After a light Thursday for MLB, Friday is packed with action. In fact, there are 13 games on the DFS docket, with the first pitch at 7:05 p.m. ET. That means a lot of options to sift through, so I have some MLB DFS lineup recommendations to try and help on that front.
Pitching
Foster Griffin, WAS at MIA ($7,800): Griffin continues to intrigue, but I continue to not necessarily buy in completely. It's the nature of these guys who go off to Asia to try and reconfigure their career and then return around 30. Griffin, fresh from three years in Japan, has a 2.27 ERA through seven starts, though with a 4.32 FIP. However, the Marlins are an average offense at best, and they rely on a lot of lefties. Griffin is a southpaw, so I think he's worth a gamble.
Carmen Mlodzinski, PIT at SFG ($6,600): Mlodzinski's last couple starts have been tough, and he now has a 4.76 ERA on the season. However, that is paired with a 2.48 FIP, and he still remains elite at preventing home runs. It's still somewhat early, what with it being early May, but the Giants are threatening to run away with the title of worst offense in MLB.
Sean Burke, CWS vs. SEA ($6,300): Burke versus Emerson Hancock is an intriguing matchup of pitchers off to strong starts trying to solidify themselves as, say, legitimate mid-rotation starters. Burke impressed in a 2024 cameo, but in 2025 he had a 4.22 ERA over a full season. Which, to be fair, isn't bad! This year, though, Burke has a 2.72 ERA, and even his 3.18 FIP is quite encouraging. Both of these offenses are slightly below average, and pretty close to one another across the board, but the Mariners have been a smidge worse.
Top Targets
Other than his injury, it's been business as usual for Juan Soto ($6,300). This is, of course, a guy with an 1.002 OPS versus righties since 2024. Ryne Nelson, who is a righty, has had a disastrous start to the 2026 campaign. He has a 6.61 ERA through seven outings.
While Matt Olson ($5,300) has always been a good power hitter, on occasion he has really locked it in. He's slugged over .540 in four seasons, and he once hit 54 home runs. This year, though, he's slugged .671 with 13 homers through 38 games.
Bargain Bats
It's been a frustrating campaign for Pete Crow-Armstrong ($4,700), and yet he has four homers, two triples, four doubles and eight stolen bases. He does seem like the kind of guy who – even if he never figures it out from a discipline perspective – puts up counting stats in a way DFS players will appreciate. Kumar Rocker has been much better at home than on the road, but also lefties have hit .299 against him in his career.
The name of the game with Ernie Clement ($3,300) is average and doubles power, but for a guy eligible at second base and shortstop, that works. This year he's hit .281 with 13 doubles. Reid Detmers is a lefty who is good at avoiding home runs, but he has a career 4.73 ERA. That makes this a matchup right up Clement's alley.
Agree with these recommendations? Give them a spin with various combinations of other players in RotoWire's MLB DFS Lineup Optimizer.
Stacks to Consider
Athletics at Orioles (Kyle Bradish): Nick Kurtz ($5,100), Jacob Wilson ($3,600), Jeff McNeil ($3,200)
It's been a tough season for Bradish, decidedly worse than the last couple years. Now, you might argue in a vacuum that his 5.03 ERA is over only seven starts. Owing to injury, though, he only made six starts in 2025 and eight starts in 2024. Bradish's strikeouts are down, his homers are up, and his walks are way up. I figure it's worth seeing if Bradish's tough start continues with an Athletics stack.
Given that Kurtz exploded onto the season as a rookie, the fact he "only" has five homers may feel lackluster. However, he's stolen four bases, he has a .413 OBP, and he's only really struggled against his fellow lefties. Against righties, Kurtz is still raking after he slugged .714 against them as a rookie. Maybe Wilson is going to be more of a guy who mostly hits for average and not much else, but a .291 hitter with eight doubles to go with three homers isn't too shabby. While Wilson is a righty, remarkably righties have hit .396 against Bradish this season. Having left the Mets (that's working out so far), McNeil doesn't have much power, either. He has hit .309 with eight doubles, though, and he is a second baseman.
Orioles vs. Athletics (Jacob Lopez): Pete Alonso ($5,000), Adley Rutschman ($4,400), Taylor Ward ($4,200)
Lopez has been getting steamrolled this season, as he has a 6.60 ERA. Last year he had a 4.08 ERA in his first season with the Athletics. I have noted repeatedly already this season that a lot of Athletics pitchers are being really hindered by Sacramento's ballpark, so maybe you think Lopez might be able to manage in Baltimore. However, he actually had a 5.40 ERA on the road. Lopez is a lefty, and righties have hit .310 against him this year, so I have three guys who can hit right-handed from the Orioles.
Every season of his career, save for 2020, Alonso has hit at least 34 home runs. While his average is down in his first campaign with the Orioles, Alonso has seven homers to go with 10 doubles. Rutschman has staved off Samuel Basallo for now at catcher thanks to a .313/.368/.563 slash line in 2026. He's a switch hitter, but since 2024 he has an .826 OPS versus southpaws. Ward, like Alonso, has joined the Orioles for 2026. He has a .429 OBP with 13 doubles. Over the last three seasons, going back to his time with the Angels, Ward has an .903 OPS against lefties.
