This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
It's the final day of April. The weather is getting warmer in much of the country, and it's feeling more and more like baseball season. There are eight games on the MLB schedule for DFS purposes. There were nine, but then the Reds and Cardinals couldn't play Tuesday, leading to a doubleheader Wednesday, in turn leading to the Reds-Cardinals game I was interested in for DFS purposes being removed from FanDuel's slate. The first pitch is at 6:35 p.m. EDT. Here are my DFS recommendations to try and help you end the month on a high note.
Pitching
Matthew Boyd, CHC at PIT ($9,400): Boyd was a good story with Cleveland last year, rebounding to earn a role with the Guardians and posting a 2.72 ERA in eight starts. Now with the Cubs, the lefty has a 2.52 ERA through five outings. The Pirates aren't off to a strong start, as they are in the bottom 10 in both runs scored and strikeouts.
Drew Rasmussen, TAM vs. KAN ($9,200): Rasmussen's only problem has been staying on the field. He has a 2.66 ERA since arriving in Tampa Bay in 2021, but he's also only thrown 304 innings in that time. This year, Rasmussen is healthy and he has a 2.10 ERA through five starts. Kansas City is one of the handful of teams left not to hit 100 runs scored, making this a strong opportunity for Rasmussen to remind people just how good he is.
Luis Severino, ATH at TEX ($8,800): Severino has had two bad starts this year, but they were against the Cubs and Padres. Since then he has a 2.29 ERA over his last three starts. Unexpectedly, the Rangers are in the bottom five in runs scored with a sub-.300 OBP.
Top Targets
Though his batting average is down, Bryce Harper ($3,800) has a .366 OBP, and he also has five homers and six stolen bases. Plus, he's been his usual fine self at home. Since 2023 the lefty has an 1.034 OPS in Philadelphia. Jake Irvin has a 3.19 ERA, but a 4.24 FIP. That's not surprising, as he has a career 4.35 ERA and 1.43 HR/9 rate.
Though Francisco Lindor ($3,700) isn't running as he has the last couple seasons, he has hit over .300 and has six home runs to start 2025. While he's a switch hitter, he has an OPS over .900 versus righties this year, and also an OPS over 1.000 at home. Corbin Burnes' struggles with Arizona have been unexpected, leading to a 4.71 FIP and 1.35 HR/9 rate.
Bargain Bats
The strong start for Paul Goldschmidt ($3,000) as he begins his tenure as a Yankee has been built upon smashing lefties. That's not surprising, as since 2023 he has an .896 OPS versus southpaws. Well, Cade Povich is a lefty, and over his career right-handed hitters have batted .292 against him.
Though he's yet to click in the majors, Alan Roden ($2,200) was a strong hitter in the minors. Last year he had a .916 OPS at Triple-A, and he had an .834 OPS back in his Double-A days. I wanted a lefty from the Blue Jays for Wednesday, and Roden is worth a roll of the dice. This will be Lucas Giolito's first MLB start since 2023. That year he had a 5.11 FIP.
Stacks to Consider
Cubs at Pirates (Carmen Mlodzinski): Kyle Tucker ($4,500), Pete Crow-Armstrong ($3,400), Nico Hoerner ($3,000)
Moving from the bullpen to starting has not panned out for Mlodzinski. Through five starts in 2025 he has a 6.95 ERA. Righties have hit .292 against him, but lefties have hit a robust .362, so I have two lefties in this stack.
Tucker has looked like the guy I picked to be AL MVP last year. By the way, he likely would have finished in the top three in voting if he'd stayed healthy. This year as a Cub he's slashed .288/.397/.568 with seven homers, two triples, and eight stolen bases. Crow-Armstrong is already an elite base stealer. He's swiped 12 bags in 30 games and only been caught once. However, he's also shown unexpected power, having hit six home runs. Hoerner doesn't have power, but the second baseman can hit for average and is a fine base stealer. Over the last three seasons he's hit .279 and stolen a total of 206 bases. This year, fittingly, he's hit .287 with six swiped bags.
Orioles vs. Yankees (Carlos Carrasco): Cedric Mullins ($3,300), Gunnar Henderson ($3,200), Jackson Holliday ($2,500)
It's been business as usual for Carrasco. That is to say he has a 5.26 ERA, 1.89 K/BB rate, and 1.75 HR/9 rate. He now has a 5.32 ERA over the last five seasons. Since he's a righty, I have three southpaws from the Orioles for this stack.
Mullins is off to a strong start to 2025, having batted .283 with six home runs and five stolen bases. In three of his prior four seasons he's had at least 15 homers and 30 swiped bags. Fret not about Henderson, as he's been his usual self against righties and at home. To that end, since 2023 he has a .904 OPS versus right-handed pitchers and an .868 OPS in Baltimore. Holliday, once the top prospect in baseball, is still figuring it out. He's also only 21, so that's fine. The lefty has two homers, a triple, and two stolen bases, and he's at least been viable in the batter's box against righties.
