Major League Baseball has all 30 teams in action on Friday with games starting throughout the afternoon. Seven of the 15 games are on the main slate, giving us 14 starting pitchers to consider on the main slate. Let’s take a look at my MLB DFS Pitcher Picks for this Friday night.
Before we get into the rankings, a quick note about what to expect. I’ve selected my top five MLB DFS pitcher 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 can tolerate, you should select the options that best fit your roster needs. Based on lineup constructions, ownership projections and value expectations, these are the top five that I’m targeting for my lineups. You can choose your own adventure and combine whichever of these top five you think makes the most sense for Saturday night.
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1. Spencer Schwellenbach, Atlanta Braves ($9,800)
After the Braves went 0-for-the-West-Coast to start their season 0-7, the Braves will have some serious early-season pressure for their home opener in The A on Friday night against the Marlins. Good thing they’re giving the ball to Schwellenbach! In his first start, the 24-year-old allowed just one hit in six shutout innings with four strikeouts. With no run support, he posted 19.7 fantasy points in the no-decision.
He should be able to deliver another strong outing on Friday night against the Marlins, whose lineup isn’t even at 100%. Last season, Schwellenbach joined the Braves as a midseason call-up and went 8-7 with a 3.35 ERA, 3.29 FIP and 9.2 K/9. He went 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his last eight starts of the season and looks ready to carry over that momentum into 2025.
2. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers ($9,000)
The two elite options in the starting pitching pool for Friday are Schwellenbach and Yamamoto, but I give the slight edge to Schwellenbach based on matchup. Yamamoto and the Dodgers are in Philly as they look to stay undefeated. The Phillies have a stacked lineup and are a tough matchup, and Yamamoto has only worked five innings in each of his two starts this season.
He still has been very productive, though, even though he hasn’t pitched extremely deep into games. He had 18.9 fantasy points against the Cubs in the Tokyo Series and was even better against the Tigers with 10 strikeouts in a no-decision in his start last week, which earned him 23.1 fantasy points.
His matchup makes him a higher-risk option than Schwellenbach, but he has an extremely high upside with such a high strikeout ceiling.
3. Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels ($8,100)
In the three AL matchups, Jose Soriano stands out as a good option after his strong start to the season last week. He went seven innings against the White Sox and didn’t allow a runner to get past first base while giving up two hits and picking up five strikeouts.
The 26-year-old earned 27.4 fantasy points in his dominant outing and will look to build on his momentum on Friday. Soriano went 6-7 in 22 games last season with a 3.42 ERA and 3.80 FIP, but like Schwellenbach, he finished with a strong stretch that seems to have set him up for success this year. In his last six starts, he went 2-0 with a 2.27 ERA, 3.07 FIP and 8.5 K/9.
Soriano will take on the Guardians, who were just swept by the Padres while scoring only four runs across the three games in San Diego. His strong start last time out and a favorable matchup earns him this spot in my MLB DFS Pitcher Picks.
4. Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona Diamondbacks ($7,200)
I covered Pfaadt in my top bargain plays for Friday, and he’s by far my top option from the lower half of the salary structure. Pfaadt has a favorable matchup against the strikeout-prone Nationals, and he showed a high strikeout upside in spring training and last season.
It also helps that Pfaadt has a good lineup behind him and should have a good shot at picking up a win with a strong start. His first outing of the year was officially a “quality start” but turned into a loss at home against the Cubs. He went six innings and gave up three runs to the Cubs, with two of them coming on a two-run shot from Kyle Tucker. He’ll need to avoid mistakes against the Nationals young power bats but should be able to get enough punchouts to be a solid fantasy play under $8,000.
5. Jesus Luzardo, Philadelphia Phillies ($8,200)
Luzardo is a high-risk play since he’s facing the Dodgers in the big National League showdown. However, he has a very high ceiling if you can stomach the risk involved with taking on the defending champs.
In his first start this season for the Phillies, Luzardo showed his upside with 11 strikeouts against the Nationals. Even though he gave up two runs on five hits, he earned the win and an impressive 29.1 fantasy points. Since the Dodgers are lefty-heavy, his new sweeper will be especially important to watch on Friday.
Jesús Luzardo added a new sweeper into his arsenal to better tackle lefties this season
Yesterday, he tossed the offering 45.9% vs LHH and returned a sparkling 77.8 Whiff% pic.twitter.com/gBk5WsLH2o
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) March 30, 2025
Luzardo is high-risk based on matchup, but if you’re comfortable poking the bear, he could end up being the best pitcher on this slate. If he was facing almost any other team in the league, he’d have a great shot at being No. 1 in my MLB DFS Pitcher Picks.
