Josh Shepardson | Fri, Mar 27th 2026, 5:03am EDT

MLB DFS Picks & Underdog Player Props: Friday (3/27)

Tonight’s MLB DFS main slate has seven games and starts at 7:07 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel. The Underdog pick’em selections are also from the seven-game main slate. Let’s dive into our top MLB DFS picks and advice.

Friday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props

Friday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (3/27)

Chris Sale (SP – ATL) vs. Kansas City Royals

The only thing that slowed down Chris Sale last year after winning the 2024 National League Cy Young Award in his first season with the Braves was a fractured rib cage. Fortunately, Sale didn’t skip a beat when he returned from the injured list (IL) to close the season.

According to FanGraphs, in six games (five starts) spanning 36.1 innings to close the 2025 season, Sale recording the following stats:

2 wins
3 quality starts
2.72 ERA
2.56 xERA
2.38 xFIP
2.25 SIERA
0.83 WHIP
4.3% walk rate
36.4% strikeout rate
13.2 SwStr%
32.3 CSW%
114 stuff+
108 location+
117 pitching+

Sale is still one of the league’s top pitchers. His matchup is middling tonight. Kansas City’s projected starting lineup against southpaws, according to RosterResource, has some depth, but Bobby Witt‘s 134 wRC+ against lefties since 2024 is the best of the bunch. Six of the projected starters have a wRC+ of 113 or worse, four have a wRC+ of 103 or worse and three have a wRC+ of 90 or worse.

Sale’s excellence should allow him to carve up the Royals. The betting info is also excellent for him. The Braves are -140 favorites, and the game’s total is a pitcher-friendly seven runs.

George Kirby (SP – SEA) vs. Cleveland Guardians

George Kirby has substantial home/road splits. Fortunately for him, he’s outstanding at home and pitching in Seattle tonight. In 12 home starts spanning 66.2 innings in 2025, Kirby twirled a 3.38 ERA, 3.24 xFIP, 1.11 WHIP, 6.3% walk rate and 26.9% strikeout rate. Furthermore, in 313.2 innings at home in his career, Kirby has a 3.07 ERA, 3.27 xFIP, 1.04 WHIP, 3.7% walk rate and 26.2% strikeout rate.

Kirby has a plus-matchup as well. Cleveland’s projected lineup has lacked punch against right-handed pitching since 2024. Chase DeLauter is the ninth player in their starting lineup who isn’t included in the linked table, but he played his first game in the Majors last night.

Cleveland’s lineup is a check in the pro column for using Kirby in DFS tonight. The betting info is another check in the pro column. The Mariners are -165 favorites, and the game’s total is 7.5 runs.

Sandy Alcantara (SP – MIA) vs. Colorado Rockies

Sandy Alcantara‘s 2025 stats were putrid after missing the entire 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Thankfully, those stats were wrecked by his early-season work, and he was rock-solid as the season went on.

In 13 starts totaling 83.2 innings in the second half last year, Alcantara recorded the following stats:

7 wins
8 quality starts
3.33 ERA
4.10 xERA
3.73 xFIP
3.90 SIERA
1.04 WHIP
6% walk rate
21.3% strikeout rate
10.1 SwStr%
26.7 CSW%
107 stuff+
107 location+
110 pitching+

Alcantara has a mouthwatering matchup to open his 2026 season and carry over his momentum from the second half of last year.

Colorado’s projected starting lineup tonight has only two players with a wRC+ above 100 against righties since 2024 or since debuting in The Show — Mickey Moniak‘s 102 wRC+ and Willi Castro‘s 101 wRC+.

There’s also strikeout upside galore for Alcantara. Seven of the projected batters in Colorado’s lineup have at least a 24.2% strikeout rate versus righties since 2024, five have at least a 26.8% strikeour rate and two have cleared a 30% strikeout rate.

Unsurprisingly, the Marlins are -196 favorites, and the game’s total is only 7.5 runs. Alcantara is an excellent pitching selection at both DFS providers in all game types.

Suggested Lineup Stacks

Home (Daikin Park)
Game Total/Moneyline: 8.5 Runs/HOU -165

The Astros have a cushy matchup against Yusei Kikuchi. His 3.99 ERA in 33 starts last season outkicked his 4.47 xERA, 4.28 xFIP and 4.34 SIERA. Moreover, Kikuchi had a 5.04 ERA, 4.44 xFIP and 1.60 WHIP in 17 road starts last season.

The veteran lefty was a punching bag for all hitters in road tilts, allowing a .321 wOBA to 82 left-handed batters on the road and a .362 wOBA to 315 right-handed batters on the road. Houston should tee off on him.

Road (Rogers Centre)
Game Total/Moneyline: 8.5 Runs/ATH +140

Kevin Gausman is a talented pitcher. However, the Athletics have a potent lineup. Seven of their projected starters have at least a 107 wRC+ against righties since 2024 or since debuting in 2025; four have had at least a 115 wRC+ and three have had at least a 127 wRC+. Their top two players have surpassed that mark and will appear among the core studs.

Additionally, Gausman used his fastball 53.8% of the time last year and his splitter 37.5% of the time. Eight of the nine projected hitters in the Athletics’ lineup have had a positive run value against splitters since 2024, and five have had a positive run value against fastballs. The A’s have a high ceiling and are an appealing GPP stack.

Core Studs

Nick Kurtz was borderline unstoppable with the platoon advantage as a rookie. In 336 plate appearances against righties in 2025, Kurtz belted 27 bombs with a .439 OBP, .378 ISO, .477 wOBA and 211 wRC+.
Yordan Alvarez is unfazed in same-handed matchups. In 247 plate appearances against lefties since 2024, he’s hit 12 homers with a .417 OBP, .264 ISO, .438 wOBA and 192 wRC+.
Brent Rooker has ripped 54 round-trippers with a .342 on-base percentage (OBP), .239 ISO, .365 wOBA and 139 wRC+ in 1,014 plate appearances against righties since 2024. Moreover, among 120 qualified batters since 2024, Rooker is 13th in run value against fastballs and 41st in run value against splitters.

Value Plays/Punts

Carlos Correa has mashed 10 taters with a .364 OBP, .208 ISO, .368 wOBA and 140 wRC+ in 229 plate appearances against lefties since 2024.
Cam Smith struggled as a rookie, but he made the most of his opportunities with the platoon advantage. In 137 plate appearances against lefties last year, Smith hit four homers with a .365 OBP, .191 ISO, .355 wOBA and 130 wRC+.
Cole Young was a well-regarded prospect and raked at every level of the minors before posting only an 80 wRC+ in 257 plate appearances for the Mariners last year. Young was a monster in spring training, though, mashing six homers with three stolen bases, a .349 OBP, .386 ISO, .422 wOBA and 153 wRC+ in 63 plate appearances. Maybe he just took advantage of favorable matchups in the spring, or maybe his superb showing was a sign of him turning the corner in his development. I’m willing to wishcast at his punt salary.

Friday’s Top 3 Underdog Player Props

Check out our best picks on the MLB Underdog Cheat Sheet

Nick Kurtz (1B – ATH): 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs — Higher

Nick Kurtz was an elite run producer last year. In 117 games and 489 plate appearances last season, he had 122 hits, 90 runs and 86 RBI.

Kurtz also had a .310 batting average against four-seam fastballs (555 pitches) and a .235 batting average against splitters (82 pitches). We project Kurtz for 0.61 runs, 0.65 RBI and 0.92 hits tonight, which totals 2.18.

Shea Langeliers (C – ATH): 1.5 Hits + Runs — Higher

Shea Langeliers blew up last year. He shaved his strikeout rate from 27.2% in 2024 to 19.7% in 2025, and he turned his increase in putting the ball in play into a career-high .277 batting average and .251 expected batting average (xBA).

Langeliers also logged 73 runs and 72 RBI in 123 games and 523 plate appearances last season. He also had a .254 batting average against four-seam fastballs (647 pitches) and a .333 batting average against splitters (42 pitches) last year.

Carlos Correa (3B, SS – HOU): 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs — Higher

In addition to having excellent numbers against lefties, Carlos Correa has hammered Kikuchi. According to Baseball Savant, Correa has recorded the following stats against Yusei Kikuchi in his career:

14 hits
.500 batting average
.333 xBA
.643 slugging rate
.452 expected slugging rate (xSLG)
.504 wOBA
.363 xwOBA

Those stats are across 30 plate appearances.

Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.

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