Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Tuesday, April 29th!

We’re diving into the action with a 10-game night slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. 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: Tuesday, 4/29

Kansas City Royals vs. Tampa Bay Rays 

  • Afternoon rain should clear before first pitch. Late start is possible but game should play fine.

Kansas City Royals vs. Tampa Bay Rays 

  • Winds up to 20mph blowing out to left 

Atlanta Braves vs. Colorado Rockies 

  • Low chance of rain, but nothing that should impact the game
 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

There are several intriguing pitching options at the top end of the salary range on this slate. The matchups for most of them are not perfect, outside of Freddy Peralta against the White Sox, so we can consider a few options down the salary range as well. A pair of mid-range arms really stand out and make this quite a strong pitching slate overall.   

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox

Crochet is again posting elite top line stats this season, but the underlying numbers are not quite as dominant as they were a season ago. The strikeouts are down, but still an excellent 29.7 percent, and the walks are all the way up at 10.5 percent. The Red Sox have given him plenty of leash to work through his command struggles, but the increase in walks does hinder his upside. Add in a low strikeout matchup against the Blue Jays, and I cannot put Crochet definitively ahead of several other pitchers on this slate. He is in the mix for sure due to his ability to spike a big strikeout game at any time, but I think several others below him in salary have just as much upside today. 

Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers 

Peralta has the best combination of skills and matchup on the slate, and that makes him the top pitcher for me. His raw strikeout numbers are down this season, but he has posted an elite 14.9 percent swinging strike rate so far. He is getting more whiffs than he did back in 2021 when he posted an elite 33.6 percent strikeout rate. The main problem for the Brewers ace has been a lack of first-pitch strikes and called strikes. Both of those rates are more easily correctable than a lack of whiffs, so I think we are going to see an increase in strikeouts from Peralta as the season the progresses. He gets a good matchup for the positive regression to begin, as the White Sox have struck out at a 23.4 percent clip versus righties this season (6th most). The White Sox also rank bottom four in wOBA and ISO, so this is an elite matchup for Peralta. 

Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants

The Giants ace has a long track record of being an elite real-life pitcher, and there is an argument to be made he has been the best pitcher in baseball so far this season. The absence of elite strikeout numbers has been the only thing holding Webb back from being a fantasy stud over the last four seasons, but he enters this start with a strikeout rate north of 30 percent this season. 

At first glance it appeared Webb might be an elite tournament pivot from Freddy Peralta, but I have some concerns about the strikeouts (not the overall performance). Webb has a swinging-strike rate of just 11.3 percent, which would suggest his strikeout rate should be closer to his career mark of 22.4 percent than the 30.8 percent mark he carries this season. For context, Webb's best strikeout season prior to this year came back in 2021, when he posted a 26.5 percent strikeout rate and 12.4 percent swinging-strike rate. 

Despite concern the strikeout rate will not hold above 30 percent all season, Webb is still an elite pitcher and the Padres have struggled on offense since the injury to Jackson Merrill. Webb can still find upside due to his ability to work deep in games and elite run prevention, but I am not quite buying the strikeout bump. For that reason, he is a solid GPP pivot from Peralta/deGrom rather than a primary target. 

Nick Pivetta, San Diego Padres

Pivetta has also been amazing this season, and he is a pitcher I was high on coming into this season thanks to a huge shift in his home ballpark. He spent his last four seasons calling Fenway Park home, which is one of the most friendly parks in the league for right-handed power. Pivetta has long had his struggles with RH power, so Fenway was quite a terrible fit for him. The move out west to Petco Park should help him in that regard. 

The Giants offense has been roughly league average this season in terms of power (14th in ISO) and strikeouts (14th in K%), so I would call this a neutral matchup for Pivetta. Since I am buying his step forward in terms of run prevention thanks to the favorable ballpark shift, that puts him right on par with Webb for me as a GPP option.   

Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers 

Jacob deGrom was excellent against the Dodgers two starts ago and very good against the Athletics last time out. Those are two top tier offenses, so just maybe the elite fantasy ace is still in there. He gets the Athletics again for the second time in five days, which is not ideal for upside, but I do believe he is still too cheap. He generated a 14.5 percent swinging-strike rate last start against the Athletics, who have struck out just 19.5 percent of the time this season. This matchup is tougher than the field may realize on paper, especially considering he faces them in consecutive starts. 

Bryce Miller, Seattle Mariners 

Miller gets an elite matchup against the Angels, who have been a below average offense (83 wRC+) that owns the lowest walk rate and 2nd-highest strikeout rate in the league. Miller has struggled pitching deep into games this season due to a lack of control (12.8 percent walk rate), so facing the least patient team in the league is certainly a boost. The strikeouts from the Halos also raise the upside, making this is one of the best spots of the day. 

Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays

I really like Taj Bradley in this matchup with the Royals, who have been one of the worst offenses (72 wRC+) this season. KC doesn't strike out much, but they don't walk much either, which is a big plus for the Rays righty. Bradley has not been in great form recently, allowing 15 hits and generating just 6 strikeouts against 6 walks in his last two starts, but the matchup is going to trump recent form for me. He is currently projected to be far less popular than Bryce Miller and I just don't think the gap should be that wide.   

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

The Braves are back in Coors Field and have an implied run total nearly 1.5 runs above the next closest teams, so we can expect them to be quite popular again. The Brewers and Dodgers are the only other teams surpassing 5 implied runs, and I am intrigued by the matchups for the Rangers and Mariners. 

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Atlanta Braves in Coors Field 

The Braves fell just short of their implied run total last night, but they are right back near 6.5 implied runs again tonight. They get a matchup with Rockies righty German Marquez, who has struggled mightily this season after missing most of the last two years with injuries. Marquez sports an obscene 9.30 ERA and he has walked nearly as many batters as he has struck out. That's a disastrous combination in Coors Field. The bullpen behind him has an improved ERA from last season, but the xFIP and SIERA both rank bottom-five and suggest they have been quite lucky this season. The Rockies 'pen owns the highest walk rate and 6th-lowest strikeout rate in the league.   

Marcell Ozuna has been the Braves best hitter since Ronald Acuna went down last season, but every hitter in the lineup is in play. Sean Murphy has been unbelievably good this season, and Austin Riley has turned his season around. Matt Olson and Michael Harris have underlying data that suggests they are just fine despite early struggles. Alex Verdugo is likely to hit atop the lineup again, and Eli White has been great in a small sample. It is hard to pick a favorite here, so just stack 'em up if you can afford them. 

Wyatt Langford plus Cheap Rangers  

The Rangers get a great matchup against a soft-tossing lefty making his first MLB start of the season. Wyatt Langford is appropriately priced up as has been the Rangers best hitter and owns a .312 ISO against lefties since last season. The rest of the lineup is dirt cheap with Corey Seager on the IL. Kevin Pillar and Kyle Higashioka filled the 1-2 spots in the order yesterday against a lefty, and are likely to do so again. Josh Jung, Adolis Garcia and Jake Burger all possess big power at cheap prices as well. If you want to spend up for pitching or a Braves stack, the Rangers make for excellent complimentary pieces given their pricing today.  

Dodgers vs. Sandy Alcantara 

Sandy Alcantara has had a rough go in his return from his surgery last season. The Marlins former Cy Young winner has a 6.56 ERA through 5 starts, and he is walking nearly as many batters as he is striking out. He has had some bad luck with only a 52 percent strand rate and a HR/FB rate of 16.7 percent, but he also only has allowed a .235 BABIP. Now, he has to face the elite Dodgers offense in their home park. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are elite spend-ups, and it is easy to round out a stack with cheaper options like Max Muncy and Michael Conforto. Alcantara is a formerly elite pitcher, and he may still get back to that, but the Dodgers should feast on the version we have seen so far this season. 

Jackson Chourio and William Contreras 

As noted above, the Brewers have one of the top team totals of the day facing the White Sox. Jackson Chourio had an outstanding second half to cap off his rookie campaign, and he has been excellent again this season. William Contreras has struggled a bit to begin this season, but has been one of the top hitting catchers in the league the last two seasons. They face opener Tyler Gilbert of the White Sox and then are expected to get a couple looks each at bulk reliever Bryse Wilson.   

Jorge Polanco and Cal Raleigh

Jorge Polanco is having an insane season thus far, with a ridiculous .362 ISO that is backed up by underlying data. He is barreling the ball at a 16.1 percent clip and has racked up nearly 55 percent hard hits. His 233 wRC+ would trail only Aaron Judge if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. He faces a pitcher that has managed to strike out just 10 percent of batters faced since his MLB debut. 

Cal Raleigh has also been excellent for the Mariners, and we shouldn't have to worry about the strikeouts today. His elite 37% fly ball rate and big power is the perfect profile to beat a low strikeout, ground-baller like Kochanowicz. 

 

 

 

Player Pool

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Stacks

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