Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Friday, July 25th! 

We have a 13-game main slate in store for us this evening on DraftKings and FanDuel starting at 7:05 PM ET. Today, we have plenty of talent on the diamond and many different ways to build your lineups. Our expert analysis is here to guide you through the top pitchers, value plays, and stackable offenses to target.

Whether chasing big GPP prizes or grinding cash games, we’ve got you covered with insights tailored to today’s matchups. Let’s jump right into the key plays and strategies to dominate the slate!

 

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.

Check out the MLB DFS Show to get an initial outlook on the day's MLB DFS slate to give you a good base for the start of your research each day! 

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, 7/25

Cleveland Guardians @ Kansas City Royals

The most likely game on the slate to see rain, and the game most likely to see the heaviest rain. A postponement is possible if the line of storms ends up over the ballpark. 

There are several games on the slate that have a small chance of an in-game delay or a late start. There doesn't seem to be anything to be concerned about as of now, but I will update here if there is more concern as we approach roster lock. These games include: 

Colorado Rockies @ Baltimore Orioles 

Philadelphia Phillies @ New York Yankees

Toronto Blue Jays @ Detroit Tigers

Tampa Bay Rays @ Cincinnati Reds 

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Boston Red Sox 

San Diego Padres @ St. Louis Cardinals 

Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox

UPDATE (5:55 PM ET): The highest concern for a delay among the the non-KC games comes in Baltimore, which is not great for Dean Kremer. I am not overly concerned where I am removing Kremer from my pool just yet, but we do have other options if the risk increases over the next hour. 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Let's get into today's core pitching plays for our DFS lineups

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners 

The Angels have been a premium DFS target all season long thanks to their lofty strikeout totals. Of course, they also have legitimate power that can ruin a pitcher's day in a hurry. I strongly favor the Bryan Woo side of this matchup thanks to his extreme splits and the Angels inability to send up lefties against him. Woo has struck out 28.6% of righties this season compared to 20.2% of lefties. He has also allowed a higher ISO and more barrels to lefties by a significant margin. The Angels project to have just three lefties in their lineup and none of them are a significant power threat. The high strikeout totals and right-handed heavy lineup make this a dream matchup for Bryan Woo, who is the top pitcher on the slate.  

Shota Imanaga, Chicago Cubs

Shota Imanaga absolutely dominated the Red Sox and Yankees in his last two starts and looks to be finally achieving the strikeout results the underlying metrics support. Sure, he has a low 18.2% strikeout rate on the season, but his 11.9% swinging strike rate suggest he should be much closer to the 25.1% strikeout rate he posted last season. The matchup against the White Sox is interesting, as they have been a hot offense lately. But they also strike out far more against left-handed pitchers like Shota. The top five pitchers on this slate are all excellent, but Imanaga is my favorite when you consider context like upside, ownership, matchup and recent form.  

Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers

Eovaldi has been dominant when he has been able to take the ball this season. Unfortunately, he has missed significant time due to multiple injuries. He was skipped in his last turn through the rotation due to back tightness, which leaves us with questions about his leash today. Thankfully, he is an extremely efficient pitcher who can deliver upside even if he is limited to something like 80 pitches. His matchup against the disappointing Braves is a plus. Over the last 30 days, Atlanta has struck out at the 4th-highest rate in baseball and posted a below average 98 wRC+. 

Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants 

Logan Webb has been uncharacteristically hittable over his last two starts. They have come against the Dodgers and a red-hot Blue Jays offense, so I am officially not concerned. Webb has been elite for most of the season, pairing a bump in strikeouts with his typically elite groundball ability and walk rate. At first glance, Webb feels underpriced on DK at $9,300, but the matchup does leave some room for interpretation. The Mets have been struggling and are basically a league-average offense over the last 30 days. but they also project to have six lefties in the lineup. Webb has been more dominant against righties, with a 29.0% strikeout rate and .092 ISO allowed. Against lefties, he has posted just a 22.4% strikeout rate and .158 ISO allowed. I still favor Webb in the matchup and he has been an elite DFS pitcher despite below average strikeouts in past seasons. 

Dean Kremer, Baltimore Orioles 

Dean Kremer stands out if you are looking to save salary at SP2 on DK, while he is more appropriately priced on FD but still very playable. The Orioles righty has been an average pitcher with strong peripherals this season, and he gets a matchup against the lowly Rockies (who also just traded away Ryan McMahon). The Rockies lead MLB in strikeouts and own the 2nd-lowest wOBA on the road. Kremer has delivered back-to-back dominant starts against the Rays and Marlins. 

Zebby Matthews, Minnesota Twins

There are obvious leash concerns with Zebby Matthews, who has topped 81 pitches in just one of his five MLB starts this season, but that is baked into the discounted price. He has also struck out an elite 36.2% of lefties this season, and he projects to face six of them in the Nationals lineup. The strikeout upside should be there, and he can be useful in tournaments if he can limit the damage. 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Let's check out today's core plays to build our lineups around.

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Aaron Judge and New York Yankees vs. Taijuan Walker 

The Yankees are in a great spot against Taijuan Walker. The Phillies righty has posted a respectable 3.75 ERA this season, but the peripherals tell a different story. Both SIERA and xFIP have him around 4.40 runs per nine innings, and his strikeout rate is a lowly 19.4%. The Yankees had their struggles to close out the first half, but they have been back to elite recently. Over the last 30 days, they lead MLB with a .221 ISO and rank 4th with a .340 wOBA. Aaron Judge is the top hitter on the slate, and the Yankees power is plentiful beyond the superstar slugger. Trent Grisham, Jazz Chisholm, Giancarlo Stanton and Austin Wells are all above .200 ISO against right-handed pitching, and Cody Bellinger and Anthony Volpe are just below that mark.   

Tyler O'Neill and Baltimore Orioles vs. Kyle Freeland 

The Orioles have inarguably been awful against left-handed pitching this season, but we are still looking at extremely small samples when breaking down platoon splits. In the projected lineup, only Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson have over 100 plate appearances against lefties this season. If we include last season's data, the Orioles look much more dangerous against lefties. Since the beginning of last season, Jordan Westburg, Gunnar Henderson, Ramon Laureano, and Ramon Urias all have above average ISO marks against lefties, while Tyler O'Neill is absolutely dominant with a .376 ISO. Rockies lefty Kyle Freeland is a very hittable pitcher with an extremely low strikeout rate. The Rockies bullpen behind him is again near the bottom of the league in virtually every metric. 

Shohei Ohtani and Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Brayan Bello 

The Dodgers elite offense is showing signs of life after being shutdown for weeks leading into the All-Star break. Today, they get a matchup against groundball pitcher Brayan Bello who has struck out just 17.8% of batters this season. Shohei Ohtani matches up well against anyone, but a low-strikeout, groundball pitcher is the dream spot. Will Smith also has an elite fly-ball rate and a .218 ISO against righties this season, making him the number two target in this lineup. Andy Pages is not too far behind, with slightly less fly balls but a stronger .226 ISO. Freddie Freeman, Michael Conforto and Tommy Edman also have above average fly-ball rates, but they lack the power of the top three options. Any of them work well in a stack, with Freeman being the obvious top option of that tier. 

Elly De La Cruz vs. Zack Littell 

Elly De La Cruz is one of the top hitters on the slate with his matchup against Zack Littell. The Rays righty owns just a 16.9% strikeout rate and he has allowed a .209 ISO to lefties this season. The home run-friendly ballpark makes a full Reds stack viable, but De La Cruz is far and away the top target here. 

Addison Barger and Toronto Blue Jays vs. Keider Montero 

Over the last 30 days, the Blue Jays offense has been the best in baseball, with a league leading 122 wRC+ and .346 wOBA. Today, they get a matchup with Keider Montero and his 16.9% strikeout rate. Montero has limited damage by righties, but has been torched by lefties for a .267 ISO. Enter Jays breakout star Addison Barger, who happens to hit left-handed and leads the team with an elite .266 ISO against righties. Of the other lefties, Joey Loperfido has been great in an extremely small sample and Nathan Lukes has an above average .329 wOBA against righties. Both make for excellent inclusions in a Jays stack at very fair prices. Vladmir Guerrero, George Springer and Bo Bichette are of course in play, and Alejandro Kirk can the catcher position. Each of those hitters have an above average wOBA against righties this season.    

Chicago Cubs vs. Adrian Houser 

Adrian Houser has been an excellent pickup for the White Sox and they may even be able to extract some future value at the trade deadline for him, but he faces an elite Cubs offense today. The Cubs rank top four in all of ISO, wOBA and wRC+. Despite Houser's excellent results so far, he still owns just a 17.7% strikeout rate. Of the top five hitters in the Cubs projected order, Kyle Tucker owns the lowest ISO at a still elite .234. Michael Busch, Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong and the again red-hot Carson Kelly round out the five elite options for the Cubs. Matt Shaw has three homers since the All-Star break and connects a stack with the top of the order if you are bargain shopping. 

Player Pool

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Stacks

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