NFL DFS Contrarian Plays

It was another big step in his return from injuries to both elbows. The 35-year-old slugger is scheduled to remain behind in New York and continue workouts during the team’s upcoming West Coast trip. If he continues to feel good after his live batting practice sessions, then we could see him begin a rehab assignment soon. With Ben Rice and Trent Grisham playing well, it would be foolish to assume that Stanton returns to a full-time spot in the Yankees’ lineup, especially given his injury history. He may start on the short side of a platoon and then progress from there, depending on his results.

The 27-year-old still claims he hopes to beat the 4-6 week timeline back onto the field, but this makes us feel like 6-8 weeks could seem more likely since he has to wait for three separate injuries to heal before he can start swinging a bat again. If you have IL spots, he’s an easy player to stash, but if you’re in leagues that don’t have any, it becomes a much tougher decision. We’d try to hold onto him if you can, but six weeks is a long time to wait if your fantasy teams are struggling.

Horton has been impressive at Triple-A Iowa this season and is in the mix to replace Shota Imanaga (hamstring) this weekend. However, he has also only pitched 205 innings in the minors since being drafted in 2022, and the Cubs are concerned that “Horton has missed out on some developmental time that could have already sharpened his game and kept his pitches in the strike zone more consistently.” Mooney reports that the team wants Horton to cut down on his “non-competitive pitches” because they see that as a major weakness that will be exposed by MLB hitters. While that issue may keep Horton from debuting this weekend, it seems likely that he will be up at some point this month, which makes him one of the top prospect stashes in fantasy baseball.

The move, which includes a 2026 third round pick and a 2027 fifth round pick sent to the Steelers, comes after another ESPN report saying Pickens, 24, wanted to remain in Pittsburgh. Acquiring Pickens — who has 2,841 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns over three NFL seasons — addresses an area of acute need for the Cowboys, who have one of the league’s weakest wideout room behind CeeDee Lamb. Pickens and Lamb will make for one of the NFL’s best receiver duos, with Pickens functioning as a viable downfield threat for Dak Prescott, who last season ranked 15th out of 40 qualifying quarterbacks in deep ball accuracy. Pickens in 2024 was third in deep targets and second only to Alec Pierce in receiving yards on downfield receptions. Pickens will have far more upside in the Dallas offense than he did in Pittsburgh. DK Metcalf, meanwhile, will enter the 2025 season as the unquestioned No. 1 wideout for the run-heavy Steelers. His fantasy prospects look much brighter with Pickens in Dallas.

Kershaw had no issues against lower-level hitters after making a couple rehab outings previously for Triple-A Oklahoma City. The future Hall of Fame southpaw is targeting a mid-May return to the Dodgers’ rotation, so he figures to make at least one additional rehab start before being activated to make his season debut.

Moreno was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup in what was described as a manager’s decision at the time. The Diamondbacks revealed after the contest that their starting catcher is dealing with left side soreness. It’ll be Jose Herrera handling the catching duties in his absence.