Best MLB DFS Picks Today: Top Value Plays for August 7, 2026

Friday’s MLB slate rolls out a hefty 12-game card, and with it comes a mix of proven arms, breakout bats, and a couple of rookies forcing their way into lineups. Whether you’re building for cash games or firing bullets into a GPP, tonight’s board has enough salary range to construct several viable builds without overpaying for chalk.

Our approach for today’s MLB DFS picks leans on recent form, favorable pitching matchups, and price points that don’t eat too much of your cap. We’re targeting one workhorse arm at the top, a cheaper value arm in a tough park matchup, and hitters who profile well against the pitchers they’re facing tonight. Here’s where we’re looking for value on both DraftKings and FanDuel.

Nathan Eovaldi, SP — Texas Rangers ($9,500 DK)

Eovaldi sits at 9-7 with a 4.02 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, and 110 strikeouts on the season, and while the raw ERA doesn’t scream “stud,” the underlying trend is exactly what DFS players want to see. Eovaldi has topped 20 fantasy points in six of his last eight starts, including two outings north of 30 points, and he draws a Baltimore lineup tonight that ranks third in the league in strikeout rate.

The price tag is admittedly premium at $9,500, but that’s part of the appeal — after a rough two-start stretch where he managed just 2 and 0.2 fantasy points, public perception on Eovaldi has cooled, which should keep ownership more manageable than his talent level deserves. Against a strikeout-prone Orioles lineup, he’s a strong source of a high strikeout floor with real ceiling if he works deep into the game.

For those building lineups around MLB odds tonight, Texas being favored at home lines up with Eovaldi getting length and a shot at the win, which only adds to his cash-game floor.

Connor Prielipp, SP — Minnesota Twins ($6,800 DK)

Prielipp is the classic DFS value arm: the surface-level ERA of 4.75 looks unspectacular, but his 3.87 FIP tells a very different story, and a .299 BABIP paired with a modest 61.4% strand rate suggests he’s due for better results than his ERA indicates. His control has been the issue — an 8.9% walk rate isn’t ideal — but a healthy 24.1% strikeout rate keeps his floor respectable even on off nights.

What matters most for tonight’s MLB DFS picks is recent form: Prielipp has worked at least five innings and cleared double-digit fantasy points in each of his last four starts, with two of those topping 20 points. He gets a Milwaukee lineup tonight that ranks 28th in isolated power and 20th in wRC+ against left-handed pitching, exactly the type of susceptible matchup that makes a $6,800 price tag look like a bargain if he delivers length again.

Riley Greene, OF — Detroit Tigers ($4,400 DK)

Greene has been one of the hotter bats in baseball over the past two weeks, batting .304 with a homer and five RBI over his last seven games, and he’s up to a .289 average with 13 home runs, 44 RBI, and an .844 OPS on the season. His underlying metrics back up the surface numbers — a 90.9 mph average exit velocity, 17.4-degree launch angle, and 15% barrel rate all point to a hitter squarely in a power groove.

Tonight’s matchup against Adrian Houser and the Giants is where this gets interesting for value hunters. Against right-handed pitching, Greene is slashing .302/.382/.514 with a 148 wRC+, and Houser has been vulnerable to lefty bats all year with a 6.39 FIP and just a 5.7% K-BB% against left-handed hitters. The road trip to San Francisco isn’t an ideal power environment, but the pitcher matchup is favorable enough to overlook the park at this price.

Zach McKinstry, OF — Detroit Tigers ($2,700 DK)

McKinstry is a clear paired play with Greene tonight, and at $2,700 he’s about as cheap as a semi-regular bat gets on this slate. His season-long line of .219/.295/.330 isn’t going to win any awards, but the split that matters here is stark: an 87 wRC+ and .134 ISO against right-handed pitching compares favorably to a nearly nonexistent 31 wRC+ and .019 ISO against lefties. Houser throws right-handed, which puts McKinstry squarely in his better matchup bucket tonight.

He’s also shown a quiet floor of late, reaching at least 2 fantasy points in 13 straight games with three of those topping 10 points. That kind of consistency at a rock-bottom salary makes him a legitimate punt play if you want to jam extra dollars into Eovaldi or a premium bat elsewhere, and stacking him with Greene against the same soft right-handed matchup is a sensible way to attack the Tigers-Giants game total.

Angel Genao, 2B — Cleveland Guardians ($2,300 DK)

Genao is the deep-value dart throw of the day. Called up just two games ago, he wasted no time making an impression, going 4-for-5 with a run and an RBI in his debut before following up with a 1-for-4 effort that included a run scored. He’s currently hitting ninth in Cleveland’s order against the White Sox, which caps his ceiling somewhat, but at $2,300 you’re not paying for upside — you’re paying for a very live bat with a legitimate shot at reaching base.

Genao’s minor league track record backs up the early hype, with a strikeout rate often sitting in the teens and strong plate discipline throughout his development. Tonight’s matchup helps his case, too: Chicago starter Noah Schultz carries a 10.8% walk rate and a bloated 4.94 FIP against right-handed hitters, the exact profile that should let a disciplined bat like Genao work his way to first base even in a bottom-of-the-order role. He’s a low-owned way to fill out a cash-game roster without blowing your salary cap.

Building Your Lineup

Tonight’s slate rewards a barbell salary approach: pay up for one or two arms you trust, then attack the middle and bottom of the order for cheap floor plays that let you afford them. Eovaldi at the top gives you a strikeout-driven ceiling against a whiff-prone Orioles lineup, while Prielipp offers a similar profile at a much friendlier price if you want to double up on pitching value in tournaments.

On the hitting side, the Greene-McKinstry pairing against Houser is a clean, low-cost way to attack one game environment twice without duplicating salary risk, and Genao gives cash-game builders a legitimate source of value at the bottom of your lineup. If you’re deciding between DraftKings lineup construction and a FanDuel build, keep an eye on ownership on the Eovaldi and Greene plays specifically — both have real talent-versus-price gaps tonight, but public perception can shift quickly once lineups lock, so check final confirmed batting orders before you submit.

For GPP builds, consider pivoting off the most obvious studs by pairing a cheaper arm like Prielipp with a couple of the punt bats above, freeing up salary for a differentiated stack elsewhere on the board. In cash games, prioritize the floor plays — Eovaldi’s strikeout equity and the McKinstry/Genao combination for rock-bottom pricing — since consistency matters more than ceiling when you need a repeatable score. Whatever build you land on, today’s MLB DFS picks give you enough range across salary tiers to construct a roster suited to either format.