Griffin Wong dives into Tuesday’s four-game Wild Card Round slate to find players to use in your DraftKings lineups.
Playoff baseball is finally here. 18 teams are at home, and only 12 remain chasing the ultimate October glory. With the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers, and Philadelphia Phillies on bye, only the three Wild Card teams and one division winner in each league will be in action for today’s action-packed four-game slate.
Obviously, since these are playoff teams, each roster is chock-full of stars. Here are two pitchers, three infielders, and three outfielders you need to have on your rosters for this afternoon’s DFS contest.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Postseason Opener [$50K to 1st].
PITCHER
Stud
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Guardians, $10,000 – With only the league’s 12 best teams still alive, there’s only one weak offense left: Cleveland’s. This isn’t even relative; the Guardians finished 29th in OPS, 28th in runs scored, and 21st in ISO. Even during the absurdly hot September that propelled them into the postseason, they ranked just 14th in OPS. Skubal, meanwhile, had his way against Cleveland all season, pitching to a 0.64 ERA across four starts (28.0 innings), walking five, and striking out 40 (33.7 FPTS per game). Though he’s been somewhat worse on the road, averaging 3.7 FPTS fewer, it’s the difference between a Cy Young winner and a Cy Young winner.
Value
Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians vs. Detroit Tigers, $7,000 – I’ll stick with the early game for my value pitcher. Williams has recorded 30 or more FPTS in each of his last two starts, both of which came against the Tigers. In the latter, he out-dueled Skubal, recording six innings of four-hit, two-run ball, walking two and striking out 12 (33.9 FPTS) as an uncharacteristically comical Skubal error helped the Guardians take the lead in the sixth inning. The 26-year-old had a stellar second half of the season, recording a 2.18 ERA across 70.1 innings pitched, and his curveball and sweeper have mystified hitters all season. Detroit had the league’s seventh-worst OPS in September as it went just 7-17 and struck out the seventh-most times.
INFIELDER
Stud
Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Cincinnati Reds, $4,700 – The 2018 AL MVP had a rough year overall but finished off the season by slashing .317/.376/.516 across his last 47 games, averaging 9.2 FPTS per game across that span. He’s always loved Dodger Stadium, averaging 8.6 FPTS per game at home this season and just 7.1 on the road. Plus, while Hunter Greene ($8,200) has been a great pitcher at home in 2025, he’s struggled to the tune of a 4.81 ERA on the road, and he allowed three runs in five innings (6.4 FPTS) in his one start against Los Angeles. Greene is also very fastball-reliant, and Betts has mashed four-seamers to the tune of a .421 expected wOBA this season.
Stud
Michael Busch, Chicago Cubs vs. San Diego Padres, $4,500 – Admittedly, leaning on Busch requires trusting a small sample size of massive performances that he had towards the end of the season when Chicago had little to play for. Over his last five games of the season, the southpaw recorded 25, 0, 25, 47, and 0 FPTS, hitting four homers across that span. Padres starter Nick Pivetta ($7,500), meanwhile, allowed at least one homer in five of his last seven starts and has posted an ERA 1.19 runs worse on the road. Busch has recorded a .910 OPS against righties, and though Pivetta has been somewhat better against southpaws, it isn’t enough to fully nullify Busch’s extreme platoon advantage. Pivetta throws his four-seam fastball 54% of the time against lefties, and Busch has had a .678 expected slugging percentage on four-seamers.
Value
Luis Arráez, San Diego Padres at Chicago Cubs, $3,700 – The MLB’s premier contact king finished the season strong, posting a .385/.432/.487 slash line across his last 10 games (8.6 FPTS per game). He also had the Cubs’ number throughout the season, averaging 10.8 FPTS per game across six contests and putting up a 1.098 OPS. Matthew Boyd ($6,500), meanwhile, limped to the finish line, allowing four or more earned runs in five of his last seven starts. To be fair, Boyd was much better at home than on the road all season and produced two strong outings against San Diego. Even though he is backed up by one of the league’s best defenses, his 30th percentile whiff rate makes him a bad matchup against a man who simply does not miss.
OUTFIELDER
Stud
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox, $5,800 – As strong of an MVP case as the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh made towards the end of the season, Judge finished 2025 even stronger, posting an eye-popping 1.546 OPS in his last 17 games and averaging 15.5 FPTS per game across that span. No matter the location or the starting pitcher, Judge is a near shoo-in for 10 FPTS. While he hasn’t had a great record against Garrett Crochet ($9,700) in his career and his playoff reputation precedes him, it’s still hard to bet against easily the best hitter in the world, especially since he’s had a 1.279 OPS against southpaws this season. Crochet also allowed three or more runs in three of his last five starts, so he’s not completely untouchable.
Stud
Fernando Tatís Jr., San Diego Padres at Chicago Cubs, $5,200 – Tatís had a tremendous start to the season and a tremendous finish. In his last 10 games, he averaged 12.2 FPTS per game while slashing .368/.429/.605, and in six games against Chicago, he averaged 11.2 FPTS per game. His relative struggles on the road (8.2 FPTS per game there and 10.3 at Petco Park) and his reverse platoon splits don’t make him the perfect matchup, but Boyd is in poor form. Tatís had an RBI single against Boyd the last time they faced off on April 16 (nine FPTS), and he’s recorded a 61.5% hard hit rate against four-seam fastballs, which Boyd throws 49% of the time against righties.
Value
TJ Friedl, Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles Dodgers, $3,600 – Friedl ended the season strong, recording double-digit FPTS in three of his last four games and four of his last eight. He’s also been somewhat better on the road than at home, averaging 7.9 FPTS per game away and just 7.0 at home. Though he lacks firepower — his average exit velocity is in just the 10th percentile — he squares it up frequently enough that he produced a solid 14 homers this season. He’s well-suited to take advantage of Blake Snell ($9,200)‘s biggest weakness, his 18th-percentile walk rate. Plus, while Snell is elite at inducing chases, Friedl is one of the league’s most patient hitters.