Welcome to day two of the season! We had a great opening day with lots of excitement across the day. Mike Trout hit the first home run of the season, Corbin Burnes struck out 11 for his new team, Nick Martini hit two homers (no, Nick Martini is not going to lead the majors in home runs this season), and the Diamondbacks scored 14 runs in an inning just to highlight a few. 

 

 

It will be fun to see what other great moments we get today as opening weekend continues! We get another great 8-game main slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel getting underway at 6:50 PM EST, plus the bonus of watching Spencer Strider vs. Zack Wheeler in the afternoon as they play their Opening Day game between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies that got postponed yesterday. 

It should be another great day to watch some baseball and make some winning MLB DFS lineups! Let’s jump into some of my favorite MLB DFS picks of the day and keep the great season rolling.

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!

Check Out Today's MLB DFS Playbook Preview Show

 

 

MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, March 29

MLB Weather Today, 3/29

Cleveland Guardians vs. Oakland Athletics 

There is some light rain this afternoon and evening. It doesn’t look like it will be anywhere close to enough to be worried about any postponements but still something to keep an eye on in case it turns worse.  

MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

While there aren’t quite as many aces as we saw on opening day, there are still some amazing pitchers today, highlighted by George Kirby at the top, who is rightfully priced as the best pitcher of the slate. Some great pitchers are still taking the mound today, though, and plenty of good options on both the high-end and cheap sides, depending on how you want to construct your lineup. 

On the offensive side, there are some strong offenses to target, with some of my favorites including the Los Angeles Dodgers (duh), Arizona Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins, Houston Astros, and New York Yankees.

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options for Strikeouts

Joe Musgrove vs. San Francisco Giants

A.J. Puk vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

George Kirby vs. Boston Red Sox

Merrill Kelly vs. Colorado Rockies

Best Odds for a Win

Merrill Kelly vs. Colorado Rockies

George Kirby vs. Boston Red Sox

Cristian Javier vs. New York Yankees

Chris Bassitt vs. Tampa Bay Rays

 

 

 

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Bobby Miller, Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers have some amazing pitchers they added over the offseason with the additions of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, but I would not be surprised if Bobby Miller still has the best season of any Dodgers pitcher this season. 

He was amazing last season with a 3.76 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP with a 23.6% strikeout rate. He can easily take a step up from there and be a true ace in the league. Don’t underestimate the St. Louis Cardinals lineup after a down year last season, but Bobby Miller is good enough to attack even the best offensive teams.

Nick Pivetta, Boston Red Sox

The strikeout potential that Nick Pivetta brings is huge. He had a 31.2% strikeout rate that season; now, some of that was pitching out of the bullpen, and he certainly isn’t likely to hold that high of a rate this season, but he did just strike out 9 in his last spring training start. 

He had 4 games last year with 10 strikeouts or more, including two in his final 4 starts. He has nasty stuff, you get him in a good ballpark today in Seattle, and he could easily have the highest strikeout total of any pitcher today. 

Aaron Civale, Tampa Bay Rays

Aaron Civale had an interesting season last year. In his 77 innings with Cleveland, he posted a 2.34 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP and then went on to post a 5.36 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in 45.1 innings with the Rays, BUT his underlying numbers were way better! He over doubled his K-BB% with the Rays with a huge 29.3% strikeout rate. 

I think there is a good chance he can keep some of the strikeout surge he had last season with the Rays while getting improved results. At this price, even if it all doesn’t come together right away in this first start against the Blue Jays, he should be able to still be a great value pick. 

 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Zack Thompson

Arizona Diamondbacks vs Cal Quantrill

Houston Astros vs Carlos Rodon

New York Yankees vs Cristian Javier

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Note: Will Be Updated as Official Starting Lineups Are Released

Yainer Diaz, C Houston Astros

I thought Yainer Diaz was way underpriced yesterday when he was $3,000 on DraftKings, and Diaz is likely to be one of the best-hitting catchers in all of baseball. He then went 3-for-4 yesterday and DraftKings responded by lowering his price. It is going to be hard for me to pick anyone other than Yainer Diaz while he continues to be underpriced like this. 

Christian Walker, 1B Arizona Diamondbacks

The baby snakes stormed out on day one, putting up 14 runs in an inning against the Colorado Rockies. This offense isn’t going to do that every day, but it is going to continue to produce, with Christian Walker continuing to be a masher right in the heart of it. He has now had 36 and 33 home runs in each of his last two seasons, and we can expect more of the same from him this season.  

Jake Burger, 3B Miami Marlins

Who doesn’t love a Burger on a Friday afternoon, especially one that comes with this much juice? Jake Burger has the kind of power that shouldn’t be limited by a tougher home run park in Miami. I don’t trust Martin Perez to hold down what is a surprisingly decent Miami Marlins offense, and this feels like too much of a bargain Burger deal to ignore.

Jorge Soler, OF San Francisco Giants

Similar to Jake Burger, I’ve got another guy with huge power for the outfield. Soler is another guy who can hit for power anywhere and isn't hurt too much from his new home ballpark, but for today, you don’t even have to worry about that because they are in San Diego not San Francisco. 

While I am a big Joe Musgrove fan, he hasn’t looked totally dialed in yet in spring with a minuscule 3.3 K-BB%, so he may need another start or two to really get going. 

 

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Player Pool

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