After a great Opening Day, baseball is back on Friday night with a stacked eight-game slate for fantasy baseball. After a wealth of aces on Thursday, Friday still has some strong starting pitchers taking the rubber, so let’s take a look at my MLB DFS Pitcher Picks for this fabulous Friday slate.
Before we get into it, a quick note about these rankings. I’ve selected my top five SP picks from the slate and tried to hit a variety of price points. Depending on what the rest of your roster looks like, and how much risk you are ok with, you may want to go with the top two expensive plays or some of the cheaper options. Based on lineup constructions, ownership projections, and value expenataiosn, these are the five that I’m including in my lineups. You can choose your own adventure and combine whichever of these top five you think will be dealing on Friday’s eight-game slate.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $300K Bat Flip [$100K to 1st]
1. Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres ($9,300)
Cease is the top starting pitcher on the board this Friday, but he defintely deserves consideration as one of the top MLB DFS Pitcher Picks. He didn’t fare especially well in the playoffs last year against the Dodgers but had a solid season, going 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA and 3.10 FIP in 28 starts. He was especially good at Petco Park, posting a 3.03 ERA, 2.82 FIP and 10.8 K/9 at home.
In spring training, Cease gave up seven runs in 19 1/3 innings but had 26 strikeouts. While he had a couple rough outings early, he looked ready for the regular season in his last start against the Reds on Saturday, going 5 2/3 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and hitting 99 mph on the radar gun. Cease has the kind of strikeout upside that is worth paying up for in DFS contests since it gives him such a high ceiling. Even in a tough matchup against the Braves, he’s one of the top options on the board.
2. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers ($9,000)
Yamamoto is the only starting pitcher on the slate making his second start of the season after an impressive start to his second MLB season in the Tokyo Series. In that outing, he held the Cubs to one run on three hits and one walk across five innings while striking out four. He had 11 swinging strikes on only 72 pitches to get through those five innings.
After a much worse start to the season last year in Korea, Yamamoto settled down and went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA, 2.61 FIP and 10.5 K/9. He takes on the Tigers in his first stateside start of the season. The Tigers’ offense is a little short-handed to start the season and gettign them at pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium with the backing of the Dodgers’ juggernaut is enough to keep Yamamoto as one of the best MLB DFS Pitcher Picks even if he probably won’t go deep into the game based on how his team manages the pitchers’ workloads. He’ll be opposed by former Dodger Jack Flaherty ($8,500), who doesn’t quite make my top five based on his tough matchup but will still be fascinating to watch.
3. Jeffrey Springs, Athletics ($7,500)
Springs will be making his first start for the Athletics after the team acquired him from the A’s in an offseason swap. According to his manager, Springs is back to full strength after a normal offseason of work and ramp-up after his 2023 Tommy Hohn surgery. I covered Springs as my favorite value starting pitcher in this matchup with the Mariners, and he should be able to deliver a strong outing at this affordable salary.
Before Tommy John, Springs had a strikeout rate of over 12 K/9 in three of his four seasons, so his strikeout ceiling is definitely high. Whether he can get back to that form is still uncertain, but he’s a cheap play in a favorable spot to start the 2024 season.
4. Kevin Gausman, Toronto Blue Jays ($8,100)
Gausman has been an absolute workhorse for the Blue Jays, making 31, 32 and 33 starts in the last three seasons and winning at least 12 victories in each of those three seasons. He went 14-11 with a 3.83 ERA and 3.77 FIP last season, but his K/9 dropped from 11.5 in 2023 to just 8.1 in 2024. He finished the season on a nice run, posting a 2.23 ERA over his last nine outings and holding opponents to a batting average below .200.
This spring, Gausman’s stuff looked to be back to its 2023 level, and his fastball was popping on the radar gun. He had nine strikeouts in seven innings in Grapefruit League action, and even though he may not be fully ramped up to go deep into the game against his former team, the Orioles. He faced the Orioles twice last season and held them to two runs on three hits over eight innings at Rogers Centre in their most recent matchup last August.
5. Connor Gillispie, Miami Marlins ($6,300)
I like to reserve the final spot in my rankings for a flier play, and Gillispie definitely fits that mold. The 27-year-old will be making his first MLB start. He appeared in three games out of the bullpen for the Guardians last season before signing with the Braves as a free agent and later being claimed by the Marlins on waivers.
Gillispie was excellent in 12 innings in the Grapefruit League, allowing just one earned run with six strikeouts and three walks. He had 116 strikeouts in 113 1/3 innings in Triple-A last season while working to a 4.05 ERA.
With that good strikeout potential, he could be a great value if he can continue his form from spring training. He gets a good matchup against the Pirates for his first MLB start. Pittsburgh struck out 11 times against the Marlins on Thursday and has a very thin lineup outside of Oneil Cruz ($4,800) and Bryan Reynolds ($4,500).
