Jared Levitt 
TGIF! We made it y’all! It’s Friday and that means we ourselves a massive slate. Tonight we’ll have a 13-game slate of MLB DFS to play with. This slate looks to be a fun one too! We have one of the best pitchers in the league facing off against one of the worst offenses in the league. We’ll also have some really great spots to look for offense.
Let’s Dig in and make some money!
MLB DFS Aces – Main
Corbin Burnes ($9.8k on DK) vs. Oakland Athletics
I honestly would have paid $11k for Burnes tonight. Seeing that his price is below $10k on DK tonight has me all over Corbin Burnes. Are the strikeouts down for Burnes so far this season? Yes, his K/9 is at the lowest number of his career since he broke into the big leagues with the Brewers back in 2018. I’m not overly concerned with the strikeouts because he’s faced some tough opponents to start the year.
We’ve seen him dial it back this season at least once with an 11k performance vs. the Angels to start the season. Against a team like the A’s, who have a 28% K rate vs. righties this season, I can see Burnes have a typical Burnes-like performance we’ve come to know from him. I can see an 8 K, 1 ER, 7-inning game from him tonight. Burnes will be a lock for me tonight, he should be for you as well.
Shota Imanaga ($9.6k on DK) vs. Boston Red Sox
Of the 2 big-name pitchers that came over from Japan this offseason, Shota Imanaga has so far been the more impressive pitcher. Through 4 starts, Imanaga is 3-0 with just a .84 ERA and an xFIP of 3.33. More importantly for us though, he’s been striking batters out at a nearly 26% clip. He’ll get to take on a Boston Red Sox team that so far hasn’t been all that great vs. lefties. On the year, the Red Sox are striking out at a 30% clip vs. lefties.
While the rest of their numbers vs. lefties are a little bit better, they still aren’t great and this is a matchup they should struggle in. Imanaga has done a really great job of limiting hard contact. Hitters have just a 22% hard-hit rate vs. him and he’s only allowed 4 barrels in the 21 innings he’s thrown. He should continue his dominance tonight vs. a suspect Red Sox lineup.
Other pitchers I like tonight are going to be Zac Gallen vs. Seattle, Zach Eflin vs. Chicago, and Jose Butto vs. St. Louis. Butto has pitched well and is a nice value play if you don’t want to live in the expensive tier of pitching.
MLB DFS Stacks – Main
New York Mets vs. Miles Mikolas
You may say I’m a homer for picking the Mets as my top stack tonight and I’m ok with that. I’ve been picking and choosing my spots with the Mets this season and tonight is a spot that I like for them. Miles Mikolas is not a good pitcher in my mind and his performance is backing that up. He’s now made 5 starts on the season and has given up 5 ER in 3 of them. He’ll make it 4 out of 6 after tonight. For a pitcher to be successful these days, they need swing and miss stuff.
Hitters are just too good and when they face a pitcher that can’t get K’s, they’ll be successful. Mikolas has just a 5.9% swinging strike rate and has allowed a nearly 88% contact rate. Against a competent Mets lineup, he’s going to struggle. Both sides of the plate have slugging %’s over .530 this season against Mikolas. I’m not worried about splits here.
The Mets are going to get an infusion of talent tonight as JD Martinez is expected to make his Mets debut. While I may not end up playing him as there may be some rust on his part, he’s going to give some much-needed protection to the Polar Bear. Because of that, I really like this spot for Pete Alonso. This protection in the lineup should lead to seeing better pitches and thus, better results. I would not be shocked to see Alonso take Mikolas deep tonight.
Another Mets hitter I like here is Francisco Lindor. Lindor is heating up right now, with 9 hits in his last 24 AB. That includes a 2 homer performance on Wednesday afternoon in the bay. It won’t be long before his salary is back above $5k so we should be taking full advantage right now. Other hitters I like here are going to be Starling Marte, Brett Baty (nice value play), and Jeff McNeil (also strong value play).
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Joe Musgrove
I haven’t played the Phillies much in DFS to start to the season, but that changes tonight. Joe Musgrove is not the same pitcher he was the last few years. At 31, he’s no longer the young buck he once was. This season has been a struggle for him so far. Strikeouts are down, walks are up, home runs are up. Just about every metric for him is worse than it has in the past. Through his first 6 starts, he’s already allowed 5 homers and has allowed at least 3 ER in all but 1 start.
Tonight he’ll face arguably his toughest opponent since game 1 when he started against the Dodgers. I don’t see a scenario where he returns to form any time soon, and definitely not tonight. So far it’s been the righties that have given him the most angst this season as they have all 5 homers and a .542 slugging % against him.
That means we’ll look to guys like Alec Bohm, Trea Turner, and JT Realmuto. Of the bunch, Bohm is my favorite as he’s the cheapest and he’s also the one hitting the ball the best out of the 3. He’s 15 for his last 28 and has 10 RBI in those AB. He’s quietly becoming a force in this lineup and his early career struggles are well past him.
Don’t get me wrong though with favoring the righties, I still love the lefties here as well. Harper is elite and he’s in a great spot to continue to hit the ball well. Now that he has another little one in the house, he’ll enjoy the quiet time on the road. Look for him to be the first lefty to take Musgrove deep this season.
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