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Zach's top DraftKings and FanDuel MLB DFS picks for today, Thursday, 4/24/25. His favorite daily fantasy baseball lineup sleepers and value picks for DFS on DraftKings and FanDuel.
Thursday's MLB schedule is spread throughout the day as many teams get ready to head to their next series for the weekend. Four games are in the afternoon and three are in the evening, sandwiched around the finale of the Beltway Series between the Orioles and Nationals at 6:45 p.m. ET.
DraftKings has a four-game early slate in the afternoon and a three-game night slate in the evening, while the Orioles-Nationals is only on a single-game slate. FanDuel has an all-day slate, a four-game early-only slate, and a four-game main slate that includes the Beltway Battle and the three late games. For this post, I'll include players from both slates identified as EARLY or LATE, depending on which slate you can find them.
This article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 4/24/2025. The early slate locks at 1:10 p.m. EDT and the late slate at 6:45 p.m. EDT on FanDuel and 9:29 p.m. EDT on DraftKings. I won't include picks from the Orioles-Nationals game, although if you play the all-day slate on FanDuel, they are in the player pool. The lineup picks will feature elite players, mid-priced options, and value plays. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports here. Monitoring injury news and today's MLB starting lineups is always essential.
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DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Cole Ragans - KC - SP ($9.8K DK; $10.1K FD) EARLY
The top aces on the board are in the early games with Ragans leading the way in an outstanding matchup against the struggling Rockies. Ragans has been dealing so fart this season, racking up 42 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings with a 3.58 ERA, 1.80 FIP, and 1.12 WHIP.
He earned over 25 DraftKings points and over 40 FanDuel points in three of his last four starts, including a dominant win over the Guardians.
Cole Ragans is severely underrated!
7.2 IP 4 H 1 ER 0 BB 10 K
20 whiffs and 38 CSW%Ace.
pic.twitter.com/nawVchDdkA— Andrew DeCeglie (@Andrew_FBB) April 13, 2025
The Rockies lead the MLB in K% and have the worst team wRC+ in the MLB. They rank third-worst in both team batting average and wOBA, so it should be a smash spot for Ragans, who can lock in your early lineup with a dominant performance.
Drew Rasmussen - TB - SP ($8.5K DK; $9.6K FD) LATE
Rasmussen hasn't stacked up as many strikeouts as Ragans, but the has-been 29-year-old righty has an impressive 0.87 ERA backed up by a 1.62 FIP and 0.82 WHIP in his four starts this season. He has only allowed two runs all year and is 1-1 after taking a tough-luck loss against the Yankees in his last outing.
In each of his first three starts, Rasmussen pitched exactly five innings before going 5 2/3 innings in his last outing. He matched his season high with seven strikeouts in that contest and earned 21.1 DraftKings points and 33.6 FanDuel points.
He's a great mid-range play in one of the night games against the Diamondbacks, even though Arizona isn't an ideal matchup and Chase Field is a hitter-friendly environment. He has still shown enough to be a solid mid-range option with good upside.
Tyler Anderson - LAA - SP ($7.7K DK; $9.2K FD) LATE
The Angels will try to avoid being swept at home by the Pirates on Thursday night, and they'll look to Anderson to step up as the stopper once again. In his last start, Anderson helped the Angels snap a four-game skid with a strong start against the Giants, and he's a good bargain in this spot against Pittsburgh.
The veteran lefty is 2-0 in his four starts this season with a 2.08 ERA and 4.69 FIP. He has been able to work around trouble and pick up 21 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings while giving up just five runs. He has given up three homers and too much hard contact, but he is coming off back-to-back games with no runs allowed in matchups against the Astros and Giants. He earned over 25 DraftKings points and over 39 FanDuel points in each of those two starts, and he'll look to keep rolling in this matchup against the Pirates, who rank in the bottom six in the MLB in wRC+, batting average, ISO, and wOBA.
Anderson is especially cheap on DraftKings, where he brings top-shelf potential from under $8K.
Also Consider: Garrett Crochet - BOS - SP ($10.3K DK; $10.7K FD) EARLY, Landen Roupp - SF - SP ($8.2K DK; 8.9K FD)
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Bobby Witt Jr. - KC - SS ($6K DK; $3.9K FD) EARLY
Witt and the Royals have an outstanding matchup in the early window against German Marquez and the Rockies. Marquez has an 8.27 ERA, 4.92 FIP, and 1.84 WHIP in his 16 1/3 innings this season, and Witt is always involved when the Royals are clicking offensively. He has hit safely in 14 straight games, going 18-for-50 (.360) with six doubles, a home run, and four stolen bases over that stretch. He brings elite upside and can produce in multiple ways to carry your lineup to victory. He has both a high floor and a high ceiling and is the top infield bat worth paying up for on Thursday.
Jonathan Aranda - TB - 1B/2B (FanDuel Only) ($4.7K DK; $3.1K FD) LATE
Aranda continues to platoon for the Rays, but when he's in the lineup against righties like Corbin Burnes, he has been extremely productive. He's hitting .338 on the year with four home runs and a .463 wOBA. All four of his home runs have come against righties, whom he has mashed for a .503 wOBA and 246 wRC+ in the early part of the season. His bat has always been loaded with potential, and now that he's healthy, he's a great midrange play to lock into your lineup whenever the Rays face a righty.
Josh Smith - TEX - 3B/OF/SS (FanDuel Only) ($3.5K DK; $2.7K FD) LATE
The Rangers are in a great spot to stack at Sutter Health Park against the Athletics in the finale of their three-game set. They'll face righty J.T. Ginn, which could mean that Smith gets another chance to hit leadoff. He led off on Tuesday against a righty and went 1-for-4 with his second home run of the season.
🗣️ JOSH SMITH RAKES pic.twitter.com/MSNEctiqFF
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) April 23, 2025
Smith is hitting .360 on the year with a .361 wOBA backed up by a 41.7% hard-hit rate. He has hit .436 against righties and has consistently served as a spark plug to the Rangers' offense. Especially if he's leading off, he's a great bargain play on Thursday night, and his positional versatility makes him fit in just about any roster construction on either DraftKings or FanDuel.
Also Consider: Luke Keaschall - MIN - 2B ($3.5K DK; $2.7K FD) EARLY and Nick Kurtz - ATH - 1B ($3.5K DK; $2.6K FD) LATE
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Corbin Carroll - ARI - OF ($6K DK; $4.5K FD) LATE
Carroll went yard twice on Wednesday night in Arizona's loss to the Rays.
Corbin Carroll's second HR of the night is a go-ahead shot! pic.twitter.com/GsJbUayKvd
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2025
He is tied for the MLB lead with nine long balls on the season now and is hitting .327 with a .464 wOBA and .366 ISO. He has a 57.3% hard-hit rate and 18.7% barrel rate, showing he consistently makes excellent contact. He has also added four stolen bases, adding even more upside. The lefty has strong splits against right-handed pitchers and at home, so paying up for him at home against Rasmussen is a great strategy to consider in the late games. He's averaging 13.3 DraftKings points per game on the season and 16.4 DraftKings points over his past 10 contests.
Wyatt Langford - TEX - OF ($4.6K DK; $3.5K FD) LATE
Langford is back from a quick stint on the IL due to an oblique injury, and the 23-year-old has picked right up where he left off. After a bit of a struggle last year, the top prospect has looked ready for a true breakout with six home runs and four stolen bases in his 15 games to go with a .294 batting average and .447 wOBA.
He has double-digit DraftKings points in each of his three games since returning from the IL and homered in each of the first two games at Sutter Health Park, where he'll face Ginn and the Athletics in Thursday night's series finale.
Trevor Larnach - MIN - OF ($3.3K DK; $2.6K FD) EARLY
The Twins have been desperate for someone to step up on offense, and in the last few games, it has been Larnach and recent call-up Luke Keaschall who have given the offense a boost. Larnach has hit safely in each of his last five games, going 6-for-17 (.353) with three home runs.
He had 20 and 21 DraftKings points in the first two games of this series with the White Sox and will be in another favorable matchup on Thursday afternoon against Shane Smith, who has a 2.82 ERA but a 4.40 ERA since he has allowed a 46.0% hard-hit rate. Larnach has had almost all his success against righties, so he brings great value potential against Smith.
Also Consider:
Taylor Ward - LAA - OF ($4.6K DK; $3K FD) and Jorge Soler - LAA - OF ($4.5K DK; $2.9K FD) LATE:
The Angels are taking on Carmen Mlodzinski of the Pirates, who has allowed at least four runs in three of his four starts and comes in with a 7.41 ERA and 2.00 WHIP. The Angels should be able to have plenty of traffic on the bases and get good run production, and both Ward and Soler bring a little power potential and high ceilings from their mid-range salaries in the night game in Anaheim.
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