MLB DFS

We finally made it to Saturday.  As is customary for Saturday, we have games all day long.  I’ll be focused on the 8-game slate of MLB DFS starting at 7pm EST.  This slate brings us a Coors game.  Like yesterday, that game will have plenty of offense.  One thing this slate doesn’t have is ace-level pitching.  We’ll need to dig in to find some solid spots for pitching. 

Let’s Dig in and make some money!

MLB DFS Aces – Main

Garrett Whitlock ($8.6k on DK) vs. Los Angeles Angels

I said it in the beginning, but this slate is really void of solid pitching.  That leads me to Garrett Whitlock as one of my pitchers today.  He had a strong showing in his initial outing vs. Seattle.  In that game he went 5 strong innings, allowing just 1 ER and striking out 8.  Can we expect a similar outing today?  I don’t see why not.  He’s facing off against an Angels lineup that no longer has Shohei Ohtani in it. 

To start the year, the Angels are striking out more than 26% of the time vs. righties.  They also have a below-average wOBA of .276.  Anything below .300 for me is something that we need to attack.  This lineup still has Trout in it, but I like this spot a lot for Whitlock today.  Not safe, but should do well. 

Michael King ($8.4k on DK) vs. San Francisco Giants

Michael King was one of the core pieces the Yankees used to pry Juan Soto away from the Yankees.  This was because King looked brilliant at time last season.  While the xFIP and ERA are pretty high to start the year, he’s also shown again the K upside that he showed last season.  In his 2 appearances so far this season, he’s managed to strike out 11 hitters.  Control is still a problem though as he allowed 7 BB in his last start vs. Giants. 

He gets a rematch vs. them today and will hopefully have some better control.  This is a Giants team that can be had.  They own a nearly 26% strikeout rate vs. righties this season.  If King can find the zone more today, he has a ton of upside.  He still should be fairly safe thanks to his ability to strike people out.  I love the upside that he brings and a sub $9k salary tonight. 

Other pitchers I like tonight are Kevin Gausman vs. the Yankees and Reid Detmers vs. Boston.

MLB DFS Stacks – Main

Kansas City Royals vs. Chris Flexen

I’m pretty high on the Royals this season.  They have a solid young lineup.  They’ll get a great matchup tonight vs. Chris Flexen.  Flexen is not a good pitcher.  He hasn’t been for a very long time.  Flexen is someone that I’ve stacked against religiously and more often than not it works out.  It should again tonight.  With Flexen, I normally stack righties against him.  He’s historically been a reverse splits pitcher.  Throughout his career, righties have a slugging % over .500 vs. him.  That’s compared to just a .394 for lefties.  Thankfully, this Royals lineup has some righties we can use here.

The first one we’ll use is one of the best in the game, young gun Bobby Witt Jr.  Witt is off to a great start this season, even with his dud last night.  Through 8 games, he’s already up to 12 hits and 7 runs scored.  This is a matchup he should really excel in tonight. 

Next up will be his Salvador Perez.  Perez has refound the fountain of youth.  Through his first 8 games, he also has 12 hits and also has 9 RBI.  This combo should put up a bunch of fantasy points tonight.  Other than those 2, I also like Maikel Garcia, Nelson Velazquez, and Hunter Renfroe.  The only concern I have with this lineup tonight is that there’s the potential for some weather in KC later. 

Texas Rangers vs. JP France

The Rangers came through for us last night and I think they come through for us again tonight.  This is one of the deepest and most talented lineups in the game.  They get a neutral matchup vs. JP France, but it’s one they should be able to take advantage of.  France was just average in his first start of the season vs. the Yankees.  In that game, he allowed 3 ER in his 5 innings of work.  I would expect the Rangers to do more damage than the Yankees lineup.  In his young career so far, righties have done more damage against him than lefties.  Not by a huge amount, but enough to cause some separation.  That will have me prioritizing the righties in this lineup.

With that, I’ll be leaning heavily on the same guys as last night.  I’ll be prioritizing Adolis Garcia, Marcus Semien, and Wyatt Langford.  Garcia came through for us big time last night with a homer.  In this matchup, he should do well again.  He’s already up to 4 bombs and 10 RBI.  Look for him to continue to add to that total.  Other guys I like here are going to be Corey Seager, Josh Smith, and Jared Walsh.  Both Walsh and Smith provide us with payroll savings. 

Other stacks I like tonight will be both sides of the Rays/Rockies game.  We’ll need to keep an eye on the weather in this one as the winds may cause it to get PPD. 

Favorite Prop Bets:

Keep an eye out here as I’ll be adding props throughout the day. 

Good luck and hope to see you in the green.   

Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @rangerzfan79 and be sure to sign up for a PREMIUM account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate! 

TGIF!  It’s Friday and that means we have ourselves a pretty nice sized slate.  Tonight, we’ll have 7 games of MLB DFS to navigate through.  For the first time this season, I’ll also be able to recommend stacking against my favorite pitcher.  Those who know, know.  This slate does have a nice mix of studs to use on the mound, and bums to stack against. 

Let’s Dig in and make some money!

MLB DFS Aces – Main

Freddy Peralta ($9.3k on DK) vs. Seattle Mariners

Granted it was against the Mets, but Freddy Peralta looked absolutely dominant in his first outing of the season.  Making it through 6 innings of work, Peralta struck out 8 hitters and has a WHIP of just .33.  Yes, he barely let any baserunners on throughout his 6 innings of work.  Most would say that using a pitcher against the Mariners is a questionable decision.  The Mariners haven’t looked good at the plate to start the season. 

Against righties, they own a massive 33% k rate and an OPS of just .541.  Until they prove otherwise, we’re going to use pitchers, and especially dominant pitchers, against them.  I recommended Shane Bieber against them the other night and he preceded to throw 6 innings of dominant ball.  Freddy Peralta can do the same tonight. 

Brady Singer ($8.7k on DK) vs. Chicago White Sox

The White Sox are going to be a team that we pick on often this season.  Gone is Tim Anderson at the top of the lineup, and the rest of the lineup is starting to age.  If we look up and down this lineup these days, it’s nothing that should strike fear in any pitcher.  To start the season, they’ve been below average vs. righties.  They have a nearly 24% k rate vs. them and just a .638 OPS.  

They’ve been bad and we’ll pick on them with Singer tonight.  Singer to his credit looked very dominant in his first outing this season.  In that outing, he went 7 strong innings with 10 K’s and not allowing a single run.  Can he have a repeat performance tonight?  Against a weak White Sox lineup, I think he can.

Other pitchers I like tonight are going to be Spencer Strider vs. Arizona (tread lightly as the Dbacks are strong) and Hunter Greene vs. my Mets. 

MLB DFS Stacks – Main

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Patrick Corbin

It took a week into the season, but I can finally recommend stacking against Patrick Corbin.  I honestly don’t know what Washington was thinking when they signed Patrick Corbin to this 6-year/$140 m contract.  It’s been an abomination since he signed it and it’s going to continue to wreak havoc on them this season.  The only saving grace for them is that this is it, the last year of the contract.  Corbin’s first start of the season was not good. 

He went just 4 innings against the Reds, allowing 4 ER.  As has been the case throughout his Nationals tenure, he got eaten up by the long ball as he allowed 2 homers.  He should continue to struggle tonight against a strong lineup in the Phillies.  Splits-wise, we’ll want to prioritize the righties in this lineup as Corbin has historically been way worse against them. 

That means we’ll start with guys like JT Realmuto, Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, and Nick Castellanos.  All 4 of these guys stand a really strong chance of taking Corbin deep tonight.  Of the bunch, who’s my favorite?  Glad you asked!  JT Realmuto is.  I normally don’t like spending up on catcher, but when the matchup warrants it, I will.  Tonight’s matchup warrants it is Corbin should excel in this matchup as he has a long history of crushing Corbin.  After my righties, we can’t forget about Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber.  Harper is always in play, regardless of the matchup. 

Texas Rangers vs. Hunter Brown

While he didn’t allow an ER in his initial start against the Yankees, the advanced metrics tell a little bit of a different story.  It shows a pitcher that got hit pretty hard and if it hadn’t been for some luck, this game could have ended quite a bit differently for him.  In that start vs. the  Yankees, Brown allowed a nearly 37% hard-hit rate.  Couple that with a contact rate against him of 86%, we have a pitcher that allowed a good amount of hard-hit balls in play. 

Giving up that much contact, and hard contact to boot, against a solid Rangers lineup, is going to be a huge challenge against a very good Rangers lineup.  A Rangers lineup that has hit righty pitching very well to start the season.  While the lefties will be in play here, I’m going to be a bit more focused on the righties as Brown has been a reverse splits pitcher so far in his young career.  Righties have a slugging % of .490 vs. him, while lefties are at .372.  That’s a pretty sizeable difference.

That has me on Marcus Semien to start.  Semien has come out of the gates hitting the ball well.  Through his first 6 games, Semien has reached base 11 times.  He’s also scored a bunch of runs and driven in a bunch of runs.  He’s pricey at $5k but should do well here.  We also can’t forget about last year’s playoff sensation, Adolis Garcia.  He’s off to a red-hot start, with 3 homers already and 6 RBI.  Other than these 2, I also like guys like Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford.  The value in this lineup tonight will be guys like Jared Walsh at $3.5k, Josh Smith at $2.3k, and Leody Taveras at $3.4k. 

Other stacks I like tonight will be the Royals against Erick Fedde and Reds vs. Jose Quintana. 

Favorite Prop Bets:

Keep an eye out here as I’ll be adding props throughout the day. 

Good luck and hope to see you in the green.   

Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @rangerzfan79 and be sure to sign up for a PREMIUM account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate! 

Today is the day that’s going to test our patience.  We currently have a 9-game slate of MLB DFS to work with, but by the time the games start we may be down to just 6 games.  New York and Chicago are set to have some nasty weather and the 3 games scheduled there are very likely to be postponed.  We’ll want to keep an eye on those games.  Hopefully, we’ll know more early, making our decisions easy.  I’m going to treat this slate as just 6 games though because I just don’t see it possible for those games to play.  Many of the starters throwing today are making their second appearance of the year. 

Let’s Dig in and make some money!

MLB DFS Aces – Main

Brayan Bello ($8k on DK) vs. Oakland Athletics

Similar to last season, we’re going to be picking on the Oakland A’s as much as possible.  They continue to be an awful franchise and continue to make awful decisions.  Yesterday, they demoted one of the few hitters on their team that was hitting Esteury Perez.  It’s only April 2, and the A’s already have a -27 run differential.  It’s going to be a long season for the A’s. 

It’s not going to get much easier tonight as they face off against Brayan Bello.  Bellow pitched ok in his first outing against the Mariners.  He struck out just 2 hitters, but he did pick up the coveted win.  At $8k, we aren’t going to be looking for a ton of K’s so if we can get up to 5 from Bello tonight, that will probably be enough to pay off his salary.  Against a bad  A’s team, that’s very plausible. 

Shane Bieber ($8.8k on DK) vs. Seattle Mariners

Shane Bieber looked like the ace he is in his first outing of the year.  Across 6 innings, Bieber struck out 11 A’s and allowed just 4 hits.  None of those hitters crossed the plate as the Guardians ace pitched an absolute gem.  He’ll look to continue the momentum today as he takes on a Mariners lineup that has somewhat struggled to start the year.  Even though the team is 3-2 to start the season, they have a -3 run differential and have also struck out an alarming rate. 

Through the 5 games, the team owns a nearly 35% strikeout rate.  Couple that with Bieber’s ability to mow down hitters, I like this spot for him tonight as the strikeout potential is really high.  He’s risky because the Mariners can break out any moment, but the price isn’t sky-high and there’s certainly value here. 

MLB DFS Stacks – Main

Boston Red Sox vs. Alex Wood

It’s tough to read that much into one start, but if Alex Wood’s debut A’s start is indicative of what this season is going to look like, it’s going to look very ugly.  Wood gave up 6 ER in just a little over 3 innings of work in his debut against the Guardians.  The BABIP was extremely high so there’s definitely a chance he comes back down to earth.  That said, he put just too many balls in play and that’s a recipe for disaster. 

Of the 13 balls he allowed in play, 7 were hit and considered to have been hard.  That type of ratio isn’t going to cut it and it’s going to be a struggle today against an above-average lineup in the Red Sox.  With Wood, we want to focus on attacking him with righties.  All of his metrics are way worse against righties than lefties. 

The two guys I’m going to prioritize getting into my Red Sox stack today are going to be Trevor Story and Tyler O’Neill.  O’Neill has really started the season strong.  Through his first 10 AB, O’Neill has a massive 1.538 OPS and a .606 wOBA.  He’s going to certainly come back down to earth at some point soon, but it’s not going to be tonight in this matchup.  Story hasn’t been nearly as hot as O’Neill but he has a long history of doing well against Southpaws.  Is this the year the Red Sox finally don’t regret giving him that contract?  Time will tell.  Other than these 2 guys, I also like Rafael Devers, Ceddane Rafaela, and Masataka Yoshida.  This lineup should do well tonight

San Diego Padres vs. Miles Mikolas

Similar to attacking Alex Wood, I’m going to be attacking Miles Mikolas tonight based on his first start of the season.  Yes, it was one start that saw him give up 5 ER in just 4 innings of work, but it’s also attacking him based on last season as well.  After a solid 2022 campaign, Mikolas really regressed in 2023.  He saw a rise in ERA, xFIP, and a reduction in K/9.  I’ve never been a big fan of his and will continue to stack against him, especially with a solid lineup like the Padres.  I’m not going to be overly concerned about splits against Mikolas, but we do want to favor the lefties a smidge.  Lefties have a higher slugging and on-base % vs them. 

They aren’t lefties, but the 3 best hitters vs. righties in this lineup are going to be Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis, and Xander Bogaerts.  All 3 are elite and crushed righties last season.  They each had an OPS over .725 vs. righties last season and have long track records crushing righties.  They are pricey but should do well here.  Of the lefties, Jake Cronenworth is probably my favorite.  He’s off to a decent start to the season with an OPS of .855 and a wOBA of .367.  He’s done a solid job driving the ball with a line drive % of 36%.  He’s swinging a hot stick and should be part of your Padres stack tonight.  Other guys I like here will be Ha-Seong Kim (if he cracks the lineup) and Luis Campusano. 

Favorite Prop Bets:

Tyler O’Neill – RBI (+135 DK)

Manny Machado – RBI -(+115 DK)

Shane Bieber – 6.5 K’s – Over (-115 DK)

Good luck and hope to see you in the green.   

Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @rangerzfan79 and be sure to sign up for a PREMIUM account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate! 

It’s Saturday and that means we have a full day of baseball.  Today I’ll be focused on the 6-game slate of MLB DFS starting at 7pm EST.  This slate brings us some really bad pitching, but that means we have a lot of bats that will come into play. 

Let’s Dig in and make some money!

MLB DFS Aces – Main

Dylan Cease ($9.3k on DK) vs. San Francisco Giants

Dylan Cease makes his Padres debut today.  He’s hoping a change of scenery can reinvigorate his career after really struggling last season.  His ERA and xFIP were both highs he hadn’t seen in several years.  While his K/9 were still in double digits, they were still the lowest they had been since the 2020 season.  He’s looking to get back on track and he’ll try do that vs. an improved Giants lineup. 

While the Giants’ lineup is improved, they are still a team that has some high strike-out guys on it.  Guys like Jorge Soler and Matt Chapman can strike out in bunches and that’s what I’m hoping for by using Dylan Cease tonight.  It may get ugly, but I do like this spot a lot for Cease tonight.  We’ll also need to keep an eye on the weather here tonight.  It may get ugly later.

Logan Gilbert ($9.5k on DK) vs. Boston Red Sox

I like Gilbert a lot tonight.  This is an average Red Sox lineup and they may be without Rafael Devers today.  Even if they aren’t without Devers, I like Gilbert.  Gilbert backed up a solid 2022 campaign with another solid year in 2023.  He finished the year going 13-7 and increased his K/9 to nearly 9.  While I’d normally like for strikeouts to be a bit higher at this price point, I do think we get 6-7 K’s with minimal damage against him. 

Other than these 2 guys, I have little interest in anyone else.  Maybe throw a flyer on Tommy Henry as the Rockies are bad, like really bad.  I’m also hesitant to throw Yamamoto right now because he just hasn’t looked very good against Major League hitting yet.  His time will come, just not yet at $9.7k. 

MLB DFS Stacks – Main

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Austin Gomber

This Diamondbacks lineup is really clicking so far to start the season.  The defending NL champions are coming out swinging and scoring a boatload of runs.  So far they’ve put 23 runs in just the two games they’ve played.  They should continue with the scoring as they face a below-average pitcher in Austin Gomber.  Last year, Gomber had another down year.  He finished the year with a 5.5 ERA and an xFIP just a little south of that.  I’ll cut him a little slack as he pitches his home games in Colorado.  Not much slack though.  I’m not going to be overly concerned about splits here because he was pretty bad against both sides of the plate. 

I will start this stack with Ketel Marte.  He’s been great to start the season with 6 hits already and 4 runs scored.  There’s little reason to think that he won’t be able to continue with the good vibes against a bad pitcher.  Next up will be Lourdes Gurriel who is also on fire as he has 4 runs scored and already has 6 RBI through just 2 games.  Both of his hits so far have found the stands.  I’ll round out this stack with guys like Christian Walker, Eugenio Suarez, and or value Blaze Alexander.  Corbin Carroll is also very much in play. 

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Lance Lynn

I almost feel like it’s cheating to recommend the Dodgers.  They’ll be a cheat code all year but this matchup vs. Lance Lynn is really good.  Lynn had one of the worst years of his career last season as he finished with an ERA of 5.73.  While his xFIP was below 5, he was still awful all year.  He gave up a whopping 44 homers on the year which is just astounding.  He’s going to continue to get rocked tonight against a powerful Dodgers lineup.  I’ll favor the lefties a bit here as Lynn’s numbers were far worse against them than they were righties.  24 of the 44 homers he gave up last year were to guys hitting from the left side of the plate. 

You know what that means.  Let’s ride with Shohei Othani.  There isn’t much that needs to be said about him.  He’s one of the top hitters in the game.  After him, both Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy are my favorites here.  They both hit from the left side of the plate and both possess enough power to take Lynn deep tonight.  Other than those 2 guys, you also have to really love Mookie Betts here.  He’s been on fire to start the season as he has 3 homers and 9 RBI.  The value here will be 2 guys at the bottom of the lineup.  That will be Jason Heyward and Gavin Lux.  Neither is a must, but both guys are cheap and in this explosive lineup. 

If you want to fade these 2 teams, a game stack of the Cubs/Rangers game is also in play.  Neither of Hendricks or Bradford are very good and both can get tagged here. 

Favorite Prop Bets:

Ketel Marte – Over 1.5 Total Bases – (-140 on DK)

Shohei Ohtani – Over 1.5 Total Bases – (-110 on DK)

Corey Seager – Over 1.5 Total Bases – (-110 on DK)

Good luck and hope to see you in the green.   

Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @rangerzfan79 and be sure to sign up for a PREMIUM account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate! 

It’s the first Friday of the season and MLB has blessed us with a nice sized 8-game slate of MLB DFS.  Unlike yesterday when the slates were filled with aces, we’re back to some second-tier pitching today.  That will mean our choices for offense will be a little bit more spread open.  Pitching-wise, it also means we’re going to have to scrape a little bit harder to find a patch to success.

Let’s Dig in and make some money!

MLB DFS Aces – Main

Merrill Kelly ($9.4k on DK) vs. Colorado Rockies

The Rockies are going to be a team that we more than likely attack with pitchers all season long.  That even stands when they play in Colorado.  This is a bad lineup and they proved that last night as they mustered just 4 hits against Zac Gallen and the rest of the bullpen for the defending NL Champions. 

Tonight it won’t get any easier for the Rockies as they take on Merrill Kelly.  Kelly had a very solid 2023 campaign, finishing up 12-8 and also setting a career-high 9.47 K/9.  2023 was one of Kelly’s finer seasons and with a date against the Rockies today, he should continue with the momentum he had last year.  He’s the second most expensive pitcher on the slate, but the matchup speaks for itself.  Lock him in a relatively safe matchup. 

Logan Allen ($7.4k on DK) vs. Oakland Athletics

I should preface this by saying that Logan Allen and Shane Bieber are 2 pitchers with very different pedigrees.  One has been around the block now for a while and one is entering his second season.  Bieber dominated the Athletics last night, with 11 K’s in 6 innings and allowing just 4 measly hits.  I’m not expecting the same thing out of Allen tonight, but I’m expecting him to be able to shut down the Athletics with relative ease. 

This is a bad A’s team.  100 losses for them in a third consecutive season is not out of the question, and it’s more likely than it isn’t.  We’ll continue to pick on them with pitchers and tonight is no different.  Allen is coming off a very respectable rookie season, a season that saw him go 7-8 and have a sub-3.5 ERA.  I’m expecting him to have a strong opening start today.

MLB DFS Stacks – Main

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Cal Quantrill

This will probably be a chalky stack, but for good reason.  The defending NL Champs had their way with the Rockies last night, scoring an impressive 16 runs against Kyle Freeland and the rest of the Rockies bullpen.  Do I expect that many runs today?  Probably not.  I do expect them to put up a solid amount of runs though against Cal Quantrill.  After a couple of solid season for the Guardians, Quantrill regressed in 2023.  2023 was his worst season by just about every measure.  His K’s were down and his xFIP/ERA were up.  It was a struggle for him for most of the season and that should continue this season as he calls Coors Stadium home.

Quantrill struggled vs. lefties last season, giving up an OPS well over .800.  He’ll likely face a lineup today that has at least 5 lefties in it.  I’ll start with last year’s rookie sensation, Corbin Carroll.  He’s primed for a monster night.  21 of his 25 homers last season were against righties.  His OPS was also 200 points higher vs. righties than lefties.  This is a really solid spot for him against a contact pitcher.  I’ll also look to include guys like Ketel Marte, Joc Pederson, and Alek Thomas in my stack.  Complimentary pieces to this stack will Lourdes Gurriel and Christian Walker. 

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Chris Bassitt

Paging 2lock!  When in doubt, we rock the Rays.  Don’t get me wrong, Chris Bassitt isn’t a bad pitcher.  I’d say he is an average pitcher on his normal days, but when he gets bad he’s really bad.  Of all the pitchers throwing today, no one gave up more homers than Bassitt last year.  His 28 homers against last year lead this slate by a few homers.  With how much power the Rays have, they should be able to get to Bassitt.

The Rays lineup is one that put up a bunch of runs quickly and I think they do that today.  My core will be the 2 lefties in this lineup as Bassitt really struggles against them.  Those 2 are Brandon Lowe and Richie Palacios.  Lowe rebounded after a down year in 2022 with 21 homers in 2023.  All of his offensive metrics were back and I hope he continues with his solid play this season as I have him on my season-long team.  After the lefties, we’ll want to grab the usual suspects.  Randy Arozerena, Yandy Diaz, and Isaac Parades. 

I didn’t touch on them, but a complete game stack of the Yankees/Astros game is very much in play.  Rodon was horrendous last year and I’ve never been a fan of Christian Javier.  There should be plenty of runs scored in this one. 

Favorite Prop Bets:

Aaron Judge – Over 1.5 Total Bases – (-130 on DK)

Jose Ramirez – Over 1.5 Total Bases – (+100 on DK)

Corbin Carroll – Over 1.5 Total Bases – (-110 on DK)

Good luck and hope to see you in the green.   

Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @rangerzfan79 and be sure to sign up for a PREMIUM account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate! 

Welcome to this season’s premier edition of Aces and Bases, where I’ll go through the top MLB DFS Aces and Stacks on DraftKings and Fanduel. 

We’re baaack!  Oh, what a long offseason it felt like.  Today we have ourselves our first slate of the season.  I’m not counting the games in Korea as a regular slate because those were just showdowns.  Today, we have an actual 8-game slate of MLB DFS to navigate through.  Opening day is typically one of the harder days of the MLB season as we’re full of aces.  Today is not different, but we do have some attackable arms. 

Let’s Dig in and make some money!

MLB DFS Aces – Main

Tarik Skubal ($9,100 on DK) vs. Chicago White Sox

For the past few years, when the White Sox would face a lefty it was almost automatic that we’d pick them as a stock.  Not anymore.  At least not until they prove they can still hang.  Today, they’ll face off against one of the better lefties in the league.  Skubal is no longer a young buck. He’s 27 now and starting to enter the prime of his career. 

He was limited to just 15 starts last season, but those starts were mostly really good.  He set a career-high last year with an 11.43 K/9 and also had a career-low ERA of 2.80.  He’s becoming one of the top pitchers in the game and by far, the ace of this Tigers staff.  I plan on using him heavily today against a White Sox lineup that projects to be pretty bad this season.

Cole Ragans ($8,700 on DK) vs. Minnesota Twins

I’ll start by saying that the Twins lineup is pretty good.  They have the likes of Buxton, Correa, and Lewis right smack in the middle of the lineup.  All 3 possess a lot of power, especially against lefties.  That said, Cole Ragans was impressive at the Major League level last season.  Across 96 innings last season, he had a 10.59 K/9 and also had a respectable 3.47 ERA.  He broke out in a big way last season when traded to the Royals and that earned him an opening day start. 

This Royals team will be vastly improved this season with the additions of Seth Lugo, Adam Frazier, and Hunter Renfroe.  Don’t be surprised one bit if they take this game from the Twins off the heels of a solid performance from Ragans. Ragans won’t be under $9k for long so we’ll need to take advantage of this pricing while it lasts.

Jesus Luzardo ($7.6k on DK) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Jesus Luzardo is going to face a promising, but very young Pirates lineup today.  Luzardo is coming off one of his finest seasons in the big leagues last season.  For the first time in his career, he was able to start over 30 games.  He set career highs in game started as well as innings pitched as he threw 178 innings last season.  The one area of concern for Luzardo today is that he’s going to be facing a predominantly right-handed lineup as the Pirates will more than likely throw out 8 righties.  That said, Luzardo was able to hold righties to just a .302 wOBA last season and an OPS below .750.  He should be able to dominate this young lineup today and bring some strong value at a sub-$8k price

MLB DFS Stacks – Main

Before I get started on my recommended stacks, I want to touch on the Dodgers.  They’ll be in play just about every game this season.  Rarely, will you see me write them up as they’ll also be extremely expensive and chalky.  Today will be no different.  They are in a great spot against arguably the worst pitcher on the slate in Miles Mikolas.  You don’t need me to tell you to play them though. 

Houston Astros vs. Nestor Cortes

After bursting onto the scene in 2021 and 2022, Nestor Cortes regressed in 2023 big time.  His ERA was 2.5 runs higher in 2023 than it was in 2022.  More importantly, though, his ground balls were down significantly in 2023.  Groundballs were a big key to his success in 2022 and if he’s not getting them, he’s not going to be successful.  Until he shows he’s back to 2022 form, I’m going to stack against him.  And why not stack against him with what is still one of the top offenses in the league, especially against lefties.

I’m staring off this stack with the man, the myth, the legend Yordan Alvarez.  Yes, I’m going with lefty-on-lefty crime.  Alvarez had a .407 wOBA vs. Southpaws last season.  He also had a .220 ISO.  Alvarez can hit lefties with the best of them, as can his teammate Kyle Tucker.  Tucker had similar numbers against lefties last season and he’ll be sure to be on my stack today at a hopefully lower ownership %.  Other players important to this stack today will be the usual guys like Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and Chas McCormick. 

Detroit Tigers vs. Garrett Crochet

Does Garrett Crochet have some talent in that left elbow?  Yes, he does.  But the young southpaw is also making his first career start today and I doubt he will go that long.  That will mean an early entrance for a very suspect White Sox bullpen.  Although Crochet had a respectable ERA of 3.55 last season out of the bullpen in a cup of coffee, his xFIP was 2 runs higher meaning he’s got some regression coming his way if he pitches like he did last year. 

This Tigers lineup is going to surprise some people this season.  The 3 guys I plan on loading up the most in the stack are going to be Gio Urshela, Spencer Torkelson, and Mark Canha.  Both Canha and Urshela are below $4k and have shown in their careers that they can hit lefty pitching.  I also don’t mind throwing Jake Rodgers into the mix at catcher.  He too has shown the ability to hit lefties as evidenced by his .366 wOBA and .327 ISO vs. them last season.  Look for the Tigers to put up some runs this afternoon.

Other stacks I like today are going to be the Reds and Rays.  A strong case could be made that the Reds are one of my favorite stacks today.  They are just really pricey today, especially De La Cruz at $5.6k.  I wouldn’t be shocked to see him take Gray deep this afternoon. 

MLB DFS Summary

It’s so great to be back. I can’t wait to see a combo of Skubal/Ragans take me to the top of the leaderboard today.

Make sure to drop into Discord where we’re constantly talking about plays for every slate.

Good luck and hope to see you in the green.   

Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @rangerzfan79 and be sure to sign up for a PREMIUM account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate! 

Welcome to Friday’s edition of Aces and Bases, where I’ll go through the top MLB DFS Aces and Stacks on DraftKings and Fanduel. 

It’s Friday and I ain’t got &*(^ to do.  That’s a lie, I have an article to write about a great 13-game slate of MLB DFS.  At first glance, this is a great slate.  We have solid pitchers in amazing spots and bats in even better spots.  With 26 teams in action, we’ll have plenty of options on both the mound and at bat. 

Let’s dig in and make some money!

MLB DFS Aces – Main

Justin Steele vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

I said the other day when I recommended Joey Lucchesi against the Diamondbacks that they were an average-at-best team vs. lefties.  Lucchesi went on to pitch a gem and got us nearly 20 DK points.  Tonight, they’ll face a much tougher task in a pitcher like Justin Steele who is currently in the Cy Young conversation.  Steele has been brilliant.  

Over the last month, he’s pitched to a 1.36 ERA and has a nearly 31% K rate.  There are few pitchers in the game right now pitching as well as him.  He’s in a spot tonight where he should crush and be one of the top pitchers on the slate.  Nothing in life is safe, but I love Justin Steele tonight and he’s probably one of the safe pitchers on the slate. 

Tarik Skubal vs. Los Angeles Angels

Tarik Skubal is back and healthy for the Tigers and is pitching like the dominant starter we saw last year.  Over the last month, he’s pitched to a 2.7 ERA and a 33% K rate. Hitters have just a 67% contact rate vs. him which is great for Skubal and really bad for the hitters.  He’s grown into an ace for the Tigers and I plan on using him whenever I can.  He also gets a great matchup vs. a depleted Angeles team. 

The lineup that they’ll throw out tonight will resemble more of a AAA team than it does an MLB team.  They’ll be without Trout and Ohtani.  That makes for an awful lineup.  I plan on locking on Skubal in all of my lineups tonight.  You should too!

I don’t mind Zach Eflin vs. the Orioles tonight or Jon Gray vs. Cleveland.  That said, I’m not straying from Steel and Skubal.  They just have too much upside and are in great spots. 

MLB DFS Stacks – Main

Texas Rangers vs. Lucas Giolito

Lucas Giolito is the first pitcher since all the way back in 1899 to allow 8+ runs in a game for 3 separate teams in the same season.  Let that stat sink in for a few seconds.  He’s pitched for 3 teams this season and has allowed at least 8 ER in a game for each of the teams.  That’s just astonishing and just plain bad. 

Over the last month, we’re looking at an ERA close to 8 for Gio and he’s also allowed 10 homers in the 21 innings he’s pitched over that stretch.  Against a solid lineup like the Rangers, I’m going to stack and stack and stack against him.  Gio has been pretty bad vs. both sides of the plate this season so I’m not overly concerned with splits. 

This lineup is on fire right now and I plan on going 5 deep with them.  I plan on prioritizing Corey Seager and Robby Grossman.  Both guys are hitting the ball just amazing right now and are some of the better hitters in the game over the last week.  Seager is 12 for his last 30 and hit 3 balls over the fence.  He also has 8 RBI and 10 runs scored over the last week.

Grossman has been a beast too and is just $3.2k tonight.  Over the last week, Grossman is 8 for 17 and has 7 runs and 8 RBI.  Both guys are balling.  After them I’ll look to get in Nathaniel Lowe, Marcus Semien, Leody Taveras, and Mitch Garver.  This lineup has a ton of potential against a struggling pitcher. 

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Jack Flaherty

As a Baltimore transplant it pains me to write up the Rays as a top stack tonight.  They just get a great matchup vs. an overrate pitcher in Jack Flaherty.  Flaherty has struggled with the Orioles.  While the xFIP over the last month is respectable at just a smidge over 4, the ERA is not as it’s at 7.24.  I don’t think there’s much positive regression coming his way.  He just hasn’t looked good on the mounds in the games I’ve watched. 

He gives up way too much contact and against a solid Rays lineup, that’s just not good.  My priority with the Rays are going to be lefties.  He’s been significantly worse against them this season as they have a .383 wOBA and a .180 ISO. 

My Rays stack will start with Brandon Lowe, Josh Lowe, and Luke Raley. Each of these guys possesses power and has the potential to take Flaherty deep into Eutaw Street.  Of the 3, Josh Lowe is probably my favorite right now.  He’s not hitting for as much power, but he’s been getting on base and that’s what is in important for us here. 

After the 3 major lefties, I’m going to look to guys like Yandy Diaz, Randy Arozerana, and Isaac Paredes.  They aren’t lefties, but these 3 are probably the best hitters on the team and can get to any pitcher in the game.  Look for the Rays to tie up the Orioles for the division lead by putting up a big number. 

Other stacks I like tonight are the Mets vs. Greene and Giants vs. Anderson.  

MLB DFS Summary

This slate has the makings of a fun one!

Make sure to drop into Discord where we’re constantly talking about plays for every slate.

Good luck and hope to see you in the green.   

Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @rangerzfan79 and be sure to sign up for an ALL ACCESS GOLD ACCOUNT here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate!