Best MLB DFS Picks Today: Top Value Plays for July 27, 2026

Monday’s MLB slate brings a full seven-game main slate on DraftKings, and the pitching pool is top-heavy in a way we don’t see very often — there’s a nearly $3,000 salary gap between the top arm and the rest of the field. That kind of pricing structure changes how you should build, and it means today’s MLB DFS picks lean heavily on stacking value at the plate around one or two studs on the mound.

Our approach for today’s MLB slate: pay up for the ace who separates himself from the field, find a strikeout-heavy value arm who won’t wreck your cap space, and load up on bats facing pitchers who are getting hit hard right now. Here are the five DFS value plays we’re targeting for cash games and GPP lineups today.

Chase Burns, SP — Cincinnati Reds ($8,800 DK / $10,000 FD)

Burns has been one of the best stories in baseball this season, and the price tag still hasn’t fully caught up to what he’s doing on the mound. He enters Monday’s Battle of Ohio matchup with Cleveland sporting a 12-1 record and a 2.42 ERA, with 124 strikeouts in 107.2 innings pitched. Over his last 15 outings he’s been even better, running a 2.40 ERA and racking up 100 strikeouts across 86.1 innings — an elite workload for DFS purposes.

The Reds just extended him for seven years and $105 million, and he responded with five scoreless innings in his return start. Facing a Guardians lineup that ranks in the bottom half of the league offensively, Burns projects as a high-floor, high-ceiling anchor for cash lineups. His strikeout rate alone makes him a strong source of points even on nights when the win doesn’t come through, and this is a matchup where both are realistic outcomes.

At his salary, Burns represents one of the rare times this season you can pay up for a true ace without gutting the rest of your roster. His 5th-in-the-NL ERA and 6th-in-the-NL strikeout total speak for themselves, and the Guardians’ lineup does not have the pop to punish mistakes the way some other opponents would.

Tatsuya Imai, SP — Houston Astros ($6,800 DK)

Imai is a boom-or-bust arm, but the Astros’ road trip to Anaheim sets up as one of his better spots of the season. He’s coming off a start with elevated strikeout numbers and has posted 27-plus fantasy points in three of his last five outings, with a strikeout rate near 27.5% on the year. The swing-and-miss stuff is real, even if the walk rate (roughly 14%) means he’s never a lock.

What makes today different is the opponent. The Angels currently lead all of MLB in strikeout rate and have scored the fewest runs in baseball this month. That’s about as favorable a strikeout matchup as a pitcher can ask for, and it’s a big part of why Imai is being talked about as one of the top DFS value plays on the slate at any price point under $7,000.

The risk here is real — Imai has allowed nine home runs in a limited number of innings this season, and there’s a wide range of outcomes on any given night. But in tournament lineups where you need difference-making upside from a punt-priced arm, pairing his strikeout equity with the Angels’ league-worst offensive output is exactly the kind of asymmetric bet that wins GPPs.

JJ Bleday, OF — Cincinnati Reds ($3,900 DK)

Bleday gives you correlated exposure to the same favorable Guardians matchup Burns is pitching in, and his season-long production supports the price. He’s hit 17 home runs with 39 runs, 44 RBI and six stolen bases across 317 plate appearances this year, showing an all-around offensive game that translates well into DFS scoring even on nights without a homer.

His plate discipline stands out too — a 13.6% walk rate paired with a 20.5% strikeout rate and a .238 ISO shows a hitter who controls the strike zone well enough to avoid the empty-at-bat risk that sinks a lot of outfielders in this price range. Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi has not been a shutdown arm this year, and Bleday’s power-speed combination makes him a legitimate source of ceiling at under $4,000.

Stacking Bleday with other Reds bats against Cecconi is a logical build for GPP lineups today, especially given how thin this part of the outfield pool is at his salary.

Paul Goldschmidt, 1B — New York Yankees ($3,700 DK)

Goldschmidt is one of the clearest matchup-based plays on the entire board today. He’s mashing left-handed pitching to the tune of a .333/.415/.657 slash line with nine home runs this season, and his 2026 splits vs. lefties specifically show a .394 average and 1.115 OPS. That’s not a small sample fluke — it’s been a season-long trend, with his OPS against lefties up roughly 89% compared to his mark against right-handers.

Today he faces White Sox rookie left-hander Noah Schultz, who has struggled to a 6.04 ERA this season. That combination — an elite lefty-masher against a lefty who’s getting hit hard — is exactly the type of matchup DFS players should be hunting for at a bargain salary. At $3,700, Goldschmidt is priced more like a bench bat than one of the best pure lefty-killers in the sport right now. It’s the kind of lopsided matchup that also shows up as a lean on the live MLB odds boards tonight.

He fits equally well in cash games, where his floor from plate discipline alone (a strong walk rate and consistent hard contact) provides a reliable source of points, and in GPPs where the power upside against a struggling young lefty gives him real ceiling.

Luis Lara, OF — Milwaukee Brewers ($3,100 DK)

Lara is the highest-variance name on this list, but the profile is exactly what you want in a rookie punt play. Milwaukee’s No. 4 prospect and MLB’s No. 67 overall prospect was hitting .321/.432/.470 at Triple-A Nashville before his call-up, with more walks than strikeouts and a whiff rate under 16% — elite bat-to-ball skills for a player his age. He’s shown it early in the majors too, collecting 20 fantasy points on two hits in one recent game and 16 more the next day.

The switch-hitting speedster brings a rare combination of contact skills and plus-plus speed, giving him stolen-base equity that most $3,100 outfielders simply don’t have. Facing a Giants pitching staff on the road, Lara offers a legitimate floor from his contact-oriented approach along with real stolen-base and extra-base upside that’s hard to find this cheap on a seven-game slate.

He won’t be in every optimal lineup, but in tournaments where differentiation matters, a rookie with this much prospect pedigree at the minimum price range is worth a look — especially in a lineup slot that lets Milwaukee’s talented young core keep feeding him at-bats.

Building Your Lineup

With such a steep drop-off after the top arm on today’s slate, cash game builds should strongly consider paying up for Burns and pairing him with a Reds stack against Cleveland — Bleday fits naturally into that build. If you want to get to a value arm instead, Imai lets you spend up significantly more on hitting, and the Angels’ league-worst offense in July gives him a real shot at a clean start.

Goldschmidt is close to a must-play in any lineup given the price relative to his production against left-handed pitching, and he pairs well with other Yankees bats if you want to build around that game environment. Lara rounds things out as a low-owned differentiator that should carry lower projected ownership than his talent level would suggest, making him a smart GPP pivot away from the more obvious rookie or prospect plays other DFS players will be hammering. Squaring away your DraftKings promo code before first pitch is a smart step if you’re also mixing in a same-game bet alongside your DFS entries today.

Whichever build you land on, treat this slate’s pitching scarcity as the central strategic question — spend accordingly, target the plate discipline and matchup data laid out above, and don’t be afraid to get contrarian with a player like Lara when the field is likely to overlook him.