Thursday’s MLB DFS slate gets us going early. There are just two games on the night slate, too, so we better get in some research and attack this six-game slate at DraftKings.
This will be an interesting slate to navigate, as we don’t get the Dodgers but three games could potentially be impacted by weather. The Yankees jump out by a mile as the top stack, but we saw last night how that can go.
Obviously you can play Aaron Judge as the ultimate one-off and stacking New York bats does look inviting. But simply not doing that will get you different in a hurry and there are also some other advantageous spots for sticks.
Not sure which way to go? I’ll go over the top MLB DFS picks today, as well as my favorite MLB DFS stacks for Thursday’s main slate.
Top MLB Daily Fantasy Picks – Best Pitcher Plays for Thursday
- Max Fried ($9.5k)
- Kris Bubic ($9k)
- Chase Burns ($8.7k)
- Landen Roupp ($8k)
- Braxton Ashcraft ($7.8k)
This pitching slate is Not Good, but there are some worthwhile pieces. Fried is pricey for a date with a powerful Angels offense and the park/weather combo is definitely scary. However, he owns the top projection and L.A. can definitely whiff. I think it’s potentially a “play both sides” situation to a degree, but this just isn’t a guy who gives up a lot of power to righties. I’d be starting most of my builds with Fried, weather be damned.
Bubic’s game has perhaps the most troubling weather, but it could still be fit in just fine. He grades out as the second best arm of the day, but I wouldn’t call a matchup with the Tigers in a hitter-friendly park safe. We know his K rate to open the year is filthy, so he’s worth a look on that alone. I think every single arm carries a certain level of risk on this slate, but as far as the good options go, he ranks pretty high up there.
Burns is the first “stud” arm on this slate that I’ll gladly go against. He’s pulling the third most ownership right now, so it’s something we can leverage. In terms of strikeouts and not facing an elite offense, Burns is plenty viable. But he’s also in one of the most dangerous situations of the slate when looking at weather, ballpark, and splits. Whether we want to focus on this year or last, Burns walks lefties at an unhealthy clip and gets powned by that side of the plate when it comes to power. He’s worth playing, but this is very much a “play both sides” spot for me.
Roupp is on the other side of that game and feels a tad safer. It’s still a dicey ballpark and it’s warm in Cincinnati, but his numbers grade out way better in the early going in 2026. The Reds also whiff almost 25% of the time. There’s power to deal with here, but Roupp is kind of going overlooked compared to the other top pitcher plays.
Lastly, there’s Braxton Ashcraft, who grades out as the best dollar for dollar arm on this slate. He’ll be owned because of it, but he’s in a pitcher-friendly ballpark, his K rate is insane, and he’s handled lefties nicely so far in his career. The Nats can be annoying and pop off when we least expect it, but I’ll be all over Ashcraft today.
Best Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks – Top MLB DFS Stacks for 4/16
- Yankees
- Pirates
- Royals
- Giants
These are the top four MLB DFS stacks I’ll be targeting on this daily fantasy baseball main slate. New York is the most obvious one, as they rank 1st with a disgusting 6.1 implied run total. The Yanks face Walbert Urena and are in the best park of the day. It’s also 87 degrees with the wind blowing out at 10 miles per hour. They will be chalk, so you can fade simply based on ownership, but I’ll probably have a lot of exposure, one way or another.
Pittsburgh has the second best implied team total, so they technically grade out nicely here. Foster Griffin has not been scary so far in 2026, but this park is a bit restrictive and Pittsburgh doesn’t grade out as a very imposing force versus lefty pitching right now. You can still play them since they’ve been good and the odds favor them to score runs, but of the top stacks, this is the one I may come under-weight on.
Kansas City often looks good and they end up doing nothing, so if they’re owned I won’t mind ignoring them. That said, they do look good here, as they get a park upgrade and Keider Montero historically is not a guy we should be afraid of. He’s looked sharp so far this year, but last year he offered a 13% K rate, 12% walk rate, and a .229 ISO against lefty bats. KC admittedly does not have a ton of lethal lefty power, but I am cool with firing them up, regardless.
I really like the Giants today and I think there’s a chance I could be alone there. Their implied run total isn’t among the top scoring offenses of the slate and they fade a talented pitcher in Chase Burns. But they look like killer leverage, as they get a huge park upgrade and they have a ton of lefties to throw at a dude who has had major issues with bats from that side of the plate. Burns can get whiffs, but so far this year he’s waking lefties at an 18.9% clip and he’s giving up a .200 ISO over the past two seasons. Yes sir!
Leverage: The Giants are leverage, but we can also consider the Angels and Tigers. Bubic and Fried are strong plays on a bad slate, but L.A. in particular has serious pop in a hitter’s park.
Playing DFS since the days of DraftStreet, Kevin knows the ins and outs of DFS, specifically for NFL and NBA. He’s also been helping people win in fantasy football leagues for 15+ years and is one of many experts featured at FantasyPros.
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