MLB DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups & Stacks Today: Thursday Playbook

Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Thursday, April 24th! 

It's getaway day for many teams, so we have an early slate today with a 4-game main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel, starting at 11:10 AM ET. I got up early so you don’t have to, so you can start your day strong with some winning lineups. Our expert analysis is here to guide you through the top pitchers, value plays, and stackable offenses to target.

Whether chasing big GPP prizes or grinding cash games, we’ve got you covered with insights tailored to today’s matchups. Let’s jump right 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.

Check out today's MLB DFS Show for an initial outlook on the day's MLB DFS slate!

No MLB DFS live stream today with the early slate, but we will be back tomorrow!

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: Thursday, 4/24

• CWS vs. MIN: It is going to rain a bit this afternoon, but I think they will get through the game before it gets too bad.  

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

With a small slate, we have limited options to choose from. While I don’t hate some of the cheaper options and think guys like Chris Paddack and Shane Smith have some intriguing upside, it isn’t enough to make me want to actually play them today, and I would rather pay up for two of the top-end arms today. 

Let's get into today's core pitching plays for our DFS lineups

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox

Don’t overthink this too much, it is Garrett Crochet. Sure, the last two starts were against the White Sox, but he threw 7 no hit innings before giving up one run off one hit in the 8th inning in his first start and then through 6 scoreless innings in the next game with 18 strikeouts in 13.1 innings. He should dominate again. 

Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals

Cole Ragans got roughed up a little bit in his last outing, giving up 5 earned runs in only 4 innings of work against the Tigers, but he still struck out 8 in those 4 innings, and the Tigers have been a very solid team to start the year. Facing the Rockies at home is about as good of a landing spot for Ragans, and I will be shocked if he doesn’t dominate and give us his 4th 10+ strikeout game of the season. 

Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners

Garrett Crochet and Cole Ragans are the clear top two arms today, and it isn’t close, but if you want to save some money, the price on Bryan Woo is really good for the quality of a pitcher he is. The strikeouts haven’t been quite what we usually expect from Woo, but he has also had some tough matchups to start the year, and the overall results are still very good, with a 3.12 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. The Boston Red Sox are always a tough matchup, especially in Boston, but Woo is a guy you can trust to put up a good outing pretty much anywhere. 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Let's check out today's core plays to build our lineups around.

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Triston Casas, 1B Boston Red Sox

The first base options today are not great, with no real top-end mashers. Triston Casas has had a rough start to the season, but he has hit homers in back-to-back games now and could be turning his season around in a hurry. At this price, he is the clear option to go to at first today if you aren’t turning to Bryan Woo on the pitching side. 

Brice Turang, 2B Milwaukee Brewers

I like Landen Roupp, but he is still figuring things out a bit. The Brewers' offense has started to look better lately, and Brice Turang has been a big part of that. He has 7 hits over the last two games. He has shown a little power, and while that is not a massive part of his game, he doesn’t need it to be the top second baseman on the slate because of his ability to get multiple hits and steal multiple bags a game. 

Bobby Witt, SS Kansas City Royals

There are not a ton of superstar bats on today’s slate, which leaves Bobby Witt as the clear best player on the entire slate. Even if you are paying for both of the top pitchers today, I think you can still afford to go get Bobby Witt because of the cheaper options available to you and the fact that there aren’t a ton of other high-priced stars you will be trying to get into your lineup today with him. 

Trevor Larnach, OF Minnesota Twins

Trevor Larnach is on a five-game hit streak during which he has hit 3 homers, including homers in each of the last two games. Trevor Larnach has always had legit power, and when he is hitting well, he is a very good bat; he can just go through some really bad cold streaks. He looks great right now, though, and at this price and in this matchup, he seems like a slam-dunk option in the outfield. 

Player Pool

• FanDuel
• DraftKings

$ Tier	SP	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	OF
High	Garrett Crochet $10,300	William Contreras $4,500		Brice Turang $5,300	Alex Bregman $5,000	Bobby Witt $6,000	Jung Hoo Lee $5,500
	Cole Ragans $9,800						Jackson Chourio $5,400
							Byron Buxton $5,000
Medium	Bryan Woo $7,900	Salvador Perez $4,100	Jake Bauers $4,000	Maikel Garcia $4,600	Rafael Devers $4,700	Trevor Story $4,500	Christian Yelich $4,900
				Kristian Campbell $4,200	Wilmer Flores $4,400	Willy Adames $4,100	Wilyer Abreu $4,800
							Heliot Ramos $4,300
							Andrew Benintendi $4,000
Low		Patrick Bailey $3,400	Triston Casas $3,300	Tyler Fitzgerald $3,900	Jonathan India $3,500	Joey Ortiz $2,700	Ceddanne Rafaela $3,500
		Matt Thaiss $3,100	Vinnie Pasquantino $3,600	Michael Massey $3,100			Trevor Larnach $3,300
			LaMonte Wade $3,000				Bobby Dalbec $2,300

Stacks

Brewers	William Contreras	Christian Yelich	Brice Turang	Jackson Chourio
DraftKings	4500	4900	5300	5400
Fanduel	3200	3700	3500	3800

Royals	Vinnie Pasquantino	Bobby Witt	Maikel Garcia	Jonathan India	Salvador Perez
DraftKings	3600	6000	4600	3500	4100
Fanduel	2800	3900	2800	2600	2700

Red Sox	Triston Casas	Alex Bregman	Wilyer Abreu	Trevor Story
DraftKings	3300	5000	4800	4500
Fanduel	2700	3200	3300	3200