Best MLB DFS Picks Today: Top Value Plays for August 2, 2026

Sunday’s MLB slate is loaded, with all 30 teams in action across a nine-game afternoon window and a pair of night games closing things out. That kind of volume means plenty of avenues to build a winning DraftKings or FanDuel lineup, from ace-caliber strikeout arms to bargain-bin bats getting the platoon matchup of their week. A full board also means paying close attention to which pitchers are actually worth rostering and which offenses are worth stacking against some shaky arms making spot starts.

Below are five of today’s strongest MLB DFS picks for cash games and GPPs, mixing premium plays at the top of the price range with genuine value further down the salary ladder. Two pitchers anchor the group, with three hitters rounding out a lineup core built around favorable matchups, hot recent form, and lineup spots that support consistent production.

Gavin Williams, SP — Cleveland Guardians ($9,700 DK)

Gavin Williams has quietly turned into Cleveland’s true ace, and Sunday’s matchup with Arizona is another chance to prove it. Over his last four starts, Williams has racked up 11-plus strikeouts in every single one, posting 33-plus DFS points in three of those four outings. He’s sitting on a 3.89 ERA and 123 strikeouts across 106.1 innings this season, with a 28.3 percent strikeout rate that ranks among the better marks in the American League.

The Diamondbacks lineup he faces isn’t the toughest to strike out, but it’s far from the league’s best offensively either, and Williams has shown he can produce DFS value even on nights when he gives up a run or two. That combination of swing-and-miss stuff and a middling opposing lineup makes him one of the safer stud pitcher plays on the entire board, worth the price tag in cash games and a strong pivot off the more popular arms in tournaments.

Chase Burns, SP — Cincinnati Reds ($10,500 DK)

Chase Burns has been nothing short of dominant in his first full big-league season, and he brings a 12-1 record and 2.40 ERA into Sunday’s series finale against Pittsburgh at Great American Ball Park. Over his last nine starts dating back to early June, Burns has gone 5-0 with a 2.98 ERA, striking out 56 batters in just 48.1 innings. He’s faced the Pirates three times already this year, going 1-0 with a 2.50 ERA and 24 strikeouts across 18 innings in those meetings.

Great American Ball Park carries a hitter-friendly reputation reflected in the MLB odds for this series, but that cuts both ways for a strikeout pitcher like Burns — when Pittsburgh does put the ball in play, plenty of contact translates to swings and misses instead given his stuff. Pittsburgh’s offense has ridden a league-leading BABIP for much of the season, and its underlying numbers since July (19th in xwOBA compared to sixth in wOBA) suggest some regression is overdue. At $10,500, Burns is the priciest arm on the slate, but he’s also arguably the safest bet to return that value given the recent workload of strikeouts piling up on a struggling lineup.

Yordan Alvarez, OF — Houston Astros ($6,600 DK)

Yordan Alvarez remains one of the most obvious stack-around bats in all of DFS, and Sunday’s matchup with Texas right-hander Kumar Rocker only sweetens the appeal. Alvarez leads MLB with 35 home runs and paces the American League in all three triple-crown categories, plus a league-best 1.079 OPS. Against Rocker specifically, he’s 3-for-4 this season with three extra-base hits, including two home runs and four RBIs — a track record that includes a 425-foot blast off Rocker back on July 11.

Rocker has struggled to a 4.03 ERA and an even uglier 4.58 xERA across 18 starts this year, and he’s simply gotten hit hard across the board this season. Alvarez’s price tag reflects his star status, but paying up for a hitter who has this much recent success against the specific arm he’s facing is exactly the kind of smash spot DFS players should be willing to spend on, especially in cash games where a high floor matters as much as the ceiling.

Alec Burleson, 1B — St. Louis Cardinals ($4,500 DK)

First base is deep on Sunday’s slate, and that depth has pushed Alec Burleson down to a very appealing salary despite quietly being one of the better right-handed bats in the league this year. Burleson is hitting .323/.398/.544 against right-handed pitching with 13 home runs and 22 doubles, and Sunday’s matchup with Toronto’s Max Scherzer is about as friendly a draw as exists on the board — Scherzer is running a 9.49 ERA across his four starts this season.

Toronto’s lineup has been ice cold at the plate as well, posting just an 81 wRC+ in July, which means the Blue Jays’ bullpen figures to see plenty of work behind Scherzer, and that bullpen hasn’t been much better. Burleson’s price sits well below several first basemen he’s outproducing, making him one of the clearest value plays in the player pool. Stacking additional Cardinals bats around him against this pitching staff is a logical way to build out lineups in both cash games and tournaments.

Griffin Conine, OF — Miami Marlins ($3,000 DK)

At the rock-bottom of the salary range sits Griffin Conine, who has been scorching hot heading into Sunday’s series finale against the Mets. Conine crushed his 10th home run of the season on Saturday and has gone 7-for-18 (.389) with five RBIs over his last six games, including three home runs in that stretch. His .928 OPS across 45 games this season comes with a strong .378 xwOBA and a 56.4 percent hard-hit rate, numbers that back up the recent surge rather than suggesting a fluke.

New York is turning to right-hander Robert Stock, who will be making his first start of the year and has thrown just 2.2 innings in the majors since 2025. That kind of uncertainty at the back of a rotation is exactly where cheap, hot bats like Conine can pay off in a massive way relative to salary, giving lineup builders extra room under the cap to pay up elsewhere for studs like Alvarez or Burns.

Building Your Lineup

With Burns and Williams anchoring the pitcher pool at the top of the price range, cash game lineups should prioritize pairing one of those two arms with rock-solid floor plays like Burleson and Alvarez, saving the rest of the salary for value bats confirmed in favorable batting order spots. Bettors pairing DFS with sportsbook action can also check the DraftKings promo code for additional value on today’s games. For tournament lineups, consider fading the more obvious chalk — Alvarez and Burns will likely carry significant projected ownership given the strength of their matchups — by pivoting to a Cardinals stack against Scherzer or building around the uncertainty of the Mets’ bullpen game against Miami.

Ballpark factors matter too: Great American Ball Park’s hitter-friendly dimensions make any Reds-Pirates game a candidate for stacking hitters even beyond Burns’ strikeout upside on the mound, while parks known for suppressing offense are worth fading in GPP builds. As always, check final confirmed lineups and any late-scratch news before locking anything in, particularly on a full 30-team slate where injury news can shift value quickly. Whether you’re grinding cash games or firing at a large-field GPP, today’s DraftKings and FanDuel pools offer enough swing-and-miss stud pitching combined with genuine mid-range and punt-level value to build several distinct, defensible lineups.