MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers and Top Stacks | April 23
MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers
Also in the mix is LHP Andrew Heaney, with the longtime Angel back in his old stomping grounds and looking like a solid source of strikeouts. He currently has the best leverage score, indicating that he is being underrepresented in tournaments.
Speaking of strikeouts, LHP Eduardo Rodriguez racked up 29 in his 22 innings, ceding a pair of home runs and issuing a reasonable half dozen free passes. Tonight he will be facing a Tampa lineup that is lacking power against lefties, though it is at least putting balls in play. Rookies Jake Mangum and Chandler Simpson have a scant 22 combined plate appearances against southpaws in The Show, which heavily favors Rodriguez when it comes to K potential. Christopher Morel and Jose Caballero have extra-base hit upside, but each is a frequent whiff candidate.
If Rodriguez can work around the patience of leadoff hitter Yandy Diaz and get some hacks from Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero, he should be able to push for a quality start, accompanied by half a dozen strikeouts.
Only four times in 24 games have the White Sox scored five or more runs, and Chicago plated three or fewer 18 times. A whopping 36 of the ChiSox’s 72 total runs have come in those four tilts. The current collection of batsmen has a .201/.274/.307 triple-slash line, which is an embarrassment to the game.
Still, Festa is not without risk when we consider that he has yet to close the book on the fifth inning, logging 64 and then 76 pitches in his two appearances. He does have 10 strikeouts in these nine innings, yielding one unearned run. He also had 58 and 80 pitches in his two MiLB outings with the St. Paul Saints in Triple-A, but it looks like the team is going to ease him into a 90-pitch workload. This makes a ceiling score more difficult to attain, considering the elevated salary compared to his likely workload.
For those looking to play the early afternoon slate, LHP Carlos Rodon clearly stands out in Cleveland taking on the Guardians. Additionally, do not overlook RHP Reese Olson, who is facing a depleted Padres squad missing Jackson Merrill, Luis Arraez, Jake Cronenworth and Jason Heyward.
MLB DFS Picks: Top Stacks
Main Slate Primary Target: Athletics
In a good news/bad news situation, because Rocker had not made his medicals available MLB teams prior to the draft, New York did get a compensatory pick the following year.
Rocker got in 34 innings across the Independent and Arizona Fall Leagues, showing enough that Texas made him the third overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.
For those wondering, Rocker was awesome in college, helping Vanderbilt win the College World Series and becoming the first pitcher to record a no-hitter in the Super Regional round.
Clearly, the talent is there, though in his seven MLB starts over the last two seasons, Rocker has been inconsistent with generating strikeouts and missing bats in general. He needs more experience, but Texas is likely to let him learn on the job against the best hitters on the planet.
The Athletics continue to be a stacking recommendation, but with the raw power in the top half of the order, they profile well against lefties and phenomenally against right-handed hurlers. Lawrence Butler, Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom, Shae Langeliers and JJ Bleday have a collective .215 ISO and a 9.1% walk rate against right-handed pitchers over the last season-plus.
Jacob Wilson and veteran Gio Urshela do a good job of at least putting the ball in play, which can help turn the lineup over. The potential for three-up, three-down innings is there as well, but at least things are more exciting for DFS rather than having them strike out and strand the core portion of the stack.
Main Slate Contrarian Target: Pittsburgh Pirates
The main thing going for the Pirates is a solid and deep lineup. There are talented youngsters like Oneil Cruz and Enmanuel Valdez, who looks to have legitimate power. Switch-hitting Bryan Reynolds is probably the best game-to-game hitter, while longtime legend Andrew McCutchen is still contributing, though he is more than a decade beyond his MVP days.
Joey Bart is a fine catcher option on DraftKings and Yahoo while providing differentiation on FanDuel. Veterans Adam Frazier, Tommy Pham and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are not much at the plate anymore, but they are a steadying presence and none of them are easy outs.
For the early slate, the Motor City Kitties have an interesting matchup against LHP Kyle Hart, who finally made it to The Show after five — yes, FIVE — college seasons prior to being a 19th-round selection in the 2016 MLB Draft. He worked his way through three different organizations and a trip to Korea to play for the NC Dinos, where he won the KBO version of the Cy Young Award. Now in his age-32 seasons, the baseball lifer has not shown much strikeout ability or even missing bats at all. This is a great story in perseverance but someone we want to attack with right-handed hitters anytime he is on the mound.
Today’s Top Sports Betting Picks
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Take Carlos Rodon under 6.5 strikeouts tonight, for example. This is a +EV bet, meaning it has positive expected value based on the best odds available. But smart betting with Portfolio EV isn’t about chasing isolated plays; it’s about consistently firing off a high volume of +EV wagers. With the Mass Entry tool, you can scale your action and let the math compound your edge over time.
Just like one DFS lineup won’t guarantee a takedown, one bet won’t define your night — it’s the consistent process that leads to profit.
Portfolio EV is built for bettors who want to win over the long haul. By identifying market inefficiencies, the best available odds and stacking a portfolio of +EV bets, it sets you up for compounding returns over time. This isn’t about chasing hot streaks — it’s about trusting the numbers and executing a smart, consistent and scalable strategy to beat the books.
Rodon is a strikeout artist, though the expected Cleveland lineup has a scant 16.7% strikeout rate against southpaws since the start of last year. Jhonkensy Noel, journeyman catcher Austin Hedges and infielder Gabriel Arias are where Rodon is going to have to find his whiffs.
