April baseball rolls on this evening, with a massive 13-game MLB slate on DraftKings.
Who should you be building your DFS lineups around? Here are my top three players on the diamond for Friday night.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $200K Relay Throw [$50K to 1st]
SP Nick Pivetta, San Diego Padres vs. Colorado Rockies, $9,100
The duality of Nick Pivetta has already been on full display in 2025. After pitching seven scoreless innings against the Braves in his Padres debut, Pivetta barely made it through three innings against the Cubs last Saturday. This is how a man who just signed a $55 million contract has also somehow never had a season with an ERA below 4.00.
Still, Pivetta has never lacked upside and that’s what I’m banking on this evening. This is about rolling the dice on an inconsistent asset in hopes of him hitting his ceiling — and what a ceiling it is. Remember, Pivetta possesses a 29.7% strikeout rate dating back to the beginning of 2023. He’s an elite strikeout arm. That should only be assisted by the presence of the Rockies, who come into tonight’s tilt ranking first in MLB in strikeout rate as a team (28.1%). Colorado is also hitting .203 with a 58 wRC+ on the road, because of course it is. This is the same ol’ Rockies.
1B Pete Alonso, New York Mets at Athletics, $5,700
Alonso has been tearing the cover off the baseball to start the season, slashing .333/.451/.667 with a .513 expected wOBA and a 209 wRC+ across his first 51 plate appearances. Needless to say, Mets fans are very happy to have him back in blue and orange. I feel like the good times should keep coming on Friday night, as the Mets travel to Sacramento and Sutter Health Park — which has basically played like California Coors Field through two weeks. JP Sears ($7,700) will take the mound for the Athletics. From 2023 to 2024, no pitcher in baseball has given up more opponent home runs that Sears (62). Alonso must be licking his chops for this opposite-hand matchup, especially considering his .281 career ISO against LHPs.
OF Randal Grichuk, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Milwaukee Brewers, $3,200
The Diamondbacks absolutely mashed left-handed pitching in 2024 and Grichuk was a huge part of that success. To wit, in 184 plate appearances, the veteran outfielder slashed .319/.386/.528 with a .391 wOBA and a 151 wRC+. The 33-year-old has picked up right where he left off to start 2025, with four extra-base hits and a .951 OPS in his first 18 PAs within the split. In short, Grichuk is simply one of the best platoon bats in baseball. Tonight, he’ll likely be hitting clean-up for Arizona in a matchup with Jose Quintana ($7,000), who signed late in Spring Training and will be making his season debut. That formula hasn’t worked out too well for pitchers in recent campaigns. Also, for those that care, Grichuk does own a career .807 OPS off Quintana in 17 at-bats, but to be clear, this is waaaaay more about his microscopic price tag than some BvP numbers.
