After a small slate yesterday, with only four games in the morning and five in the evening, we’re back to a traditional huge offering with loads of options for DFS players on DraftKings. 80% of the league’s teams are on today’s featured DFS slate, which has a $200,000 prize.
In order to maximize your chances of getting in on that prize pool — or minimize it, depending on how much you trust me — here are two pitchers, three infielders, and three outfielders I’m targeting for tonight’s contest.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Hidden Ball Trick [$50K to 1st]
PITCHER
Stud
Hunter Brown, Houston Astros vs. Cincinnati Reds, $11,000 – Brown has been one of the most consistent pitchers in baseball this season, especially in the last few weeks. He’s had four straight outings with exactly nine strikeouts and three with 25 or more FPTS, and, prior to conceding three earned runs in his most recent start, had a total of one in his four prior appearances. He also has the fourth-shortest odds to win AL Cy Young. And while the Reds have had a decent offense, ranking 13th in OPS and sporting a 19-20 record, they have struck out the fourth-most times. Brown has a 90th-percentile strikeout rate so far this season, and I’d expect that to continue tonight against Cincinnati. The Reds also have posted the seventh-lowest hard-hit percentage, a category in which Brown ranks in the 94th percentile.
Value
Randy Vásquez, San Diego Padres at Colorado Rockies, $5,300 – Eventually, I’ll stop targeting Colorado, but it’s hard to avoid until the Rockies start winning games. The fact that they play in baseball’s toughest division doesn’t make things any better, but come on — six wins nearly a quarter of the way into the season? Unsurprisingly, Colorado ranks second-to-last in OPS, last in strikeouts, last in runs, last in hits, and even fifth-to-last in home runs despite playing its home games at a mile above sea level in the world’s most hitter-friendly ballpark. It almost doesn’t matter how good Vásquez is, but for good measure, he’s allowed three or fewer earned runs in all but one of his starts this season, which is solid for a player of his price point. As a note of caution, he does lead the league with 24 walks, but the Rockies rank fifth-to-last in that category, too.
INFIELDER
Stud
Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles at Los Angeles Angels, $4,700 – Rutschman hasn’t quite lived up to the lofty standards that he set for himself over the first three seasons of his MLB career, when he earned AL MVP votes as a rookie and was an All-Star in each of his past two seasons. But he’s starting to turn it around slightly, with a .226/.333/.290 slash line, two doubles, and four runs (4.7 FPTS per game) in his last 10 games. More critically, he’s also been better on the road, posting a .739 OPS and 6.1 FPTS per game away from Camden Yards. Angel Stadium is the league’s fifth-most homer friendly, and overall, the Angels have the league’s fourth-worst pitching staff by WHIP and fifth-worst by ERA. Kyle Hendricks ($5,800) has a 5.55 FIP figure this season, so it’s fair to call the 35-year-old properly washed.
Stud
Geraldo Perdomo, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, $4,600 – I hate fading my own team, and I know that eventually Roki Sasaki ($7,500) will live up to his immense promise, but a player like Perdomo isn’t a great matchup for him. Perdomo is the ultimate contact hitter — he ranks in the top decile in squared-up percentage, chase percentage, whiff percentage, strikeout rate, and walk rate — and Sasaki has struggled with his control early in his MLB career. The 23-year-old flamethrower has ranked in just the fifth percentile in walk rate and third percentile in chase percentage. Perdomo laced a single as part of a two-hit (eight-FPT) performance yesterday against the NL Cy Young favorite, Yoshinobu Yamamoto; he can do even better against Yamamoto’s compatriot.
Value
Mark Vientos, New York Mets vs. Chicago Cubs, $3,400 – Vientos has been pretty solid in his last 10 games, slashing .282/.356/.436 (8.1 FPTS per game) for one of the NL’s most impressive teams. The plodding third baseman has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games and has hit two homers across that stretch. He also has a pretty patient eye, ranking in the 68th percentile in walk percentage and the 48th percentile in chase rate. Meanwhile, while the Cubs are true championship contenders this season, their pitching is a question mark, and Jameson Taillon ($8,000) is part of that problem. In a question of strength-versus-strength — Taillon thrives especially in avoiding walks and inducing chases — I’ll back Vientos.
OUTFIELDER
Stud
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees at Athletics, $6,400 – On a big slate like today’s, I like to pick one player from each game, and I know that Yankees vs. Athletics is going to be an offense-fest, given how high-powered both of these teams have been this season. It would’ve been wrong to pick anyone but the reigning AL MVP who has staggering -1100 odds to go back-to-back early in the season. It makes sense — his .400/.491/.750 slash line hasn’t been seen since Barry Bonds in 2004 — and although he’s been in a bit of a slump (only one home run in his last four games!) he remains well worth his salary. That is doubly true against an Athletics pitching staff that ranks as the sixth-worst by ERA and has conceded the sixth-most home runs at home.
Stud
Luis Robert, Chicago White Sox vs. Miami Marlins, $4,500 – The 27-year-old Cuban has finally turned his brutal start to the 2025 season around in his last 10 games, slashing .303/.378/.515 across that stretch (10.5 FPTS per game). He continues to display speed-power potential — posting a 92nd percentile bat speed and leading all of the major leagues with 15 stolen bases — and he also ranks in the 84th percentile with a 13.5% walk percentage. And though he’s going against Miami’s best pitcher, Max Meyer ($10,200), Meyer has had two bad starts in a row and ranks in just the first percentile in average exit velocity. Plus, once Meyer exits the game, the Marlins’ bullpen is the league’s fourth-worst by both ERA and WHIP.
Value
Leody Taveras, Seattle Mariners vs. Toronto Blue Jays, $3,000 – Seattle has been dealing with a spate of injuries in its outfield, after Victor Robles ($3,900) suffered a fractured and dislocated shoulder making an acrobatic catch on April 6 and Luke Raley ($3,700) went on the injured list with an oblique strain. So the Mariners signed Taveras, who was waived by the Texas Rangers and made his Mariners debut on Wednesday, going one-for-four, scoring and driving in a run (12 FPTS). The 26-year-old Dominican has struggled at the plate this season, ranking in the bottom quintile in every Statcast category bar two, but he’s been hot in his last 10 games — slashing .364/.391/.591 (5.4 FPTS per game) — and still can do damage on the base paths. Plus, Toronto has among the league’s worst pitching staffs.
