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Zach's top DraftKings and FanDuel MLB DFS picks for today, Thursday, 5/8/25. His favorite daily fantasy baseball lineup sleepers and value picks for DFS on DraftKings and FanDuel.
Welcome back, RotoBallers! On Thursday, Major League Baseball has nine games on the slate, with a doubleheader scheduled in Colorado between the Tigers and the Rockies. Both FanDuel and DraftKings are set up for a fantasy baseball double-header with a four-game slate that starts at 1:10 p.m. EDT and another four-game slate that starts at 7:05 p.m. EDT. Neither site includes the second game of the Rockies-Tigers doubleheader on a multi-game slate. FanDuel also has all-day contests that include the eight games combined, and DraftKings has a night slate that includes just the two games that start after 9:00 p.m. EDT.
It's a nice mix of matchups, with some big-name starting pitchers and some strong offensive matchups. I'll include picks for both slates, indicating EARLY for the afternoon and MAIN for the evening picks. Since it's a double-stacked edition of the picks, I'll keep my analysis brief.
This article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 5/8/2025. The early slate starts at 1:10 p.m. EDT, and the main slate starts at 7:05 p.m. EDT. The lineup picks will showcase elite players to 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
Kris Bubic - KC - LHP ($9.9K DK; $9.5K FD) EARLY
Bubic has produced 35.0 FanDuel points and 19.3 DraftKings points per game in his seven starts this season. On Thursday afternoon, he gets a great matchup against the White Sox, who rank in the bottom five in the majors in runs scored and last in ISO and wOBA.
Bubic started the season with back-to-back big games with eight strikeouts and over 29 DraftKings points, but his strikeouts have dipped a little since then. His last start was likely shortened due to a rain delay, but he looked sharp in five shutout innings in Baltimore. Before that outing, here's how his improved arsenal looked against the Rockies.
Kris Bubic slow-cooked the Rockies to perfection in the BBQ Capital of the World.
Didn’t need gas—just craft, command, and a whole lotta sauce. His new arsenal’s working, and the results are tasting mighty fine. pic.twitter.com/Ls2yhWYEFK
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) April 23, 2025
Jack Leiter - TEX - RHP ($7K DK; $7.5K FD) EARLY
Leiter got knocked around by the Mariners in his last start, allowing six runs in 4 1/3 innings. The 25-year-old righty hasn't been as sharp since returning from a blister issue that required an IL stint, but he is still 2-1 with a 4.58 ERA, 4.05 FIP, and 15 strikeouts in his 17 2/3 innings this season. He had one of his best starts of the season against the Red Sox, allowing just one run in five innings for 17.7 DraftKings points and 30 FanDuel points in his first start of the year. He'll look to bounce back to similar form Thursday afternoon and has the most potential of the cheap arms on the early slate.
Jesus Luzardo - PHI - LHP ($9K DK; $10.2K FD) MAIN
Luzardo and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are both great aces to consider on the main slate, but I'm going with Luzardo based on his high strikeout ceiling and his matchup against the Rays, who struggle against lefties.
In his seven starts for the Phillies, Luzardo has allowed just nine earned runs for a sparkling 1.94 ERA backed up by a 1.94 FIP and 1.18 WHIP. He has piled up 47 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings and earned over 23 DraftKings points in four of his seven outings.
Jesus Luzardo's 2024-2025 Year To Year Changes Have Looked Incredible So Far:
FB Velo: 95.1📈96.3
Offspeed Velo: 86.3📈88.2
EV: 90.4📉88.8
Barrel%: 9.9📉6.3
HH%: 41.1%📉38.4
LA-SS%: 33.3📉30.4
xBA: .255📉.232
xwOBA: .329📉.278
xSLG: .432📉.352
K%: 21.2📈27.6
BB%: 8.0📉6.5… pic.twitter.com/R6W3b5VpIZ— Tobey Schulman (@tschulmanreport) May 5, 2025
Spencer Schwellenbach - ATL - RHP ($7.7K DK; $8.7K FD) MAIN
Schwellenbach has a high ceiling against the slumping Reds, but he has had a few ugly outings lately that make him high risk. He flashed dominant upside in a start against the Marlins early this season and has turned in five quality starts in seven outings, but he gave up six earned runs in each of his other two starts. If the rain holds off in Atlanta, he'll be the cheap arm with the most upside on the main slate, although his added risk works better in GPP than in cash contests.
Also Consider: Casey Mize - DET - RHP ($7.7K DK; $8.8K FD) EARLY, Chris Bassitt - KC - RHP ($8.5K DK; $9.6K FD) MAIN
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Spencer Torkelson - DET - 1B ($5.4K DK; $3.9K FD) EARLY
Torkelson and the Tigers are at Coors Field on the early slate, and he's worth paying up for due to his power potential against lefty Kyle Freeland. Torkelson was the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft and has found his footing in the majors this season, already matching his home run total from last season with 10 blasts in 36 games with a .377 wOBA. Half of his home runs have come against lefties despite less than half as many at-bats in the split. He has a .419 wOBA and 177 wRC+ against southpaws this season.
Jonathan India - KC - 3B/OF/2B (FD only) ($3.4K DK; $2.8K FD) EARLY
India brings great versatility and a favorable matchup against Davis Martin and the White Sox. India has been finding a nice stride from the top of the lineup for the surging Royals, who have won 14 of their last 16 games. India has hit safely in eight of his last nine games while going 11-for-36 (.306) with a home run, a .356 wOBA, and six runs scored.
Trea Turner - PHI - SS ($5.2K DK; $3K FD) MAIN
Turner can carry a team's offense when he's on a heater, and he's caught fire over the last nine games, going 15-for-39 (.462) with a home run, two stolen bases, nine runs scored, and five RBI. He has averaged 11.9 DraftKings points per game in those nine games, and his power and speed combo give him multiple ways to produce, as he showed with 18 fantasy points and two stolen bases on Tuesday, followed by 21 fantasy points and a home run on Wednesday.
Trea Turner just hit his first HR in a month. He is batting 350 over the last 15 games 🔥🔥
The Phillies had 16 homers over the last 8 games #TampaTrea
pic.twitter.com/n3Sv3nGo5i— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) May 7, 2025
Hyeseong Kim - LAD - 2B/SS (FD only) ($2.5K DK; $2.6K FD) MAIN
Kim has started the last three games for the Dodgers and gone 5-for-12(.417) with three runs scored. Even if he hits near the bottom of the order, getting on base should give him plenty of run production opportunities to make him a good value at this low salary. He also brings stolen base potential and is two-for-two in stolen base attempts since joining the Dodgers. Kim started the season in Triple-A to work on his swing adjustments and hit .252 with five home runs and 13 stolen bases in 28 games in Oklahoma City.
Also Consider: Bobby Witt Jr. - KC - SS ($6K DK; $4.1K FD) EARLY, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. - TOR - 1B ($5.1K DK; $3.3K FD) MAIN
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Javier Baez - DET - OF/SS (FD only)/3B (FD only) ($4.1K DK; $3.4K FD) EARLY
The Tigers are taking on a lefty, which complicates stacking them at Coors Field since many of their big outfield bats are lefties. One way around that is to play Baez in the outfield, who comes very affordably given the elevation boost. His added positional flexibility on FanDuel makes him easy to fit into roster builds. He's hitting .333 (11-for-33) against lefties this season and has hit safely in eight straight games with an at-bat, going 14-for-33 (.424) with four doubles, three homers, and a .544 wOBA.
Evan Carter - TEX - OF ($3.5K DK; $2.3K FD) EARLY
Carter is especially underpriced on FanDuel, but he also brings enough upside to be worth a look as a value outfielder on DraftKings. The Rangers started the 22-year-old lefty at Triple-A this season, where he hit .221 with three homers and six stolen bases after turning things around after a slow start. They promoted him and placed Leody Taveras on waivers, opening up regular playing time for the dual-threat former top prospect.
Shohei Ohtani - LAD - OF/1B (DK only) ($6.5K DK; $4.6K FD) MAIN
Ohtani is back at it with both home runs and stolen bases coming in bunches after a pedestrian start to the season. He has 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases on the season after four home runs and five stolen bases in his last 11 games. During that stretch, he's hitting .390 (16-for-41) with 12 walks, five doubles, three triples, a .593 wOBA, and a 1.480 OPS.
List of players with 10+ HR and 10+ SB this season:
Shohei Ohtani pic.twitter.com/uJIJhI22Wq
— MLB (@MLB) May 7, 2025
Eli White - ATL - OF ($3.5K DK; $2.4K FD) MAIN
As a cheap outfielder on the main slate, White brings lots of upside and momentum. He has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games for Atlanta while going 16-for-49 (.327) with five doubles, two triples, two home runs, a stolen base, and a .415 wOBA. Since Reds starter Nick Lodolo is a lefty, White is on the strong side of the splits on Thursday night as well.
Also Consider: Byron Buxton - MIN - OF ($5.1K DK; $3.4K FD) EARLY, Kyle Schwarber - PHI - OF ($5.6K DK; $4.4K FD) MAIN
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
Detroit Tigers (vs. Kyle Freeland - COL - LHP) EARLY
Philadelphia Phillies (vs. Ryan Pepiot - TB - RHP) MAIN
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