UPDATE: Seattle Mariners outfielder Victor Robles ($3,500)‘s 10-game suspension has been reduced to seven games on appeal, and he will begin serving his suspension tonight.
With the MLB season officially ending September 28, there’s officially a month left for all 30 teams to make their final statements entering the postseason. A lot can happen in a month; on April 26, one month into the season, five of the six divisions were led by different teams than currently lead them.
The final month begins today with a 12-game featured DFS slate in DraftKings that includes the likely NL Cy Young and MVP winners, as well as a battle between the NL and AL’s best teams. Here are two pitchers, three infielders, and three outfielders I’m targeting from tonight’s action.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Hidden Ball Trick [$50K to 1st]
PITCHER
Stud
Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates at Boston Red Sox, $10,600 – Skenes might be the most expensive player on the slate, but it’s the same principle that I choose when taking Nikola Jokić in basketball or Saquon Barkley in football — if you have the opportunity to take the best player in the sport, you do that. It’s true that Skenes has given up four earned runs in each of his last two road starts, but it’s hard to argue against a guy who’s recorded 20 or more FPTS in 15 of his 27 starts and is coming off of a seven-inning, three-hit (31.95-FPT) masterpiece. Boston has had an average offense across the last month, and even an average performance from Skenes is Cy Young-caliber.
Value
Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs at Colorado Rockies, $7,800 – I’m going pretty expensive with the pitchers here, and this is among the highest that Horton’s salary has been all season, but the form he’s been on since the All-Star break is truly special: seven starts, 18 hits, two earned runs, 11 walks, and 32 strikeouts (21.3 FPTS per game), so if you’re going to get Paul Skenes for $2,800 less than Skenes will cost, it’s not too bad. The Rockies have scored three or fewer runs in five of their last six games, so it’s a good time to bet against them, even if they’re returning to Coors Field’s extremely hitter-friendly environment.
INFIELDER
Stud
Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox, $5,200 – The roller coaster has continued for the Yankees, who have won five straight games but still sit third in the AL East behind the equally-hot Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays. Across the win streak, though, the Bahamian has been incredible, going six-for-17 with four homers, four walks, and two stolen bases (18.4 FPTS per game). It’s hard to glean much about Yoendrys Gómez ($6,500) from the 32.1 innings he’s thrown this season, but his MLB track record across the three teams he’s played with this season hasn’t been great. He has been elite in the minors, but he’s been far worse against lefties even at that level, so he should struggle against a noted righty-masher in Chisholm.
Stud
Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, $4,300 – It’s no secret that Betts has had a miserable season. But Dodgers fans gave Betts a standing ovation prior to his first at-bat on August 4, and since then, he’s been closer to the Betts of old, posting a .317/.394/.451 slash line and averaging 8.5 FPTS per game, production that makes his DFS salary a bargain. Plus, he’s been a lot better at Dodger Stadium, averaging 1.6 more FPTS per game at home than on the road, and he’s going against a pitcher in Zac Gallen ($7,500) who has posted a 5.13 ERA this season. Gallen throws a four-seam fastball with nearly half of his pitches, and that’s the one pitch that Betts has seen well this season.
Value
Matt Chapman, San Francisco Giants vs. Baltimore Orioles, $3,600 – Chapman hit his 200th career home run on Wednesday night for a Giants team that’s peaking at the right time, winning five straight games against quality opponents to keep their minuscule playoff hopes alive. After back-to-back games with a homer against the Chicago Cubs, Chapman has now recorded double-digit fantasy points in three of his last five games. Plus, though he’s in solid form overall, Baltimore’s Dean Kremer ($8,000) has pitched to a 4.97 ERA in 83.1 road innings this season and the Orioles’ bullpen has posted a 4.68 ERA since the All-Star break.
OUTFIELDER
Stud
Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals, $5,300 – After a slow start to the second half, Detroit is back to elite form, and Greene has been integral in that effort, posting a 1.055 OPS over his last 10 games and averaging 10.7 FPTS per game across that span. He must be salivating for his matchup against Seth Lugo ($7,400), who’s had a miserable second half of the season, pitching to a 7.24 ERA across 41.0 innings. The Quarterrican hasn’t ranked above the league median in any of the 12 Statcast categories this season and has conceded an .849 OPS to lefties. Greene, meanwhile, has put up a .920 mark against righties.
Stud
Jakob Marsee, Miami Marlins at New York Mets, $4,500 – It’s a battle of top prospect against top prospect as Marsee, the Marlins’ 10th-ranked prospect, takes on Jonah Tong ($8,500), the minor league strikeouts leader. Marsee earned his professional call-up at the start of the month and has been incredible, slashing .358/.421/.653 and averaging 11.2 FPTS per game, and while he’s bound to regress eventually, four double-digit fantasy performances in his last five games indicate that that fall-off isn’t coming any time soon. Mets fans have high expectations for Tong, who earned his call-up after posting a 1.43 ERA across two MiLB levels (mostly Double-A), but top prospects are never a sure thing in their debuts, especially with New York feeling the pressure of a playoff race.
Value
Víctor Robles, Seattle Mariners at Cleveland Guardians, $3,500 – It’s hard to read much into Robles’ production this season, given that he missed the better part of five months while recovering from a fractured and dislocated shoulder that he suffered on April 6. He’s yet to record a good game since returning from his injury, but in 77 games with the Mariners in 2024, he slashed .328/.393/.467 and averaged 8.2 FPTS per game, and he posted an .892 OPS during his eight-game rehab stint with Triple-A Tacoma. Logan Allen ($6,200) is coming off of a five-inning, nine-run (negative-9.35-FPT) disaster and has allowed an OPS 82 points worse against righties.
