The marathon of the MLB season is underway with each team having played around 10 games thus far in the early stages of the season. Early takeaways on the season are beginning to be established and there is a full slate of 11 games taking place tonight. The Yankees and Tigers kicked off the day with an afternoon matchup and the remaining 10 games will take place across the night.
There are plenty of opportunities to get involved in the action this evening. One of the more unique features on DraftKings this year is Pick6 Fantasy Baseball!
This article will look at my top Pick6 plays for action on April 7th. You simply choose whether each set statistic will be more or less than the set number. With the stage set, here are my favorite picks on tonight’s MLB slate.
Bryan Reynolds More Than 1.5 Total Bases
The Pittsburgh Pirates will face the St. Louis Cardinals tonight in this National League Central battle. Neither side has gotten off to an ideal start with the Pirates holding a 3-7 record while the Cardinals are 4-5.
St. Louis was beaten up by the Red Sox this weekend, allowing 36 runs across three games, including allowing 18 runs yesterday. Matthew Liberatore will step in to pitch tonight after earning a spot in the rotation coming out of spring training after having just 182.1 innings pitched at the MLB level leading into this season. Most of this action has also occurred pitching out of the bullpen. The 25-year-old went six innings in his first performance this year giving up six hits and three earned runs against the Angels.
Bryan Reynolds has had nine plate appearances against Liberatore in his career with four hits tallied. This includes a double and a home run. He has had a tough start to the season, hitting .182 with a .528 OPS, but he will come into form with more games under his belt. Even with the struggles he has recorded more than 1.5 bases in five of his last eight games. Look for him to have this pitching matchup circled and deliver with more than 1.5 total bases tonight as his legs begin to settle on the season.
Dustin May More Than 4.5 Strikeouts
The Dodgers will face the Nationals tonight after dropping their first two games of the season against the Phillies this weekend. They are rolling with Dustin May on the mound today with this marking just his second start in the majors since May 17, 2023. May was excellent in his season debut, pitching five innings and allowing just one hit and one unearned run. He struck out six in the Dodgers’ victory.
May and the Dodgers should be thrilled for this bounceback opportunity with the team struggling to put the bat on the ball so far. Washington has struck out 96 times across its opening nine games. This is the fifth-most of any team in the MLB thus far. May has averaged as many as 13.7 strikeouts per nine innings over a season and had no trouble recording more than 4.5 strikeouts against a more intimidating Braves lineup. Look for him to replicate his level of production from the first game and record more than 4.5 strikeouts for the second straight start.
Michael Lorenzen Less Than 4.5 Strikeouts
Michael Lorenzen is set to take the mound for the Kansas City Royals with this being his fourth team over the past three seasons. He began his career as a starter, worked out of the bullpen for a few years and has returned to a starting role once again.
In his first start this season, Lorenzen pitched 5.1 innings and allowed five hits and four runs with three of them being earned. He did strike out seven Brewers batters but I don’t expect the same outlook tonight. Lorenzen is not known to pitch deep in games, with him only finishing the sixth inning once after June 18th last year. After his first start, Lorenzen is producing 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings. This is well above the 7.4 he has averaged in his career and he has produced less than seven strikeouts per nine innings in five of the past 10 seasons.
While the Brewers rank sixth in the league in strikeouts, the Twins have shown a much better plate approach and are 21st in the league in this category. Expect Lorenzen to return to form a bit tonight and it would not be overly shocking if he is chased from the game early. Look for him to be held to less than 4.5 strikeouts tonight with the Twins not showing the same willingness to chase or carry the same aggression at the plate.
Marcus Semien Less Than 1.5 Hits, Runs & RBIs
It has been a brutal start to the season for Marcus Semien. The Texans star has tallied just five hits in his first 37 plate appearances and is 1-for-6 against lefties. His hitting splits of .135/.200/.216 are a bit concerning but will improve over time. However, this is not a matchup I expect this turnaround to begin.
Justin Steele will get the start for the Cubs. Semien is 0-for-5 in his career against Steele and has struggled against lefties overall. He looked to be breaking out of his cold stretch with a three-game hitting streak but went 0-for-4 against the Rays with a pair of strikeouts.
In the long run, Semien will settle in and be completely fine on the season. But expect his early-season struggles to continue and for him to be held to less than 1.5 hits, runs and RBIs against Steele and the Cubs tonight in this unfavorable matchup.
Corbin Carroll More Than 1.5 Hits, Runs & RBIs
After winning NL Rookie of the Year in 2023, Corbin Carroll got off to a slow start in 2024 and then caught fire in the second half of the season. He has carried this momentum into this season and is off to an 11-for-39 start at the plate that includes producing three home runs, six RBIs and seven runs scored across the opening 10 games. He is currently posting hitting splits of .282/.391/.641 with an impressive 1.032 OPS.
The Diamondbacks will face the Baltimore Orioles tonight with Zach Eflin set to take the mound. This will be a home game for Arizona and it is worth noting he has posted a 4.27 ERA on the road compared to a 2.85 ERA at home since last season. Carroll is 0-for-3 against Eflin in his career but is coming off a three-hit performance yesterday and is seeing the ball well. Look for him to build off this momentum tonight and tally more than 1.5 hits, runs and RBIs just as he has in five of his past eight games.
Logan Gilbert More Than 6.5 Strikeouts
In the later slate of tonight’s games, the Seattle Mariners will play the Houston Astros with Logan Gilbert set to take the mound. The 28-year-old is looking to build off his All-Star performance last season and is off to a solid start. This is his third start of the season with Gilbert having pitched 12 innings and allowing four total earned runs thus far.
Gilbert is currently tied for the second-most strikeouts on the season with 18 batters fanned. He is in the 94th percentile in whiff percentage, 92nd in strikeout percentage and 75th percentile in chase percentage. This is not a matchup the Astros will be looking forward to as they currently rank 24th in the MLB in strikeouts with 9.78 strikeouts per game. Gilbert has tallied eight or more strikeouts in both of his starts and this is a more favorable matchup. It would not shock me if he approaches double-digit strikeouts tonight and be confident in the Mariners’ standout to tally more than 6.5 strikeouts tonight.
What is DraftKings Pick6?
Pick6 is a peer-to-peer fantasy variant where you build a lineup (your “Pick Set”) of 2+ players and select whether you believe each will outperform their listed stat projection. Enter your Pick Set in Pick6 contests to compete against other users. Get enough picks correct and win a share of cash prizes.
How to Play
Create a Pick Set
Create a Pick Set by choosing 2+ players from the same sport and Pick Group (a set of picks available from a group of set competitions). For each player, simply select if you think they’ll have more or less than their listed stat projection. In each Pick Set, you can not pick the same player twice and you must pick players from at least two different teams.
Enter an Amount
Once you finalize your Pick Set, choose your entry fee amount. Your entries will be automatically distributed into available contests, subject to your confirmation.
Sweat Your Picks
When the games go live, use the My Picks tab to follow your picks in real time to track how your players are performing against their projections and how they stack up against other users.
Compete for Prizes
Make enough correct picks and win a share of the contests’ guaranteed prizes. Any prizes won will be credited to your DraftKings account after contests are finalized.
Play at DraftKings Pick6 or by downloading the DraftKings Pick6 app on Apple or Google!
