Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Saturday, July 26th!

We’re diving into the action with a 11-game main slate on DraftKings and 10-game main slate on FanDuel kicking off at 7:05 PM ET.  With a packed day of baseball ahead, our expert analysis is here to guide you through the top pitchers, value plays, and stackable offenses to target.

Whether you’re hunting for GPP glory or locking in cash game success, we’ve got tailored insights to help you conquer today’s matchups. Let’s dive into the key plays and strategies to dominate the slate!

 

This season's MLB DFS picks and playbook will consist of a pitcher and hitter core players section with written analysis, player pool grid and core stacks section.

The core player section should be used as a starting point for all lineups, you may not be able to use all players in the same lineup, but those players should be the building blocks for you on a given night.

The player pool grid will feature both players from the core player section along with additional plays to help you build a complete lineup. The grid will be broken into top priced players, mid-priced players and value tier players.

The stacks section will bring you are favorite lineups stacks for the day and which players we would look to include in those stacks based on matchups and pricing.

Check out the MLB DFS Show to get an initial outlook on the day's MLB DFS slate to give you a good base for the start of your research each day! 

Make sure you subscribe to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel so you never miss a show! Also, join the Fantasy Alarm Discord to get your DFS lineup questions answered by our MLB DFS team! Plus, as always, be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the Daily MLB Projections, MLB DFS Rostership Projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting.

 

MLB DFS Picks & MLB Playbook

MLB Weather: Saturday, 7/26

Colorado Rockies vs Baltimore Orioles

  • Chance of rain and thunderstorms this evening that could lead to a potential delay or postponement.

Chicago Cubs vs Chicago White Sox

  • Chance of rain and thunderstorms throughout the day that could lead to a potential delay or postponement.

San Diego Padres vs St. Louis Cardinals

  • Chance of rain throughout the day that could lead to a potential delay.

Warm temperatures and wind blowing out expected for the following games:

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

We have an interesting slate in terms of pitching options.  There is a good mix of aces, interesting matchups and inexperienced pitchers on today’s slate.  Feel free to get creative especially on DraftKings where you need to start 2 pitchers.

High-end options include Garrett Crochet, Hunter Brown, Joe Ryan and Kris Bubic.  The mid-range includes Robbie Ray, Trevor Rogers and George Kirby.  Pay-down options include Jose Quintana, Jacob Lopez and Kumar Rocker.

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox - DraftKings $11,000 | FanDuel $10,600

Crochet is putting together a Cy Young caliber season.  He enters Saturday with 2.19 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 165 Ks in 135.1 IP.

Crochet enters this matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers with good but limited history against their hitters in the past.  He had one start against the Dodgers during the 2024 season.  He put up 35 FanDuel points and 21.2 DraftKings points.  Look for Crochet to continue his success against the Dodgers today.

Robbie Ray, San Francisco Giants - DraftKings $9,400 | FanDuel $9,400

Ray has some of the highest upside on the slate.  He enters Saturday with 2.92 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 131 Ks in 123.1 IP.  

Ray enters this matchup against the New York Mets with decent history against their hitters in the past.  He did not pitch against the Mets during the 2024 season.  Look for Ray to have high end upside at a sub $10,000 price tag on both DraftKings and FanDuel.

Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins - DraftKings $10,200 | FanDuel $10,500

Ryan has posted quality starts in 4 of his last 5 starts.  He enters Saturday with 2.63 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 132 Ks in 116.1 IP.

Ryan enters this matchup against the Washington Nationals with good history against their hitters in the past.  He had one start against the Nationals during the 2024 season.  He put up 49 FanDuel points and 28.8 DraftKings points.  Look for Ryan to continue his success against the Nationals today.

Jose Quintana, Milwaukee Brewers - DraftKings $6,900 | FanDuel $8,000

Quintana looks like a solid value play today.  He enters Saturday with 3.49 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 53 Ks in 77.1 IP.  

Quintana enters this matchup against the Miami Marlins with very limited history against their hitters in the past.  He did not pitch against the Marlins during the 2024 season.  Look for Quintana to be a solid value option against the Marlins on Saturday.

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

It is an interesting slate for hitters.  We have some intriguing matchups and a few others we will be avoiding.  Feel free to mix and match your hitters across multiple lineups.

Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners should be the front runners in terms of top teams to stack.

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Tyler O’Neill, Baltimore Orioles - DraftKings $3,100 | FanDuel $3,000 

O’Neill has had a down year mainly due to injuries. However, he appears to be healthy now.  He has at least one hit in 4 of his last 5 games.  He has 2 multi hit games and 1 HR during this stretch.

O’Neill has good history in the past against expected Rockies starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela.  He is 6 for 8 with 1 HR against Senzatela in his career.  Look for another strong performance out of Tyler O’Neill and the Baltimore Orioles lineup on Saturday.

Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners - DraftKings $5,000 | FanDuel $3,300 

Rodriguez has been heating up lately.  He is currently on a 4 game hitting streak.  He has 3 multi hit games and 3 HRs during this time span. 

Rodriguez has good history in the past against Angels expected starting pitcher Tyler Anderson.  He is 6 for 14 with 1 HR vs Anderson in his career.  Rodriguez looks like a solid one-of play or key piece of a Seattle Mariners stack for today’s slate.

Manny Machado, San Diego Padres - DraftKings $5,100 | FanDuel $3,600

Machado is 5 for 9 in the first 2 games of this series.  He is currently on a 3 game hitting streak.  He has 3 multi hit games and 1 HR during that time span.

Machado is 1 for 1 with 1 HR against Matthew Liberatore, the expected starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.  Look for another strong performance out of Manny Machado on Saturday.

Miguel Vargas, Chicago White Sox - DraftKings $3,100 | FanDuel $3,100 

Vargas has been heating up as of late.  He has at least one hit in 5 of his last 6 games.  He has 4 multi hit games and 2 HRs during this stretch.

Vargas has good history against expected Cubs starting pitcher Cade Horton.  He is 2 for 2 with 2 HRs against Horton in his career.  He also comes with some positional flexibility as he is eligible at 1B, 3B and OF on FanDuel.  Vargas looks like a solid one-of play for today’s slate.

Player Pool

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Stacks

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