A lot of people are going to be traveling this weekend for the Easter holiday. That could mean fewer people playing MLB DFS contests, which is beneficial if you are willing to put in the time with your MLB DFS picks. The DraftKings slate we are looking at begins at 7:05 p.m. ET and includes eight games. FanDuel has the same slate available as its main slate.
Saturday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Saturday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (4/4)
- Jesus Luzardo has far and away the most upside of any of the starting pitchers today. Of course, he is also coming off a poor start against the Rangers in which he allowed a pair of home runs and six earned runs. Today’s start is also at Coors Field. Both of those factors have suppressed his price a bit, especially on DraftKings. He could still deliver the strong point totals we’ve come to expect in the past.
- Mick Abel is poised to make his first start of the season. Given the Twins’ off days, they pitched him in relief in his first appearance. Remember, he had an impressive spring training with 27 strikeouts in only 22 innings. Today, he takes on a Rays offense that was in the top 10 in strikeout rate in 2025.
- Emerson Hancock had as impressive a first start. He pitched six no-hit innings with nine strikeouts and only issued a single walk. Any single start could be just a fluke, but there was a tangible change in the pitch mix for Hancock, which proved effective. He threw his sweeper over 25% of the time in his first start after throwing it a mere 3% in 2025. I don’t understand why he is priced so low on DraftKings. If he pitches well again in this start, his price will skyrocket.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Philadelphia Phillies Projected Lineup (4/4)
A lot of people are going to be traveling this weekend for the Easter holiday. That could mean fewer people playing MLB DFS contests, which is beneficial if you are willing to put in the time with your MLB DFS picks. The DraftKings slate we are looking at begins at 7:05 p.m. ET and includes eight games. FanDuel has the same slate available as its main slate.
Saturday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Saturday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (4/4)
- Jesus Luzardo has far and away the most upside of any of the starting pitchers today. Of course, he is also coming off a poor start against the Rangers in which he allowed a pair of home runs and six earned runs. Today’s start is also at Coors Field. Both of those factors have suppressed his price a bit, especially on DraftKings. He could still deliver the strong point totals we’ve come to expect in the past.
- Mick Abel is poised to make his first start of the season. Given the Twins’ off days, they pitched him in relief in his first appearance. Remember, he had an impressive spring training with 27 strikeouts in only 22 innings. Today, he takes on a Rays offense that was in the top 10 in strikeout rate in 2025.
- Emerson Hancock had as impressive a first start. He pitched six no-hit innings with nine strikeouts and only issued a single walk. Any single start could be just a fluke, but there was a tangible change in the pitch mix for Hancock, which proved effective. He threw his sweeper over 25% of the time in his first start after throwing it a mere 3% in 2025. I don’t understand why he is priced so low on DraftKings. If he pitches well again in this start, his price will skyrocket.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Philadelphia Phillies Projected Lineup (4/4)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| SS |
Trea Turner |
$5,500 |
$4,000 |
| OF |
Kyle Schwarber |
$6,500 |
$4,400 |
| 1B |
Bryce Harper |
$5,300 |
$4,000 |
| 3B/1B |
Alec Bohm |
$4,800 |
$3,700 |
| 2B/SS |
Bryson Stott |
$3,900 |
$3,700 |
| OF |
Adolis Garcia |
$3,700 |
$3,500 |
| OF |
Brandon Marsh |
$3,500 |
$3,200 |
| C |
J.T. Realmuto |
$3,800 |
$3,300 |
| OF |
Justin Crawford |
$3,100 |
$3,100 |
- There is no confirmed starting pitcher for the Colorado Rockies for tonight’s matchup, but I have seen Valente Bellozo as a possibility. For a quick reminder, Bellozo allowed 15 home runs in 81 innings last season with the Marlins. In spring training, he had a 6.32 ERA in 15.2 innings with three home runs allowed. Pitching in Coors Field could be very difficult for him. The other possibility would be Chase Dollander, who has an ERA of nearly 10.00 at Coors Field in his career.
- The Phillies’ offense was off to a bit of a slow start with a team wRC+ of 95 in the early season before yesterday. With yesterday’s explosion at Coors Field, it has jumped to 109. Since Bellozo used to be a member of the Marlins, many Phillies hitters have seen him before. Kyle Schwarber has gone 2-for-8 with a home run against him. The other hitter in the projected starting lineup who has a home run off of Bellozo is Alec Bohm.
- Adolis Garcia has gotten off to a strong start to the season. He is currently 8-for-26 with a double and a pair of home runs. The Statcast data support his early performance with a 94.3 miles per hour (MPH) average exit velocity being better than we’ve seen from him before.
- If you are looking for a slightly cheaper name, consider Justin Crawford. He has a launch angle under one degree and has yet to hit a barrel, so you are unlikely to get a home run. However, his speed is a factor, and the cavernous outfield of Coors Field could still lead to extra-base hits in this game.
Seattle Mariners Projected Lineup (4/4)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| 2B/3B/SS/OF |
Brendan Donovan |
$4,700 |
$3,500 |
| C |
Cal Raleigh |
$5,600 |
$3,800 |
| OF |
Julio Rodriguez |
$5,100 |
$3,500 |
| 1B |
Josh Naylor |
$4,100 |
$2,800 |
| OF |
Randy Arozarena |
$4,800 |
$3,600 |
| 1B/OF |
Luke Raley |
$3,300 |
$3,000 |
| OF |
Dominic Canzone |
$3,400 |
$2,800 |
| SS |
J.P. Crawford |
$2,600 |
$2,800 |
| 2B/SS |
Cole Young |
$2,500 |
$2,600 |
- One of the recommendations last Sunday was the Houston Astros facing Jack Kochanowicz. It worked well as the Astros scored nine runs in that game. We’re going back to the well against Kochanowicz in this matchup. He strikes out so few batters that an offensive explosion is always possible. In three career starts against the Mariners, he has allowed 20 hits in 12 innings with an ERA of 8.03.
- Similar to the Phillies, a lot of the Mariners’ best hitters are off to slow starts. This could be a good chance for a turnaround for Cal Raleigh. He has five career at-bats against Kochanowicz — three hits, including two home runs.
- Julio Rodriguez has only had three singles to begin the season. While he doesn’t have the history of power production against Kochanowicz that Raleigh has, he also has been effective. He has gone 5-for-7 against him in his career with a double.
- The final pick is two-fold. Both Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone have settled into platoon roles, but they play against right-handed pitchers like Kochanowicz. It’s a tiny sample, but Raley is currently in the top percentile in barrel rate and expected slugging. Canzone isn’t quite that high, but he is in the top five percentiles in average exit velocity, barrel rate and expected slugging.
Core Studs
- Willy Adames has had nearly all of his production in a single game. He went 4-for-5 with a double and a home run on March 31st. Otherwise, he has two singles in 24 at-bats. A matchup with Clay Holmes could be the remedy. Adames has gone 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles against Holmes.
- Byron Buxton has a matchup against left-handed pitcher Steven Matz today. In 2025, he had an incredible 1.050 OPS against left-handed pitchers. It does need to be noted that he was hit by a pitch yesterday on the forearm, so make sure he is in the lineup today.
- Drake Baldwin is off to a strong start to the 2026 season with three home runs and 19 total bases. He’s in the top five percentiles in xwOBA and expected slugging through the first week.
Value Plays/Punts
- Dominic Smith has settled into a platoon role with the Braves. Today’s matchup is against right-handed pitcher Michael Soroka. Smith has at least one hit in every game this season, with a pair of those hits being home runs. He currently has a .451 xwOBA, which is in the top 10 in all of baseball.
- Matt McLain had a remarkable spring training where he led in nearly every offensive category. So far, it hasn’t carried over to the regular season with a 4-for-21 start and a near 30% strikeout rate. When he is making contact, though, it’s strong contact. McLain has a 95 MPH average exit velocity and a 23% barrel rate, which point to better days ahead.
- Does anyone expect Liam Hicks to continue to lead the league in RBI? Highly unlikely, but he’s off to a good start, including a hard-hit rate of 60%. Take a chance at his price point.
Saturday’s Top 3 Underdog Player Props
Keep in mind that the Brewers are playing a doubleheader today, but Brice Turang needs to achieve this feat in the first game.
That game is expected to be against Luinder Avila, making his MLB debut. Turang has exceeded 1.5 hits + runs + RBIs in all six of the Brewers’ games this season.
I mentioned above that Chase Dollander has an ERA of nearly 10.00 in home games. He is expected to pitch in relief. In his first appearance of the season, he was able to get 12 outs on 74 pitches.
Emerson Hancock‘s impressive first start was already referenced above. It included nine strikeouts over six innings. Today, he gets to take on an Angels team striking out 30.5% of the time.
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