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

Welcome to Fantasy Alarm's MLB DFS Picks and Playbook for Tuesday, April 8th! 

Tuesday brings you another 10-game main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel that starts at 7:05 ET. Plenty of great baseball will be played today, and our expert analysis is here to guide you through the top pitchers, value plays, and stackable offenses to target for Tuesday MLB DFS picks.

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 MLB DFS projections 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! 

The MLB DFS Livestream is now happening every day during the week, so make sure to tune in at 5 PM ET to watch a breakdown of today’s slate, give you last-minute advice, and answer any questions before locking in those lineups!

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: Tuesday, 4/8

• MIA vs. NYM: Was originally on this slate but has been postponed. 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Sorry, Paul Skenes isn’t on today’s slate despite pitching today. We still have no shortage of aces on the mound, and there are plenty of great options to choose from. Outside of my three core plays today, there are a ton of viable options to turn to. Some of my honorable mentions today are Framber Valdez, Shane Baz, Luis Castillo, Pablo Lopez, Freddy Peralta, and Landen Roupp. 

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

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves

It seems odd that this matchup against the Phillies is probably Sale’s easiest matchup of the season so far, but he had to face the Padres and the Dodgers on the road to start the season. You can absolutely make arguments to take Wheeler or Cease at the top with slightly easier matchups, but Sale has the talent to go shutdown this Phillies team and put up the best line of any pitcher today so I don’t mind taking the chance on the reigning Cy Young instead of paying the extra $1,000-$1,200 for Wheeler or Cease today. 

Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals

This price on Cole Ragains is just way too low today. He just struck out 10 against Milwaukee, and the Twins have a 32.9% strikeout rate so far this season and are batting .071 against lefties. It is still a really small sample, obviously, but they have a lineup with a lot of lefties in it, and Ragans is an Ace. I would take Ragans above Framber Valdez, Shane Baz, Luis Castillo, and Nick Lodolo even if their prices were equal. 

Jeffrey Springs, Athletics

There are plenty of reasons to shy away from this one. There is a plethora of more stable Aces above him you could pay up for, the last start against Chicago was shaky, and the San Diego Padres are a scary offense. I trust the talent of Jeffrey Spring so much that I am still going to him at this price. This still brings some risk, but you get him at a great price, and I think he could easily put up a line that rivals the top-end pitchers today because his stuff is so good. 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

There are many great pitching options today, but we also have some great offenses to target today with some lower-end pitchers on the mound. My favorite offenses to target today include the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Baltimore Orioles. 

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

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Jonathan Aranda, 1B Tampa Bay Rays

Jonathan Aranda has looked great at the plate to start the season. He doesn’t provide elite power at first, but he hits well enough to provide great value without it. The Rays face Kyle Hendricks today and shouldn’t have any issue plating plenty of runs. At this price, I like Aranda as a great value at first, where a lot of the higher-end bats have much tougher pitching matchups. 

Nico Hoerner, 2B Chicago Cubs

Patrick Corbin having to pitch in Wrigley Field against this Cubs team? Sign me up. I wasn’t sure if Nico could take some time to get going this season after his surgery in the off-season, but he looks healthy and is hitting great. He is slashing .361/.425/.389 so far this season. I know that slugging isn’t great, but he also just stole 6 bases in a 5-game stretch, so he is providing value, and I do think we will see a little more power from him as the season continues. 

Corey Seager, SS Texas Rangers

Seager's start to the season was slow, but we knew that was never going to last. He finally hit his first homer on Sunday, and we know that once he gets going, Seager can be the best hitter in baseball when healthy. In a good matchup against Jameson Taillon today, I like making the bet that Seager has turned the corner on the slow start and is going to start crushing the ball. 

Seiya Suzuki, OF Chicago Cubs

Seiya Suzuki was slowed down by the Padres, going 0 for 14 in the three-game series against them. But before that, he hit 4 homers in 4 games and still drew 5 walks in that series against San Diego, so I am not too worried about it being a slump. I don’t trust Patrick Corbin at all, and I think Suzuki might be the most talented hitter in this Cubs lineup outside of Kyle Tucker. I want to get him in my lineup with this matchup today. 

Player Pool

• FanDuel
• DraftKings

$ Tier	SP	P	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	OF
High	Chris Sale $9,300		Adley Rutschman $5,000	Josh Naylor $4,700	Jose Altuve $5,200	Jordan Westburg $4,900	Gunnar Henderson $5,500	Kyle Tucker $6,400
	Zack Wheeler $10,500						Corey Seager $5,100	Jackson Chourio $6,000
								Corbin Carroll $5,900
								Seiya Suzuki $5,200
Medium	Cole Ragans $8,100		Hunter Goodman $3,800	Vinnie Pasquantino $4,400	Nico Hoerner $4,500	Matt Chapman $4,700	Dansby Swanson $4,700	Tyler O'Neill $4,800
	Framber Valdez $8,800		Gabriel Moreno $3,400	Michael Busch $4,100	Marcus Semien $4,400	Junior Caminero $4,100	Jackson Holliday $4,100	Ian Happ $4,700
							Joey Ortiz $4,000	Lourdes Gurriel $4,300
								Wyatt Langford $4,200
Low	Jeffrey Springs $7,500	Landen Roupp $7,300	Miguel Amaya $3,100	Jake Burger $3,800	Gavin Lux $3,500	Isaac Paredes $3,800	Geraldo Perdomo $3,800	Jake Mangum $3,800
			Kyle Higashioka $2,600	Jonathan Aranda $3,500		Josh Smith $2,800	José Caballero $3,500	Pavin Smith $3,600
								Spencer Steer $3,600

Stacks

Cubs	Dansby Swanson	Nico Hoerner	Michael Busch	Seiya Suzuki	Ian Happ	Kyle Tucker
DraftKings	4700	4500	4100	5200	4700	6400
Fanduel	3300	3100	2900	3600	3400	4600

Rays	Junior Caminero	Jake Mangum	Brandon Lowe	Jonathan Aranda
DraftKings	4100	3800	4600	3500
Fanduel	2800	2600	3200	2600

Rangers	Marcus Semien	Corey Seager	Wyatt Langford	Jake Burger
DraftKings	4400	5100	4200	3800
Fanduel	3200	3400	3400	2700

Diamondbacks	Pavin Smith	Lourdes Gurriel	Corbin Carroll	Geraldo Perdomo	Josh Naylor
DraftKings	3600	4300	5900	3800	4700
Fanduel	2700	3000	3800	2900	3100

Orioles	Tyler O'Neill	Gunnar Henderson	Jackson Holliday	Jordan Westburg	Adley Rutschman
DraftKings	4800	5500	4100	4900	5000
Fanduel	3500	3700	2800	3600	3400