Sunday wraps up the weekend with a 10-game featured slate locking at 1:35 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel. Yahoo is tweaking things just a little, with a 14-game main slate and a 1:30 p.m. ET first pitch. Before you lock in lineups, several Stokastic tools can help identify daily MLB DFS Top Stacks, key pitchers and MLB DFS picks. Let’s dig into the player projections and popularity for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups, including RHP Jacob deGrom in a home matchup against a weak Oakland offense, along with the Toronto Blue Jays in New York against unproven RHP Clarke Schmidt.
MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers and Top Stacks
MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers
Late Slate Pitching Target: LHP Reid Detmers vs. Kansas City Royals — 4.0 implied runs
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $8,700 | FanDuel $10,200 | Yahoo $39
On the three-game late slate, the top two pitchers are easily identifiable as RHP Yu Darvish in Arizona against the Diamondbacks and LHP Reid Detmers at home against the Royals. We are all aware of the bona fides brought by Darvish, so let’s take a gander at Detmers.
Early last year, the rookie surprised everyone by tossing a no-hitter in his sixth start. In a #Baseball moment, he somehow accomplished this feat while only striking out two. After that initial success, he was meandering a bit and not getting the strikeouts that had been so plentiful for him in the minors. So in late June, the Angels sent him back to Triple-A Salt Lake where he made one start, racking up 14 Ks against the Tacoma Rainiers. That was all it took and when he rejoined the Halos, he suddenly was the strikeout artist everyone was expecting.
This afternoon he is facing a Kansas City squad that is not horrible against southpaws, but they are not a particularly deep and daunting lineup either. Since the start of last season, the projected lineup for the Royals has nearly a 25% strikeout rate against lefties, an 83 wRC+ and a league average .153 ISO. It is OK to join The Masses in rostering the two most popular pitchers on this short slate, as there are plenty of ways to differentiate lineups with stacks and sub-stacks.
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MLB DFS Picks: Top Stacks
Midafternoon Slate Stack Target: Texas Rangers vs. LHP Kyle Muller — 4.8 implied runs
Today the Globe Life roof will be closed, but that is not going to save LHP Kyle Muller from the righty-heavy lineup being rolled out by Texas. Yesterday the Rangers put up 18 runs, so hopefully they saved a few for today’s matchup. Muller may be a familiar name, as he is a failed Atlanta prospect that gave up fantasy goodness in 11 starts spread across the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The changing of uniforms and home parks has not helped so far, and he has a 7.21 ERA and 1.98 WHIP in four starts, spanning 18.2 innings. Today everyone up to and including the Texas bat boy is a viable candidate for stacking purposes. Texas also rivals Toronto as the best stack on the featured slate.
Late Slate Target: Los Angeles Angels vs. RHP Jordan Lyles — 5.8 implied runs
The Angels will be the popular late-slate stack and it makes sense to just do a little home run hitting and sticking with duos or one-offs from the Halos. RHP Jordan Lyles does a decent job of limiting damage, but he is susceptible to the longball, and he led the league in 2021 with 38 round-trippers. Though it will be tempting to load up with Los Angeles bats, limiting ourselves to at most two of Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Taylor Ward, Anthony Rendon, Hunter Renfroe and Jake Lamb is a savvy strategy. That will enable us to ride with the Cardinals, Padres and even select right-handed hitters from the Royals, which will give us a leg up on The Masses and their sheeple tendencies.
Final Thoughts for Sunday, April 23 | MLB DFS Picks
The Midwest and East Coast are once again the venues to keep tabs on, with potential precipitation concerns. Nothing looks like it will be postponed, but if a stray storm cloud happens to sit over the ballpark, well it could result in pitchers ending their day. Chicago, Cleveland and Minnesota are the Midwest locations to watch with Baltimore, New York and Pittsburgh rounding out the East Coast games.
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