Opening Day for the 2024 MLB season is finally here! We've gotten through MLB Spring Training, and we've even already had two regular season games with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres taking part in the Seoul Series but here we have the official start of the MLB year for the other 28 MLB teams.

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With the season kicking off we welcome you to the official kickoff of the MLB DFS season with eight games over on DraftKings and 10 games over on FanDuel. The latter includes both games starting at 3pm ET while the former is sticking with just the 4pm window.

This season's MLB DFS picks and playbook will consist of a pitcher and hitter core players section with written analysis, player pool grid and core stacks section.

The core player section should be used as a starting point for all lineups, you may not be able to use all players in the same lineup, but those players should be the building blocks for you on a given night.

The player pool grid will feature both players from the core player section along with additional plays to help you build a complete lineup. The grid will be broken into top priced players, mid-priced players and value tier players.

The stacks section will bring you are favorite lineups stacks for the day and which players we would look to include in those stacks based on matchups and pricing.

There will also be a daily MLB DFS Show with a variety of hosts ranging from myself, Howard Bender, Henry Wilson, James Grande and more. The MLB DFS Show will give you an initial outlook on the day's MLB DFS slate and should give you a good base for the start of your research each day! 

With that said, let's get to breaking down my top MLB DFS picks for the slate on Opening Day of the 2024 MLB season!

*Editor's Note: Make sure you subscribe to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel so you never miss a show! Also, join the Fantasy Alarm Discord to get your DFS lineup questions answered by our MLB DFS team! Plus, as always, be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the Daily MLB Projections, MLB DFS Rostership Projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting!

 

 

 

Opening Day DFS Picks & MLB Playbook

MLB Weather: Opening Day, 3/28

Los Angeles Angels vs. Baltimore Orioles

  • Feels like we could get a delay with 80% chance of rain during the day and ½ inch of rainfall expected. Will add updates as we get closer to first pitch.

Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies (Postponed Due to Rain)

MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

Stacking is always key to roster construction, whether that consists of two-man mini stacks or a full-blown lineup stack in certain matchups which could consist of four or more players from a single team. Most slates this season I think you will see combinations of full stacks with a mini-stack kicker depending on the pricing on the given day. 

For the Opening Day slate there is no shortage of high-priced plays to spend up on and with this being Opening Day these lineups are going to largely be facing the opposing team's top starting pitcher. Finding the balance of building a solid lineup and using an expensive pitcher will be one to navigate.

If on DraftKings, you can expect the Dodgers to be popular, heck, they are likely going to be one of the chalkiest teams of the entire season with the likes of Betts, Ohtani and Freeman getting some higher rostership whenever they are on the slate.

If you are on FanDuel you do have the benefit of also considering the Atlanta Braves, another loaded team with high offensive output and equally as high-priced talent but this game may also be impacted by weather as mentioned above. UPDATE - Braves have been PPD 

When it comes to pitching, understanding that some of these starters may have pitch count limitations and paying attention to news throughout the day will be key. Do you want to spend top dollar on a starter that may be limited to 70 pitches? Probably not worth the price. We will do our best to get that news and update the playbook when we do.

On DraftKings you will need to find two starting pitchers while FanDuel still only requires one. DraftKings isn't killing you with pitching pricing on this slate, there are even a few really nice values that we will touch upon in the below sections. 

FanDuel has priced up some starters, but you also have to remember that on FanDuel pitchers only lose points for earned runs allowed and they get points for quality starts.

 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options for Strikeouts

Note: Will Update When Strikeout Props Are Available 

Best Odds for a Win

Note: Will Update When Pitcher Win Odds Are Available 

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers

Skubal is healthy and coming off a solid spring which has led to a ton of hype coming into the 2024 MLB season. He toes the rubber on Opening Day for the Tigers and pitch counts should be of no concern here as he topped out at 86 pitches in his final start of the spring. 

The White Sox lineup certainly has some pop with Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez but there is also a ton of swing and miss potential. While we can't also go off of numbers from last season, it's worth noting the White Sox had the sixth highest team strikeout rate against southpaws at 25.3% and also posted a .301 wOBA which was good for 27th in baseball.

 I'd expect Skubal to be among the highest rostered starters in both GPP and Cash game lineups.

Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals

Ragans had a monster second half of 2023 which saw him post a 2.64 ERA with a K/9 of 11.2. That finish has seen him carry some hype into the 2024 season and he got off to a great start in Spring Training, tossing five shutout innings over his first two appearances. His final three appearances were not good however as he allowed 13 runs over 12.1 innings. 

This is definitely a GPP-only play because the strikeout numbers are still there with Ragans posting 21 strikeouts over 17.1 innings.

 In his Opening Day start he draws the Minnesota Twins, a team that ranked among the league leaders in team strikeout rate last season and against lefties specifically they had the fifth highest strikeout rate at 25.2%.

Jesus Luzardo, Miami Marlins

Luzardo is getting the Opening Day nod for the Marlins in their home matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a bit of an up and down season for Luzardo in 2023 but the one thing that stood out was his home splits.

In 19 home starts last season Luzardo had a 2.99 ERA with a 1.10 WHIP and a 10.6 K/9. 

Another encouraging note here is that Luzardo got to 67 pitches in his final tune up start of the spring so he should be good to go here when it comes to pitch count.

Luzardo himself has stated a goal of his this year is to pitch deeper into games as he only pitched six full innings in 17 of his 32 starts.

He faces the Pirates on Opening Day, a team that has seen Oneil Cruz hitting lasers all spring but also a team that has a lot of swing and miss potential where Luzardo could rack up some strikeouts. 

 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

Baltimore Orioles (4.5 +110) vs Los Angeles Angels (FD Only)

Los Angeles Dodgers (4.5 -145)vs St. Louis Cardinals

Houston Astros (4.5 -110)vs New York Yankees

Detroit Tigers (4.5 -110) vs Chicago White Sox

Cincinnati Reds (4.5 -120) vs Washington Nationals

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Note: Will Be Updated as Official Starting Lineups Are Released

Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers

I'm just going to lump them all together because you can build a lineup around two of them and if you get really into the deep dive value plays then maybe you squeeze in all three. The Dodgers are going to be among the leaders in runs scored this season and for that reason you are going to see these three among the top priced players in DFS each and every night. They draw a home matchup against Miles Mikolas on Opening Day.

CJ Abrams, SS Washington Nationals

If you tuned in at all last season then you know I was a big fan of playing the Washington Nationals in certain spots and Opening Day, on the road in Cincinnati against Frankie Montas is shaping up to be one of those spots. Montas appeared in just one game last season due to injury and was awful following his trade to the New York Yankees

One of the reasons for Montas' struggles has been his road splits where, outside of Oakland, he was not good. Montas now plays for the Reds meaning his home ballpark is The Great American Ballpark, a place that ranked third in offensive park factor last season in first in park factor home runs.

Abrams showed some pop and the ability to steal bases last season in a breakout season. I'd look for him and the Nationals to test Montas early in this one.

Will Benson, OF Cincinnati Reds

Staying in that game let's take a look at Will Benson. With TJ Friedl out with an injury there is room for Benson to enter the team's starting lineup.

Benson has some nice power potential, boasting a .223 ISO last season with the Reds and he swiped 19 bags as well, showing he can rack up the fantasy points in a multitude of ways.

The Nationals are pitching Josiah Gray who allowed 13 of his 22 homers to left-handed hitters last season. We also need to take into account the ballpark, with The Great American Ballpark being among the most hitter friendly in all of baseball.

Jeremy Pena, SS Houston Astros

If looking for an interesting value play on this slate, then Pena fits that build. The Astros are home against the Yankees and southpaw Nestor Cortes. Houston was one of the best teams in baseball against southpaws last season and Pena himself hit .325 with an OPS of .834 and a wOBA of .361. 

Hitting in the middle-half of the Houston lineup gives him opportunities to drive in runs with high on-base players such as Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez ahead of him in the lineup.

Houston is an offense that has as much upside as any when everyone is going well and a home series to start the year could pay off for us in DFS this weekend.

 

 

Player Pool

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Stacks

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