The aces are back! Well… Some are.
We’ve got ourselves a stacked group of pitchers at the top of tonight’s 11-game MLB featured slate on DraftKings. Which one should you build your lineups around? Which one should you stack against?
Let’s dig in and find three must-start players for this evening’s action.
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SP Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners vs. Detroit Tigers, $9,000
Gilbert is the most-expensive pitcher on tonight’s slate, despite being priced at just $9,000. It’s an odd quirk, but I’ll happily accept the savings. Gilbert was dominant on Opening Day, pitching seven innings of one-run ball and allowing just a pair of hits. Even more encouraging was Gilbert’s 34.8% strikeout rate and 19.3% swinging strike rate, as the right-hander isn’t usually someone I’d consider an elite strikeout artist. Tonight we’ll get a better picture of if that’s a new element of Gilbert’s game or if it said more about the Athletics lineup that he was facing last Thursday.
That’s not to say the Tigers lineup he’ll see this evening is all that amazing, either. Detroit teed-off of Emerson Hancock in Monday’s victory, but Gilbert is a whole different caliber of arm. The Tigers have also been struggling to put the ball in play so far in 2025, owning the league’s seventh-highest strikeout rate (25.6%). Add in an early IL stint for key free agent Gleyber Torres and I think Gilbert barely breaks a sweat in this contest.
2B/OF Jonathan India, Kansas City Royals at Milwaukee Brewers, $4,400
You sort of have to use a Royals bat or two tonight, don’t you? The Brewers’ pitching staff is littered with injuries and that’s translated to a whole lot of MLB debuts and a ghastly 12.27 team ERA. One such debut was Chad Patrick ($6,000), who allowed a two-run home run to the Yankees on Saturday in an emergency relief appearance. Now, the 26-year-old will make his first major league start. Doesn’t sound like a great recipe for success. Bobby Witt Jr. ($6,100) and Vinnie Pasquantino ($5,100) are certainly viable on Tuesday, but I’ll single out India. The infielder looked like he could be headed for the IL after being hit in the face with an Emmanuel Clase fastball on Sunday, yet India was in the lineup last night, collecting three hits and a pair of RBI. Over his first 18 plate appearances with Kansas City, the India has a .381 expected wOBA hitting out of the leadoff spot.
1B Alec Burleson, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Angels, $3,100
Every season there’s one starting pitcher who just doesn’t seem like he’s going to last on a big league roster much longer. In 2025, that man is Kyle Hendricks ($7,100), signed exclusively to eat innings for what will likely be a 70-win Angels squad. As such, there’s no time like the present to stack against the veteran RHP. Hendricks was awful in 2024, registering a 5.92 ERA and an eighth percentile opponent expected batting average (.276). Against LHBs specifically, Hendricks surrendered 1.85 home runs per nine and a .370 wOBA. Burleson is left-handed. He’s also batting second in tonight’s lineup versus Hendricks and is only $3,100 despite a breakout campaign last season. This simply makes too much sense.
