Best MLB DFS Picks Today: Top Value Plays for September 14, 2026

Monday’s MLB slate features 10 games, and the top of the marquee belongs to a genuine ace showdown at Great American Ball Park, where the Dodgers send Tarik Skubal to the mound against a Reds lineup that has been trending hot. Add in a critical AL Central tilt between the White Sox and Guardians and a full 15-game NFL-style spread of value and volatility, and today’s board gives DFS players plenty to work with even as rosters thin out this late in September.

Our approach today leans on pitching first, then attacks the hitter pool for stacked lineups in good park and matchup spots. We’re targeting one true stud arm, one contrarian mid-range arm, and a trio of bats who’ve been producing at the plate over the last two weeks — mixing cash-game floor with tournament ceiling.

Tarik Skubal, SP — Los Angeles Dodgers ($10,500 DK)

Skubal is the highest-owned arm on the board for a reason. Since being dealt to Los Angeles, he’s continued to dominate, sitting at a 2.84 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 164 strikeouts over 139.2 innings on the season, with a K:BB ratio (164:24) that ranks among the best in baseball. Over his last seven starts he’s been even better, running a 2.93 ERA and 48 strikeouts across 43 innings.

Tonight he draws a Reds lineup that has struggled against premium left-handed stuff, and Cincinnati’s road numbers this season back that up. Skubal’s most recent start was a win over this same Reds club on September 8, when he worked 7.1 innings and allowed just two runs. He should carry a heavy strikeout floor into this one, and at $10,500 he’s priced as a clear top option — the kind of arm you pay up for and build the rest of your roster around.

The one blemish worth flagging: Skubal did allow a two-run homer to Elly De La Cruz in that same September 8 outing, so tournament players stacking Cincinnati bats against him aren’t completely off base, even with Skubal a heavy favorite overall.

Francisco Lindor, SS — New York Mets (vs. Baltimore)

Lindor has been one of the hottest bats in baseball over the past week, hitting four home runs in his last five games, including a two-homer, five-RBI effort against the Yankees on September 12. Over his last 15 games he’s slashing with seven homers, a sharp uptick from his season-long .760 OPS.

Tonight’s matchup against Baltimore’s Brandon Young at Citi Field is a favorable one on paper — Young carries a 3.71 ERA into the outing, and Lindor’s recent power surge makes him a strong source of pop from the shortstop position, a spot that’s often thin on true power plays. With the way he’s squaring up the ball right now, Lindor gives you cash-game consistency at the top of the Mets order plus legitimate home run upside for GPP builds.

Jackson Merrill, OF — San Diego Padres ($5,500 DK, at Colorado)

Merrill has been locked in since the All-Star break, batting .299 over his last 52 games, and he’s carried that form into September — three home runs and 10 RBI over his last 10 games, including a homer in back-to-back contests against the Giants on September 8 and 12. He’s added 25 home runs and 26 stolen bases on the season, giving him a well-rounded stat line that fills multiple DFS categories.

Today’s trip to Coors Field only sweetens the appeal. Colorado’s ballpark remains the most hitter-friendly environment in baseball, and Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano carries a 5.30 ERA into the matchup. At $5,500, Merrill offers a strong floor from his contact-and-power combination plus real thin-air upside that’s tough to find at this salary tier.

Elly De La Cruz, SS — Cincinnati Reds ($5,800–$6,000 DK, vs. Los Angeles)

De La Cruz brings some of the highest ceiling on the entire board. He’s hitting .393 with four home runs over his last seven games and .284 with 26 homers and 25 stolen bases on the season — a rare five-category threat who can single-handedly carry a DFS roster with one big night. He’s gone over 1.5 combined hits, runs and RBI in nine of his last 10 games.

Facing Skubal is far from an ideal matchup on paper, but De La Cruz has already gone deep against him this season, taking him for a two-run shot in their most recent meeting on September 8. Given his stolen-base equity and power combination, he’s a fine pivot away from the popular Skubal-stack builds — rostering the ace and fading the Reds lineup, or vice versa, is a real strategic fork on this slate, and De La Cruz gives you a path to attack it from the other side.

Reid Detmers, SP — Los Angeles Angels (vs. Seattle)

Detmers has quietly turned into one of the better strikeout arms in the American League, with 191 strikeouts over 168 innings this season — fourth-most in the AL — to go with a sharp 3.32 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. He’s been especially dominant lately, striking out at least nine batters in three different starts since the All-Star break, most recently fanning nine over six scoreless innings against Boston.

Tonight he faces a Mariners lineup behind rookie Kade Anderson, who carries a 4.29 ERA and 1.38 WHIP into the matchup — considerably shakier than Detmers’ numbers across the board. The strikeout prop line for Detmers sits at 6.5, and given his recent form and the swing-and-miss stuff he’s shown all year, there’s a real path to him clearing that mark comfortably. At a more modest salary than the top-tier arms on the slate, Detmers offers a strong pivot for lineups that already paid up at another position.

Building Your Lineup

The core strategic decision on tonight’s slate is how you want to handle the Dodgers-Reds game. Rostering Skubal and fading Cincinnati bats is the higher-floor, lower-ceiling cash-game approach; pairing a Reds stack with a different ace elsewhere (or simply eating the risk and playing both Skubal and De La Cruz) is the more aggressive tournament play. Either is defensible given how well both pitcher and hitter have performed recently.

From a salary-cap standpoint, pairing Skubal at the top with value bats like Merrill and a discounted middle-infield option leaves enough room to also roster Detmers if you want a two-pitcher build, though most cash lineups will lean toward a single ace plus stacked offense. If you’re using odds boosts or same-game parlay tools to complement your DFS entries, it’s worth checking the live MLB odds page before locks to see how the market is pricing tonight’s games — sharp line movement late in the day can be a useful signal on which matchups are drawing smart money.

Ownership-wise, expect Skubal and Lindor to be popular chalk plays given their recent form, so differentiation in tournaments will likely come from how you build around them — whether that’s rostering Detmers as a lower-owned arm or leaning into the Reds stack as a contrarian angle. Whatever build you land on, prioritize confirmed lineups and recent form over season-long averages this late in the year, since roster construction and playing time can shift quickly as teams manage workloads down the stretch.