Welcome in to Ben’s Building Blocks for DraftKings & FanDuel! This is a free article written daily to identify my top-overall DFS plays for cash game and small-field contests on both DraftKings and FanDuel. I truly appreciate everyone that reads and supports the content. If you’d like to support further you can click HERE to sign-up for a MLB Premium package. This gets you access to my Core Plays daily — allowing you to tail my builds, access the premium Discord channels and view our DFS Projections Portal. We’ve been on fire already this MLB season, and there’s no better time to sign-up. With that being said, let’s dive into today’s slate…
Above is an example of my MLB Core Plays for the 4/27 slate
Top Pitchers
Tyler Glasnow
Glasnow has been inconsistent this season, but the one constant for him has been how much more and more he looks like Cillian Murphy with each start. Oppenheimer jokes aside, he has started to round into form for the Rays and they desperately need him to be himself with Shane McClanahan ailing. Over the last 30 days. he’s been vintage Glasnow striking out 39% of batters faced with a sub-3.00 SIERA. The control will always be a slight concern, but he’s been objectively back to form and someone I’m willing to play in DFS and bet on moving forward. This slate is filled good pitchers, but Glasnow sticks out due to his recent form and strong match-up with the Kansas City Royals. KC has been one of the worst teams in baseball this season, and their lineup tonight owns a combined .296 wOBA against right-handed pitching since the start of last season. That sample-size also comes with 26% strikeouts, and a super high upside match-up for Glasnow even if he maxes out at 6 IP. He left his last start due to hand cramping, but should be rested and ready to go tonight in a smash spot.
Luis Castillo is projected to be the highest-owned option tonight — but I really don’t like what I’ve seen from him lately. His form as been bad, and despite the Tigers offensive woes I prefer both Glasnow and Ohtani to him in all formats.
Sandy Alcantara + Dean Kremer
These two square off tonight, and both fit the mold of pitchers I was fading early season but have really turned it on over the last month. Sandy still hasn’t seen his strikeouts come back, and I’m probably going to avoid him in cash games. Still, the potential is there and his price has fallen enough that he is in play for me in tournaments. Kremer on the other hand is somehow striking out 28% of batters faced over his last five starts. That’s backed by a 30% CSW% over that span, and a 10 K game prior to the all-star break. Miami has been hot, but if you can navigate Luis Arraez at the top of the lineup there are some K’s to be had in the middle to bottom of the order. I don’t think his sub-$8K price-tag is indicative of his recent form — and he’s one of my top plays for Friday night.
Building Blocks
Brendan Donovan
I try to stay away from the St. Louis Cardinals at this point, but I can’t ignore Donovan as a top value play on Friday night. He should be locked into the lead-off spot against Trevor Williams — who has been objectively terrible for Washington this season. He has little to no strikeout ability, and has allowed almost 2 HR/9 this season. He’s allowing over a .350 wOBA to both sides of the plate — while Donovan’s .350 wOBA against right-handed pitching trails only Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado in this Cards lineup. That wOBA jumps to .400 against fastballs, a pitch that Williams throws over half the time to left-handed hitters. He’s cheap, should be leading off, and can be used as a one-off in a double-spend at SP lineup.
Wilmer Flores
Flores and the Giants are in one of the better offensive spots tonight against Rich Hill. Hill was running hot earlier this season, but has since fell off a cliff pitching to one of the highest SIERA’s on the slate and sporting a 13% walk rate over his last month of starts. It’s clear how to attack him, and that’s with right-handed hitters — while San Francisco will be able to stuff at least six of them in the lineup tonight. Among those righties is Wilmer Flores — who has long shown power against left-handed pitching. He’s one of the best hitters in this lineup against LHP, and matches up very well against Hill’s pitch mix. Hill relies on his curve to both sides of the plate, while Flores has been the best hitter in this lineup against the pitch since the start of 2022. There are other strong spots, so I’m not sure a full SF stack is needed if you’re only playing a couple teams but Flores is in-play for me in all formats as a one-off.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
