Thursday turned out to be a bit of a rough day for our DFS picks. The two hitters we recommended adding were Bryan Reyonlds of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Reynolds chipped in a hit in his 1-for-4 performance, while Gurriel went hitless in his teams’ extra inning loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. It is not often that our hitter to avoid turns in a better day than our DFS picks, but that is what happened on Thursday.
Hunter Renfroe entered yesterday with an unsettling stat line against his opposition but put together a 2-for-3 game with a single, double and walk. Let’s break down Friday’s matchups and see if the numbers fall on our side to kick off the weekend! Here are your two hitters to add and one to avoid for Friday, April 25.
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Add: OF Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
The New York Yankees will play host to their AL East rivals the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night. Aaron Judge and company will start their weekend by facing a familiar arm, José Berríos.
Judge has 42 career plate appearances against Berríos and owns a .382 batting average in those chances. The captain of the Yankees is 13-for-34 against Berríos with six singles, two doubles and an impressive five home runs. Mix the hot start for Judge this season with his history against Berríos and you have a recipe for a big day.
The trade off to adding Aaron Judge to your DFS on Friday is that you may have to budget the rest of your roster tightly. His DraftKings salary for Friday is a steep $6,500. It is not often we encourage spending a lot of your budget on one position player but today, Judge may be worth every virtual penny.
Add: OF Michael A. Taylor, Chicago White Sox
If you don’t like spending a large amount of your DFS budget on one player and prefer finding diamonds in the rough, we have a good pick from you. Believe it or not, this player comes from the Chicago White Sox.
The White Sox will take on Luis Severino and the A’s on Friday and outfielder Michael A. Taylor has a ridiculous amount of success against the right in just a few chances. In five at bats against Severino, Taylor has five hits. Four of those hits have been singles but one was a home run. Yes, that is perhaps the smallest sample size we have ever taken into consideration but at some point, Taylor’s success against Severino has to stop being coincidence. Going 5 for 5 against a particular pitcher is a pretty good indication that a hitter is comfortable.
Taylor’s DraftKings salary today is $3,300. This is the sleeper pick of the day. Adding Taylor to your DFS could be the move that has your lineup jump up in the standings.
Avoid: 3B Eugenio Suárez, Arizona Diamondbacks
The Atlanta Braves have not been the team they were expected to be until the last six games or so. While the offense has typically been the biggest flaw of the 2025 Braves, reigning Cy Young award winner Chris Sale hasn’t exactly been himself either. If there is anything that could get him going, it is facing Eugenio Suárez of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Yet again, this is another small sample size to dissect but the results are too overwhelming to ignore. In just nine plate appearances against Sale, Suárez is hitless and has struck out an astonishing six times. One would think that a slugger like Suárez hitting from the right side would have a decent stat line against a lefty with a low arm angle who likes to throw a slider. Contrary to that belief, Suárez is lucky if he puts the ball in play against Sale.
Suárez’ DraftKings salary on Friday sits at $4,500. While this is slightly below average and could potentially help keep your DFS budget on track, you may want to consider other options given his history against the Atlanta Braves’ starting pitcher on Friday.