Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Saturday, September 20th!

We’re diving into the action with a 11-game main slate on DraftKings and a 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, 9/20

San Diego Padres vs Chicago White Sox

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

Toronto Blue Jays vs Kansas City Royals

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

Cleveland Guardians vs Minnesota Twins

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

Los Angeles Angels vs Colorado Rockies

  • Chance of rain this evening could lead to a potential delay.
 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

We have an interesting slate in terms of pitching options.  There is a good mix of aces, solid mid-rotation arms 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 George Kirby, Tyler Glasnow and Carlos Rodon.  The mid-range includes Framber Valdez, Zac Gallen and Yu Darvish.  Paydown options include Kyle Harrison.

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

George Kirby, Seattle Mariners - DraftKings $9,900 | FanDuel $9,700

Kirby is coming off a career high 14 Ks.  He enters Saturday with 4.46 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 120 Ks in 115 IP.

Kirby enters this matchup against the Houston Astros with decent history against their hitters in the past.  He has one start against the Astros during the 2025 season.  He put up 8 FanDuel points and 0.9 DraftKings points.  He had four starts against the Astros during the 2024 season.  He put up 43, 37, 43 and 28 FanDuel points and 23.9, 20.5, 23.9 and 15.1 DraftKings points in those starts.  Look for George Kirby to continue his success against the Astros on Saturday.

Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks - DraftKings $8,000 | FanDuel $9,600

Gallen has posted a quality start in 5 of his last 6 starts.  He enters Saturday with 4.73 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 163 Ks in 180.2 IP.

Gallen enters this matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies with decent history against their hitters in the past.  He had one start against the Phillies during the 2024 season.  He put up 19 FanDuel points and 9.6 DraftKings points.  Look for Zac Gallen to continue his recent success against the Phillies on Saturday.

Framber Valdez, Houston Astros - DraftKings $9,200 | FanDuel $9,900

Valdez has put together another solid season.  He enters Saturday with 3.59 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 173 Ks in 180.1 IP.

Valdez enters this matchup against the Seattle Mariners with decent history against their hitters in the past.  He has two starts against the Mariners during the 2025 season.  He put up 40 and 46 FanDuel points and 20.7 and 27.1 DraftKings points.  He had four starts against the Mariners during the 2024 season.  He put up 26, 29, 25 and 10 FanDuel points and 12.8, 16.5, 10.1 and 1.4 DraftKings points in those starts.  Look for Framber Valdez to continue his recent success against the Mariners on Saturday.

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

It is an interesting slate for hitters on Saturday.  We have a few favorable matchups on today's slate.  We also have a few inexperienced pitchers in Kai-Wei Teng, Yoendrys Gomez and Adam Mazur toeing the rubber.  Feel free to mix and match your hitters across multiple lineups.

Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers should be the front runners in terms of top teams to stack.

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Aaron Judge, New York Yankees - DraftKings $6,500 | FanDuel $4,700 

Judge has put together another excellent season.  He has at least one hit in 7 of his last 8 games started.  He has 4 multi hit games and 4 HRs during this stretch. 

Judge has good history in the past against expected Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano.  He is 4 for 5 with 1 HR against Sugano in his career.  Aaron Judge looks like a solid one-of play or key piece of a New York Yankees stack for today’s slate.

Trevor Story, Boston Red Sox - DraftKings $5,100 | FanDuel $3,700 

Story has put together a strong bounce back season.  He has at least one hit in 4 of his last 5 games.  He has 4 multi hit games and 1 HR during that time span.

Story has good history against Adrian Houser, the expected starting pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays.  He is 3 for 5 with 1 HR against Houser in his career.  Look for another strong performance out of Trevor Story on Saturday.

Caleb Durbin, Milwaukee Brewers - DraftKings $3,600 | FanDuel $2,800 

Durbin has been on fire lately.  He has at least one hit in 8 of his last 9 games.   He has 5 multi hit games and 1 HR during this time span. 

Durbin has good history in the past against St. Louis Cardinals expected starting pitcher Miles Mikolas.  He is 3 for 4 with 1 HR against Mikolas in his career.  Caleb Durbin looks like a solid one-of play or key piece of a Milwaukee Brewers stack for today’s slate.

Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals - DraftKings $4,100 | FanDuel $3,100 

Perez has tapped into his power lately.  He is currently on a 6 game hitting streak.  He has 3 multi hit games and 5 HRs during this stretch.

Perez has good history against Toronto Blue Jays expected starting pitcher Shane Bieber.  He is 6 for 24 with 3 HRs against Bieber in his career.  Look for another strong performance out of Salvador Perez on Saturday.

Player Pool

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Stacks

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