With most teams having played between 112 and 114 games, the MLB season is more than two-thirds of the way to completion. 50 games into the season, it was too early to judge any trend as real. There’s that little left until only the strongest 12 teams will remain, so every trend has to be treated as real now.
The stakes are high for every contending team every game for the rest of the season, and playoff risers should stock fantasy teams for DFS contests. Here are two pitchers, three infielders, and three outfielders I’m targeting for tonight’s 10-game featured slate on DraftKings.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $222K Bat Flip [$50K to 1st]
PITCHER
Stud
Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox vs. Kansas City Royals, $10,900 – Though Crochet’s DFS salary is $500 higher than any other pitcher’s, there’s something to be said for just taking the sure thing, with only one other pitcher on the slate averaging even 20 FPTS per game. The last time the veteran southpaw faced the Royals, on May 10, he pitched seven innings of one-run ball and recorded nine strikeouts (30.95 FPTS). Sure, that was a Kansas City offense less in form than it is now — since the All-Star break, it has had the ninth-best OPS — but the Royals have still struggled to hit for average and Crochet infrequently gives up extra-base hits.
Value
Miles Mikolas, St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers, $6,300 – This might be an overreaction to watching my Dodgers record just three hits against an out-of-form Cardinals team last night, but Los Angeles’ offense has been ice-cold for the better part of a month now. Mikolas has strung together two solid starts in a row, pitching five shutout innings (13.05 FPTS) against the San Diego Padres on July 25 and following it up with a six-inning, two-run (16.5-FPT) effort against the Miami Marlins five days later. Though Mikolas struggles to induce whiffs, the Dodgers hit air at the sixth-highest rate.
INFIELDER
Stud
Eugenio Suárez, Seattle Mariners vs. Chicago White Sox, $5,800 – Suárez, the Mariners’ marquee trade deadline (re-)acquisition, hasn’t had a great game yet since his return to Seattle, and he’s generally swinging a cold bat, averaging just 3.1 FPTS per game over his last 10 games. Still, with hitters as talented as Suárez, it’s only a matter of time before the hard contact — he’s had four hits over 95 MPH in his last three games — starts to amount to something. Davis Martin ($6,800) has had a 4.70 ERA on the road this season and allows hard hits at just an 11th-percentile clip. The White Sox have also had a below-average fielding unit this season, so hard hits in play are more likely to result in bases for Suárez.
Stud
Matt McLain, Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs, $4,200 – This is a strategy of trusting hot form in a small sample size, as McLain has recorded double-digit fantasy points in three of his last four games and five of his last nine while posting duds in each of his other games. The 25-year-old speedster hasn’t hit nearly as well as he did in his rookie season, when he posted an .864 OPS, but he’s seeing the ball better after being below the Mendoza Line for most of 2025. Shota Imanaga ($8,900) throws four-seamers on half of his pitches, and McLain records hard hits against four-seamers 52.4% of the time.
Value
Ha-Seong Kim, Tampa Bay Rays at Los Angeles Angels, $3,700 – Kim hasn’t yet found his groove since making his Rays and American League debut on July 4, but this is an opportunity to buy low on a player who received MVP votes as recently as 2023. Despite a down season overall through his first 51 plate appearances, the Korean still has some elite metrics, including top-quintile squared-up, whiff, and chase rates and an above-average hard-hit percentage, and he’s gotten very unlucky to have the .222/.314/.311 slash line that he does. José Soriano ($7,600), while in good form overall, has pitched to just a 4.92 ERA at home, and Kim has been far better against righties than lefties so far this season.
OUTFIELDER
Stud
Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. San Diego Padres, $6,300 – In the big picture, Carroll is nothing if not consistent; he’s averaging 10 FPTS per game this season overall, including 10 in eight games against San Diego, 10 in 49 road games, and 10 in 47 home games. He has been significantly better against righties than lefties, though, posting a ridiculous .259/.332/.608 slash line against right-handed pitchers. Yu Darvish ($6,100) was brilliant in his last start, as he threw seven scoreless innings against the New York Mets on July 30, but he’s posted an 11.88 ERA in his two road starts this season and needs sustained success to prove that he’s truly back.
Stud
Daulton Varsho, Toronto Blue Jays at Colorado Rockies, $5,100 – The Blue Jays hung 15 runs on the Rockies last night, with Varsho doing much of the damage by way of a three-run homer in the third inning. Unlike the rest of his team, he hasn’t been in great form otherwise and was below the Mendoza Line entering the series, but throughout his career, he’s consistently hit pulled fly balls at among the league’s highest rates, an asset in Colorado’s thin air. What’s also an asset for every Toronto hitter is the fact that Anthony Molina ($4,000) has posted a 7.27 ERA in five relief appearances this season and has only had six three-plus-inning scoreless appearances in his two-season MLB career.
Value
Daniel Schneemann, Cleveland Guardians at New York Mets, $3,400 – Though Schneemann has become somewhat of a utility player now that top prospect CJ Kayfus ($2,000) has earned his MLB call-up, he’ll be tough to keep out of the lineup if he maintains the form he’s been on over his last 10 games, in which he’s slashed .353/.410/.559, averaged 8.6 FPTS per game, and reached the double-digit fantasy mark four times. The 28-year-old has had a 107 sOPS+ against right-handed pitchers this season, and Clay Holmes ($7,300) is a right-hander in poor form, giving up four or more total runs in three of his last five starts.
