Best MLB DFS Picks Today: Top Value Plays for September 10

Thursday’s MLB slate is a compact five-game card, but it’s stacked with exploitable pitching matchups that make for one of the more interesting value-building days of September. With several sub-.500 clubs on the road against playoff-caliber arms and lineups, cash game and GPP DFS players both have clear paths to build around today.

The approach here is straightforward: pair a couple of premium, high-floor plays anchored by dominant starting pitching with mid-range bats facing a struggling arm working on the road. That combination gives you salary flexibility without sacrificing ceiling, which is exactly what you want heading into a shortened slate where ownership can get top-heavy in a hurry.

Max Fried, SP — New York Yankees (vs Colorado Rockies)

Max Fried is about as safe a building block as this slate offers. The left-hander carries a 2.73 ERA and 0.99 career-caliber form into Thursday’s start, and his last five outings have been even better than his season line: a 1.38 ERA with a 9.0 K/9 and a 2.4 BB/9 over that stretch, up from 8.2 K/9 in the prior sample. He’s held opponents to one earned run or zero in four of his past five starts since returning from injury.

The matchup could not be more favorable. Colorado sits at 55-90, owns one of the least dangerous road lineups in baseball, and brings a patchwork group to Yankee Stadium that includes several bottom-of-the-order regulars without significant power threat. Fried has previously limited Rockies hitters to a .250 average and a modest .267 wOBA in his career sample against the organization’s current roster, and Yankee Stadium’s short porch does not change the calculus much when the opposing lineup lacks lefty-mashing thump. This is a game the Yankees are heavily favored in, and Fried projects for a full workload with strikeout equity plus wins upside baked in.

Jacob deGrom, SP — Texas Rangers (at Seattle Mariners)

deGrom remains one of the most talented arms in the sport when healthy, and his 2026 peripherals back that up: a 3.18 FIP, a 10.93 K/9 that ranks 11th among qualified starters, and a 1.12 WHIP. His raw ERA sits at 3.96, but that’s skewed by a stark home-road split — a 2.46 ERA at home against a 5.86 mark on the road — so DFS players should be mindful this start comes at T-Mobile Park rather than Globe Life Field.

Still, the swing-and-miss profile travels well regardless of ballpark, and deGrom has racked up at least seven strikeouts in two of his last three outings. Seattle’s lineup can grind at times, but the Mariners rank in the bottom half of the league in several contact-rate categories, which plays into deGrom’s game. At his price point on a slate this thin, the strikeout floor alone makes him a strong GPP anchor, with any length beyond five innings pushing him into must-play territory.

Ronald Acuna Jr., RF — Atlanta Braves (vs Tampa Bay Rays)

Acuna draws a matchup against Nick Martinez, and while Martinez has quietly put together a strong overall season (14-4, 3.04 ERA), his splits against right-handed bats open the door for Atlanta’s top of the order. Acuna has been considerably better against right-handed pitching than lefties this season, batting .269 with a .462 slugging mark and 12 home runs against righties compared to a .224 average against southpaws — and Martinez fits squarely into the platoon side he’s crushed all year.

Career-wise, Acuna has also posted an .882 OPS in his last 467 at-bats against right-handed pitching, showing the underlying skill hasn’t gone anywhere even during a mixed season. Atlanta’s lineup around him — Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies — gives him plenty of protection and run-producing opportunity in the leadoff-adjacent spot, and Truist Park provides a neutral-to-hitter-friendly environment for right-handed power. He’s a premium, top-of-lineup piece anyone building a Braves stack should prioritize.

Bryce Harper, 1B/RF — Philadelphia Phillies (vs Houston Astros)

Harper has been red-hot, hitting .368 over his last 10 games with a pair of doubles mixed in, and Thursday’s matchup against Cristian Javier is about as favorable as it gets on this slate. Javier, still working back from a long injury layoff, owns a 5.98 ERA and 1.55 WHIP on the season, and his split reveals exactly why he’s a target on the road: a 6.65 ERA and 1.83 WHIP away from Minute Maid Park in 2026, compared to a much more manageable 5.40 mark at home.

Javier has allowed three runs or fewer in his last four outings, but he’s also been homer-prone all year, and Harper’s combination of recent form and a righty he can drive to all fields makes him one of the higher-floor bats on the board. Citizens Bank Park’s hitter-friendly dimensions only add to the appeal here, and Harper slots in as a premium piece worth building a Phillies stack around.

Kyle Schwarber, DH — Philadelphia Phillies (vs Houston Astros)

Schwarber pairs naturally with Harper in the same lineup and against the same Javier matchup, and his season-long power against right-handers has been elite: 28 home runs and 53 RBI against RHP this year, with a .511 slugging percentage in that split. He’s been even better at home, slugging with 20 home runs against right-handed pitching in Citizens Bank Park alone.

Against a Javier fastball that’s been hit hard on the road all season, Schwarber’s all-fields power profile plays up, and he brings some of the highest pure ceiling of any bat on the slate given his propensity for multi-homer nights. He won’t offer batting-average safety given his strikeout rate, but in tournament formats where correlation with Harper in the same lineup matters, Schwarber is a strong stacking piece to pair alongside the Phillies’ other top bats.

Building Your Lineup

The clearest stacking angle on this slate runs through Philadelphia’s lineup against Javier, with Harper and Schwarber forming the foundation of a Phillies-driven build in both cash games and GPP formats. From there, rostering Fried or deGrom in the pitcher slot gives you swing-and-miss upside without needing to pay top-of-market pricing, since neither price tag fully reflects their recent form. Acuna slots in as a premium, stand-alone piece against a Rays pitching staff that plays neutral for right-handed power.

For cash games, prioritize the floor plays — Fried’s matchup safety and Harper’s recent contact rate make them the steadiest building blocks. In GPPs, lean into the Phillies stack a bit heavier and consider pivoting off popular chalk if ownership on Harper or Schwarber balloons past expectations; sometimes the better play is fading a piece of the obvious stack and pairing one Phillies bat with a correlated play elsewhere on the board. Whichever direction you go, today’s slate rewards attacking Javier’s road struggles and leaning on the two elite starting pitchers anchoring the card. If you’re mapping out odds and lines before locking your DraftKings lineup, it’s worth a quick check of the live MLB odds page to see how the market is pricing these same matchups.