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

Happy Wednesday, welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for April 23rd!

We’re diving into the action with a 10-game slate on FanDuel and an 8-gamer on 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: Wednesday, 4/23

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves

• Outside chance of a late delay

Detroit Tigers vs. San Diego Padres

• Chance of late showers

Colorado Rockies vs. Kansas City Royals 

• Seems dry as of early in the afternoon, but things could change by lineup lock. You're probably not throwing any pitchers in this game anyway, but worth circling back to make sure your bats are safe

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

There are only a few-high end arms on this slate, and not many others that anyone should feel too comfortable about. It might be logical to pay up this evening.

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Logan Webb & Freddy Peralta, Giants vs. Brewers

I like both of these pitchers in the same game, and I am totally OK with sacrificing a possible four points for a pitching win to play them together. You almost have to at least consider anyone throwing at Oracle Park, especially at night, due to the pitcher-friendly park factors. We happen to have two very good hurlers on the mound this evening. Both teams have implied run totals well below 4.00 (currently SF: 3.48, MIL 3.02), with a 6.5 game total being thrown around out there.

Both of these guys have been mostly great this season. I’m not in love with Peralta’s fly-ball rate, but Oracle should help mitigate that risk. He’s striking out 28% of hitters, owns a whiff rate better than 30%, and he’s not really getting barreled. While SFG has flashed some really nice power this season, there is a nice blueprint for Peralta to have a ceiling game, as six hitters in the projected lineup have struck out at least 24% of the time vs. RHP dating back to the beginning of 2024.

I don’t love the fact that Milwaukee leads the league in pitches per plate appearance, but Logan Webb is a true workhorse. The Brewers are just league average in wRC vs. RHP this year, and Oracle is a big park downgrade for them. Webb has thrown at least 97 pitches in four of his five starts and has given up no more than three earned runs in any appearance this season. His xERA is a very stingy 2.73, and that’s actually higher than Peralta’s elite 2.51. These guys are pitching like studs, and they should have high expectations entering tonight. At worst, they should offer high floors.

Eduardo Rodriguez, Diamondbacks

I like Eduardo Rodriguez much more after my first glance this morning. He’s been better than advertised, with an ERA over 4, but all of his advanced estimators are south of 3.00. Tampa ranks outside the top 20 in ISO and wOBA vs. southpaws this season. Southpaws have kind of neutralized Tampa’s biggest threats. Brandon Lowe will likely be out of the lineup, Jonathan Aranda has been borderline terrible against lefties, while Junior Caminero (a righty) has proven to be much more of a reverse-splits hitter so far in the bigs. Rodriguez is a nice GPP option at a likely much lower ownership than Peralta and Webb. That being said, the pecking order of pOWN% is warranted, and I agree with it.

David Festa, Twins

This is a tricky one, and if Festa was still about $1K cheaper, I’d be much more on board. That being said, he’ll be in my player pool to some extent. He’s striking out 26% of hitters after a nice showing in the minors this season, but his ERA estimators are all over the place after two starts. He also hasn’t completed 5 innings in either game, and has thrown no more than 76 pitches. But, we’re talking about the worst American League team, the White Sox, whose projected starters collectively have a putrid .124 ISO vs. righties and a 25% strikeout rate. I just think at this price, there is a lot more risk in terms of floor/ceiling due to workload and volatility, but he has a bit of talent, and I’d like to pick on the matchup. However, due to price, he’s just outside of my favorite three pitchers of the slate that I have listed above him. If we’re being honest, I have no idea why the Twins decided to call up Festa instead of Zebby Matthews, but here we are. I'll have a little Festa somewhere.

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Bad pitchers, long relievers, and little ballparks! We have it all on tonight's main slate, including the possibility of a star rookie making his MLB debut. 
 

Byron Buxton & the Minnesota Twins

While it seems like the Twins lack a bigger punch in their lineup, there are plenty of reasons to back them tonight. They have the highest implied run total on the board, Bryse Wilson will likely open for the White Sox, but he may have to go longer than that. I can see him throwing a few innings and going 50-60+ pitches, which would be great because he’s simply not very good, striking out just 14% of hitters this season (and just 18% last year) while sporting a 5.38 xERA. He yields a high ISO dating back to last year, doesn’t really do a good job of keeping the ball on the ground, and he gives up hard contact.

Buxton is the most expensive Twin at just $4,600 (DK), and I think he has a high probability of doing some damage, as he leads Minnesota with 17% barrel rate vs. RHP this season. Minnesota is a dangerous full stack against a low-K pitcher because they’re very good at putting the ball in play, as six projected starters have struck out less than 21% of the time vs RHP since the start of last season. Trevor Larnach provides some nice salary-saving power in the top of the order, and youngster Luke Keaschall filled it up in the minors, and he flashed all of his tools with two stolen bases last night. Ryan Jeffers is an underpriced catcher, who is slowly turning it around. Price is a big factor here for this stack, and Minnesota should allow you to comfortably pay up for top-tier pitching.

Wyatt Langford & The Texas Rangers

Langford has been swinging a hot stick since returning from the IL, and he’s in a great matchup tonight against southpaw JP Sears. Sears has mostly always had a HR problem in the bigs. He’s only allowed three so far this season, but three of his starts have come on the road, away from the baby ballpark in Sacramento. I will say, Sears’ under-the-hood stuff has looked good, but when you combine a young season with his historical issues, I’ll keep attacking. He's giving up a career-high 36.6% fly-ball rate (via Savant). He’s added a nice sweeper against lefties, which he’s thrown 60% of the time in the last 30 days to them, but he only throws it about 20% of the time vs. righties, forcing him to throw almost 50% of 4-seam fastballs to righties. The high 4-seam rate is a bad problem for a fly-ball pitcher in a small park. Langford owns a massive .292 ISO and 40% fly-ball rate vs. RHP dating back to last season. 

We might not see Corey Seager in the lineup tonight after he left yesterday's contest with a hammy issue, but that’s OK. Adolis Garcia, Jake Burger, Kyla Higashioka, Kevin Pillar, and Jonah Heim each have ISOs better than .170 against RHP since the beginning of 2024. Burger is an exceptionally good left-handed 4-seam hitter, and he finally homered last night, and he continues to be way too cheap at $2,700. While Marcus Semien isn’t quite the lefty masher or 4-seam hitter Burger is, he finally got off the schnide (did I spell that right?) last night as well. Josh Smith might be the lone lefty in the lineup if Seager sits, but I’m still interested - especially if he leads off again. Much like Minnesota, this team is collectively way too cheap when you factor in the talent, matchup, ballpark, and implied run total. 

Bobby Witt, Vinnie P, Kyle Isbel, and the Royals

We have a main slate that won’t feature Elly De La Cruz, Gunnar Henderson, and might not offer Corey Seager. Aside from Mookie Betts, I’m not sure anyone has the true ceiling at shortstop that Witt has. Witt should be one of your first stops for cash games tonight and should give you a high floor against a pitcher in German Marquez, who is quite bad. Marquez has an ERA over 8.00 this season. The good news is that his xERA is lower than that!.....but it’s still a miserable 5.01, and he’s striking out 14% of hitters,

Witt has proven himself to be pretty much matchup-proof. I will say Marquez has been much better vs. righties (.111 ISO, 10% fly-ball rate) compared to lefties this season (.267 ISO, 37% fly-ball rate). Although lefty Vinnie Pasquantino has been struggling mightily, this is a great get-right spot for him. He owns a .185 ISO and a team-leading 64% hard-hit rate vs righties dating back to last season. Four-seam fastballs and sinkers compile almost 70% of Marquez’s pitch mix to lefties, and Vinnie P has had much success against both of those southpaw offerings. I can say the same about lefty Kyle Isbel, whose ownership is typically kept in check partially because he hits at the bottom of the order. Isbel logged a .256 ISO and .400 wOBA vs. right-handed sinkers and a .186 ISO and .320 wOBA vs. lefty 4-seamers since the start of 2024. Those are big-boy numbers, and he’s an awesome GPP target in stacks also due to his stolen-base upside.

The Cubs vs. Ben Casparius and the LAD bullpen

The Cubs are one of the best offenses in baseball, and we saw an explosive game less than 24 hours ago at Wrigley Field. I can’t help to think the wrong team is slightly favored (LAD) in this one. Of course, the Dodgers are also live to break any slate, and Matt Boyd isn’t exactly a world-beater. I think we could see some odd-man long-relief guys tonight, and Matt Sauer could be firmly in that mix. News recently broke of Casparius getting the nod, but who will come after him? I'm not sure. However, I have no reason to doubt that the Cubs can’t make some noise against anyone's bullpen. I’m especially interested if the field isn’t prone to playing them. There are some really nice stack options on this slate, but I’m seeing the Cubs between 6th and 8th or so in terms of projected stack ownership. I’ll take that discount! This lineup is potent, up-and-down. Pete Crow-Armtrong can break a slate by just getting on base and racking up steals, while Carson Kelly…Carson…Kelly! 

Wait a second, do you want a good laugh?

Kelly has a .750 ISO, .696 wOBA, and an 81% hard-hit rate vs. right-handed pitching this season. LOL. Totally unsustainable, but through almost a full month of MLB games, he’s playing at an all-star level, and I’ll happily include him in stacks and maybe as a one-off tonight. Unlike the previous three teams, this stack is not cheap, and that’s probably while their ownership is projected to be lower with only a few good, high-priced pitchers on the bump tonight. The Cubs are probably better suited for large-field GPPs.
 

Happy Nick Kurtz Day, probably…

I’m not sure which version of Kumar Rocker is going to show up tonight. He was really good in the spring, and really bad for a few starts in the regular season. He did look good against the Angels in his last start. That being said, the Athletics still have a very healthy implied team total (they’re also not cheap, like the Cubs), and they’ll play in the hitter-friendly Sacramento ballpark.

Through a handful of regular-season starts this year, Rocker has struck out just 9% of lefties and has yielded a wOBA over .420 while coughing up 50% of hard contact. Pending he makes his MLB debut, I have very high interest in rookie phenom (who if you have been living under a rock has been absolutely taking 3A by storm) Nick Kurtz, along with Tyler Soderstrom, Lawrence Butler, and JJ Bleday – if I had to pick favorite A’s, I’ll take the lefties, but I have no issue with Shea Langeliers or Brent Rooker either.

Oneil Cruz vs. a bad righty

Cruz is one of my favorite one-offs of the day, he just checks so many boxes, and so does opposing pitcher Jack Kochanowicz. The Angels’ starter is allowing LHB to log a to a massive .268 ISO, .358 wOBA, 37% fly-ball rate, 60% hard-hit rate, and 11% barrel rate, Cruz, a lefty, has a big-time 70% hard-hit rate and 26% barrel rate vs. righties this year. He’s been on a tear.

FanDuel Stack: Red Sox vs. Emerson Hancock

Perhaps former top Seattle prospect Emerson Hancock will figure it out, but it does not appear to be anytime soon. This game is only available on FanDuel, and you might even get some decent ownership on the Sox, who have the second-highest implied team total. Hancock is striking out nobody, yielding a .308 ISO and a. 13% barrel rate through a pair of 2025 starts. Not much has changed from his 2024 tenure – it's even been a little worse so far. It's a big ballpark downgrade for pitching at Fenway compared to T-Mobile Park. I love Alex Bregman, Jarren Duran, and Wilyer Abreu in this spot. Heck, Triston Casas even showed some life, and he's still dirt cheap after a miserable start.

Player Pool

• DraftKings
• FanDuel

$ Tier	SP	RP	DH	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	OF
High	Logan Webb $10,800		Shohei Ohtani $4,300		Freddie Freeman $3,600		Rafael Devers $3,200	Mookie Betts $3,900	Kyle Tucker $4,500
	Freddy Peralta $10,200				Tyler Soderstrom $3,700		Alex Bregman $3,200	Bobby Witt $4,000	Corbin Carroll $4,400
	Eduardo Rodriguez $9,300								Mike Trout $3,700
									Jose Altuve $3,300
									Oneil Cruz $3,800
Medium	David Festa $8,400	Michael Lorenzen $8,200		Shea Langeliers $3,300	Vladimir Guerrero $3,000	Andrés Giménez $3,000	Isaac Paredes $3,000	Jacob Wilson $0	Byron Buxton $3,600
				Cal Raleigh $3,200	Michael Busch $3,000	Nico Hoerner $3,000	Josh Jung $2,900	Zach Neto $3,100	Seiya Suzuki $3,500
						Tommy Edman $3,300	Dylan Moore $3,200		Wyatt Langford $3,400
									Brent Rooker $3,400
									Lawrence Butler $3,200
									Teoscar Hernández $3,400
									Cedric Mullins $3,500
									Yordan Alvarez $3,300
									Wilyer Abreu $3,300
									Pete Crow-Armstrong $3,200
									Ian Happ $3,200
									Taylor Ward $3,000
Low	Tomoyuki Sugano $7,000			Salvador Perez $2,700	Vinnie Pasquantino $2,900	Jordan Westburg $2,700	Josh Smith $2,700	Chandler Simpson $2,400	Jorge Soler $2,900
				Ryan Jeffers $2,600	Triston Casas $2,700	Marcus Semien $2,500	Luis Rengifo $2,700	Dansby Swanson $2,900	Luis Robert $2,900
					Nick Kurtz $2,400	Luke Keaschall $2,000	Maikel Garcia $2,800	Bo Bichette $2,900	Kevin Pillar $2,500
					Jake Burger $2,600	Edouard Julien $2,200	Brooks Lee $2,500	Carlos Correa $2,600	Kyle Isbel $2,400
									Adolis García $2,900
									Heston Kjerstad $2,400
									Drew Waters $2,100
									Ceddanne Rafaela $2,600

Stacks

Twins	Ryan Jeffers	Trevor Larnach	Carlos Correa	Byron Buxton	Luke Keaschall
DraftKings	3500	2900	3600	4600	-
Fanduel	2600	2600	2600	3600	-

Rangers	Adolis García	Marcus Semien	Josh Smith	Jake Burger
DraftKings	4000	3000	3200	2700
Fanduel	2900	2500	2700	2600

Royals	Vinnie Pasquantino	Bobby Witt	Maikel Garcia	Kyle Isbel	Jonathan India
DraftKings	3800	6100	4200	2700	3600
Fanduel	2900	4000	2800	2400	2600

Red Sox	Triston Casas	Alex Bregman	Wilyer Abreu	Rafael Devers
DraftKings	-	-	-	-
Fanduel	2700	3200	3300	3200

Cubs	Pete Crow-Armstrong	Michael Busch	Seiya Suzuki	Kyle Tucker
DraftKings	4200	5200	5700	6400
Fanduel	3200	3000	3500	4500

Athletics	Lawrence Butler	Tyler Soderstrom	Brent Rooker	Nick Kurtz
DraftKings	4900	5300	5500	3500
Fanduel	3200	3700	3400	2400