Best MLB DFS Picks Today: Top Value Plays for May 22, 2026

Friday’s MLB DFS slate is one of the biggest of the young season, featuring 14 games across both DraftKings and FanDuel with action starting at 2:20 PM ET and running all the way through a 10:15 PM ET finale at Oracle Park. That kind of deep slate means plenty of options and some real salary-cap flexibility — but it also means the field will be spread out, making smart player selection and smart roster construction more valuable than ever.

The approach today is simple: target elite arms with favorable matchups and proven strikeout upside, stack against weak opposing pitchers, and find a couple of mid-salary hitters who are locked into favorable spots against struggling starters. With Miles Mikolas posting a 6.91 ERA for St. Louis and Grayson Rodriguez sitting at a jaw-dropping 17.18 ERA, there are hitter stacks begging to be exploited tonight. On the pitching side, Cristopher Sanchez and Davis Martin both bring elite 2026 numbers with lower ownership potential given the size of tonight’s slate.

Cristopher Sanchez, SP — Philadelphia Phillies (FanDuel ~$10,200)

Sanchez has been one of the most dominant left-handed starters in all of baseball in 2026, and it is not particularly close. Through ten starts, he carries a 1.82 ERA, a 1.82 ERA+ of 237 (meaning he is pitching at roughly two and a half times the league average), a 0.982 WHIP, and has recorded 80 strikeouts in 64.1 innings pitched. That comes out to a strikeout rate of 11.2 per nine innings — exceptional for a starter who relies heavily on deception and pitch movement rather than pure velocity.

Today he draws the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies come in at 25-25, playing solid baseball but desperate for wins, while the Pirates enter at 26-24. What matters for DFS is Pittsburgh’s offense against left-handed pitching, which has been inconsistent at best this season. Sanchez was absolutely filthy in his last start on May 16, throwing a complete-game shutout against the Phillies in a 6-0 win — he recorded 13 strikeouts that afternoon. Citizens Bank Park plays slightly above neutral for pitchers in multi-year park factor data (97 for pitching), but Sanchez’s current form means venue barely matters.

He finished second in NL Cy Young voting in 2025 with a 2.50 ERA and 212 strikeouts over 202 innings, and this season looks even better. If you have the salary, Sanchez is your top DFS pitcher in today’s MLB slate.

Davis Martin, SP — Chicago White Sox (FanDuel ~$8,400)

Davis Martin is the value pitcher of the night and arguably the best salary play on the entire slate. His 2026 campaign has been nothing short of a revelation: a 1.61 ERA, a 0.982 WHIP, 59 strikeouts in 56 innings across nine starts, and a 6-1 record. His FIP sits at 2.39, confirming the ERA is not a fluke — he is genuinely limiting hard contact and missing bats at a career-best rate, posting 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings this season.

Tonight Martin takes the mound at Oracle Park facing the San Francisco Giants, who come in at 20-30. The Giants are one of the weaker offensive teams in the National League this season, and Oracle Park plays as a pitcher’s park in essentially every year on record — its multi-year park factor of well under 100 for both batting and pitching suppresses run-scoring consistently. Martin has been particularly effective at home and in pitcher-friendly venues, and his recent outings back that up: six innings, five hits, one run with 10 strikeouts in his May 16 start, and back-to-back quality starts in which he held opponents to a combined one run over 12 innings.

With a salary that is likely several hundred dollars below Sanchez on most platforms, Martin is the premier salary-saving pitching option for cash game lineups and GPP builds alike. The combination of elite current ERA, high strikeout rate, and a pitcher’s park against a weak lineup makes him a must-roster DFS value play tonight.

Ronald Acuna Jr., OF — Atlanta Braves (FanDuel ~$5,200)

The Atlanta Braves are the hottest team in baseball right now, sitting at 35-16 and on pace for one of the best records in the NL this season. Ronald Acuna Jr. is healthy and back to doing Acuna things. Over his last five tracked games, he has gone 3-for-12 with two RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base, and the Braves are scoring runs in bunches — posting 276 runs through 51 games, among the highest totals in baseball.

Tonight Atlanta faces Miles Mikolas of the St. Louis Cardinals at Truist Park. Mikolas is sporting a 6.91 ERA and a 1-3 record, making him one of the most hittable starters on the entire Friday slate. The Cardinals’ reported starter is TBD on the lineup page, but Mikolas is confirmed from the MLB.com data. Truist Park plays as a slight pitcher’s park in multi-year data (97 batting park factor), but that barely matters when the opposing pitcher is surrendering runs at this rate.

Acuna bats near the top of what is arguably the most potent lineup in the league and provides five-category upside in a single roster spot. Against Mikolas, the matchup screams production. This is a high-floor, high-ceiling pick with legitimate GPP ceiling given the stolen base upside that most outfielders simply cannot match. At a mid-range FanDuel salary, he represents excellent value for today’s MLB DFS picks.

Spencer Arrighetti, SP — Houston Astros (FanDuel ~$7,800)

Spencer Arrighetti has emerged as one of the better mid-salary starting pitcher options in daily fantasy baseball this season, and tonight he draws an excellent matchup at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs (20-31). The Astros enter the game at 20-31 themselves, but this game is about the matchup quality and Arrighetti’s individual performance, not team records.

Through nine starts in 2026, Arrighetti is 5-1 with a 1.50 ERA and 35 strikeouts. His most recent outing was particularly impressive: 7.1 innings, one hit, zero runs, and four strikeouts against the Texas Rangers on May 15, one of the cleaner starts of the season by any pitcher. His previous start against Cincinnati on May 9 was a hiccup — 5.2 innings, five runs — but the underlying metrics remain strong, and he has been consistently excellent in home and neutral environments. Wrigley Field is a famously hitter-friendly park when the wind blows out, but it plays neutrally when conditions are normal, and pitching matchups against a Cubs offense that has been inconsistent make this start appealing.

Arrighetti offers the combination of a low salary and strong current-season numbers that makes him ideal for salary-cap-constrained DraftKings lineups. His 1.50 ERA on the season and the ability to go deep into games gives him a high floor in DFS formats that reward quality starts heavily.

Nick Martinez, SP — Tampa Bay Rays (FanDuel ~$8,600)

Nick Martinez has been one of the most quietly excellent starters in the American League this season, and at 4-1 with a 1.51 ERA through his first several starts, he deserves serious consideration in tonight’s DFS slate. The Rays are the best team in the AL East at 33-15, and Martinez is a major reason why their rotation has been so effective.

Tonight he draws the New York Yankees (30-21) at Yankee Stadium, which is the toughest matchup on this list. The Yankees are a legitimate offensive threat, and Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch adds some risk. However, Martinez’s underlying metrics support his ERA — his 1.51 mark is backed by strong command and an ability to limit the big inning. The Yankees are coming off a day where they lost 2-0 to the Blue Jays and optioned two players, suggesting some lineup shuffling may be in play.

Martinez is a premium-priced option whose inclusion in your lineup requires careful salary management, but his matchup in a game where the Rays are likely favored gives him enough floor to anchor a DraftKings or FanDuel lineup. His 35 strikeouts in a limited number of innings this season show he can reach the strikeout bonus thresholds that matter in DFS scoring, and the Rays’ strong run support makes win equity more accessible than it would be for most pitchers.

Building Your Lineup

With a 14-game slate tonight, the key is balance. You do not need to jam every premium arm into the same roster. Instead, pair one of the elite pitchers — Sanchez or Martinez — with the salary relief from Davis Martin or Arrighetti to free up salary for hitter stacks. The Braves are the most obvious stack target given Mikolas’s 6.91 ERA, and building a three-man Atlanta stack around Acuna Jr. is a legitimate GPP strategy. The White Sox are also worth targeting in a secondary stack against the Giants’ reported starter Trevor McDonald, who carries a 2.37 ERA but has limited experience and is facing a White Sox lineup that has been generating runs lately.

For cash game DFS lineups, prioritize the confirmed high-floor options: Davis Martin in a pitcher’s park with a weak offense, Cristopher Sanchez against Pittsburgh, and Ronald Acuna Jr. in one of the most favorable hitter matchups of the day. Those three anchors give your cash game lineup a strong baseline, and the DraftKings promo code can give new players extra value to work with on a slate this loaded. For GPP, it is worth considering pivoting off the chalk hitter stacks and targeting players in the late-night games at Oracle Park or Angel Stadium, where ownership tends to drop off as casual DFS players avoid the late slate. The FanDuel promo code is also worth claiming if you are playing both platforms tonight, and checking live MLB odds before lock will help you stay current on any line movement that could signal sharp action on specific games.