | Ian Happ $3,200 | ||||
| Vinnie Pasquantino $3,100 | ||||||
| Low |  Tanner Houck $7,600 | Paul Goldschmidt $2,900 | Jonathan India $2,800 | Max Muncy $2,700 | Bo Bichette $2,900 | Anthony Santander $2,800 |
| Gavin Sheets $2,800 | Michael Massey $2,600 | Junior Caminero $2,700 | Luisangel Acuña $2,300 |  Matt Wallner $2,800 | ||
| Jonathan Aranda $2,800 | Edouard Julien $2,300 | Brooks Lee $2,500 | Michael Conforto $2,700 | |||
| Kameron Misner $2,600 |
Stacks
| Dodgers | Mookie Betts | Teoscar Hernández | Shohei Ohtani | Freddie Freeman |
 DraftKings | 6200 | 5000 | 6500 | 4900 |
| Fanduel | 4100 | 3900 | 4300 | 3700 |
| Royals | Vinnie Pasquantino | Bobby Witt | Jonathan India | Salvador Perez |
| DraftKings | 4500 | 5900 | 4200 | 4400 |
| Fanduel | 3100 | 4000 | 2800 | 2800 |
| Astros | Jose Altuve | Christian Walker | Isaac Paredes | Yordan Alvarez |
| DraftKings | 5100 | 4300 | 3700 | 5700 |
| Fanduel | 3600 | 2900 | 3000 | 3500 |
| Braves | Sean Murphy | Austin Riley | Marcell Ozuna | Michael Harris |
| DraftKings | 4000 | 4600 | 4700 | 4200 |
| Fanduel | 2900 | 3100 | 3800 | 2700 |
| Cubs | Michael Busch | Miguel Amaya | Ian Happ | Kyle Tucker |
| DraftKings | 4700 | 3000 | 4500 | 6300 |
| Fanduel | 2900 | 2800 | 3200 | 4500 |
| Rays | Junior Caminero | Kameron Misner | Brandon Lowe | Jonathan Aranda |
| DraftKings | 4500 | 3400 | 4900 | 3800 |
| Fanduel | 2700 | 2600 | 3000 | 2800 |