MLB DFS Value Plays April 29: Top DraftKings & FanDuel Picks
Happy Saturday! Today we have an 8-game early slate kicking off at 12:05 EST on DraftKings; FanDuel doesn’t have this 8-game slate, but you can use these value plays in their all-day slate or one of their other early slates. There are some exciting pitchers taking the mound today, highlighted by Spencer Strider taking on the New York Mets. There are not as many obvious offensive teams to target today, with some of the better offenses getting tougher pitching matchups or not being on this early slate of games. There are still plenty of value options to target today to build some solid lineups to cash in DFS today. So, let’s dive into some of my favorite value options of the day!
MLB DFS Value Pitchers
Eduardo Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers (DraftKings: $6,600 / FanDuel: $9,200)
Eduardo Rodriguez is coming off a start where he carried a perfect game into the 7th inning against Baltimore. I don’t believe this was a fluke. Eduardo has been a great pitcher in the past, and I was super high on him when he signed the Detroit contract. He has struggled with some bad luck in the past, making his overall line look worse than he is. Last year he struggled with health and off-the-field problems that kept him off the mound and, I am sure, affected him when he was pitching as well. He is back and healthy and I don’t see why he can’t turn into a solid pitcher again. While he probably doesn’t go 6 perfect innings against Baltimore again, I am still trusting him to easily return this value.
Vince Velasquez, St. Louis Cardinals (DraftKings: $6,900)
Vince Velasquez has started relying on his slider way more and it is working. He is throwing it 41.5% of the time compared to only 22.6% last year. He just struck out 10 against the Cincinnati Reds while throwing 7 shutout innings. Today he gets the Washington Nationals, who don’t strike out as much as the Reds but are a considerably worse offense overall. I am fully bought in on Velasquez's new approach and think he can continue to pile up the strikeouts and put together solid outings, so I am a big fan of him today getting to face the Nationals at this price.
MLB DFS Value Hitters
Alejandro Kirk, C Toronto Blue Jays (DraftKings: $3,800 / FanDuel: $2,700)
I still believe that Kirk is one of the best-hitting catchers in the league. He put together a 3 hit game, including a homerun against Luis Castillo and the Seattle Mariners yesterday. Today he gets to face Chris Flexen, who is one of the worst pitchers on this slate. I think Kirk will continue to rack up the hits and is priced far too low for the quality of hitter that he is at the catcher position. He has an .841 OPS this season against right-handers, which is a number that is going to be hard to find anywhere at Catcher, let alone for this cheap.
Rodolfo Castro, SS Pittsburgh Pirates (DraftKings: $3,600 / FanDuel: $2,700)
Why does Rodolfo Castro continue to be this cheap when he is facing a lefty!? He has the 4th highest OPS in the major leagues against left-handed pitching at 1.248. He continues to dominate against them and today gets to face Patrick Corbin, who has been one of the worst left-handed starting pitchers in the league of the last year, yet this is the cheapest he has been in over a week on DraftKings. This Pirates team continues to deliver, and Rodolfo at the heart of it against a lefty for this cheap is a no-brainer for me.
Masataka Yoshida, 3B Boston Red Sox (DraftKings: $4,200 / FanDuel: $3,400)
Boston has the highest implied run total of today’s slate, getting to face Zach Plesac of the Cleveland Guardians. Masataka Yoshida has come out of his cold streak and looks to have officially figured out major-league hitting. Over the last 10 games, Yoshida is slashing .341/.378/.610 with 3 home runs, 5 runs, and 10 RBIs. While this is the highest-priced player of my value plays by quite a bit, I still see this as a huge value today. I think Yoshida will be consistently over $5,000 soon.
Jarren Duran, OF Boston Red Sox (DraftKings: $3,300 / FanDuel: $3,100)
Getting another player on the team with the highest implied run total of the slate for my final value play. This one you get for much cheaper, but he has been even hotter than Yoshida since joining the team. In his first 11 games, he is slashing .436/.455/.718, and whether this is just a hot streak or Duran has actually figured it out at the plate finally after struggling to hit in the majors over the last two years, I am bought in. He is still very cheap, and in a good matchup today against Plesac, I am going to ride the hot hand and plug Duran into any Boston stack or even as a one-off play today.
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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.