Welcome to the MLB DFS Playbook for Friday, May 2, 2025, where we’re diving into a jam-packed 12-game main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel, kicking off at 7:05 p.m. ET! 

The weekend’s here, and the diamond is buzzing with opportunities to build winning lineups. Whether you’re chasing cash games or swinging for the fences in GPPs, we’ve got you covered with our top hitter and pitcher picks, plus a handy cheat sheet grid breaking down each position. 

From power bats ready to exploit favorable matchups to aces poised to rack up strikeouts, we’re tapping into the latest stats, park factors, and projections to help you stack your roster with confidence. Let’s get to work and make tonight’s slate a home run

 

 

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 our favorite lineups stacks for the day and which players we would look to include in those stacks based on matchups and pricing.

Check out today's MLB DFS Show for an initial outlook on the day's MLB DFS slate!

No MLB DFS live stream today with the early slate, but we will be back tomorrow!

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.

 

 

MLB DFS Picks & MLB Playbook

MLB Weather: Friday, 5/2

Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees

  • Some potential precipitation in the area but nothing that should impact the game being played.

Kansas City Royals vs. Baltimore Orioles

  • Same as New York, could see some light rain but nothing major that will impact the game.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Atlanta Braves

  • There will be rain in the area, it's Atlanta in the summer months.  If the rain hits the stadium there will be issues otherwise we have some optimal hitting weather if we can stay draw and humid. 

 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Big slate today which means a ton of pitching options. When spending up Tarik Skubal and Max Fried have the best matchups given the poor numbers the Angels and Rays have against left-handed pitching.

The mid-tier is also loaded, specifically the matchups for Framber Valdez and Robbie Ray with both getting ownership today.

Value gives us a $4,000 starting pitcher on DraftKings with Gunnar Hoglund making his MLB debut against the A's.

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers

For the sake of stating the obvious, Skubal is in an absolute monster spot. Yes, he is the top priced pitcher on the slate but it is for a good reason as the Angels have the second highest strikeout rate against southpaws while ranking dead last in team batting average and second-to-last in wOBA.

While spending up at SP has not paid off of late, this feels like a no-brainer.

Max Fried, New York Yankees

Save yourself some money from Skubal and go down to Max Fried today if you need it. The Rays are another team that struggles against left-handed pitching with their top hitters all coming from the left side of the plate.

The last time we saw Fried face the Rays he nearly tossed a no-hitter.

Robbie Ray / Framber Valdez

The chalk mid-tier plays of the day. Framber gets the White Sox while Ray gets the Rockies. Ray is the scarier of the two given his control problems but building lineups with BOTH today is popular and makes plenty of sense.

Gunnar Hoglund, Athletics

Making his MLB debut at min-price $4,000 on DraftKings and just $5,500 on FanDuel. The Marlins have some power from the left side of the plate but it's hard to completely fade a pitcher at this price tag given how much it opens up for you to spend on hitters or Tarik Skubal.

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

We broke it down on the MLB DFS preview show but there are some spots today with some really nice upside.  My top stack today is the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Braves. Ownership is high on Ohtani and Betts but the lower ownership on the members of that Dodgers lineup is the leverage I'm looking for. We also liked the Royals and Giants today as some additional lineup filler options around our core hitting plays.

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Kyle Tucker + Cubs

Quinn Priester looked good for his first couple of starts but the wheelers fell off in his last outing and now he draws a very dangerous lineup in the Chicago Cubs who mashed off of Paul Skenes. Kyle Tucker is obviously the core part of the stack today with the entire Cubs outfield in play.

Kansas City Royals

The Royals offense has not been very good this season BUT they did put up some runs in their last series and we know their offense is better than it has shown to start the year. Yes, Bobby Witt is an obvious plug to day but don't sleep on the cheap plays of Freddie Fermin, Vinny Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia today.

San Francisco Giants

It's Antonio Senzatela Day here in the MLB. His hits allowed prop is set at 5.5 at -175 today as a guy who gives up a ton of hits to his opponents. With hits come fantasy points and opportunities to drive in and score runs. The outfield for the Giants are the appealing plays here today.

Andy Pages + Will Smith & Los Angeles Dodgers

You know the expensive plays, Ohtani, Betts, Teoscar and Freeman are obvious builds for your lineup stacks but Andy Pages and Will Smith are far too cheap and the Dodgers have an implied run total of 5.5 runs today. It's hot and humid in Atlanta today and as long as the rain holds off, the ball should fly tonight.

Check Out Today MLB DFS Livestream at 5pm ET

Player Pool

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Stacks

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