We’ve got a bunch of aces taking the mound in tonight’s 12-game MLB DFS featured slate, which means beginning your lineups with an important decision at starting pitcher. Should you go with Garrett Crochet ($10,800) or Yoshinobu Yamamoto ($10,600)? How about Logan Webb ($10,100) or Freddy Peralta ($9,500)? Like I said, it’s a star-studded affair on Friday.
Here are my top DFS picks on the diamond for DraftKings.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: MLB $200K Relay Throw [$50K to 1st]
SP Luis Castillo, Seattle Mariners vs. Cleveland Guardians, $8,500
Castillo is an asset that comes with some real blow-up potential, but I really like how the 32-year-old projects on Friday. A price tag below $9,000 doesn’t hurt, either. Castillo was rocked in his last outing against the Angels, yet in the six starts prior to that, the veteran RHP pitched to a 2.50 ERA and a 2.69 FIP across 36.0 innings. That stretch included posting a season-high 28.0 FPTS versus the White Sox, as Castillo tossed seven scoreless frames in an eventual 5-1 victory for the Mariners. Castillo has also vastly preferred pitching at T-Mobile Park in 2025, where he owns a 2.25 ERA and has held opponents to a bleak .209 batting average.
Expect the good version of Castillo to show up this evening in a matchup with the struggling Guardians. Not only has Cleveland registered underwhelming marks in ISO (.120) and wRC+ (88) so far in June, but a lineup that is usually extremely contact-oriented is suddenly leading MLB in strikeout rate (25.7%). What is going on?
SS Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles vs. Los Angeles Angels, $4,700
If a slate comes around where I’m not stacking against Jack Kochanowicz ($5,500), come check on me, I might have been kidnapped. Kochanowicz is truly one of the worst pitchers currently in an MLB rotation and he’s been absolutely destroyed by left-handed opponents so far in 2025. To wit, the 178 that Kochanowicz has faced this season have combined to slash .316/.393/.535 with a .399 wOBA. The RHP has also conceded 2.29 home runs per nine within the split. Yikes.
The Orioles employ several dangerous left-handed hitters, but I’ll take my chances with the most expensive of the bunch on Friday. Henderson hasn’t lived up to his billing as a top 10 pick in season-long leagues in 2025, yet he is still crushing right-handed pitching. In fact, across 176 plate appearances, Henderson is batting .338 with a 177 wRC+ within the split. That Henderson’s price has fallen this far below $5,000 is an amazing buying window.
C Carlos Narvaez, Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees, $3,600
Narvaez has been one of the American League’s best catchers, yet his salary has consistently remained modest, never even getting close to $4,000. That works for me, though. I’m on a budget. The right-handed backstop has done his best work against LHPs in 2025, managing a .220 ISO and a 145 wRC+ in his 61 plate appearances within the split. Strangely, that does not include any base hits off Ryan Yarbrough ($7,000) last Saturday, because it seemed like everyone on the Red Sox’s roster was teeing-off on the veteran southpaw.
Yarbrough has been found money for the Yankees this season, yet the magic might be starting to wear off with the soft-tossing lefty. Six days ago, Yarbrough faced this same Boston lineup and he surrendered nine hits and eight earned runs in just four innings of work. For the season, Yarbrough’s FIP is back up to 4.47 and he’s allowing 1.59 opponent long balls per nine. I’m having a hard time believing there’s many adjustments Yarbrough can make heading into Friday’s tilt.
