Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Saturday 4/19

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84) Last Updated 2025-04-19 15:07:02 Premium Content Part of the product MLB DFS

Long-time grinder, Justin Van Zuiden (aka stlcardinals84), is here to cover the bases for the upcoming MLB DFS slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. Whether you are looking for the top pitchers or the best stacks, Cards has you covered with an extensive deep dive into his favorite MLB DFS picks.

Happy Saturday, Grinders! This will be my first Saturday slate of the season, and we usually get some weird split-slate madness on Saturdays. That is the case today, but it is a day that is front-loaded with early games. DraftKings is bringing us an 11-game “main” slate starting around 1 PM Eastern, while FanDuel is removing the first few games and offering a 7-game slate starting around 3 PM Eastern. With only 4 games at night, we will focus the article on that main slate this afternoon.

I will lean my analysis toward the DK slate since it includes all 11 games, but I will note some FanDuel differences where necessary.

As usual, we need to keep an eye on the weather. The good news is that weather doesn’t seem to be a major factor this afternoon. However, you can always keep tabs on those details by using our MLB weather page to make sure nothing changes before lock.

This slate looks to have a lot to love from both the pitching and hitting sides, so this should be a fun one to break down. Let’s dig in!

Editor’s Note: Looking for more places to play? Check out our Underdog Fantasy promo code and PrizePicks promo code, two of the best DFS sites available today.

Saturday Afternoon Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings

TOP TIER PITCHING

Plenty of teams are rolling back to their aces as we head into the weekend.

Paul Skenes vs. Guardians
Garrett Crochet vs. White Sox
Hunter Greene vs. Orioles
Logan Gilbert vs. Blue Jays
Kodai Senga vs. Cardinals
MacKenzie Gore vs. Rockies at Coors Field

This is quite the fun group of pitchers, and all of them are available on both the DraftKings and FanDuel slates. It is a day we are going to want to prioritize spending on pitching at some level, because there is no doubt that a few of these arms are going to have big days. Now that we are almost a month into the season with teams starting their fifth turns through the rotations, I am going to start using 2025 data in these articles. As such, here’s a look at the 2025 numbers so far for this elite group of pitchers:

Skenes – 2.96 ERA, 2.28 xFIP, 28.0% K, 3.2% BB
Crochet – 1.38 ERA, 3.25 xFIP, 28.3% K, 3.1% BB
Greene – 0.98 ERA, 3.27 xFIP, 31.3% K, 4.0% BB
Gilbert – 2.38 ERA, 1.57 xFIP, 38.1% K, 4.8% BB
Senga – 1.06 ERA, 3.48 xFIP, 24.6% K, 7.7% BB
Gore – 3.52 ERA, 2.74 xFIP, 33.7% K, 6.3% BB

Whew, this is a fun group. We have five guys (couldn’t resist) with ERAs under 3.00 so far this season, with four of them being under 2.40. Four of them also have strikeout rates north of 30%.

It’s a testament to what we have already come to expect from Paul Skenes that it feels like he has had a “disappointing” start to the season with “just” a 2.96 ERA and 28% strikeout rate through four starts. After all, he had an ERA under 2.00 with a 33% strikeout rate in his rookie season. I am not concerned about the league coming around on Skenes. He’s just as nasty on the mound as he was last year. This is largely still a function of sample size. What worries me in relative terms today is his matchup against a Guardians team that has had a very low team strikeout rate against RHP for about three years running. I like Skenes just fine, and I think he could very well have a great day, but he’s simply not a priority for me on a deep slate for pitching.

My favorite arm is going to be Garrett Crochet. He didn’t quite look like himself in his first couple of starts in 2025, but those concerns were quickly put to rest with a dominant start his last time out, as he allowed just one hit with an 11/0 K/BB ratio over 7 1/3 innings in a revenge matchup against the White Sox. Guess what? He faces the White Sox AGAIN today. I see no way this feeble offense does any damage against the ace lefty, and I have Crochet ahead of Paul Skenes and the other aces.

Not far behind are Hunter Greene and Logan Gilbert. Both have looked absolutely dominant to start the year, with Greene owning a 0.98 ERA and 31% K rate and Gilbert owning a 1.57 xFIP and ridiculous 38% K rate. People will naturally assume the strikeout rate is not sustainable for Gilbert, and while it certainly isn’t at THIS level, it is worth noting that his swinging strike rate is an otherworldly 18.5% right now. This is a dominant ace who belongs in the same conversation as Skenes and Crochet. The same goes for Greene, though he has a tough matchup against Baltimore this afternoon. Both are elite GPP options, especially if most of the ownership flows to Skenes and Crochet.

Kodai Senga and MacKenzie Gore are the two wild card options. Senga has only made four starts over the past two seasons, and the command can sometimes be an issue. While the Cardinals have surprised a bit offensively in the early going, they have started to fade over the past week. I am neutral on Senga today, but he will be in my large-field GPP pitching pool. I am more intrigued by the risk/reward potential of Gore. While it is scary to target a pitcher in Coors Field, this is a high-strikeout arm that can miss bats with velocity. That can still play at Coors, especially given the current hapless state of the Colorado offense.

I actually like all of these pitchers today and will look to spend at pitcher wherever I can. Crochet is my favorite option, but there’s a very thin dividing line among all of them.

SECONDARY PITCHING OPTIONS – GOOD PITCHERS VS. GOOD OFFENSES

Want to read more? Sign up for Premium!