Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Saturday 4/26

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84) Last Updated 2025-04-27 01:56:57 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! As usual, we continue with the weird split-slate madness on Saturdays, but this is another Saturday that is front-loaded with early games. DraftKings is bringing us a 10-game “main” slate starting around 1 PM Eastern, while FanDuel is splitting the early games up into one “very early” slate and one “early” slate with both slates excluding the one game that starts at 3 PM Eastern (which just happens to be the Coors Field game).

I will lean my afternoon slate analysis toward the DK slate since it includes all 10 games, but I will note some FanDuel differences where necessary. I will also offer some brief analysis on the 5-game evening slate.

We definitely need to keep an eye on the weather today after we saw two games get postponed on Friday night. Be sure to keep tabs on any updates by using our MLB weather page to make sure you are up to date 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: The game between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees has been postponed.

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

Jesus Luzardo vs. Cubs
Max Fried vs. Blue Jays (WEATHER PENDING)
Sonny Gray vs. Brewers
Hunter Greene vs. Rockies

This is an interesting top four. Let’s begin with a look at the 2025 data:

Luzardo – 2.08 ERA, 2.79 xFIP, 30.0% K, 5.8% BB
Fried – 1.42 ERA, 3.55 xFIP, 22.7% K, 5.3% BB
Gray – 3.41 ERA, 3.25 xFIP, 26.1% K, 3.6% BB
Greene – 2.35 ERA, 3.59 xFIP, 29.7% K, 5.1% BB

I’ll start with what has been a great acquisition for the Phillies in Jesus Luzardo. He seems to continue walking into good spots. While this is not an easy matchup against a Cubs team that has been absolutely raking to start the year, we have extreme pitcher-friendly weather at Wrigley Field — even more so than what we had yesterday in a game that finished with 4 runs. Luzardo has posted a 2.08 ERA and 2.79 xFIP for his new team to start 2025, and that comes with a massive 30% strikeout rate. He has been going deeper into games and should continue to thrive in the conditions today. Even against this offense, he is my SP1.

I wrote at length about Max Fried last weekend with regard to his elevated strikeout rate. The thought process was that it wouldn’t last at a 30% level because his swinging-strike rate was not elevated, and he has never been a massive strikeout pitcher. We immediately saw correction on this, as he struck out just two batters in his last start. Throw in the fact that we have an ORANGE weather rating for likely delays in the TOR/NYY game today, and I just see no reason to mess with Fried on a deep slate for arms.

There were concerns about Sonny Gray in Spring Training with decreased velocity, but it turns out that he was dealing with a bad case of the flu during most of March. He has put any concerns to rest with a strong start to the regular season, with solid all-around numbers alongside impeccable command. The Brewers have been an above-average offense against RHP so far this year and do not strike out a ton, but there are some easier outs at the bottom of this lineup. I like the Cardinals to win today, and Gray will absolutely be on my radar.

The last option in this tier is Hunter Greene. If we take out the park factor, we would naturally love Greene in this spot. He has a strikeout rate near 30% to start the season, we know he is going to be allowed to throw around 100 pitches, and he is facing the feeble Rockies offense. The problem is that he is pitching at Coors Field. How much does that matter? In my opinion, it does not matter as much for Greene as it does for some other pitchers. Greene throws hard and does not rely on soft breaking balls, which are the pitches that don’t move as well in the elevation. In addition, Greene has a massive 7.5 strikeout prop on most of the sportsbooks as of the early morning hours. If projected ownership ends up being low because of the Coors factor, I will absolutely be overweight here. I like Greene a lot.

I am ranking this tier as Luzardo > Gray > Greene > Fried, and I will likely be overweight on each of the first three. If you are playing on FanDuel, it’s an easy split with Luzardo on the “early” slate, Gray on the “very early” slate, and Greene not available at all.

SECONDARY PITCHING OPTIONS

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