On this April 1, you’d be a fool if you didn’t participate in the DraftKings featured DFS contest for today’s MLB action (just kidding).
With a full 11-game slate on the docket, players will have plenty of choices between stars, scrubs, and everything in between.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $300K Bat Flip [$100K to 1st]
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PITCHER
Stud
Michael King, San Diego Padres vs. Cleveland Guardians, $8,700: King got off to a brutal start to the season on Thursday, lasting just 2.2 innings, giving up three runs on four hits and four walks, and striking out just three (1.2 FPTS) in a 7-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves. But one game is a tiny sample size, and he’d posted a sub-3 ERA in each of the past three seasons prior to his rough opening day. Last season, he posted the league’s second-lowest hard hit percentage, ninth-highest strikeout percentage, and 11th-lowest home run percentage. The Guardians, meanwhile, recorded the lowest hard hit percentage, so King’s strengths align well with Cleveland’s weaknesses.
Value
Casey Mize, Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners, $7,500 – Whether or not you believe in Mize depends on how much you value his spring training performance versus his regular-season struggles in 2024. Mize has never been a very good regular-season pitcher, and he posted a pretty ugly 4.49 ERA and 45.0% hard-hit percentage last season. But in the 2025 preseason, he recorded a very impressive 1.89 ERA across 19 innings, striking out 25 and walking just eight — a strikeouts per nine innings figure that would have led all of baseball in 2024. It’s not inconceivable that his improvement could be mostly real, given that he’s just 27 years old, so I have high hopes for his 2025 debut. Seattle posted the league’s ninth-worst OPS figure in 2024 despite finishing third in the league in walks, and for all of his flaws, Mize has always displayed solid control.
INFIELDER
Stud
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays vs. Washington Nationals, $5,700 – Guerrero hasn’t gotten off to the greatest start to his season, slashing just .263/.318/.368 and failing to homer so far, but given that he’s been an All-Star in each of the last four seasons and is virtually Toronto’s only source of offense, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He doubled and drove in a run in last night’s 5-2 win, accounting for seven fantasy points despite going just one-for-four at the plate, and he’s up against Trevor Williams ($7,000), one of the cheapest pitchers on the slate. Williams was a Cy Young-level pitcher in 2024, but it came in just a 66.2-inning sample size. If he performs against a player of Guerrero’s ilk today, I might have to give him more respect.
Stud
Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York Yankees vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, $5,800 – Much has been made about the Yankees’ new “torpedo bats”, but they’ve worked — Chisholm had an incredible performance in Sunday’s 12-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, connecting for three hits, including two homers, and five RBI’s (39 FPTS). The Bronx Bombers have been unstoppable on offense so far this season, and they’ll hope to keep the good times rolling hosting the Diamondbacks this weekend. Corbin Burnes ($8,600), a former Cy Young winner, won’t make it easy in his first start with Arizona, but I trust the 27-year-old Bahamian.
Value
Brendan Donovan, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Angels, $3,600 – Donovan has gotten off to an excellent start in the 2025 season, slashing .313/.333/.500, walking once and striking out just twice in 18 plate appearances. He also hit his first career homer off of a left-handed pitcher in the second inning of yesterday’s 5-4 loss to Los Angeles, hitting a solo shot off of Tyler Anderson. Donovan will likely be back to his regular third spot in the lineup tonight, given that the Angels’ starter, 35-year-old Kyle Hendricks ($7,100), is a righty. In 2024, Donovan raked against righties to the tune of a .787 OPS, while the badly-aging Hendricks allowed an .855 OPS to southpaws.
OUTFIELDER
Stud
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves, $6,500 – Ohtani hasn’t yet played the field in 2025, but there’s no room for designated hitters, so he’s eligible both at first base and in the outfield, and he’s a must in any lineup. The two-time reigning MVP hasn’t missed a beat so far this season, slashing .286/.464/.619, and he’s leading all of baseball with nine runs scored. Although he’s gone hitless in each of his last two games, he’s still found a way to make an impact, drawing two walks in each and scoring at least one run in all six of his games this season, and playing alongside the best lineup in baseball doesn’t hurt. Despite costing $200 more than any other player, Ohtani is well worth it.
Stud
Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels at St. Louis Cardinals, $5,500 – Because he’s played fewer than 100 games in four of the past five seasons, some may have forgotten how incredible Trout is. He’s a three-time former MVP who’s led the league in WAR five times and was well on his way to entering the GOAT conversation before being overshadowed by injuries and his own teammate in Ohtani. But even in recent years, he’s been very solid when healthy — in 2022, he hit 40 homers and 80 RBI’s despite playing in only 119 games, and while he’s off to an incredibly slow start so far (a measly .253 OPS in 17 plate appearances), I don’t want to call him washed just yet. He’s going against the left-handed Matthew Liberatore ($7,300), and for his career, he’s posted a .929 OPS against southpaws.
Value
Willi Castro, Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox, $3,300 – The switch-hitting Castro has been a bright spot in what has been a horrific opening week of Minnesota’s campaign. He broke up Chicago’s no-hitter bid in the seventh inning of yesterday’s 9-0 loss, and for the season, he’s slashing .357/.400/.786, hitting a homer and driving in three runs. The White Sox are 2-2 so far this season, a surprising development given that they finished with the second-worst record in baseball history in 2024, but they’ll be starting a former reliever, Shane Smith ($6,500), who will be making his major league debut.
