It’s a bit of an odd time for today’s featured MLB DFS slates to begin. The good news is that it’s later than usual, so we’ll have more time to adjust our lineups.
The DraftKings featured slate begins at 4:05 p.m. ET and includes seven games. FanDuel includes that same seven-game slate as its main slate.
Saturday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Saturday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (5/23)
- If you can find the money, it’s fine to spend up for Zack Wheeler. I’m looking a bit cheaper at the top end of the options with Max Meyer. His strikeout rate has climbed to a new career-best mark (26.7%). While that comes with a slightly elevated walk rate, he also only has a 42% hard-hit rate. While the Mets’ offense has been a bit better recently, they are still a bottom-10 offense in runs scored.
- It’s surprising to see Framber Valdez priced as low as he is. While his season has been up and down, there has generally been more good than bad. He had two poor starts, allowing 17 earned runs in only eight innings, which really skewed his stat line. Four of his 10 starts on DraftKings have gone over 20 fantasy points. He is very reasonably priced on that site.
- One of the cheapest options on the slate is Erick Fedde. That’s for good reason, too, as he has a 4.30 ERA, which is substantially better than his 6.30 FIP. However, if there is a park in which he can be successful, it will be in San Francisco. One of his biggest issues this season has been allowing home runs, as he has already given up 11 moonshots. That’s what happens when you only get groundballs at 36% rate. In San Francisco, all those fly balls may turn into lazy fly outs, and he turns in a surprisingly good start for cheap.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Atlanta Braves Projected Lineup (5/23)
It’s a bit of an odd time for today’s featured MLB DFS slates to begin. The good news is that it’s later than usual, so we’ll have more time to adjust our lineups.
The DraftKings featured slate begins at 4:05 p.m. ET and includes seven games. FanDuel includes that same seven-game slate as its main slate.
Saturday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Saturday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (5/23)
- If you can find the money, it’s fine to spend up for Zack Wheeler. I’m looking a bit cheaper at the top end of the options with Max Meyer. His strikeout rate has climbed to a new career-best mark (26.7%). While that comes with a slightly elevated walk rate, he also only has a 42% hard-hit rate. While the Mets’ offense has been a bit better recently, they are still a bottom-10 offense in runs scored.
- It’s surprising to see Framber Valdez priced as low as he is. While his season has been up and down, there has generally been more good than bad. He had two poor starts, allowing 17 earned runs in only eight innings, which really skewed his stat line. Four of his 10 starts on DraftKings have gone over 20 fantasy points. He is very reasonably priced on that site.
- One of the cheapest options on the slate is Erick Fedde. That’s for good reason, too, as he has a 4.30 ERA, which is substantially better than his 6.30 FIP. However, if there is a park in which he can be successful, it will be in San Francisco. One of his biggest issues this season has been allowing home runs, as he has already given up 11 moonshots. That’s what happens when you only get groundballs at 36% rate. In San Francisco, all those fly balls may turn into lazy fly outs, and he turns in a surprisingly good start for cheap.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Atlanta Braves Projected Lineup (5/23)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| OF |
Ronald Acuna Jr. |
$5,700 |
$3,500 |
| OF |
Michael Harris II |
$3,800 |
$3,000 |
| 1B |
Matt Olson |
$5,300 |
$4,100 |
| 2B |
Ozzie Albies |
$4,300 |
$3,200 |
| 1B/OF |
Dominic Smith |
$3,700 |
$2,700 |
| 3B |
Austin Riley |
$4,200 |
$3,100 |
| OF |
Mike Yastrzemski |
$3,000 |
$2,600 |
| SS |
Ha-Seong Kim |
$2,500 |
$2,400 |
| C |
Sandy Leon |
$2,000 |
$2,100 |
- The Braves have a matchup against a familiar foe in Jake Irvin. While Irvin’s strikeout rate has spiked this season to a far-and-away career-best 24%, it hasn’t helped him suppress runs. He has an ERA of 5.79, which is slightly unlucky, but his FIP is still bad at 4.60.
- Ronald Acuna Jr. was back in the lineup yesterday after being removed the day prior with a thumb injury. Since he was back in the lineup yesterday, it’s safe to assume that he’ll be back in there today. While he only has two home runs on the season, it feels inevitable that they’ll start coming in bunches with his 13 barrels already.
- One player who has turned barrels into home runs is Michael Harris II. He has converted his 17% barrel rate and 56% hard-hit rate into 11 home runs. Eight of those 11 home runs have come against right-handed pitchers like Irvin. Harris’ price on FanDuel is especially appealing.
- If you’re looking for an affordable Brave to slot into your DFS lineup, check out Mike Yastrzemski. His season-long stat line isn’t overly impressive, with only three home runs, 14 RBI and a .234 batting average. However, all three of those home runs have come in the last 14 days off of right-handed pitchers.
Chicago White Sox Projected Lineup (5/23)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| OF |
Sam Antonacci |
$4,100 |
$2,900 |
| 1B |
Munetaka Murakami |
$5,600 |
$4,000 |
| 3B/OF/1B |
Miguel Vargas |
$4,700 |
$4,000 |
| SS |
Colson Montgomery |
$4,400 |
$3,500 |
| 2B/SS |
Chase Meidroth |
$3,800 |
$2,800 |
| OF |
Andrew Benintendi |
$3,300 |
$2,700 |
| OF |
Jarred Kelenic |
$2,400 |
$2,400 |
| OF |
Tristan Peters |
$2,800 |
$2,500 |
| C |
Drew Romo |
$3,600 |
$2,900 |
- This isn’t the same White Sox that we’ve come to expect recently. They are a top-six offense by team OPS. Today, they have a matchup against Adrian Houser. He has a 5.25 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 5.50 FIP. While we typically expect Giants pitchers to have more success in home games, his ERA at home is worse (7.31).
- Munetaka Murakami has been sensational in his rookie season after coming over from Japan, hitting 17 home runs. There are some notable splits with Murakami, including 13 of his 17 home runs coming against right-handed pitchers. He also has an OPS of 1.035 in road games versus .822 in home games. Both of those splits are in his favor for this matchup.
- Miguel Vargas has a sneaky home run profile. He has top-10 percentile marks in expected slugging rate and barrel rate. Over the last two weeks, he’s recorded seven extra-base hits, including four home runs. Good for a 1.109 OPS in that span.
- It’s an exceptionally small sample size this season, but Jarred Kelenic is doing something interesting. Right now, he has an average exit velocity of 95 miles per hour (MPH) and a 51.6% hard-hit rate. Those are almost certain to regress, but they are elite marks in the small sample.
Core Studs
- I try to avoid recommending individual hitters against my recommended pitchers, but Taylor Ward’s success against Framber Valdez is worth noting — 15-for-31 with a pair of doubles.
- There are eight qualified batters with an OPS over 1.000 against right-handed pitchers. The only one available to play on this slate is CJ Abrams. While he’s expensive, eight batters are pricier than him on DraftKings. On FanDuel, there are only three more expensive hitters.
- Wilyer Abreu has a matchup against Taj Bradley, who is returning from the injured list (IL). While Bradley has a 2.87 ERA, all his indicators say that his ERA should climb by a full point. With five home runs off right-handed pitchers, this is the type of matchup that Abreu could take advantage of.
Value Plays/Punts
- The Phillies have the top two qualified batters in OPS over the past 14 days. One of them is one of the priciest options on the slate in Kyle Schwarber. The other is a value play option in Alec Bohm. Over the past 14 days, he has had a 1.230 OPS with four doubles and four home runs.
- Brayan Rocchio’s price has yet to catch up to his production. He has been a completely different offensive player through his first 50 games of 2026. He has a .796 OPS, which is over 150 points higher than his previous career high. He has a difficult matchup against Zack Wheeler, though.
- This is the type of matchup when Dominic Canzone is an option. He is facing righty Stephen Kolek. All of Canzone’s production this season has come against right-handed pitchers. Kolek has an ERA of 4.24 and a FIP of 4.87.
Saturday’s Top 3 Underdog Player Props
Check out our best picks on the MLB Underdog Cheat Sheet 
Juan Soto is in the midst of one of his scorching streaks. Over his last nine games, he has six home runs with a .412 batting average and .500 on-base percentage (OBP). He has cleared a combined 1.5 hits + runs + RBIs in eight of those nine games.
Grant Holmes has a matchup today against the Washington Nationals. While it seems like the Nationals’ offense is destined for regression, they are still leading baseball in runs scored as a team.
Holmes has been under 2.5 earned runs allowed in each of his last two starts. Before that, he had allowed over 2.5 earned runs in three out of four starts. Typically, Holmes puts a lot of runners on base (as evidenced by his 1.27 WHIP), which can lead to many runs scored.
Patrick Corbin has pitched a bit better this season, but he’s still not striking out many batters. He has made eight starts this season and has exceeded 4.5 strikeouts in only one of them.
That was his second start back on April 16th. It’s very challenging to get strikeouts against anyone with only an 8% swinging strike rate.
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