MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Friday, April 26

We made it to Friday! I know a lot of people were enjoying the NFL Draft yesterday or the NBA Playoffs, but I found far more enjoyment watching the Oakland Athletics beat the New York Yankees and Mason Miller continuing his dominance in their bullpen (he has now struck out 15 of the last 21 batters he has faced). Plenty of more exciting action to come as we are back to a full day of games today after a smaller early slate yesterday. This means more opportunities for us to build some winning MLB DFS lineups!

Today, we have a huge slate, with a full 13-game main slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel getting underway at 7:05 PM ET. That means that all but four teams are on today’s slate, with the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers having an afternoon game and the Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros having a travel day as they head to Mexico City for their two-game series there. 

With so many players to choose from, building lineups can be overwhelming, so let’s dive right into today’s playbook and some of my favorite MLB DFS picks today and playbook for April 26! 

MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, April 26

MLB Weather Today, 4/26

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Chicago White Sox: A lot of rain is expected in Chicago this evening, which could delay or even postpone the game. With so many other games to choose from, I would avoid this one. 

MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

There are so many different places you can go for pitching today, with not only so many different pitchers to choose from but so many great pitchers taking the mound. 

While my favorite pitchers for today are highlighted below, I also think that Zac Gallen, Shoto Imanaga, Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi, Jesus Luzardo, Joe Musgrove, and Jose Butto are all quality options you could build a lineup around today.

On the offensive side, with so many good pitches, there aren’t quite as many clear favorite lineups to stack today, but some of my favorites to target today include the Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, and New York Mets.

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options For Strikeouts

• Corbin Burnes vs Oakland Athletics
• Zac Gallen vs Seattle Mariners
• Nathan Eovaldi vs Cincinnati Reds
• Luis Gil vs Milwaukee Brewers

Best Odds For A Win

• Corbin Burnes vs Oakland Athletics
• Jesus Luzardo vs Washington Nationals
• Aaron Nola vs San Diego Padres
• Nathan Eovaldi vs Cincinnati Reds

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Corbin Burnes, Baltimore Orioles

Corbin Burnes is one of the best pitchers in baseball right now, if not the number one. The strikeouts have been a bit lower than you would hope from him after his 11 strikeouts on opening day against the Angels, but he now faces the Oakland Athletics with the second-highest strikeout rate against right-handed pitchers (only 0.4% better than the Mariners).

Even with lower strikeout totals in the last few games, he still has a 21.1 K-BB% and a 0.92 WHIP. I think he should easily be the most expensive pitcher on today’s slate, but he isn’t (in FanDuel, he is, but I would still pay for him). If I am only paying up for one of the top few pitchers today, it will be Corbin Burnes. 

Kutter Crawford, Boston Red Sox

Kutter Crawford leads the major leagues with the lowest ERA right now, at 0.66, through his first 27.1 innings. He has also had a 27% strikeout rate and hasn’t given up a single homer. He had a few too many base runners in his last outing, giving up 7 hits and 3 walks to the Pittsburgh Pirates, but since it came with 6 strikeouts, only 1 run, and he got the win, it still worked out. 

His entire pitch arsenal has been working all season with a great fastball, slider, and cutter (kutter?). He has also thrown his splitter more in each outing, moving from 2.4% in his first start to 15% in his last outing, and in his last three starts, while throwing it more, it has probably been his most effective pitch with 4 of his 6 strikeouts came through the Splitter. I could keep going but this isn’t a Kutter Crawford article, the point is I believe in his breakout and am sticking with him against the Cubs today. 

Bailey Ober, Minnesota Twins

Bailey Ober got crushed in his first start by the Kansas City Royals. Since then, he has had three great starts, with 16 strikeouts in 17 innings and a 0.65 WHIP. That even includes a start against the Dodgers directly after his blowup, where he had 7 strikeouts in 5 innings while only giving up 1 run. 

That first start is still ballooning his overall numbers, which I think is what is keeping his price so low. He was a $9,000 pitcher to start the season, and his price is still all the way down to $6,800 because of the 1.1 bad innings he had to start the season. He should easily still be at least an 8-9K pitcher, and I will happily take the discount. 

Luis Gil, New York Yankees

Milwaukee has the third-best OPS against right-handers, but they still strike out a fair amount against them. This will probably be Luis Gil’s biggest challenge yet, but he hasn’t been facing bad offenses so far either and has been up for the challenge. He has at least 6 strikeouts in each outing so far and hit a career-high 9 in his last outing against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The walk rate needs improvement, as he has walked at least 3 in each outing and 17 in 19.2 innings so far, but with the 35% strikeout rate, you can live with the walks. I think the talent is legit, and I will happily keep going back to him until the price comes up or he starts showing some regression. 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

• Atlanta Braves vs Logan Allen
• Miami Marlins vs Trevor Williams
• Baltimore Orioles vs Ross Stripling
• Los Angeles Dodgers vs Chris Bassitt

Core MLB DFS Hitters

*Note: Will Be Updated As Official Starting Lineups Are Released

Nathaniel Lowe, 1B Texas Rangers

Nathaniel Lowe might not be the most exciting pick at first, as he doesn’t provide a ton of power for a first baseman and no speed, but he is an extremely consistent hitter in a quality lineup. He has been batting third the last two days and even homered yesterday.

There are certainly bigger upside picks, but his price is far too low for the quality of hitter he is. With a career .273/.355/.442 slash line, in a good lineup, and facing Graham Ashcraft, he is a bargain at first base today.  

Alec Bohm, 3B Philadelphia Phillies

Alec Bohm has been the best hitter on the planet over the last week. He is on a 9-game hitting streak over which he has piled up 17 hits, including 7 doubles and 2 homers. He has 5 multi-hit games over that stretch and has only struck out 4 times (never twice in a game). 

Joe Musgrove did have his second straight quality start in his last outing, but we are talking about a very baseline quality start, going 7 innings while giving up 3 runs (2 homers) and only striking out 3. I don’t think Musgrove is pitching well enough to slow down this hot streak from Bohm.

Elly De La Cruz, SS Cincinnati Reds

Elly De La Cruz has been as good as (or maybe better) advertised so far this season. Seven homers and 15 steals through 25 games while batting over .300 is absurd. He has the fourth-highest OPS in the league and is doing it while still striking out over 30% of the time (he is at least walking a lot, too).

I like Nathan Eovaldi, but Elly has done most of his damage against right-handers, and the Texas bullpen is not very good either. The upside that Elly has with his power and speed is just too big to ignore. 

Rob Refsnyder, OF Boston Red Sox

I really like Shota Imanaga. I am not stacking this decimated Red Sox lineup against him, but I think Rob Refsnyder provides an intriguing one-off play here. Rob Refsnyder does one thing well, and that is hit lefties. Thanks to the Red Sox getting killed by injuries, he finds himself not only back in the lineup but batting third. In his five starts since getting called back up, he has 9 hits, with 6 of them going for extra bases. 

It is hard to find someone who has hit this well over the last few days and is likely batting third for this cheap. Imanaga might get the better of him today, but for this price, I am going to ride the hot hand and trust that Refsnyder will do his job and provide some offense against the lefty today. 

Player Pool

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