This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Though the 6:40 p.m. ET starts have been excluded from the DFS docket Friday, don't fret it and don't sweat it. There are still 11 games on the slate starting at 7:05 p.m. or later, so you have an abundance of options for your DFS lineups. To help you drill down a bit on those decisions, here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Logan Webb, SFG at LAA ($9,000): Webb is as steady as they come. He has made at least 32 starts in each of the last three seasons, and in the last four seasons he hasn't had an FIP higher than 3.16. Through four starts this year his FIP is all the way down at 2.26, and Webb can legitimately claim to being the best pitcher in baseball at avoiding home runs. The Angels' offensive start is one I am skeptical about. They are middling in runs scored but finished in the bottom five last season. Anything above the fringes of the bottom 10 feels unlikely to me in the long run.
MacKenzie Gore, WAS at COL ($7,600): Call me a madman. Were there an abundance of quality pitching options Friday I would recommend a pitcher at Coors Field. However, at this salary, in this instance, Gore is worth a gamble. His numbers don't represent a gamble. The lefty has a 2.27 FIP and 12.52 K/9 rate. In his career he's allowed 1.16 home runs per nine innings, which will help even at Coors. Ultimately, though, what pushed things over the edge for me is that the Rockies may just be so bad offensively that even Coors can't save the day. The Rockies are last in runs scored, even with the best hitter's park in baseball.
Hunter Dobbins, BOS vs. CWS ($6,900): The Red Sox seem primed to give Dobbins another spot start as they wait for their rotation to get healthy. He made his first MLB start earlier this month and allowed two runs in five innings against the Cardinals. Last year, mostly at Double-A but also with four starts in Triple-A, Dobbins had a 3.08 ERA. The White Sox, who had an all-time-bad offense last season, is not last in runs scored only because of the Rockies, but the Sox have a decidedly worse team OPS.
Top Targets
Atlanta's offense is off to too slow of a start for me to consider a stack, but I will roster Austin Riley ($4,600) at present. He's hitting .284 with five home runs and four doubles, and while he's better against lefties, since 2023 he has an .818 OPS versus righties. Why was I set on having an Atlanta bat? Chris Paddack has a 9.49 ERA. While that is mostly owing to a terrible start against the White Sox…he had a terrible start against the White Sox! Furthermore, Paddack has a 5.09 ERA over the last six seasons.
Staying on the field has been tough for Trevor Story ($4,500) since joining the Red Sox, so both he and the organization are probably happy to see the shortstop start the season like this. He's hit .299 with three home runs and six stolen bases. I'm not stacking Red Sox just in case Martin Perez's start has any validity to it, though I am highly skeptical. He has a 2.66 FIP, and has finished with a FIP below 4.45 once since 2015. Perez has also struck out 9.53 batters per nine innings which would be his highest average since, well, ever. The dude hasn't even managed an 8.0 K/9 rate in his career.
Bargain Bats
In his first season with the Nationals, Nathaniel Lowe ($4,400) has a .360 OBP, which is business as usual. He has five doubles in 19 games, which is also about the norm for him. Interestingly, he's hit three homers already as well. Of course, the Nationals are at Coors Field, and I don't have any interest in rolling the dice on Chase Dollander. He was excellent in college, and a worthwhile high draft pick. Dollander crushed it in the minors. However, now he's a 23-year-old rookie trying to make it work with the Rockies. He's allowed four home runs in 10.2 innings. Yeah, that's not going to cut it.
Last year, Junior Caminero ($4,200) appeared in 43 games for the Rays. While he was undisciplined, he showed enough power to slug .424 and hit six home runs. That was in his age-20 season, which made it encouraging. While Caminero still isn't walking much but is striking out plenty, he's hit .288 and already has five home runs. Since joining the Yankees, southpaw Carlos Rodon has a 5.51 ERA on the road, and he's allowed 1.7 homers per nine innings in away outings as well.
Stacks to Consider
Mets vs. Cardinals (Miles Mikolas): Pete Alonso ($5,400), Brandon Nimmo ($4,200), Jesse Winker ($3,100)
Fans of balls in play like to see Mikolas on the mound. Well, if they aren't Cardinals fans. Mikolas avoids walks, but also doesn't manage strikeouts, and he had a 5.35 ERA last season. This year he has a 9.00 ERA through three starts. Since Mikolas is a righty, and since lefties have hit .286 against him since 2023, I have two southpaws in this stack.
I also have the right-handed Alonso because he's started the season on fire. He's hit .343 with five home runs. Alonso had hit at least 34 home runs in each of his full MLB campaigns, and he's slugged .519 in his career. Nimmo is off to a slow start, but he has four homers. Last year he had 23 home runs and 15 swiped bags, and since 2023 he has a .788 OPS versus righties. Winker also has started slow, but he's coming off his best season since 2021. He had a .360 OBP with 14 home runs and 14 swiped bags in 2024. In this matchups, I'll take him as a lefty bat.
Minnesota at Atlanta (Bryce Elder): Byron Buxton ($4,400), Harrison Bader ($3,500), Ryan Jeffers ($3,500)
In 2023, Elder had a 3.81 ERA in 31 starts, but a 4.42 FIP. He's largely been out of the Atlanta rotation since then, and it makes sense. Over the last two seasons he's made 12 MLB starts and has a 6.64 ERA in that time. The Twins are banged up right now, but there's still a stack to be navigated.
One way or another, Buxton manages to deliver counting stats when he's healthy. He's hitting .215 right now but has three home runs and four stolen bases in 17 games. Last year he only played in 102 games but slugged .524. That's the Buxton experience. Bader is going to run. He's had at least 17 stolen bases in each of the last three seasons, and once stole 20 bases in 98 games. Bader also notched 12 home runs in 2024, and he's hit three this season. Given the offensive level of the catcher position, Jeffers is worth a shot in this matchup. He hit 21 homers and 22 doubles in 122 games last season. If a catcher in your DFS lineup delivers a home run, it's always like found money.
