Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Wednesday, April 30th!

We’re diving into the action with a 9-game night slate on DraftKings and an 8-gamer on FanDuel. Note: FanDuel is not offering the second leg of the STL vs. CIN doubleheader. 

With a packed day of baseball ahead, our expert analysis is here to guide you through the top pitchers, value plays, and stackable offenses to target.

Whether you’re hunting for GPP glory or locking in cash game success, we’ve got tailored insights to help you conquer today’s matchups. Let’s dive 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 our 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, Jon Impemba, Howard Bender, and James Grande. 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! 

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: Wednesday, 4/30

Cincinnati vs. St. Louis

  • Chance of a storm, possible delay

White Sox vs. Brewers

  • Light showers, chance of delay, better chance of them playing through it (Disclaimer: I am not a meteorologist).
 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Not too many household names, but a few guys in the $8-9K range that can put in work, with a $4K GPP special at the bottom of the list. I can't say I have hardcore conviction about any of these guys, but there are some I am lukewarm on.

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

This is a real person: Brandon Waddell, Mets

Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way. Who exactly is this guy? Well, he’s 30 years old and wasn’t good for a long time. He more recently spent two years in the KBO (2022-2024) and posted a sub-3 ERA in more than 40 starts. He’s been good in a handful of 3A innings this season for the Mets. I’m not exactly sure what changes he’s made, but clearly, they’ve been working – at least they’ve been working in foreign countries and lower American levels. Will they work in the bigs? Who knows! 

It looks like he’ll tentatively have an opener ahead of him, so don’t freak out if he isn’t the first pitcher you see on the bump for the Mets. The kicker is that he’s a flat $4K tonight. This comes down to what your risk tolerance is. If he can weasel his way to 8-10 fantasy points on DK, I’d be thrilled. If he gets more, he may help break the slate and also get you an expensive stack. This is certainly a very risky play, but I’m definitely going to have some exposure because if you don’t finish in the top 1-3%, are you even making money anymore? Don't play him in cash games.

Cristopher Sanchez, Phillies

Everyone held their collective breath after Sanchez left his start with arm discomfort a few days ago. Three things can be true here: A) I am a little nervous about that. B) The Phillies are not stupid and would not pitch this young and rising (possible) star again if he didn’t receive a clean bill of health. C) Per-dollar, he probably has the highest upside on the slate.

Although I am a little concerned, his very generous price ($8,200 DK) and matchup vs. Washington (vs. LHP: 24th in wRC+, 19th in K%) makes him a good calculated risk. I wouldn't lock him in or anything crazy, but the Nationals have been pathetic vs. southpaws this season, and they have the lowest implied team total on the board. Sanchez has a borderline elite 29% K rate and a minuscule 4% barrel rate this season.

Matt Boyd, Cubs

Speaking of bad teams vs. LHP, the Pirates rank outside of the top 20 in wRC+ and K% vs. southpaws in 2025. Boyd has been surprisingly very good. He isn’t striking too many people out, but his solid xERA 3.66 supports that he’s actually been a good pro this year. I really like the price compared to his peers when you add in a bunch of these variables.

Nathan Eovaldi, Rangers

The A’s projected lineup has a very stingy 21% K rate vs. RHP this season. That being said, Eovaldi has been awesome this season. I think you can play him in cash games for a high floor and feel pretty good about it. If you build out your GPP lineup and have a little salary wiggle room, then I’d go for it. He’s spotting a stingy 2.08 ERA, but his xERA is over 4.00 – so if we are splitting hairs, I’d rather play some of the slightly cheaper guys in GPPs if I need the salary relief. Regardless, Eovaldi should be solid, and he'll be toward the top of my list tonight.

Drew Rasmussen, Rays

I’m fine with Rasmussen tonight against a KC team that doesn’t strike out much, but they’ve also been abysmal vs. RHP this year (excluding Bobby Witt). Rasmussen has really stingy under-the-hood metrics, but he also hasn’t thrown more than 84 pitches in a game this year, so I’m not sure what his ceiling is. This feels like a really safe play with limited upside. Rasmussen, Eovaldi, Boyd, and Sanchez are probably the four I'm most comfortable using in cash games.

Tobias Myers, Brewers

This is a price and matchup play. Myers was really good over the summer last year, and he finally made his 2025 debut 6 days ago. The White Sox are the worst team in the American League with a tiny implied run total. Myers is also only $7,200, which makes a lot of sense if you need salary relief but don’t want to totally roll the dice on a $4K aging KBO guy you’ve never heard of. It looks like rain is in the forecast tonight, so definitely check some weather reports before lineup lock, because if there is a chance for an in-game delay, I’d probably just avoid him on this slate.

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Torpedo bats, or not, the Yankees are squaring off against a bad lefty, which is always appealing. Let's examine that matchup and the rest of the board.

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Aaron Judge - Top Bat - And the Yankees

You have to love Judge anytime there is an underwhelming southpaw on the mound, and Cade Povich with his xERA north of 5.00 is exactly that. He’s striking out just 20% of hitters and giving up an ISO worse than .200 to righties this year, and Judge has an absurd .458 ISO, 76% hard-hit rate, and a 28% barrel against LHP dating back to last year. Povich has been good vs. LHB so far this year, but the 2025 sample size is really small, and he was not good against them last season. With the way NYY can break a slate, I think you can prioritize anybody on this lineup. Austin Wells has shown vast improvement vs. southpaws to begin 2025, and Anthony Volpe’s ABs have been MUCH better over the last week or so.

Da Cubbies

Another high-profile offense against a pitcher that simply doesn’t strike anyone out. Of course, the more the ball is in play, the better. Carmen Mlodzinski has a bad 4.24 SIERA and is striking out just 17% of hitters while coughing up a big-time .385 wOBA. Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, Carson Kelly, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Michael Busch sound like an expensive but electric stack tonight – all of whom has ISOs way higher than .200 and wOBAs better than .350 vs. RHP in 2025. Kelly, specifically, continues to have a surprising All-Star-type campaign. CHC ranks 7th in wRC+ vs. RHP this season.

Boston vs. whoever the Jays roll out there

Jays’ manager John Schneider has indicated that we’ll likely see a bullpen game tonight. Toronto beat reporters said Eric Lauer was scheduled to start in the minors today, but that has changed, so it appears he will see some action tonight for the big club (we’re taking an educated guess early in the afternoon here). 

Lauer hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2023, and he recorded a whopping FIP over 7.00 that year. He pitched in the minors AND the KBO last year and logged an ERA north of 5.00. In a few 3A innings in 2025 so far, he’s sporting a pedestrian 4.50 ERA. Either way, the talent meter has always pointed to underwhelming/bad at times. My guess is he has a serious chance to get rocked tonight if he’s the bulk guy. There’s also a chance we see some Yariel Rodriguez who wasn’t good enough to make the rotation, and he’s coughing up a 19% barrel rate so far in 2025.

This could get a little tricky because Lauer is a southpaw and Rodriguez is a righty. Hopefully, we get a solidified plan for Toronto later, but for now, I’m very interested in just about all the Sox. Although Trevor Story has cooled down, he rocked lefties in a small sample size this season, so bump to him if we do get word that Lauer will pitch. I’m also not worried about Triston Casas if Lauer is on the bump, as he surprisingly has  team-leading barrel rate vs. LHP dating back to the start of last year. 

Orioles vs. Carlos Carrasco

Carrasco is striking out just 15% of hitters and is hittable from both sides of the plate, as he’s yielding a 12% barrel rate to both sides. Against righties, he’s giving way to a massive .366 ISO and .450 wOBA this season. Last season, he coughed up worse than a .200 ISO to both sides of the plate, so I think everyone is squarely in play against him. 

Seven hitters in the Orioles’ projected lineup have hard-hit rates north of 60% vs. RHP this year, and six of them have double-digit barrel rates, including value piece Ramon Laureano, who has had a few spike games in the last two weeks (and he's hitting fairly high in the order). Of course, the problem with attacking the Yankees is always their bullpen, which is elite and rested after yesterday’s thrashing. So Baltimore, who ranks 5th in wRC+ vs. RHP this year, will have to hit Carrasco early and often.
 

New and Familiar Faces

Chase Petty is expected to make his debut for the Reds tonight in the second leg of the doubleheader. Petty is a fairly decorated prospect, but MLB debuts are sometimes a massive adjustment for a number of reasons. He’s been solid in the minors and has shown good K stuff, but that does not always translate immediately. He does have pretty high HR/FB% so far in 2025 down there, and his FIP is a full run higher than his ERA. So, I like taking some shots on STL vs. a pitcher in his debut – and one who might have a pretty wide range of outcomes/ perhaps a short-ish leash.

And a familiar face, remember Lucas Giolito? He’ll be making his 2025 MLB debut for the Sox. He’s been pretty inconsistent in the bigs over the years. He’ll do a little bit of everything – Ks, BBs, and home runs. I don’t expect him to have anything near a clean sheet against the Blue Jays, even though they’ve struggled vs. RHP this year. Giolito has had a rough go in the minors so far in his rehab, and I’m not sure he knocked off the rust yet, throwing 17 innings with an ERA over 5.00 and a WHIP of 1.79. Yuck. Toronto might not be a full stack, but if he puts some ducks on the pond (little league lingo), there could be a spike score or two from Jay tonight, so I’m on board with some one-offs or mini stacks.
 

Value Rangers

Luis Severino has been fine this season, and his two bad outings were against good offenses in San Diego and Chicago. However, he’s not perfect, and the Rangers are still too cheap. Texas has a solid implied run total, and you can get Marcus Semien, Joc Pederson, and Jake Burger for all under $3K on DraftKings. We play a game within a game, and salary is a big deal here. I’m fine with getting to some of these guys if they help you fill another more expensive full stack while landing a high-end pitcher. Additionally, Wyatt Langford has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball, and at this point, Severino seems to be just an average pitcher. The more I talk about it, the more I'm probably going to bump Texas up the board due to price.

 

 

Player Pool

$ Tier {{pos.alias}}

Stacks

{{stack.team.name}} {{player.name}}
DraftKings {{player.fantasy.price.value[8]}}-
Fanduel {{player.fantasy.price.value[6]}}-