The first Sunday of the baseball season is upon us, which means daytime baseball. Make sure you set your MLB DFS lineups early. Today’s slate begins already at 11:35 a.m ET on DraftKings with 11 games. FanDuel has its main slate with the same teams available. Check out our top MLB DFS picks and advice below.
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Sunday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Sunday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (3/29)
| PLAYER | DraftKings Salary | FanDuel Salary |
| Nolan McLean | $9,700 | $10,500 |
| Max Meyer | $7,600 | $8,700 |
| Steven Matz | $6,800 | $6,200 |
- Nolan McLean has a matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He didn’t have the innings to qualify last season, but if he had, his 21.8% K-BB% would have been top-10 in all of baseball. The Pirates have struck out 19 times in two games.
- Max Meyer has the matchup that always has to catch the eye of DFS players with the Rockies on the road. Meyer only lasted 64 innings last season before a hip injury ended his season. He had a very encouraging spring training with 12 strikeouts and zero earned runs allowed over seven innings.
- If you’re looking for a cheaper dart throw option, go with Steven Matz. The last time Matz was a full-time starting pitcher was 2021, but that’s the plan again with the Rays in 2026. So far, so good for him in spring training, as he went 11 innings without allowing a single earned run. His matchup is against the Cardinals.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Houston Astros Projected Lineup (3/29)
| POS | PLAYER | DraftKings Salary | FanDuel Salary |
| SS | Jeremy Pena | $4,400 | $3,300 |
| 2B/OF | Jose Altuve | $4,500 | $3,200 |
| OF | Yordan Alvarez | $5,500 | $3,700 |
| SS/3B | Carlos Correa | $3,500 | $2,800 |
| OF | Joey Loperfido | $2,500 | $2,400 |
| OF | Cam Smith | $2,900 | $2,500 |
| 1B | Christian Walker | $4,000 | $2,900 |
| C | Yainer Diaz | $3,200 | $2,800 |
| OF | Jake Meyers | $2,400 | $2,600 |
- The Houston Astros have a matchup today against Jack Kochanowicz. He is coming off a strong spring training where he allowed only three earned runs with nearly a strikeout per inning. It was a far cry from the player who posted an ERA over six last season, with a FIP and xERA that fully supported it. That’s closer to the pitcher I expect we’ll see again today.
- Let’s start our DFS lineups by finding the money for Yordan Alvarez. He is one steel beam in Daikin Park away from having multiple home runs this early in the season. Due to his injuries, he has only faced Kochanowicz once in his career.
- Christian Walker‘s price, especially on FanDuel, doesn’t reflect his potential in this lineup. While he’s projected to bat seventh, he batted fifth yesterday and was able to accumulate a couple of RBI. It’s a carryover of the second half of the 2025 season, when he had a .799 OPS.
- It’s a similar story for Carlos Correa in that he just seems underpriced for what he can offer. So far, he has batted cleanup in two games and fifth in the third game. After starting with zero hits in the first game, he has had multiple hits in the last two games.
Atlanta Braves Projected Lineup (3/29)
| POS | PLAYER | DraftKings Salary | FanDuel Salary |
| OF | Ronald Acuna Jr. | $6,000 | $4,100 |
| C | Drake Baldwin | $4,300 | $2,900 |
| 1B | Matt Olson | $4,900 | $3,500 |
| 3B | Austin Riley | $4,700 | $3,200 |
| OF | Mike Yastrzemski | $3,900 | $2,700 |
| 2B | Ozzie Albies | $4,300 | $3,000 |
| 1B/OF | Dominic Smith | $3,500 | $2,500 |
| OF | Michael Harris | $3,600 | $2,900 |
| OF/SS/2B/3B | Mauricio Dubon | $2,300 | $2,400 |
- Seth Lugo is scheduled to face the Atlanta Braves today. He regressed last season to a 4.15 ERA. That was bad enough, but it actually was better than his 5.09 FIP and 5.17 xERA. While he only had a 4.00 ERA in spring training, that was a bit lucky as he allowed three home runs in only nine innings.
- Let’s start our lineup build with Matt Olson. He is 3-for-8 with a double so far this season. In his career against Lugo, he has gone 4-for-8 with a home run.
- While Austin Riley hasn’t hit for average against Lugo in his career, he has hit for power. He has 14 at-bats against Lugo in his career, with only three hits, but two of them have gone for home runs. He is also off to a nice start to the season, going 4-for-7 through the first two games.
- There aren’t a lot of cheaper options with the Braves’ lineup, but one of the more affordable ones is Mike Yastrzemski. Yastrzemski will be on the strong side of a platoon in the Braves outfield. It makes sense considering he has an .809 OPS against right-handed pitchers in his career and only a .648 against left-handed pitchers. He also had a scorching spring training with six home runs.
Core Studs
| POS | PLAYER | DraftKings Salary | FanDuel Salary |
| C/1B/OF | Hunter Goodman | $4,300 | $3,200 |
| OF | Mike Trout | $4,700 | $3,500 |
| 1B | Jonathan Aranda | $4,500 | $3,100 |
- Hunter Goodman has only faced Max Meyer three times in his career. He has hit two home runs, though, in those three at-bats.
- Sometimes, early in the season, all you can do is ride the hot hand. It doesn’t hurt when the hot hand is a future Hall of Famer like Mike Trout. Trout is 5-for-9 with two of those hits being home runs. His price on FanDuel is especially appealing.
- Jonathan Aranda is also quietly off to a nice start to his 2026 season. He has started 3-for-7 with a pair of runs scored, a home run and three walks already. He has a matchup with Dustin May.
Value Plays/Punts
| POS | PLAYER | DraftKings Salary | FanDuel Salary |
| C | Gary Sanchez | $3,000 | $2,500 |
| 3B | Jake Burger | $3,400 | $3,000 |
| OF | Carson Benge | $2,800 | $2,600 |
- A hamate injury to Andrew Vaughn has Gary Sanchez slated to play first base against left-handed pitchers like Anthony Kay. Sanchez oddly struggled against left-handed pitchers last season, but that was his calling card in the two seasons before that.
- Jake Burger has a difficult matchup with Jesus Luzardo on the mound against him. However, he’s off to a strong start, going 5-for-9 with a pair of home runs.
- Carson Benge is not going to stay priced this low for long. He has started both games for the Mets. In the first game, he was able to accumulate both a home run and a stolen base. That power and speed combination for his price tag gives him a lot of ways to possibly return value.
Sunday’s Top 3 Underdog Player Props
Check out our best picks on the MLB Underdog Cheat Sheet
Pete Crow-Armstrong (OF – CHC): 1.5 Total Bases — Higher
The Cubs have a matchup today against Jake Irvin. Simply put, Irvin struggles against left-handed batters, so this could also be Michael Busch or even Moises Ballesteros if you wanted to look for a bigger payout.
Last season, left-handed batters had a .905 OPS against Irvin. Look for Pete Crow-Armstrong to have a strong day today.
Nolan McLean (SP – NYM): 5.5 Strikeouts — Higher
It’s surprising to see Nolan McLean‘s strikeout line set at 5.5. The assumption must be that he isn’t going to pitch deep into the game with the limited spring training due to the World Baseball Classic.
That’s not enough for me not to play the higher on his 5.5 strikeouts number. In eight starts last season, he went over this line in seven of them.
Trea Turner (SS – PHI): 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs — Higher
MacKenzie Gore is making his first start as a member of the Texas Rangers. Unfortunately for him, it’s against a foe that he has become all too acquainted with in the Philadelphia Phillies.
There are many Phillies who have an extensive track record against Gore, but we’re going to back Trea Turner. He has gone 11-for-25 against Gore in his career with three doubles.
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