Best MLB DFS Picks Today: Top Value Plays for August 24

Monday’s MLB slate rolls out a compact but interesting nine-game card, headlined by a marquee arm in Zack Wheeler squaring off with Seattle and a Cleveland-Los Angeles Angels matchup loaded with value up and down the order. With late-August rosters shuffled by trades and September call-ups, there are a few discounted names worth knowing before you build tonight’s DraftKings or FanDuel lineup.

Our approach tonight leans on a mix of a true stud arm to anchor cash games, a discounted strikeout artist against a weak Angels lineup, and a trio of hot-handed bats priced well below their recent production. If you’re building for both cash games and GPP tonight, this combination should give you flexibility at every salary tier.

Zack Wheeler, SP — Philadelphia Phillies ($10,800 DK)

Wheeler is the priciest arm on the board tonight, but he’s earned it. The right-hander carries a 2.92 ERA and 1.01 WHIP with 144 strikeouts across 120.1 innings this season, and he’s coming off a start against Miami where he punched out seven over five innings. He’s lined up on regular rest to face a Seattle lineup that’s hitting just .230 as a team with a 4.01 ERA on the other side of the ball, giving this a modest total that favors the Phillies’ ace.

The road numbers are especially encouraging here — Wheeler owns a 2.67 ERA and a sparkling 10.4 K/9 away from Citizens Bank Park this season, actually outperforming his home splits. Philadelphia has won five straight games and Wheeler himself hasn’t taken a loss since mid-July, a streak where he’s punched out at least six batters in four of six outings. At his salary he needs a big strikeout total to pay off, and the swing-and-miss profile against a middle-of-the-pack Mariners offense suggests he’s a live bet to clear 20 DraftKings points as a cash-game anchor.

Parker Messick, SP — Cleveland Guardians ($9,500 DK)

Messick is the discount version of a true ace tonight. The left-hander has been outstanding all season, sitting on a 2.54 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 152 strikeouts across 149 innings, and he’s yielded two earned runs or fewer in eight consecutive starts. His last time out against the Giants, he struck out 10 over 6.2 innings while allowing just one run on six hits and no walks.

Tonight he draws a road trip to Angel Stadium against a Los Angeles club that’s buried at 52-79 and has struggled to generate offense all season. Messick’s splits show he’s been even nastier against right-handed bats this year, holding them to a .197 average compared to .238 against lefties, and the Angels’ lineup skews right-handed. DraftKings Sportsbook has the total sitting around eight runs, which points to a competitive pitchers’ duel rather than a shootout — exactly the kind of environment where a swing-and-miss lefty like Messick racks up strikeout-driven fantasy points without needing much run support to justify the salary.

Nathaniel Lowe, 1B/DH — Cleveland Guardians ($3,400 DK)

Lowe is criminally underpriced given his recent form. Since being traded from Cincinnati to Cleveland earlier this month, he’s found his groove in the middle of the Guardians’ order, and he enters tonight riding an eight-game hit streak in which he’s gone 11-for-30 (.367) with four doubles, three home runs, nine RBI and six runs scored. On the season he’s hitting .266 with 14 home runs and a .811 OPS, numbers that would normally command a salary well north of $4,000.

Tonight’s matchup against the Angels only sweetens the appeal. Los Angeles’ pitching staff has been one of the league’s most hittable all year, and Lowe’s power has translated well on the road, where he’s slugging over .500 during his last 30 games. At this price point, rostering a hitter with legitimate 30-homer pop who’s actively riding a hot streak against a last-place pitching staff is close to a must in cash games, and he stacks naturally with the rest of Cleveland’s order if you want to build around this game.

Angel Genao, SS — Cleveland Guardians ($3,100 DK)

Genao has quickly become one of the more interesting rookie bats in baseball since his call-up, and his DraftKings price still hasn’t caught up to his production. Over his first 15 games in the majors, he’s slashing .315/.373/.426, and he’s continued that form recently, going 5-for-18 with three runs scored over his last seven games while starting back-to-back games at shortstop.

He’ll hit near the top of a Cleveland order that projects well against the Angels’ rotation tonight, and at $3,100 he offers one of the best floor-to-salary ratios on the entire slate — a lineup regular who makes consistent contact and doesn’t need to hit a home run to return value. Genao pairs naturally with Lowe if you want to double up on the Guardians’ offense in a plus matchup, and he’s a strong source of cheap production if you’re trying to save salary for one of the studs at the top of the pool.

Dane Myers, OF — Cincinnati Reds ($3,200 DK)

Myers has quietly turned his season around after a rough start to August. He was batting just .139 through his first 11 games of the month before erupting for three hits and two home runs across Monday’s doubleheader against St. Louis, and over his last seven games overall he’s hitting .304 with two homers, three RBI and an .925 OPS. On the year he’s at .251 with five home runs, eight stolen bases and a .703 OPS, giving him a well-rounded power-speed profile that plays in all DFS formats.

Cincinnati has kept him in the lineup in six of the club’s last nine games, and he carries notably better numbers against left-handed pitching (.808 OPS since 2024) than right-handers, a detail worth checking against tonight’s probable starter before locking him in. At $3,200, a hitter with legitimate home run and stolen base equity gives you access to two separate DFS scoring categories at a price more befitting a bench bat, making him one of the sneakier value plays on the board tonight.

Building Your Lineup

Tonight’s slate rewards pairing correlated bats with a stud arm rather than spreading salary too thin. The Cleveland-Angels game stands out as the best stacking opportunity on the board — Lowe and Genao both offer real production at a combined salary under $6,500, leaving plenty of room to pay up for Wheeler or Messick at the top of your DraftKings lineup. If you’re grinding cash games, prioritizing floor with Lowe’s hot streak and Genao’s contact-heavy profile is the safer route, while GPP players may want to lean into Myers’ power-speed combo for a differentiated, lower-owned build.

Salary-cap discipline matters most on a slate like this one — rostering one premium pitcher and pairing him with a stack of value bats tends to outperform two mid-tier arms in most builds. Before locking anything in, double check the latest confirmed lineups and check the live MLB odds for any late total or line movement that could signal weather or bullpen news affecting tonight’s projections. It’s also worth comparing salaries across books, since a player like Wheeler or Myers can carry a notably different price on FanDuel than on DraftKings, which changes the value equation on both sites. Locking in confirmed lineups as close to first pitch as possible remains the single best way to avoid a late scratch wrecking your MLB DFS picks today.