Best MLB DFS Picks Today: Top Value Plays for May 28, 2026
Thursday’s MLB slate is a compact but juicy one, featuring six games spread across afternoon, evening, and a late-night showdown in Texas. With matchups running from 1:10 PM ET through primetime, there are multiple windows to target depending on your contest type. The headline narrative is a genuinely elite pitching performance looming at Globe Life Field, while a pair of offensive superstars from Wednesday are carrying big momentum into today.
For today’s DFS lineups, the approach is to anchor around one elite arm with a historically dominant profile, then layer in hitters who have legitimate matchup edges against vulnerable or declining pitchers. We are mixing two premium plays with three mid-range value options to keep salary flexible on both DraftKings and FanDuel.
Spencer Arrighetti, SP — Houston Astros
Arrighetti has been one of the best stories in baseball this season, and Thursday night’s matchup against the Texas Rangers may be his best outing yet. The right-hander comes in with a 6-1 record and a jaw-dropping 1.32 ERA through 41.0 innings, which ranks among the elite starters in all of baseball. On DraftKings, a pitcher with this kind of production and run support typically slots in the upper tier of salary, but the value is real when you factor in how favorable this situation is.
The Rangers are without Corey Seager (back), Josh H. Smith (illness), and Wyatt Langford (forearm), gutting their lineup depth considerably. Texas is also dealing with several other names on the injured list, including Jordan Montgomery out of their rotation. Nathan Eovaldi takes the ball for the Rangers with a 5-5 record and a 3.65 ERA, meaning this is a game where the Astros are likely to score runs and keep Arrighetti in line for a win. Globe Life Field plays as a slight hitter-friendly environment, but Arrighetti’s 1.20 WHIP and elite strikeout rate make him the safest pitching anchor on the entire slate. If you are building a cash game lineup today, Arrighetti belongs in it.
Yordan Alvarez, DH — Houston Astros
Stacking the Astros makes obvious sense tonight, and Yordan Alvarez is the centerpiece of any Houston stack. He is currently on one of the most remarkable individual runs in baseball, going 6-for-12 with five home runs and eight RBI over his last three games against the Rangers alone. Wednesday, he went 3-for-4 with two solo home runs and a walk in Houston’s 4-3 win, pushing his season totals to 20 home runs, 39 RBI, and a .312 batting average with a 1.085 OPS through 56 games.
The matchup tonight is almost as good as it gets for a DFS hitter. Eovaldi has given up 61.2 innings of 3.65 ERA ball this season, but Alvarez has feasted on Rangers pitching all series long, and there is every reason to expect him to stay in this torrid groove. He has posted multi-homer games in back-to-back contests and is operating on another level right now. At DH, he qualifies across most sites, making him easy to fit. For GPP lineups, he could be highly owned given the blowup games he has been putting up, but his floor is high enough to anchor cash games too. Pairing Alvarez with Arrighetti in your Astros stack gives you the best pitcher and best hitter from what looks like the most projected run environment on today’s slate.
Chris Sale, SP — Atlanta Braves
The National League Cy Young Award winner from 2024 continues to be an absolute force in 2026. Sale enters Thursday’s start at Fenway Park against his former team with a 7-3 record and a 1.89 ERA, with 72 strikeouts across his starts. He has allowed one run or fewer in eight of his ten starts this season, and his most recent outing was seven innings of one-run ball against the Miami Marlins on May 20. That level of consistency makes him one of the most reliable DFS starting pitchers in baseball right now.
The matchup context adds another layer. Sale carries a 4-1 record and a 1.89 ERA in 12 career appearances against Boston, seven of which were starts. The Red Sox are 5-15 at home since early April and have been particularly vulnerable to left-handed pitching. Boston will counter with Payton Tolle, who has a 2-2 record and a 2.49 ERA, which means this game is unlikely to be a shootout. Sale is lined up for a dominant outing with a quality start almost guaranteed, a strong win probability, and a strikeout ceiling that can reach double digits given his velocity and secondary arsenal. He is a genuine top DFS starter on FanDuel today alongside Arrighetti, depending on where salaries land. If you can only roster one arm, Arrighetti’s matchup edge gives him the slight nod, but Sale is the safer pivot if ownership gets lopsided.
Gunnar Henderson, SS — Baltimore Orioles
Henderson delivered one of the most explosive individual performances of the season on Wednesday, homering twice in Baltimore’s 11-2 demolition of the Tampa Bay Rays. He came into Thursday’s series opener against the Blue Jays riding that wave of momentum and facing a left-handed starter in Patrick Corbin, who is 1-6 with a 5.46 ERA in 11 all-time games against the Orioles. That pitcher-hitter dynamic is exactly what DFS players look for.
Henderson, a right-handed hitter, has historically punished southpaws throughout his career and his 2026 performance reflects that trend. Corbin has struggled to keep the ball in the park this season, and Camden Yards is a bandbox that plays extremely well for right-handed pull hitters. Baltimore was riding high after sweeping the Rays, who hold the AL’s best record, and the Orioles offense has genuine momentum. Henderson’s shortstop eligibility makes him a natural target in the 5-6K salary range on DraftKings, and his two-home run game Wednesday is the kind of performance that shows his ceiling on any given night. If you want a mid-range hitter with a clear matchup advantage and verified hot form, Henderson is the play.
Ian Happ, OF — Chicago Cubs
Happ provides one of the most compelling value angles on the entire Thursday slate. After a rough stretch in which he went 2-for-31 and his average fell to .212 going into the game, he exploded for five RBIs Wednesday as the Cubs snapped their 10-game losing streak with a 10-4 victory over the Pirates. The performance came in Pittsburgh, where Happ has a career .300 average and reached base for the 40th consecutive game at PNC Park. That specific ballpark history is a real, verifiable edge.
Tonight he will face Pirates ace Paul Skenes, which is admittedly a tough matchup on paper. Skenes carries a 6-4 record and a 3.00 ERA, though he is coming off back-to-back rough outings after his strong start to May. In his last two starts he allowed four runs in a loss to Toronto and five runs in a loss to Philadelphia. He is not the lockdown version of Skenes from earlier in the year right now. Additionally, Skenes is 2-2 with a 2.94 ERA against the Cubs in seven career starts, so this is not an automatic shutdown situation. Given that Happ is likely to come in with depressed salary following his prolonged slump, DFS sites may not have fully priced in the rebound. His .300 career number at PNC Park, combined with a pitcher showing recent vulnerability, makes him a savvy DFS value play for both cash games and GPPs on DraftKings and FanDuel picks today.
Building Your Lineup
The Astros stack is the core of today’s optimal approach. Arrighetti as your starting pitcher paired with Alvarez in the lineup gives you correlation between your pitcher’s win probability and your hitter’s run production. From there, Sale or Henderson can slot in as a premium secondary play depending on salary constraints. Happ is the value option that unlocks a higher-priced lineup overall.
If you are building for GPP tournaments, consider adding a second Astros hitter to your stack since the team has the favorable matchup and run total on the board. Christian Walker (.255 AVG, 15 HR, .849 OPS) is an additional name worth considering if the salary allows. For cash games, the combination of Arrighetti’s floor, Sale’s consistency, and Alvarez’s red-hot production gives you three plays with elite output probability. Keep an eye on injury reports and confirmed lineups closer to first pitch, particularly on the Rangers and Blue Jays sides where multiple names are questionable. The Texas injuries make the Astros stack even more appealing and push down the projected totals for Rangers hitters, so avoid leaning on Texas bats in tonight’s DraftKings lineup unless the situation changes significantly before lock.
Jaden Vann
Sports Betting Contributor
Jaden Vann is a Sport Management and Creative Writing student at Syracuse University. Originally from Los Angeles, he covers sports betting and daily fantasy sports with a focus on the NBA, College Basketball, NFL, and College Football.
