MLB DFS Playbook April 19: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Apr 19, 2023
Welcome to the MLB DFS Playbook for April 19! We have a nice sized 10-game slate on our hands today, so the options are deeper. It is an early slate with a 1:10 pm ET start time, so keep that in mind! Make sure to check out our awesome MLB DFS tools as they are always worth going through before building your lineups. However, as I am sure you have figured out by now, the new playbook will be a one-stop shop that includes everything from easy-to-read player write-ups and suggestions to MLB Weather Reports to lineup construction tips to our best value plays for DraftKings and FanDuel. You will be given core plays around which to build your lineups, DFS stacks to consider for GPP tournaments and key statistics to help you in your DFS research. Let’s dive in!
MLB DFS Playbook April 19
MLB Weather Updates
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Chicago White Sox has potential rain issues.
Games that appear to have a decent wind blowing out:
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. St. Louis Cardinals (blowing out LF)
Texas Rangers vs. Kansas City Royals (blowing out LCF)
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Seattle Mariners (blowing out LCF)
Games that appear to have a decent wind blowing in:
San Francisco Giants vs. Miami Marlins (blowing in towards home)
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
Medium to big slates like the one we have today make things a bit easier as we have more options in each and every price range. We also have less exposure to each individual player. Pitching on this slate is kind of a disaster for this big of a slate, with Max Scherzer being the only real ace going and he’s facing the Dodgers. We do have some nice stack options to pick from though, so let’s dive into it all!
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Max Scherzer vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Justin Steele vs. Oakland A’s
Charlie Morton vs. San Diego Padres
Best Odds for a Win
Jake Woodford vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (-188)
Justin Steele vs. Oakland A’s (-166)
Cal Quantrill vs. Detroit Tigers (-148)
Max Scherzer vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (-130)
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Scherzer figured things out in his last start, shutting out the Padres over five innings with just one-hit against him. He struck out six and picked up the victory. The Padres offense is strong and so is the Dodgers, but for a guy like Scherzer it doesn’t always matter. He has the highest ceiling of any pitcher on today’s slate, even in a tough spot.
Steele has been great thus far, giving up just three runs across three starts (19 innings) with 19 strikeouts and a pair of victories. He has scored at least 16.7 dk points in all three starts and is coming off a game in which he scored 29.4 points against the Dodgers. If he was able to pitch well against the Brewers, Rangers, and Dodgers… it would be silly if he struggles against the A‘s while in such a good groove.
Brady Singer, Kansas City Royals
Singer has struggled out of the gates, but he’s also had tough matchups against the Blue Jays, Giants, and Braves. Today’s matchup isn’t easy either, but at least the Rangers are currently missing SCorey Seager. He has 15 strikeouts in 16 innings, so the punch-out rate has been ine and his WHIP hasn’t been abysmal, he just needs to keep the long ball in check and he should be able to produce a solid outing (five homers allowed already).
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
6.15 – Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Austin Gomber
5.37 – Colorado Rockies vs. Johan Oviedo
5.24 – St. Louis Cardinals vs. Madison Bumgarner
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Pavin Smith, 1B/OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
Smith is off to a fantastic start, hitting .333 with a home run and nine RBI through his first six games. He is very cheap and he is facing a bad pitcher in Jake Woodford, so I don’t see any reason why Smith and the Dbacks can’t keep the offense rolling in this one. Woodford has a 5.65 ERA and 1.74 WHIP through three starts this year.
Ji Hwan Bae, 2B/OF, Pittsburgh Pirates
Bae may only be hitting .226 thus far, but he has lit it up from a fantasy points perspective. He has two home runs, five steals, and 18 total R/RBI (second most on the Pirates, trailing only Bryan Reynolds) across 16 games. Today he faces Gomber who has an 8.16 ERA thus far this year and lefties have a ridiculous 1.462 OPS against him through 14 Plate Appearances.
Brett Baty, 3B, New York Mets
I like the Mets against Noah Syndergaard (who is just not very good anymore) today and Baty is easy to love at such a cheap price tag. Thor has a 5.63 ERA through his first three starts with 18 hits and 10 runs allowed across 16 innings of work. Lefties have killed him with a .933 OPS thus far across 42 PA, compared to the .670 OPS righties have produced. You can stack Baty in a wrap around with Nimmo and Lindor.
Connor Joe, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates
Joe is off to a nice start, hitting .310 with a home run, steal, and seven runs scored. He has been better against lefties in his career, slashing .261/.358/.423 against them, compared to .246/.344/.383 against righties. His career slash of .271/.376/.447 across 87 games at Coors Field is also well above his overall career slash line of .252/.349/.397.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Justin Steele  $11,300 |  Pete Alonso $4,000 |  Andrés Giménez $3,600 |  José Ramírez $3,800 | Francisco Lindor $4,200 |  Ronald Acuña $4,700 |
| Max Scherzer $10,200 |  Paul Goldschmidt $3,700 |  Ji Hwan Bae $3,300 |  Nolan Arenado $3,600 |  Willy Adames $3,500 |  Julio Rodríguez $4,000 | |
| Medium |  Trevor Rogers $9,100 | Carlos Santana $3,200 | Ozzie Albies $3,100 |  Bobby Witt $3,100 | Jurickson Profar $2,800 |  Connor Joe $3,400 |
 Christian Walker $2,800 |  Rodolfo Castro $2,700 | Ke'Bryan Hayes $2,900 | Brandon Nimmo $3,300 | |||
| Low |  Brady Singer $7,300 | Daniel Vogelbach $2,300 | Mike Brosseau $2,200 | Brett Baty $2,500 |  Ezequiel Tovar $2,600 |  Kerry Carpenter $2,400 |
 Pavin Smith $2,400 |
Stacks
| Pirates | Connor Joe | Ji Hwan Bae | Carlos Santana | Ke'Bryan Hayes | Rodolfo Castro |
 DraftKings | 3800 | 4100 | 3800 | 4200 | 3700 |
| Fanduel | 3400 | 3300 | 3200 | 2900 | 2700 |
| Mets | Brett Baty | Francisco Alvarez | Francisco Lindor | Brandon Nimmo | Pete Alonso |
| DraftKings | 2200 | 2900 | 5200 | 4500 | 5500 |
| Fanduel | 2500 | 2200 | 4200 | 3300 | 4000 |
| Guardians | Andrés Giménez | José Ramírez | Steven Kwan | Mike Zunino |
| DraftKings | 4600 | 6000 | 4900 | 4100 |
| Fanduel | 3600 | 3800 | 3200 | 2700 |
| Cardinals | Dylan Carlson | Paul Goldschmidt | Nolan Arenado |
| DraftKings | 3300 | 5800 | 5400 |
| Fanduel | 2300 | 3700 | 3600 |
| Diamondbacks | Pavin Smith | Corbin Carroll | Christian Walker |
| DraftKings | 3100 | 4100 | 3500 |
| Fanduel | 2400 | 3300 | 2800 |
Player News
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that Zach Eflin (lat) is likely to return and start Sunday against the Angels
It was assumed that Eflin would be back this weekend, but now we have a concrete date. The 31-year-old may not be at full strength after throwing fewer than 60 pitches in his rehab start, but the Orioles feel confident enough to have the right-hander back on the bump for the series finale against the Angels.
Riley Greene is not in the lineup for the first game of a doubleheader against the Rockies on Thursday.
Greene will get a break and likely return to the lineup for the second game of the twin-billing. Zach McKinstry will get the start in left field while Greene rests.
Yu Darvish (elbow) is facing live hitters on Thursday.
Darvish has been throwing bullpen sessions and traveled to the team’s complex in Arizona to face live hitters on Thursday. It will be his first time facing live batters since a spring training appearance on March 13th. He will likely need a few sessions like this before the Padres can map out a rehab appearance timeline for him.
Adael Amador is starting at second base and batting ninth for the Rockies on Thursday.
Amador has now started three of the last four games at second base for the Rockies. He’s gone just 7-for-43 this season with 15 strikeouts in 16 games. He’s just 22 years old, so there is plenty of time for him to adjust to the MLB level, but he doesn’t need to be on redraft radars right now.
Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting second for the Orioles on Thursday against the Twins.
With Cedric Mullins sitting out on Thursday, Gunnar Henderson will bat lead off, and Holliday will jump up from sixth in the order to second. Holliday is riding a hot streak right now, and the Orioles are taking advantage. This is likely just a one-game sample with no Mullins or Adley Rutschman in the lineup, but Rutschman has been struggling, so perhaps it could become a more permanent spot in the lineup for Holliday moving forward.
Endy Rodriguez (finger) had his splint removed this week.
Rodriguez suffered a lacerated right index finger on April 14th. Now that he is out of his splint, he “is playing catch and doing a slightly modified swing.” Once he can progress to taking full swings, we’ll have a better sense of the timeline for his return.