Saturday night has a great six-game slate on tap to close out another busy day of baseball from across the diamonds of Major League Baseball. The featured MLB DFS contests start at 7:15 p.m. ET, when two games get underway in Philadelphia and San Diego. The Mets and Phillies continue their battle for the NL East lead in the spotlight matchup, but there are also some very favorable spots for offense in the later matchups, including Coors Field and Sutter Health Park. With 12 teams in the player pool, strong options appear all across the salary spectrum and at every position. Let’s take a look at some of the top MLB DFS picks for this evening’s contest.
The weather is set for maximum offense as well, with winds blowing out for the most part and warm, humid temperatures across the board. The rain forecast is pretty clear for the evening slate, so it should be a good summer night of baseball this Saturday.
With all that in mind, let’s break down my top MLB DFS picks.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $125K Relay Throw [$25K to 1st]
PITCHER
Stud
Brandon Walter, Houston Astros at Los Angeles Angels, $8,200: Since it looks like such an offense-forward slate overall, spending less on pitching makes sense. I like Mick Abel ($9,200), but he’s so expensive that I think Walter makes more sense as a pivot. Walter came a little out of nowhere after signing last August as a minor league free agent, but he has filled in well for the Astros, who have six starting pitchers on the injured list.
Last year, Walter didn’t pitch at all due to a rotator cuff injury after he made it to the majors with the Red Sox in 2023 but had a 6.26 ERA in 23 innings. He started this season in Triple-A, where he made seven starts in 11 games, putting together a 2.08 ERA and 3.50 FIP with 49 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings.
Walter has made three strong starts with the Astros as well, allowing only three runs in 17 2/3 innings with 19 strikeouts and an average of 20.5 fantasy points per game. In his last start, he posted a career-high nine strikeouts and 26.8 fantasy points against the Twins.
He gets a good strikeout matchup against the Angels, who lead the majors in overall K% and K% against lefties this season, so Walter should be able to continue to build on his strong work early in the season.
Value
Mitch Spence, Athletics vs. Cleveland Guardians, $6,700: Spence has a tough task at home at Sutter Health Park, but he has pitched pretty well since returning to the rotation three games ago. He has gone exactly five innings in each of his three starts, giving up zero or one run in each of his three starts and a total of 13 hits in 15 innings while piling up 10 strikeouts.
He won his first two starts, earning 18.9 and 16.9 fantasy points. In his last outing, he held the Astros to just one run in five innings but took a no-decision and had 8.5 fantasy points. He stretched out to 84 pitches in that outing, though, so it’s not inconceivable that he could go deeper into the game on Saturday.
The Guardians have some offensive threats but have scored the fewest runs in the majors over the last two weeks, averaging only 3.0 runs per game. As a team, they are hitting .203 during those 12 games with a .271 wOBA and 72 wRC+, which are the second-lowest marks in the majors over the past two weeks. Spence will look to keep them struggling at the plate and could be a great value play if he delivers a solid number from under $7,000.
INFIELD
Stud
Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies, $6,200: Marte had already been hot before he got to Coors Field, but he kept crushing on Friday night, going 3-for-6 with a home run and 34 fantasy points. He’s hitting .325 over his last 20 games with three doubles, five homers and a .431 wOBA.
He and the Dbacks are in a juicy matchup in a perfect environment for offense since the wind will be blowing out at Coors, where it’s expected to be hot and humid. The Rockies will give the ball to rookie lefty Carson Palmquist ($5,300), who has gone 0-4 with a 7.76 ERA and 7.27 FIP in his six starts for the Rockies, giving up seven home runs and 24 runs in just 25 2/3 innings.
Stud
Eugenio Suarez, Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies, $5,200: Suarez had two homers and four hits on Friday night to finish with 38 fantasy points. He has 24 dingers on the season, and six of them have come in his last eight games while he’s hitting .419 with a .625 wOBA during that short span and averaging 17.4 fantasy points per game.
Since he’s been so hot and has such a great matchup, stacking him with Marte makes a lot of sense in the rarified air of Coors Field.
Value
Michael Toglia, Colorado Rockies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, $3,300: On the other side of the matchup, Toglia has a great ceiling at a low salary against Merrill Kelly ($8,600). Toglia struggled early in the year and was sent to the minors for a couple of weeks. Since his return, he has hit safely in all but one of his games, going 6-for-20 (.300) with three home runs and an average of 12.2 fantasy points per game.
The switch-hitting 1B has showcased outstanding power potential but has also had an elevated K% and a low batting average. At this salary, though, he makes enough sense to still target as a value play at 1B, leaving more salary to stack sluggers in other spots.
OUTFIELD
Stud
Lawrence Butler, Athletics vs. Cleveland Guardians, $4,800: Butler has been a strong dual-threat option from the top of the Athletics’ lineup, and he’ll be in a good spot on Saturday against Luis Ortiz ($6,900), who has given up eight of his 10 homers to left-handed hitters.
Over his last 20 games, Butler has 25 hits while hitting .301 with a .380 wOBA, three home runs and three stolen bases. He had multiple hits and double-digit fantasy points in each of his last two games and will look to keep it rolling against Ortiz on Saturday.
Stud
Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies, $4,500: Gurriel is the last of the Dbacks we’ll look at in today’s targets, but they are such a strong stack that you can make a case for almost anyone in their lineup. Gurriel is hitting .262 on the season with a .320 wOBA, but he has been much better than that over his last 24 games, hitting .337 with a .363 wOBA and a 44.0% hard-hit rate.
Gurriel has multiple hits in half of his last 10 games and has averaged 8.5 fantasy points per game. He hasn’t had quite as much power as Marte or Suarez but has had a strong enough batting average to still be a strong option to consider due to his high floor and his high ceiling for a player under $5,000.
Value
Jac Caglianone, Kansas City Royals at San Diego Padres, $3,000: Caglianone blitzed his way through the minors and forced his way onto the Royals’ major league roster earlier this season, and he’s starting to settle in and produce at the highest level as one of the Royals’ best bats even though he was a top pick in the MLB Draft less than a year ago.
He had a .322 batting average, 15 homers and a .428 wOBA in 50 games split between Double-A and Triple-A, and over his last 10 games in the majors, he has hit .289 (11-for-38) with a .348 wOBA and a 51.7% hard-hit rate. He homered twice on Thursday in Texas and had 28 fantasy points, and he had a double and five fantasy points on Friday. The young lefty brings a lot of upside for a player whose salary is only $3,000.
