Happy end of March! We’re lookin’ at our second consecutive 10-game MLB DFS slate, and they happen to be the same 10 matchups we had last night. Lots of teams are turning their rotations over tonight, so we’ve got some aces on the mound making their second starts of the young season already.
Should be a fun slate. The pitching options are terrific, which makes things murkier on the hitting side. Let’s break it down.
SP1
- Logan Gilbert ($9,500, vs. NYY)
- Shohei Ohtani ($9,000, vs. CLE)
- Hunter Brown ($9,700, vs. BOS)
- Max Fried ($8,800, at SEA)
- Logan Webb ($8,600, at SD)
- Brandon Woodruff ($9,200, vs. TB)
See? Aces everywhere you look. One thing I’ll note right off the top is we seem to have some rain risk in both St. Louis and Los Angeles. I cannot remember the last rain delay at Dodger Stadium, but apparently that’s a thing tonight.
That’ll complicate matters for Shohei Ohtani, who’s set to make his first pitching start of the season. The Dodgers are likely to take a very cautious approach with their most prized player, so it’s entirely possible they scratch him from this start if there’s risk of a long pregame delay. Further complicating things is the 10:10 ET start time making this the last game on the board.
If we get the all-clear, Ohtani looks like a solid option at $9,000 at home against Cleveland. He was phenomenal last season on the mound (33.5% strikeouts, 5.2% walks), and the control has improved in a big way since his early days in the majors. The Guardians – as we’ve talked about before – have a lot of Ks hidden in the lineup behind the pesky Steven Kwan (8.6% Ks vs. RHP) and Jose Ramirez (12.6%). Ohtani’s leash won’t be as long as several other aces, but he can still put up a useful score in 80-85 pitches.
Overall, the top option is Logan Gilbert at home against the Yankees. Yes, the Yankees are probably the scariest lineup in the American League, but the ballpark in Seattle really nerfs offensive production. New York (24.4%) also has plenty of Ks in the lineup vs. right-handed pitching, while Gilbert’s 31% K-rate a season ago put him near the top of tonight’s pitching group. Gilbert’s neutral splits should help him here against a lefty-heavy NYY lineup, as he actually struck LHBs out at a higher clip than RHBs a season ago. I think $9,500 is a relative discount.
The next standout is Logan Webb ($8,600), who got battered by the aforementioned Yankees in his opening start. He’ll face a much weaker lineup on the road tonight in San Diego, another pitcher-friendly park. Webb is more of a good strikeout pitcher (26.1%) than a great one, but he also keeps the ball on the ground at an elite clip (54.2%) and generally limits power. The Padres may not be a high-strikeout foe (20.5% vs. RHP), but Webb is also underpriced. A double-Logan build will probably be chalky on DK, but I have no issues with it.
Hunter Brown and Max Fried would be clear-cut SP1s on most slates, but we may get ownership discounts on them this evening. Like Gilbert, Brown had better strikeout stuff vs. lefties (30.4%) than righties (25.6%) last season, while, like Webb, he also keeps the ball on the ground (48.1%). There aren’t many holes to poke with his skill set. Boston is another capable offense with a good mix of Ks (23.2%) and power (.182 ISO). The ballpark is the tiebreaker in Gilbert’s favor, but I will still have significant investment in Brown on this slate.
Fried is on the other side of Gilbert’s matchup in that pitcher’s paradise in Seattle. As mentioned yesterday, all of the power in the Mariners’ lineup is concentrated in the top 5 hitters, while the 4 at the bottom are annoying, high-contact types. Fried is really just a more expensive version of Webb, but the $200 difference is pretty negligible. If Webb is more popular, finding the extra $200 for Fried is a totally fine way to try to find an edge.
I have zero interest in Brandon Woodruff ($9,200).
SP1 Rankings
- Gilbert
- Webb
- Ohtani
- Fried
- Brown
SP2
- Max Scherzer ($7,800, vs. COL)
- Jose Soriano ($7,200, at CHC)
- Jameson Taillon ($7,600, vs. LAA)
- Jose Suarez ($6,300, vs. ATH)
- Shane McClanahan ($8,300, at MIL)
Max Scherzer wasn’t particularly good last season, but he’s back, and he’s facing the Rockies at home. If he can step off the mound without blowing out his knee, the case to play him is obvious. Colorado is a high-strikeout bunch (26.3%) without a ton of power, and any game outside of Coors is a significant park downgrade for them. There are 5 RHBs in the Rockies’ projected lineup, which is crucial for a pitcher as splitsy as Scherzer. He still mustered a K-rate pushing 28% against same-handed bats a season ago, while lefties gave him some headaches. Scherzer may have been 60% owned had he appeared on last night’s slate, but he’s more of a secondary consideration with so many better options out there tonight.
Both pitchers in the Angels-Cubs game are interesting, as the wind is blowing in from the outfield at Wrigley tonight. Jose Soriano was dominant in his debut last week against Houston. Command is his only real weakness, as he’s a solid combination of strikeouts and groundballs when he’s on his game. The Cubs aren’t a particularly high-groundball offense these days, nor do they strike out a ton (19.9% vs. RHP). I do think $7,200 is too cheap for Soriano in a game with good pitching weather, so he’s on my radar, assuming low ownership.
Jameson Taillon will make his season debut. There’s nothing remarkable about his 2025 numbers, and righties (.219 ISO) hit for some power against him. The Angels are a boom/bust offense that will strike out (26% vs. RHP), but they’ll also do some slugging (.190 ISO, 12.2% barrels vs. RHP). I think he’ll be lower-owned than Mad Max, which makes him a passable pivot at a similar price point.
Ex-Angel Jose Suarez will toe the rubber in Atlanta against the A’s. The Athletics have been a punching bag early in the season. Suarez is pretty average across the board, save for a decent groundball lean. This lineup does hit the ball on the ground fairly frequently (43.1%). Suarez is just a price play. $6,300 is mega cheap, and the A’s have been very shaky to start 2026.
I’ll mention Shane McClanahan just because he’s a former ace, but he hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2023 because of injuries. There’s really no telling what he’ll look like after such a long layoff, but he was a 30% strikeout lefty pre-injury. While the Brewers don’t hit for any power (.106 ISO vs. LHP), they also make a lot of contact (18.7% Ks). McClanahan can put up a decent score even if he only throws 80 pitches, so he’s worth a mention.
SP2 Rankings
- Scherzer
- Soriano
- Taillon
- McClanahan
- Suarez
Primary Stacks
- Mets (at Andre Pallante)
- Blue Jays (vs. Ryan Feltner)
- Giants (at German Marquez)
- Braves (vs. Aaron Civale)
- Tigers (at Brandon Pfaadt)
- DBax (vs. Casey Mize)
- Dodgers (vs. Tanner Bibee)
I don’t see a clear-cut top offense tonight, so it’s a bit of a jumbled mess at the top. As of now, most of my interest lies with the Mets and Blue Jays, facing bottom-of-the-rotation arms for the Cardinals and Rockies, respectively.
Pallante (15.5% Ks) just doesn’t miss bats, but his groundball rate last season (59.8%) was elite. That does make stacking against him a little complicated, as he can potentially skate through some quick and easy innings if the BABIP Gods are smiling down upon him from their wooden thrones in the heavens. That’s enough to make the Mets’ flyball hitters – Francisco Lindor, Marcus Semien, Luis Robert, and Jorge Polanco – stand out the most. I’ll still try to pay up for Juan Soto in stacks despite his higher groundball rate because he is, in fact, Juan Soto.
Feltner was very splitsy last season, and he’s not a major source of strikeouts, either (18.5%). While he did admirable work vs. RHBs (.156 ISO, .292 wOBA, 3.8% barrels), lefties gave him more trouble (.190 ISO, .387 wOBA). He also walked LHBs nearly 15% of the time, which can lead to some meltdown innings. Overall, though, Feltner is kind of good, at least relative to the rest of the Rockies’ staff. That’ll still make him one of the worst pitchers relative to the slate, though.
Jesus Sanchez, Addison Barger, and Daulton Varsho are Toronto’s standout LHBs, but, as always, George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Alejandro Kirk are headliners in full stacks. This is a patient lineup. If they can drive Feltner’s pitch count up early, they’ll get to pick up that famed bullpen.
Rockies legend German Marquez landed a spot at the back end of the Padres’ rotation. Marquez is simply not the same guy he was before a bunch of injuries, and he struggled even away from Coors Field last year. The strikeout stuff is gone (14.1%), and he yielded a .228 ISO with a .395 wOBA overall last season. Marquez was just as awful against both lefties and righties. Even in Petco, the Giants look pretty good. Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee, Heliot Ramos, and Willy Adames make for an excellent 5-man you may get at limited ownership on such a large slate.
Both sides of the DET-AZ game are attackable. Casey Mize is kind of Just A Guy. Arizona is another top-heavy lineup, so I’ll stick primarily with Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, and Gabriel Moreno. Tim Tawa and Jordan Lawlar are both nice and cheap ($2,100) if you need a 5th.
Brandon Pfaadt had issues limiting power last season to hitters from both sides. The 11.4% barrel rate vs. LHBs gives the edge to Riley Greene, Colt Keith, Kerry Carpenter, and Kevin McGonigle.
Weather permitting, you can always stack the Dodgers against Tanner Bibee. He’s another RHP with generally neutral splits. We can’t play Ohtani as a hitter tonight, which makes the stack cheaper overall. Kyle Tucker, Freddie Freeman, and Max Muncy from the left side look pretty awesome, with Mookie Betts + Will Smith for full stacks.
Aaron Civale has some power issues against RHBs historically – good news for Ronald Acuna Jr. and Austin Riley.
Secondary Stacks
- Rays (at Brandon Woodruff)
- Yankees (at Logan Gilbert)
- A’s (at Jose Suarez)
Suarez is cheap, but he isn’t particularly good. The A’s have plenty of right-handed power in the lineup, so that’s where I’d start – Shea Langeliers and Brent Rooker. Nick Kurtz lefty-lefty is fine, especially since he’ll be low-owned.
Woodruff is pretty good, but he also got pretty lucky last season. TB isn’t high on my list at all, but Cedric Mullins, Jake Fraley, and Carson Williams are cheap, while Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz are #good.
The Yankees are the Yankees, so you can stack them every night regardless of the matchup. He’s got a pretty staunch reverse split, so Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are potentially sneaky targets. Trent Grisham is underpriced at $2,700 for his power upside, while I’d round it out with Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm.
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