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

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84) Last Updated 2026-04-19 16:18:10 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, Justin has you covered with an extensive deep dive into his favorite MLB DFS picks today on April 19, 2026.

Happy Sunday, Grinders! Today’s article will start with a story. Both of my sons are track runners, and I was mindlessly scrolling through some track statistics last night on my laptop when I went to pull up the next track meet. I got a typical “verify you are human” prompt and started mindlessly rolling through it without realizing that I had gotten redirected to a new page. The new page then asked me to paste a prompt into Windows which then ran some malware onto my device.

About 3 minutes later, I realized what I did. I am not an IT guru by any means, but I consider myself tech savvy for the most part. I have one of the best security records at my day job when it comes to catching phishing emails, etc… Alas, I still fell for a stupid trick because I wasn’t paying attention. This happened at about 9:30 PM.

I spent the immediate aftermath changing passwords, locking credit cards, and basically doing any damage control I could think of from a “clean” device while doing a full factory reset on my laptop. This all took about 4 hours. I’m going to stay vigilant, but I still can’t believe I did that. Hackers and scammers are some of the worst people on the planet. If those people used that time to do something productive in life, the world would be a better place. The full reset of everything known to my digital life took about 4 hours. That led me to about 1:30 AM, and it then took me a bit to wind down.

I believe I got to sleep around 2:15 AM, and I set an alarm at 5:30 this morning to wake up and write. Bear with me if I’m not QUITE as wordy as usual today, as I am flat out exhausted. It’s my own doing, however, and it’s nobody’s fault but my own. Maybe some Sunday baseball will make me feel better. Let’s move along to discuss some diamond action!

Sunday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel

TOP TIER PITCHERS

• Garrett Crochet vs. Tigers (FD Only)
• Framber Valdez vs. Red Sox (FD Only)
• Jacob Misiorowski at Marlins
• Robbie Ray at Nationals
• Trevor Rogers at Guardians

I must begin this discussion with a couple of qualifiers today.

Your rosters will probably look different if you are playing on both FD and DK today.

#1 – The Red Sox have moved their game back to 4:30 PM because of some early weather concerns and the Celtics playoff game. DK has removed it from their slate, while FD has not. This is a matchup between Garrett Crochet and Framber Valdez, so it adds a couple of pitching options to the FD pool.

#2 – FD is including the LAD/COL game at Coors Field, while DK is not. This adds some hitting options to the FD pool with the Dodgers once again projected for a pile of runs.

With the housekeeping out of the way, let’s start with a look at the statistical profiles for these pitchers. As a reminder, I am still using 2025 full season data for these metrics as of now, but I will reference some 2026 items as needed in the analysis.

Crochet – 2.59 ERA, 2.86 SIERA, 31.3% K, 5.7% BB
Valdez – 3.66 ERA, 3.77 SIERA, 23.3% K, 8.5% BB
Misiorowski – 4.36 ERA, 3.56 SIERA, 31.9% K, 11.4% BB
Ray – 3.65 ERA, 4.17 SIERA, 24.6% K, 9.7% BB
Rogers – 1.81 ERA, 3.40 SIERA, 24.3% K, 6.9% BB

Let’s start with the pitchers that are only available on FD in Garrett Crochet and Framber Valdez. The big question today is how you want to handle Crochet. He was massive chalk in his last start and got absolutely torched by the mediocre Twins lineup for 11 runs in fewer than 2 innings. It was a yikes to the 10th degree. I’m not really sure what that sentence means, but I wrote it. Multiples of yikes. Yikes squared. Translation: He was bad. The velocity is down a bit, but he started that way in April of last year before rebounding to his usual numbers. As of now, I’m not concerned, and I do like the way he matches up with a Tigers lineup where their most dangerous hitters are from the left side. If people are scared away because of the last outing, I’m happy to take the lower ownership. It’s not like the other aces on this slate are 100% “safe” either. I’m still calling Crochet my SP1 (albeit loosely) on FD. I don’t have much interest in Valdez at all, as he is a quality pitcher but one that isn’t very DFS friendly. He has the lowest long-term strikeout rate out of this entire group.

Jacob Misiorowski and Robbie Ray are your top pitchers if you are looking to the DK slate. They are both high-walk, high-upside, high-risk aces. Misiorowski has the cleaner reputation as the rookie darling from a year ago, but his walk rate has been in the 10%+ range since he came up. He was also ill during his last start and said it felt he was going to throw up every time he threw a curveball. I’m not sure why that feeling was specific to the curveball only, but I am not his doctor. We should assume he is feeling better 5 days later, and I am assuming he is a full go today. However, he racks up high pitch counts in a hurry with his walks and strikeouts, and the Brewers are always careful with him. A 6-inning day is basically a ceiling, and the illness is still in the back of my mind. I like him, but I do feel like he may be over-owned a bit.

I prefer the pivot to Robbie Ray. The old adage is to never play him as chalk, but I don’t think his ownership will get out of control. His walk rate isn’t any worse than Misiorowski’s, and Ray draws a favorable matchup against a Nationals team that ranks near the bottom of the league in walk rate. He will also have the L/L splits edge against the most dangerous hitters in James Wood and CJ Abrams. The rest of the Washington lineup is super weak, and Ray has yet to give up more than 2 runs in a start this year. He’s my SP1 on DK this afternoon.

Trevor Rogers is coming off one of the wildest seasons you will ever see, as he managed to keep an ERA under 2.00 despite somewhat underwhelming advanced metrics for all of 2025. That’s what a .226 opposing BABIP will do for you. His strikeout rate is down to 20% so far in 2026, and I just don’t see a ceiling here. I’ll pass on him in a neutral matchup against the Guardians on the road.

SECONDARY ARMS

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