The FantasyLabs MLB Player Models house numerous data points to help you construct your MLB DFS rosters.
They house our floor, median, and ceiling projections for each player, but that’s just the beginning of what you’ll find inside. You’ll also find our Trends tool, stacking tool, and more.
Also, don’t forget that for large-field tournaments, you can utilize our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 300 lineups, or use our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your teams for cash games or small-field tournaments.
Let’s dive into some MLB plays that stand out in our Player Models for today’s slate.
Bargain Rating Picks
You might be asking: what is Bargain Rating, and why should I care?
Bargain Rating shows how much of a bargain a player is on one DFS site versus others. If a player is significantly cheaper on one site than the other, they will have a favorable Bargain Rating on the site where they’re more affordable and a poor Bargain Rating on the site where they’re more expensive. It’s a straightforward metric, but targeting players at reduced price tags is almost always a strong strategy in DFS.
Bargain Rating strongly correlates with player value, which you can quickly see with our predictive projected Plus/Minus metric.
Seeing how Plus/Minus helps you project how many points a player is expected to score compared to what their salary implies them to score, this is a good company for Bargain Rating.
MLB DFS DraftKings Bargain Value
Brett Baty ($3,000): Third Baseman, New York Mets
At 24-years-old, Mets third baseman Brett Baty enters his first full big league season after playing in 108 games in 2023. So far, he is showing some staying power with a .311/.354/.378 hitting line through the first 12 games. Baty has a home run and six RBI thus far.
In 2023, Baty managed just a .212/.275/.323 batting line with nine home runs and 34 RBI. He had one of the lowest wOBA in the league with a high 28.0 K%. Baty’s number may revert back toward those numbers throughout the season, but for now he represents an interesting bargain opportunity.
The Mets have a difficult matchup against Royals veteran Michael Wacha. Wacha is 1-0 with 2.25 ERA and 0.58 WHIP through two starts. He is 26-6 over the last three seasons. Baty is a potential contrarian play for tournament lineups today.
Be sure to check out all the pick’ems Sleeper has to offer with Sleeper Fantasy promo code LABS1 for a $500 deposit match.
MLB DFS Ceiling Projection Picks
Pitcher
Yoshinobu Yamamoto ($9,600) vs. San Diego Padres
What a start to his American career for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He made his major league debut on March 21 in the Seoul Series by allowing five earned runs in a single inning of work. He then debuted in America on March 30 and has yet to allow a run in 10 innings over his last two starts.
Yamamoto has the makings of a fantasy superstar with his strikeout potential. He has 13 strikeouts in his last 10 innings with his four-pitch repertoire of fastball varieties and off-speed curveballs. His workload will hopefully go up throughout the season to capitalize on those point-scoring opportunities.
The Dodgers are heavy favorites tonight with Yamamoto on the mound against the Padres. Using PlateIQ, the Padres do have a relatively high home run projection with Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the lineup. On the other hand, only three Padres batters have ISO ratings above 1.40 against right-handed pitching over the last two seasons.
Hitter
Ozzie Albies ($5,600) at Miami Marlins
Sometimes lurking in the shadow of Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies continues to produce at the second base spot for the Braves. Coming off his best big league season at the plate in 2023, Albies has been efficient driving in runs with 12 RBI through his first 11 games this year.
Overall, Albies is batting .319/.373/.532 with two home runs and four doubles. He has a +3.27 Plus/Minus over his last 10 games and five double-digit DraftKings performances in that span.
Albies and the Braves face lefty Trevor Rogers in Miami today. The 26-year-old is 0-1 with a. 5.40 ERA in 10 innings thus far in 2024. He has a high 1.90 WHIP on the season and a 1.35 WHIP over his five big league seasons.
More DraftKings MLB DFS Hitters and Pitchers
One of the great features of being a FantasyLabs Pro member is the option to purchase additional items in the FantasyLabs Marketplace.
A new addition to our MLB projections is THE BAT X from Derek Carty of RotoGrinders. With this purchase, you can use his projections alone or create aggregate projections within our Player Models.
For this example, we created a 50/50 blend with THE BAT X and the FantasyLabs projections to pinpoint some hitters standing out with this blend.
MLB DFS Pitcher
Paul Blackburn ($7,600) vs. Washington Nationals
The Oakland Athletics may be in complete turmoil both on and off the field, but Paul Blackburn has been a bright spot thus far on the mound. Through two starts, Blackburn has yet to allow a run through 13 innings and notched an impressive 0.54 WHIP.
The strikeout numbers have been down for Blackburn in 2024 with a 14.9 K%, but he has dropped his walk rate to 2.1% in response. If he can continue to keep runners off the base paths and creep to the 22.4 K% he had last season, Blackburn has a lot of fantasy potential.
Oakland Coliseum sets up well for pitchers, with a low park rating for hitters on both sides of the plate. The Nationals have a low implied run total tonight and feature four hitters with an under 1.30 ISO against right-handed pitching over the last two seasons. Blackburn is a solid lineup choice tonight.
Now in beta testing: our MLB DFS SimLabs Lineup Generator that creates advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation.
MLB DFS Hitter
Gunnar Henderson ($5,500) vs. Milwaukee Brewers
At 22-years-old, Gunnar Henderson is showing incredible pop at the plate. He is in the top 1% of hitters in average exit velocity and the top 3% in hard hit rate for the Orioles.
Henderson has some boom-or-bust in his game with a .229/.296/.521 hitting line and .817 OPS. Six of his 11 hits on the season have gone for extra bases, including three home runs, two triples, and a double. He adds some value on the base paths with three stolen bases so far in 2024 and benefits from a strong Orioles lineup with nine runs scored.
The Orioles take on right-hander Freddy Peralta today in Baltimore. Peralta is 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA and 0.60 WHIP through two starts. He has a high strikeout rate but ranks toward the bottom of starting pitchers in barrel % and hard hit % allowed. Henderson should get some opportunities to continue his extra-base onslaught.
