Happy Easter! It can be hard to find time to play MLB DFS on this day with so many other activities going on. If you do have time to play, though, we have MLB DFS picks to help you out. DraftKings has a nine-game slate that begins at 1:35 p.m. ET. FanDuel has a similar slate, but with an additional game (Philadelphia at Colorado). Phillies-Rockies is an appealing game for offense, but it won’t be included in any of the recommendations below for clarity.
Sunday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Sunday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (4/5)
- Max Fried couldn’t have asked for a better start to his season. He is 2-0 and has not yet allowed an earned run in 13.1 innings. The strikeouts have been a bit low, with only 10 so far. The Marlins are currently a top-five offense by wRC+ metrics, but their first two series were against the Rockies and White Sox.
- Chase Burns came out and dominated in his first start of the season against the Pirates. He struck out seven batters in five innings with only a single hit allowed. Today’s matchup is against the Baltimore Orioles. They have a team strikeout rate of 25.5%. That should rise even more after facing Burns. His price on DraftKings is especially intriguing.
- There are simply no cheap appealing options, so we’ll go with Kyle Harrison. The Milwaukee Brewers may have already worked their pitching magic with him. His first start as a Brewer was his first game with at least eight strikeouts since July of 2024. It was only one start, but his slurve was considerably more effective in that start than we’ve seen recently. He takes on the Royals today, who have been striking out nearly 30% of the time against left-handed pitchers this season.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Pittsburgh Pirates Projected Lineup (4/5)
Happy Easter! It can be hard to find time to play MLB DFS on this day with so many other activities going on. If you do have time to play, though, we have MLB DFS picks to help you out. DraftKings has a nine-game slate that begins at 1:35 p.m. ET. FanDuel has a similar slate, but with an additional game (Philadelphia at Colorado). Phillies-Rockies is an appealing game for offense, but it won’t be included in any of the recommendations below for clarity.
Sunday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Sunday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (4/5)
- Max Fried couldn’t have asked for a better start to his season. He is 2-0 and has not yet allowed an earned run in 13.1 innings. The strikeouts have been a bit low, with only 10 so far. The Marlins are currently a top-five offense by wRC+ metrics, but their first two series were against the Rockies and White Sox.
- Chase Burns came out and dominated in his first start of the season against the Pirates. He struck out seven batters in five innings with only a single hit allowed. Today’s matchup is against the Baltimore Orioles. They have a team strikeout rate of 25.5%. That should rise even more after facing Burns. His price on DraftKings is especially intriguing.
- There are simply no cheap appealing options, so we’ll go with Kyle Harrison. The Milwaukee Brewers may have already worked their pitching magic with him. His first start as a Brewer was his first game with at least eight strikeouts since July of 2024. It was only one start, but his slurve was considerably more effective in that start than we’ve seen recently. He takes on the Royals today, who have been striking out nearly 30% of the time against left-handed pitchers this season.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Pittsburgh Pirates Projected Lineup (4/5)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| OF/SS |
Oneil Cruz |
$5,000 |
$3,000 |
| 2B |
Brandon Lowe |
$4,400 |
$3,600 |
| OF |
Bryan Reynolds |
$4,300 |
$2,900 |
| OF |
Marcell Ozuna |
$2,800 |
$2,600 |
| OF/1B |
Ryan O’Hearn |
$4,100 |
$3,100 |
| 1B |
Spencer Horwitz |
$3,200 |
$2,500 |
| SS |
Konnor Griffin |
$3,500 |
$2,900 |
| 3B/SS/1B/2B |
Jared Triolo |
$2,400 |
$2,600 |
| C/OF |
Henry Davis |
$2,300 |
$2,300 |
- Chris Bassitt opposes the Pittsburgh Pirates today. Bassitt has made one start this season that didn’t go well, allowing 10 baserunners and four earned runs in just over four innings. If you want to put a positive spin on that game, it would be that he allowed only one extra-base hit.
- Given their times in the American League East, Brandon Lowe and Bassitt have faced each other many times. Lowe is 11-for-20 against Bassitt in his career with two doubles and four home runs. He’s a strong option.
- Another player who has spent a large portion of their career in the American League East is Ryan O’Hearn. While he doesn’t have quite the history against Bassitt that Lowe has, it’s not something to ignore either. He has gone 8-for-15 against Bassitt with a double and a home run.
- There isn’t much Major League data to go off of, but we may not be getting Konnor Griffin at this price point much longer. In just two Major League games, he has gone 1-for-6 with that hit being a double.
Boston Red Sox Projected Lineup (4/5)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| OF |
Roman Anthony |
$5,300 |
$3,700 |
| SS |
Trevor Story |
$4,000 |
$3,300 |
| OF |
Jarren Duran |
$5,100 |
$3,400 |
| 1B/C |
Willson Contreras |
$3,800 |
$3,000 |
| OF |
Wilyer Abreu |
$4,700 |
$3,200 |
| 3B/2B |
Caleb Durbin |
$2,900 |
$2,400 |
| 2B/3B/SS |
Marcelo Mayer |
$2,400 |
$2,700 |
| C |
Carlos Narvaez |
$2,700 |
$2,600 |
| OF/SS/2B |
Ceddanne Rafaela |
$2,800 |
$2,800 |
- If you believe in the revenge game narrative, go ahead and pass on the Red Sox facing Walker Buehler. Just know that I will not be doing that. Buehler made one start this season where he allowed seven baserunners in only four innings. His new approach is to kitchen sink his way through starts by throwing seven different pitches. Considering he spent over half the season with the Red Sox last season, I expect they’ll be ready for that and pounce on his diminished stuff.
- Wilyer Abreu is always a possibility when the Red Sox face a right-handed pitcher. He has a career OPS of .841 against right-handed pitchers and only a .604 OPS against left-handed pitchers. Five of his six extra-base hits this season, including all three of his home runs, have come against right-handed pitchers.
- The other Red Sox hitter who is substantially better against right-handed pitchers is Jarren Duran. He’s off to a 4-for-22 start this season with only one extra-base hit. Just keep in mind that he has an OPS of .834 in his career against right-handed pitchers.
- While Trevor Story hasn’t hit for a great average against Buehler in his career, he has hit for power against him. Story has faced Buehler 35 times in his career with seven hits. Three of those hits have been for extra bases, including two home runs.
Core Studs
- While Pete Alonso only has one home run to begin this season, his power has traveled with him from New York to Baltimore. He has a hard-hit rate of nearly 60%, which is in the top 10 of the league. A matchup with Braxton Ashcraft could be what he needs for another home run.
- As long as we don’t get dinged for errors in DFS, Junior Caminero will continue to be a premier option. He has yet to hit a home run this season, but a matchup with Simeon Woods Richardson could change that. Woods Richardson typically has a groundball rate around 30%, which means a lot of balls in the air for Caminero to hit over the fence.
- Sal Stewart is making it look way too easy. He has five extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs already. That’s fully supported by his top-five percentile marks in barrel rate and expected slugging.
Value Plays/Punts
- The Dodgers are always a possible stack option. Today, they take on left-handed pitcher Foster Griffin in his second start after reinventing himself in Japan. Whenever you see a left-handed pitcher opposing the Dodgers, you can assume Miguel Rojas will be in the lineup with his career .738 OPS. It’s a cheap way to get exposure to the Dodgers’ lineup.
- I mentioned Gary Sanchez in last Sunday’s value plays/punts section. It worked then, with him hitting a home run off a left-handed pitcher. I’m going back to the well. Sanchez has a matchup against left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic today.
- Trent Grisham is not off to the start he was hoping for, but a matchup with right-handed pitcher Chris Paddack could be the remedy. Of Grisham’s 34 home runs last season, 27 came against a right-handed pitcher. After leading the league in earned runs last season, Paddack gave up two home runs in only four innings in his first start.
Sunday’s Top 3 Underdog Player Props
Brandon Lowe‘s history against Chris Bassitt was already referenced above. He is 7-for-11 against right-handed pitchers this season with two doubles and three home runs.
This number is a bit steep, but Yordan Alvarez is a hitter who can deliver. He has cleared 2.5 combined hits + runs + RBIs in his last six starts. Alvarez is off to a scorching start against left-handed pitchers — 7-for-13 with two doubles and two home runs. He faces left-handed pitcher Jacob Lopez today.
Brandon Pfaadt went six innings in his first start and struck out three batters. He had a 7% swinging strike rate in that game and generated a mere six whiffs on 85 pitches. Today, he is facing the Atlanta Braves, who have the lowest team strikeout rate in baseball at 17.9%.
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