Welcome to Fantasy Alarm's MLB DFS picks and daily fantasy playbook for Wednesday, July 8th. Our MLB DFS projections combine advanced pitching metrics, platoon splits, strikeout prop data, and ownership positioning to identify the sharpest plays on every slate. Whether you are targeting DFS projections, running lineups through our DFS optimizer, tracking ownership trends, or checking confirmed lineups, Fantasy Alarm has the tools to sharpen your edge. 

Today's 8-game main slate on DraftKings and 14-game main slate on FanDuel have multiple different directions with the only 10K pitcher on DraftKings, Chase Burns, in Great American Ballpark. This MLB DFS playbook covers every key position on DraftKings and FanDuel with our best MLB DFS picks for today.

Slate: 8-Games on DK & 14-Games on FD | Lock Time: 6:35 pm ET (FD) / 7:10 pm ET (DK), Wednesday, July 8th, 2026

Vegas Totals: COL/LAD (highest-projected game), KC/NYM - PHI/CIN (tied for second-highest game total), SD/ARI - CLE/MIN (tied for third-highest game total)

Highest K-Projections: Chase Burns 7.5 O/U (+120), MacKenzie Gore 6.5 O/U (-133), Christian Scott 5.5 O/U (-153), Connor Prielipp 5.5 O/U (-145)

MLB Weather Today, 7/8

Guardians vs Twins - There's a possible rain delay here as there are storms in the area.

MLB DFS Lineup Picks: Starting Pitchers

MLB DFS Top Pitchers

Chase Burns (CIN)

Analysis: Chase Burns faces a slumping Philadelphia offense that has struggled to find its rhythm, sporting a subpar 96 wRC+ (22nd in MLB). More importantly for DFS, the Phillies are missing bats at an alarming rate, striking out 23.4% of the time, which is the fifth-highest mark in the league. Lock in Burns’ elite 10.7 K/9 against a high-strikeout lineup that is highly susceptible to premium stuff.

Davis Martin (CWS)

Analysis: The Red Sox have been completely neutralized by right-handed pitching this season, ranking near the bottom of the league in every major category. They're 27th in wOBA, 28th in both OPS and wRC+, and dead last (30th) in ISO. Add in a healthy 22.6% strikeout rate, and Martin is primed to easily outpitch his price tag despite his own struggles of late.

MacKenzie Gore (TEX)

Analysis: Nobody is higher owned or liked more than MacKenzie Gore today. The Angels have a 25.4% K-rate and a 97 wRC+ against left-handed pitching today. Gore is the highest owned pitcher on both DK and FD and has a 6.5 strikeout projection and is a big favorite to record more than 17.5 outs too. Vegas and projection sites love him, but just remember, it's OK to fade a chalk pitcher.

MLB DFS Value Pitchers

Walbert Urena (LAA)

Analysis: If you are looking for a high-upside value arm to unlock expensive team stacks on today's slate, Walbert Urena is your guy. Urena has flashed front-of-the-rotation stuff through his first 14 MLB starts, pitching to a stellar 3.03 ERA and striking out nearly a batter per inning (75 K in 77.1 IP). Today, he faces a Texas Rangers offense that has been thoroughly mediocre against righties all season. The Rangers sit 22nd in OPS and wOBA, 25th in ISO, and tied for 17th with a perfectly average 100 wRC+. Just throw strikes dude. Globe Life Field is 27th in ballpark factor this year.

Shane McClanahan (TB) (FanDuel)

Analysis: The Rays’ pitching staff has spent the last 48 hours completely dismantling the Yankees, racking up back-to-back 10+ strikeout performances and 34 total Ks in just two games. Today, McClanahan steps in with a chance to break the slate. New York’s K-rate against southpaws has climbed to 24.5%, the 8th-highest mark in the league. McClanahan has another 40 FDP ceiling today and is really fairly priced.

Connor Prielipp (MIN)

Analysis: Today, Connor Prielipp represents one of the strongest point-per-dollar point ceilings on the entire slate against a fundamentally broken Cleveland offense. The Guardians rank 25th or worse in MLB against lefties in OPS, wOBA, ISO, and wRC+ over the course of the full season. More importantly, Jose Ramirez went down on June 14th, they have offered zero resistance to southpaws, posting an abysmal 37 wRC+ paired with a 29.1% strikeout rate, both are the worst marks in the league.

Top Options For Strikeouts

K-prop lines and value ratings are incorporated below for DFS and prop context. These are the arms building the highest strikeout ceilings on the 9-game slate.

Our model identifies these arms as the highest-ceiling plays for Alt-K lines today:

Kyle Harrison: 30.6% K% (11.1 K/9)

Chase Burns: 29.7% K% (10.7 K/9)

Christian Scott: 28% K% (11.2 K/9) 

MacKenzie Gore: 25.5% K% (9.8 K/9)

Connor Prielipp: 23.8% K% (9.5 K/9) 

Foster Griffin: 23.8% K% (8.7 K/9)

Best Odds For A Win

The following MLB DFS picks offer a combination of favorable win odds, sustainable ERA and xFIP metrics, and soft opponent matchups. Each carries K-prop lines worth noting alongside their DFS value at reduced ownership relative to the top tier.

MLB DFS Lineup Picks: Stacks & Hitters

MLB DFS Top Hitters

Shohei Ohtani (1B/OF, LAD) & Mookie Betts (SS, LAD)

Analysis: The Dodgers have six implied runs today, which leads both FanDuel and DraftKings slates. Ohtani has a .239 ISO and .276 xISO against right-handed pitching this year. Following Hughes' minor league career, he's been worse against righties and that's where Betts checks in. He has a .209 ISO and .336 wOBA vs. RHP.

Pete Alonso (1B, BAL) (FanDuel)

Analysis: This is one of the best home run spots on the board. I love Alonso here against Colin Rea who has been reverse splits this year. Rea's allowed a .203 ISO and .247 xISO to righties and Alonso has a .255 ISO and 16 bombs against righties.

Matt Olson (1B, ATL) & Michael Harris (OF, ATL) (FanDuel)

Analysis: As highly as we think about Jared Jones, he hasn't been able to get left-handed batters out. Lefties have a .269 ISO, .223 xISO, .399 wOBA, and .385 xwOBA. We have two of the best lefties in the game here as Harris has a .224 ISO, .286 xISO, .380 wOBA, and .405 xwOBA against righties and Matt Olson has a .304 ISO, .321 xISO, and .387 wOBA against RHP.

Brandon Lowe (2B, OF) & Ryan O'Hearn (1B/OF, PIT) (FanDuel)

Analysis: Even with a LOT of batted ball luck on his side, Grant Holmes has been hit up by lefty batters. Lefties have a .189 ISO, .206 xISO, .324 wOBA, and .347 xwOBA. That puts Lowe and O'Hearn, amongst some others, in play. Lowe has a .301 ISO against righties and O'Hearn sits at .193 and is coming off a three home run game.

Juan Soto (OF, NYM)

Analysis: The Royals are going with an opener in Steven Cruz and it's possible that Randy Dobnak is the next guy into the game. Both of those things bode really well for the Mets and Juan Soto. Lefties have a .328 ISO vs. Cruz and Dobnak has been a fringe MLB pitcher for half a decade.

MLB DFS Value Hitters

Dominic Canzone (OF, SEA) (FanDuel)

Analysis: Things have drastically shifted for Tyler Phillips since stretching out to become a starting pitcher. Lefties have hit him extremely hard over the last 30 days (224 pitches) with a .327 ISO, .282 xISO, .466 wOBA, and .425 xwOBA. Canzone has hit righties at an elite level posting a .279 ISO and .377 wOBA.

A.J. Ewing (OF, NYM)

Analysis: I love that the Mets have inserted Ewing into the leadoff spot because he's really good and is capitalizing on his opportunity. He's homered in two of three games and over his last 14 games, he's slashing .319/.407/.596 with four homes and two steals.

Jake Mangum (OF, PIT) (FanDuel)

Analysis: Mangum is just simply in the middle of everything all the time. He has scored double-digit FD points in six straight games and is leading off against one of the luckier pitchers in the league. Elite value and will get plenty of pitches to hit with Lowe, Reynolds, and O'Hearn hitting behind him.

Luis Lara (OF, MIL) 

Analysis: With Jackson Chourio likely back in the lineup on Wednesday, I don't think Lara hits second again but we saw his impact right away with a two-run single and he reached base twice. He's stone cold min salary on both DK and FD and is in a great spot against the luckiest pitcher in the game.

Tyler Tolbert (SS/OF, KC) 

Analysis: I mean, it's a pretty good spot, but Tyler Tolbert is 12-for-13 over his last three games. He had 12 straight hits which tied the MLB record. I don't suddenly think he and Bobby Witt are the next big dynamic duo in baseball, but ride the hot hand for a guy who's known mostly for his speed. 

MLB DFS Top Stacks

Primary Stack: Los Angeles Dodgers vs Gabriel Hughes (COL RHP)

Why: The Dodgers enter Wednesday's slate with the highest implied team total of six runs against Gabriel Hughes, who has three major league innings under his belt. The Dodgers are the best team in the league against righties, so this isn't all too surprising to see them be popular. Hughes has been slightly worse over the last couple of seasons against righties than lefties.

Targets: Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Dalton Rushing, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Andy Pages

Primary Stack: Pittsburgh Pirates vs Grant Holmes (ATL RHP) (FanDuel)

Why: A lot of Grant Holmes surface level stats look subpar but the underlying stuff looks worse. He's been really lucky with his batted ball data against both sides of the plate and yet it's still allowing over 1.6 HR/9. Lefties is where he's struggled most (.189 ISO, .206 xISO, .324 wOBA, .347 xwOBA) and the Pirates feature many of them. Righties have a .173 ISO and .321 wOBA too.

Targets: Brandon Lowe, Bryan Reynolds, Ryan O'Hearn, Jake Mangum, Esmerlyn Valdez, Endy Rodriguez

Primary Stack: New York Mets vs Steven Cruz/Randy Dobnak (KC RHP)

Why: All across the industry Juan Soto is the ONLY expensive Mets player you have to pay up for. The rest of the team is being handed out for free, especially on FanDuel. Cruz hasn't gotten outs consistently this year and id/when Dobnak comes in the game, he's been BAD at Triple-A this year. Righties have hit .284 and lefties are hitting .304. He's been a subpar pitcher dating back to 2019.

Targets: Juan Soto, A.J. Ewing, Francisco Lindor, Bo Bichette, Carson Benge, Francisco Alvarez, Jorge Polanco

“Contrarian” Stack: Milwaukee Brewers vs Michael McGreevy (STL RHP)

Why: Michael McGreevy continues to be the luckiest pitcher in baseball. There's really nothing backing that he's a good pitcher. His 3.12 ERA is attached to a 5.61 xERA and he has a .252 BABIP and 83.1% LOB. These types of things will course correct and the correction starts today (ME, every time McGreevy pitches). Lefties have a .163 ISO but a .241 xISO and .308 wOBA but .380 xwOBA. Righties have good expected numbers too.

Targets: Luis Lara, Jake Bauers, Christian Yelich, Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell

"Contrarian" Stack: Colorado Rockies vs Roki Sasaki (COL RHP)

Why: There are some things to really like for the Rockies tonight and I hate that we're here. Hate is a bad word and I shouldn't use it, that's what I tell my kids. Roki Sasaki has NOT been a good pitcher recently and the inconsistencies are showing up again. Both righties and lefties have ISO's of at least .216 against him.

Targets: TJ Rumfield, Hunter Goodman, Mickey Moniak, Cole Carrigg, Jake McCarthy

MLB DFS Lineups: Core MLB DFS Hitters & Pitchers

The "Chalk" (Popular)

The "Pivot" (Low

Owned)

The Winning Logic
Sasaki (SP, chalk)Urena (SP, lower owned)Chalk pitcher has been bad, unowned pitcher has been good.
Reds (Chalk)Mets (pivot stack)Mets get PLUS matchup against opener + bulk reliever. 
Stewart + Bleday (chalk)Ewing + Soto (lower owned)Mets get PLUS matchup against opener + bulk reliever. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

  1. MacKenzie Gore (SP1)
  2. Connor Prielipp (SP2)
  3. Shohei Ohtani (Core Bat)
  4. Juan Soto (Core Bat)
  5. Brandon Lowe (Core Bat) (FanDuel)
  6. Jake Mangum (Core Value Bat) (FanDuel)
  7. Luis Lara (Core Value Bat)

Player Pool

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Stacks

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