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

Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Tuesday, April 15th!

We have a pretty loaded 11-game slate on both sites tonight. The Yankees and Dodgers are squaring off against underwhelming pitchers, while some other talented offenses are in intriguing spots of their own.

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: Tuesday, 4/15

Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians

• Very slight chance of rain, could be some wind out to right

New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals

• Wind should be be out to center up to 20 mph or so. Possible showers, but unlikely

Chicago White Sox vs. Athletics

• Wind should be blowing out to center field up to 20 mph

Minnesota Twins vs. New York Mets

• Wind should be blowing out to right field slightly

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Jack Flaherty, Detroit Tigers

Flaherty has been unreal this season. He's thrown over 90 pitches twice, and he's striking out north of 30% of hitters this season. The Brewers don't offer too many strikeouts, but the bottom of the order has been atrocious vs. RHP to start 2025. Flaherty will probably be the chalk, but I have no issues playing him in GPPs on a large slate.

Jeffrey Springs, Athletics

So which Big Jeff are we going to get? The season is so young, and he certainly had a few rough draws. But two home games at a baby park against two prolific offenses didn’t help his cause – and he WAS good vs. Seattle, which everyone already forgot about. The Sox hav been pesky, but vs. southpaws, they are striking out at the league’s fourth-highest clip and own the fourth-worst wRC+. The good news? We’re talking VERY small sample sizes this year so far, but he’s been very good vs righties, and the Sox are projected to roll out a lineup with at about seven of them. Wind  are out to center at about 15-20 mph according to an afternoon forecast, which is a little scary.
 

Tylor MeGill, Mets

Really nice price, and MIN has ranked outside of the top 20 in wRC+ vs RHP so far this year. Control has gotten him into a bit of trouble, but if he has it tonight, I think his price is fantastic for tournaments.

Max Fried, Yankees

Kansas City has been putrid overall this season outside of Bobby Witt and some occasional flashes from Vinnie P and Sal. Where is Jac? Call him up! I will say that KC has been at least average vs. lefties compared to righties, so I can't make Fried my top play – but he's in the GPP pool for sure.

Bailey Ober, Twins

Yep, this one is a little scary but…price has a lot to do with this play, and of course it’s risky, as the Mets have a ton of talent on paper. Ober was blown up in his first start, but rebounded nicely, giving up just two ERs in his next 10 innings. He might not have crazy strikeout upside in tonight’s matchup, but at his current price, you kind of just need him to do a little more than survive. The Mets rank outside of the top 20 in wRC+ and wOBA vs RHP. We're betting on talent and some positive regression.

Ryan Pepiot, Rays

Like Ober, price has a lot to do with his one. I’m hoping the Sox actually throw out like five or six lefties against him. Pepiot has endured much more trouble with righties to start the season, but BOS surprisingly has the 4th-highest K% vs. RHP this season. Pepiot is cheap, and I’m buying his long-term talent, and a chance as paying off this cheap price tag tonight – but I don’t mind playing both sides of this one if you are multi-entering.

Spencer Schwellenbach, Braves

I am so impressed with this kid. The price tag is really tough to get tonight, which I'm sure will keep his ownership in check He has true 35-point upside, but you might need it tonight with all of the stacks in great spots tonight. TOR hasn’t been good vs. righties in a while now. They rank 22nd in wRC+ vs RHP dating back to the beginning of last year and rank 23rd to start 2025. They don’t strike out a lot, but Spencer has some of that nastiest stuff in the game.

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Athletics Power Bats

I think I’m out on Sean Burke, at least for now. He has an underwhelming ERA north of 6.00, and his xERA is THREE runs higher! The Athletics (I almost said Oakland) haven’t lit the world on fire vs. righties, but dating back to last year, the top 5 dudes in the projected order all have ISOs between .170-.249 and wOBA rates in the .300s. Soderstrom has also been a massive HR threat, and Burke has given up an unhealthy NINE barrels through three starts. I will say, Chicago’s pen has been very good so far, but it’s not enough of a reason to avoid some of these A’s. Winds appear to be out to center 15-20 mph. Sign me up.

Michael Busch, Kyle Tucker, and the Cubs

Randy Vazquez has been an absolute magician, sporting a 1.72 ERA but a 6.38 xERA this year. That wizardry may end tonight vs. one of the best offenses in baseball this season. He struck out just 14% of hitters last season. Sign me up for Kyle Tucker and his 43% fly-ball rate dating back to last season, and I also don’t mind Michael Busch and the heater he is on. We've seen enough of his sample size dating back to the start of last season (.217 ISO, .358 wOBA, 13% barrel) to understand he is a serious threat, especially against terrible pitcher. There's a chance Chicago totally slaps Randy around. It's going to happen sooner than later.

Sub-$4K Tigers

Here's your crazy stat of the day: Spencer Torkelson has a 90% hard-hit rate vs. RHP so far this season. Wut. Quinn Priester put on a clinic (to his standards) at Coors Field a few days ago. Yes, you have to take into consideration it was at Coors Field, but let’s also remember it took the Rockies over 30 damn innings to score a run until last night. Priester was once a top prospect for Pittsburgh, but he never flashed consistent during any cup of coffee in the bigs. I like going back to Detroit tonight – with Tork and Kerry Carpenter being my two favorite bats. That being said, Torres, Greene, and Dingler all look good. Priester didn’t get barreled much in the bigs last season, but lefties gave him a bit of trouble – and he struck out just 15% of batters. Detroit is fairly priced, and they should grade out as a nice per-dollar play.

Kyren Paris (and the Angels)

I don't really think anyone is on the Angels, and I think they make for a really interesting GPP play against a forever injury-prone pitcher, who is off to a good start – especially if the industry is mostly off of this play. I think you can one-off a number of these right-handed power bats, and Paris falls squarely in that mix. Mike Trout, Jorge Soler, and Taylor Ward line up really well. You can throw Logan O'Hoppe and Jo Adell into that fold. There is a chance Tyler Mahle continues to shove, but if you are multi-entering, I don't mind playing both sides. Paris worked out with Aaron Judge in the offseason and has been a machine in 2025. He owns a 56% hard-hit rate vs righties. 

The Lefty Masher Tyler O'Neil – And His Friends

The O’s have been brutal vs. lefties so far this year, but dating back to the start of last season, they rank 11th in both wRC+ and ISO vs. southpaws. Logan Allen is not good, but CLE has a very stingy bullpen (outside of whatever is going on with Clase right now). Lock and load Tyler O’Neil, who has a .400 ISO and a ridiculous 26% barrel rate vs. lefties dating back to the beginning of 2024. Those are Aaron Judge numbers. Allen is a solid ground-ball pitcher, but that's the most exciting thing about his game. In fact, all 9 projected O’s starters have ISOs higher than .170 vs lefties dating back to the start of last season. A talented lineup with good data against a blah pitcher is always in the mix. Gary Sanchez is in the lineup at almost minimum price, and historically we know he has performed much better vs. Southpaws.

Dodgers and Yankees

Yes, unexciting obvious answers here. Ryan Feltner has at least been an avearge pitcher away from Coors Field in his career. That being said, the Dodgers have the best lineup in baseball and the highest implied team total on tonight's slate. Shohei Ohtani is (as usual) the top overall play with the highest ceiling. Not far behind Ohtani is Aaron Judge and company. Judge and Jazz are in a groove, and did you know that Ben Rice, yes Ben Rice, has higher barrel and hard-hit rates vs. righties this year than the reigning MVP? Winds are blowing out, and it seems like the Yankees have failed against pitchers with an ounce of strikeout stuff this season. That won't be the case tonight, considering Micahel Wacha strikes out less than 20% of hitters. Wind are blowing out, and Wacha could be another victim of torpedo bat szn.

A Pair of Guardians

Boy oh boy, this is an interesting one. Charlie Morton still has some gas left in the tank with a respectable strikeout rate dating back to the start of last year, but he’s getting barreled like crazy this year (17.5%) and is yielding an irrational 75% (!!!!) hard-hit rate so far. I think this is where you can power hunt – I like Jose Ramirez and Carlos Santana.

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Player Pool

• DraftKings
• FanDuel

$ Tier

Stacks

Cubs	Pete Crow-Armstrong	Michael Busch	Miguel Amaya	Ian Happ	Kyle Tucker
DraftKings	4000	4700	3100	4500	6300
Fanduel	2900	3000	2800	3200	4500

Orioles	Tyler O'Neill	Gunnar Henderson	Ryan Mountcastle	Gary Sánchez	Jordan Westburg
DraftKings	4700	5500	3900	2200	5100
Fanduel	3100	3600	2700	2400	3200

Yankees	Anthony Volpe	Jazz Chisholm	Aaron Judge	Austin Wells	Ben Rice
DraftKings	4800	5600	6400	4100	3800
Fanduel	3300	3200	4600	2700	3300

Tigers	Spencer Torkelson	Kerry Carpenter	Gleyber Torres	Dillon Dingler	Riley Greene
DraftKings	3900	3700	4200	3900	4100
Fanduel	3200	3100	3100	2800	3200

Athletics	JJ Bleday	Lawrence Butler	Tyler Soderstrom	Brent Rooker	Jacob Wilson
DraftKings	4000	4800	4800	5400	-
Fanduel	2500	2900	3400	3400	-

Cubs	Pete Crow-Armstrong	Michael Busch	Miguel Amaya	Ian Happ	Kyle Tucker
DraftKings	4000	4700	3100	4500	6300
Fanduel	2900	3000	2800	3200	4500

Orioles	Tyler O'Neill	Gunnar Henderson	Ryan Mountcastle	Gary Sánchez	Jordan Westburg
DraftKings	4700	5500	3900	2200	5100
Fanduel	3100	3600	2700	2400	3200

Yankees	Anthony Volpe	Jazz Chisholm	Aaron Judge	Austin Wells	Ben Rice
DraftKings	4800	5600	6400	4100	3800
Fanduel	3300	3200	4600	2700	3300

Tigers	Spencer Torkelson	Kerry Carpenter	Gleyber Torres	Dillon Dingler	Riley Greene
DraftKings	3900	3700	4200	3900	4100
Fanduel	3200	3100	3100	2800	3200

Athletics	JJ Bleday	Lawrence Butler	Tyler Soderstrom	Brent Rooker	Jacob Wilson
DraftKings	4000	4800	4800	5400	-
Fanduel	2500	2900	3400	3400	-

Cubs	Pete Crow-Armstrong	Michael Busch	Miguel Amaya	Ian Happ	Kyle Tucker
DraftKings	4000	4700	3100	4500	6300
Fanduel	2900	3000	2800	3200	4500