Looking for the best MLB DFS picks and lineup strategy for today’s DraftKings and FanDuel slate? The Fantasy Alarm team breaks down every game on the board, identifying the top pitching targets, elite hitter stacks, and high-upside contrarian plays to target in both cash games and GPP tournaments. Check Fantasy Alarm’s MLB DFS pitcher projections and hitter projections for the data-driven edge to build winning daily fantasy baseball lineups across DraftKings and FanDuel. Before locking your roster, verify the MLB weather tool for any late-breaking environmental changes, run your builds through the Fantasy Alarm MLB lineup optimizer, and check MLB DFS ownership percentages at Fantasy Alarm before finalizing any GPP tournament entry to find the contrarian stacks where the real leverage lives.

MLB DFS Pitching Picks

Jacob Misiorowski (R, MIL @ HOU)

There is no debate here. Misiorowski is the best pitcher on this slate and honestly one of the best pitching stories in baseball right now. In May alone he is 5-0 with a 0.29 ERA, 49 strikeouts, and a 0.54 WHIP across five starts. He carried a 29.1-inning scoreless streak into his last outing, went out and struck out 12 Cardinals in 7.0 innings, and became the first pitcher in baseball to reach 100 strikeouts on the season. Eight or more strikeouts in each of his last six starts, and not a single extra-base hit allowed in that entire run. The FIP of 1.88 and xFIP of 2.01 confirm this is not some statistical fluke. Houston is a legitimate lineup but they have not seen anything like this in a while. At $11,600 DK and $11,900 FD, he is the most expensive arm on the board and worth every penny.

Braxton Ashcraft (R, PIT @ MIN)

While everyone has been watching Paul Skenes, Braxton Ashcraft has been quietly putting together one of the better starting pitcher seasons in baseball. He is 4-2 with a 2.75 ERA, 70 strikeouts in 68.2 innings, and a 1.05 WHIP. In May he is 2-0 with a 1.91 ERA, and he has pitched at least six innings in five straight starts, which leads the majors. His last outing against the Cubs went 6.1 innings with one run allowed. What makes him even more interesting this year is the new splitter he added, which has pushed his curveball whiff rate from 36.6% all the way to 50.9%. The FIP of 3.12 and xFIP of 3.30 are both very clean for a pitcher at this price. Minnesota is not one of the scarier lineups on the board. At $9,100 DK he is the clearest mid-range play on the slate.

Spencer Strider (R, ATL @ CIN)

Strider enters today 3-0 with a 3.46 ERA since returning from a left oblique strain in early May. His last start at Fenway did not go perfectly — Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela both took him deep in the first inning and he worked just five innings. But he generated 11 whiffs on 87 pitches, settled in after that rough opening frame, and walked away with his third straight win. The trajectory is clearly pointing in the right direction. His K% of 31.1% and K/9 of 11.1 are elite numbers, second on this slate only to Misiorowski. The FIP of 5.33 looks rough but the xFIP of 4.01 is the more honest number given the home run variance. Cincinnati has posted the second-highest strikeout rate in baseball against right-handed pitching over the last 14 days, making this one of the most favorable K environments on the slate. At $10,300 DK and $10,000 FD, the best build with Strider pairs him with Atlanta hitters against Lodolo in the same game stack, giving you two paths to ceiling in one game environment.

MLB DFS Value Pitchers

Jack Leiter (R, TEX @ KC)

Leiter pitches at home in Arlington and brings a 24.2% K rate and a K/9 of 9.5 to the table. The FIP of 4.37 looks a little rough but the xFIP of 3.88 tells a cleaner story once you adjust for home run luck. He has been much better at home this season than on the road, and Globe Life Field is a controlled roof environment that removes any weather variable. Kansas City comes in as the favorite here, which makes Leiter an underdog win-bonus play for GPP builds. Underdog pitchers who still have a legitimate K ceiling are exactly the kind of tournament differentiator that pays off when they come through. At $8,100 DK he is the kind of salary relief that lets you fit a premium stack alongside him. At $8,100 DK / $8,700 FD, Leiter frees salary to pair a premium stack piece while retaining genuine K-ceiling upside.

Zebby Matthews (R, MIN @ PIT)

Matthews does not get talked about much nationally but the numbers are real. His WHIP of 0.842 is one of the cleanest on the board, the xFIP is 3.60, and the FIP is 3.80. He simply does not give hitters much to work with. Pittsburgh has a solid lineup on paper at 109 wRC+ against right-handed pitching, but over the last 14 days the Pirates have posted the third-highest strikeout rate in baseball against right-handed pitching. That recent trend is a significant upgrade for his K ceiling today. At $7,600 DK he is the best salary-relief pitcher on this slate and the one you reach for when you need to fit a premium bat or two into the build.

Top Options for Strikeouts

These arms carry the highest strikeout ceilings on today’s main slate. Our model identifies these as the top K-ceiling plays across DraftKings and FanDuel:

Best Odds for a Win

The following starters offer the most attractive win probability profiles when cross-referenced against their matchup quality and salary tier:

MLB DFS Lineup Picks: Stacks & Hitters

MLB DFS Top Hitters

James Wood (OF, WSH)

Wood steps into the top individual spot in the Washington stack with Abrams out of the lineup today. He is slashing .289/.436/.585 against right-handed pitching with a 183 wRC+, an ISO of .296, and a walk rate of 19.0% that puts him on base at an elite clip even when he is not driving the ball. His OBP of .436 is one of the best marks on this entire slate. Canning has a 24.2% K rate but his FIP of 4.96 and xFIP of 4.04 confirm hitters have been doing real damage against him when they make contact. At $6,200 DK and with Abrams sidelined, Wood becomes the primary WSH target and one of the cleanest individual plays on the board.

Ronald Acuna (OF, ATL)

Acuna is the centerpiece of the Atlanta stack and the most compelling individual play on this slate. His seasonal wRC+ of 65 against left-handed pitching with a .161 average and .250 slugging is real, and Lodolo is a lefty. But his walk rate of 16.2% against LHP means he still reaches base at a .309 clip, and his stolen base ceiling generates DFS points in ways that have nothing to do with batting average. The more relevant context right now: four home runs and four stolen bases across his last three games, capped by a two-homer, two-steal performance Saturday in Cincinnati as Atlanta became the first team in baseball to reach 40 wins. He went from two home runs in his first 42 games to four in three days. Fading him because of a seasonal split while he is hitting home runs in three straight games is the wrong move in tournaments.

Juan Soto (OF, NYM)

Juan Soto is the best hitter on this slate and it is not particularly close. Against right-handed pitching he is slashing .330/.434/.670 with a 201 wRC+, a walk rate of 16.0%, and a strikeout rate of just 14.2%. That combination of elite power and elite plate discipline is historically rare for a hitter at this price. His ISO of .341 confirms the power is legitimate and not just a product of a small sample. He has also been absolutely scorching, hitting six home runs over his last 10 games to enter today as one of the hottest bats in baseball. He gets Jansen Junk, who has a K% of 16.9% and a K/9 of 6.5, throwing strikes and letting hitters put the ball in play. At $6,100 DK and $4,000 FD, you build your Mets lineups around him every single time.

Rafael Devers (1B, SFG) — FanDuel Only

Devers is a FD-only play at $3,700 and a natural fit in the Giants stack at Coors Field against Tanner Gordon. He is slashing .258/.296/.470 against right-handed pitching with a 111 wRC+ and an ISO of .212. His K% of 30.9% is elevated, but the ISO confirms the power is real, and at Coors that power ceiling gets a serious amplification from the most offense-friendly park in baseball. Gordon carries a FIP of 4.08 and an xFIP of 3.90, numbers that look considerably softer once you factor in the altitude. This is a straightforward Coors stack inclusion for any FD build today.

MLB DFS Value Hitters

Gavin Sheets (1B/OF, SDP)

Sheets is slashing .271/.358/.549 against right-handed pitching with a 158 wRC+, an ISO of .278, a K% of 21.2%, and a BB% of 10.6%. That is a clean power profile: real home run upside, manageable strikeout rate, and enough plate discipline to keep the average respectable.

Carson Benge (OF, NYM)

Benge is a salary piece in your Mets stack at $3,400 DK. His wRC+ of 75 against right-handed pitching with a .604 OPS is not an individual upside profile. Interestingly, he flips to a 130 wRC+ against lefties, so the split is real and significant. Against RHP Junk today he is purely structural, compressing salary to fit Soto alongside a premium arm. Mark Vientos at 70 wRC+ vs RHP and Bo Bichette at just 48 wRC+ vs RHP with a .219 average are also in this category. Junk allows enough contact that even the weaker spots in the Mets lineup will see production opportunities through the environment, not individual execution.

Jorge Mateo (SS, ATL)

Mateo is a near-minimum speed play in Atlanta stacks at $3,000 DK and $2,600 FD who just hit his third home run of the season to the second deck in left field on Saturday against this same Cincinnati team. Today he faces Nick Lodolo again, a left-handed pitcher with a FIP of 6.44 and an xFIP of 4.69 who has struggled to retire Atlanta hitters consistently. Mateo is not a bat you build around for average or on-base percentage, but his stolen base ceiling is legitimate and generates DFS scoring in ways that the raw batting line does not reflect. In a matchup where Lodolo figures to allow traffic, Mateo at the top of the order has multiple opportunities to steal and score. At near-minimum salary he unlocks the rest of the build, giving you the budget to fit both Misiorowski or Strider and a premium bat like Olson or Acuna in the same lineup.

Jung Hoo Lee (OF, SFG) — FanDuel Only

Lee is a FD-only play at $3,200 and one of the most appealing value pieces in the Giants stack at Coors Field. Against right-handed pitching he is slashing .288/.331/.424 with a 115 wRC+, an ISO of .136, and a strikeout rate of just 9.9%, which ranks among the lowest on this entire slate. That elite contact rate is the defining feature of his profile. He puts the ball in play consistently, and at Coors Field that contact gets rewarded in ways it simply does not elsewhere. Tanner Gordon is pitching for Colorado with a FIP of 4.08 and an xFIP of 3.90, manageable numbers at a neutral park that look considerably softer once you account for the altitude and run-environment inflation at Coors. His wOBA of .334 against right-handed pitching confirms the quality of his plate appearances goes beyond just making contact. At $3,200 FD he pairs naturally with Devers and Adames to form a stack that hits for real production against one of the more hittable pitching matchups on the FD board today.

MLB DFS Top Stacks

Primary Stack: Atlanta Braves vs. Nick Lodolo

Why: Matt Olson leads the way at a 129 wRC+ against LHP, slashing .250/.318/.510 with an ISO of .260 and 16 home runs on the season. Ozzie Albies is right behind him at a 120 wRC+ against LHP with a strikeout rate of just 5.9%, the lowest of any hitter in this matchup and one of the safest contact floors on the board. His .295 average and .474 slugging against lefties confirm this is genuine production, not just a contact mirage.

Players to Stack: Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, Ronald Acuna, Jorge Mateo.

Primary Stack: New York Mets vs. Jansen Junk

Why: Junk has a 16.9% K rate and a K/9 of 6.5. He throws strikes and lets hitters put the ball in play, which is about as favorable a profile as you can ask for when you are stacking. New York as a team is at an 85 wRC+ against right-handed pitching but that number is somewhat misleading given how dominant Soto is as an individual. Build this stack around him and fill in with budget pieces. Benge compresses salary without killing the build, and Jared Young at near-minimum pricing works as an extender for cash game lineups.

Players to Stack: Juan Soto, Carson Benge, Mark Vientos, Jared Young.

Primary Stack: Washington Nationals vs. Griffin Canning

Why: Canning misses bats at a 24.2% K rate but his FIP of 4.96 and xFIP of 4.04 tell you that when hitters do make contact, they have been doing real damage. That 80% K over-hit rate means the opportunity cuts both ways: strikeouts and hard contact, not one or the other. Washington sits at a 106 wRC+ against right-handed pitching as a team. James Wood anchors this stack at a 183 wRC+ against right-handed pitching, slashing .289/.436/.585 with a BB% of 19.0% and an ISO of .296 at $6,200 DK. His OBP of .436 means he is getting on base at an elite clip even when he is not driving the ball. Daylen Lile adds a 115 wRC+ with an ISO of .217 at value pricing. Abrams is the confirmed elite option leading the order.

Players to Stack: James Wood, CJ Abrams, Daylen Lile, Luis Garcia Jr.

Primary Stack: San Francisco Giants vs. Tanner Gordon — FanDuel Only

Why: Tanner Gordon is pitching at Coors Field. That sentence alone gets a lot of DFS players interested, and for good reason. His FIP of 4.08 and xFIP of 3.90 are fine in a neutral park. At altitude they look considerably softer. San Francisco has a 94 wRC+ against right-handed pitching that gets a serious boost from the environment. Willy Adames leads the Giants in this split at a 116 wRC+ with an ISO of .207 at $3,500 FD. His K% of 28.1% is elevated but the power is real. Devers adds a 111 wRC+ with an ISO of .212. Lee brings a 115 wRC+ with a strikeout rate of just 9.9%, the elite contact rate in this group. Matt Chapman rounds it out at $3,400 FD. His wRC+ against right-handed pitching is only 68 this season with an ISO of .076, so he is the weakest individual split in the stack, but at Coors that number gets a serious environmental floor boost. His walk rate of 16.1% against left-handed pitching confirms the plate discipline is real. In a park this extreme, the environment does as much work as the split. This is FD-only. Build it with confidence.

Players to Stack: Willy Adames, Rafael Devers, Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman.

Contrarian Stack: Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Zebby Matthews

Why: Nick Gonzales rounds it out at a 112 wRC+ hitting .321 against right-handed pitching. Oneil Cruz adds a ceiling layer at $6,000 DK with a 104 wRC+ and an ISO of .197 against right-handed pitching. His K% of 32.6% limits his floor but his power and speed create multi-category upside that the other PIT pieces do not have. The contrarian case is that the Pirates have posted the third-highest strikeout rate against right-handed pitching over the last 14 days, keeping casual players off this stack. That is the leverage. The underlying talent is real.

Players to Stack: Brandon Lowe, Spencer Horwitz, Bryan Reynolds, Nick Gonzales, Oneil Cruz.

Contrarian Stack: San Diego Padres vs. Zack Littell

Why: Gavin Sheets is the headliner here at a 158 wRC+ against right-handed pitching and $3,100 DK, one of the best value plays on the board. Fernando Tatis is the most compelling name in the stack after finally hitting his first home run of the season Saturday, a 451-foot blast off the Nationals. He has been struggling against right-handed pitching all year, slashing .256/.333/.274 with an ISO of just .018, so this has been a historically slow power start. That Saturday homer is the first sign the power is waking back up. At $4,500 DK he is a tournament-only speculative add. Bogaerts adds a 99 wRC+ at .238/.304/.391 as the reliable complementary piece. One caution: Machado is at a .147 average and a 59 wRC+ against right-handed pitching this year. Do not anchor the stack around him. Build around Sheets, use Tatis as the GPP power narrative, and let Littell’s 6.61 FIP do the rest.

Players to Stack: Gavin Sheets, Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis

MLB DFS Lineups: Core MLB DFS Hitters & Pitchers

The “Chalk” (Popular)The “Pivot” (Low Owned)The Winning Logic

Jacob Misiorowski (SP1)

Spencer Strider (SP2)

Braxton Ashcraft (SP2 Pivot)Ashcraft’s FIP of 3.12 and xFIP of 3.30 with a 70% K over-hit rate match the chalk tier’s production profile at $2,200 less on DK against a below-average MIN offense.
ATL vs Lodolo, NYM vs Junk as primary stacksWSH vs Canning, PIT vs Matthews (contrarian)Canning’s 80% K over-hit rate at Nationals Park creates volume-scoring leverage for WSH. Matthews’ 0.842 WHIP caps PIT’s upside but his 67% K over-hit confirms production at a contrarian price.
Juan Soto, CJ Abrams (chalk)James Wood, Willy AdamesWood’s 183 wRC+ vs RHP at $6,200 DK matches Soto’s production tier at a comparable price with differentiated ownership. Adames at 116 wRC+ is the lower-owned pivot off Abrams in the WSH stack.

The foundation for every MLB DFS lineup you build today. These are the core MLB DFS picks by position across DraftKings and FanDuel.

  1. Jacob Misiorowski (SP1)
  2. Braxton Ashcraft (SP2 Pivot)
  3. Ronald Acuna (Core Bat)
  4. James Wood (Core Bat)
  5. Gavin Sheets (Core Value Bat)
  6. Jorge Mateo (Core Value Bat)

Player Pool

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Stacks

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