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

Tuesday’s MLB slate is loaded with 10 games and plenty of angles for DraftKings and FanDuel lineups, from a Rays-Yankees series finale in the Bronx to a West Coast finale between the Athletics and Angels. With several teams already playing out the string on the 2026 season, there are a handful of soft matchups and inflated workloads worth attacking for cash games and GPP builds alike.

Today’s approach leans on confirmed lineup spots, favorable pitching matchups, and salary relief at multiple positions. We’re targeting a mix of a mid-tier arm working in a pitcher-friendly park, a rebuilding rotation’s back-end starter facing a fading offense, and a trio of hitters riding hot streaks into plus matchups. Here are five MLB DFS picks worth building around tonight.

Taj Bradley, SP — Minnesota Twins ($10,000 DK)

Bradley gets one of the best matchups on the board tonight, taking the mound against the Giants at pitcher-friendly Oracle Park. San Francisco ranks 22nd in the league in isolated power and 23rd in wOBA at home, exactly the kind of offense you want to attack with a strikeout arm working on the road.

The season-long ERA sits at 3.81, but the recent stretch has been even better — Bradley owns a 3.03 ERA and an 11.8 K/9 over his last five outings, up from 10.4 K/9 before that stretch. He’s completed six or more innings in three of those five starts and has struck out at least six batters in five straight appearances. Over his last 31.2 innings, he’s allowed just 12 runs with a 41:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The one blemish is a career-high 10.1% walk rate, so cash-game players should have a rough game script in the back of their mind. But at $10,000, Bradley’s strikeout upside against a bottom-third offense makes him one of the safer studs on tonight’s DraftKings MLB DFS board.

JR Ritchie, SP — Atlanta Braves ($6,700 DK)

Ritchie’s season-long numbers are far from pretty — a 5.03 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, and 11 home runs allowed in 62.2 innings paint the picture of a pitcher still finding his footing. He was even sent down to Triple-A in early August before returning due to a Reynaldo Lopez injury, and his last outing saw him get hit for six earned runs and two homers in Chicago.

That said, the process wasn’t a disaster: Ritchie struck out five batters and threw 82 pitches in that outing, and the matchup tonight is considerably softer. The Reds strike out at a high rate on the road while ranking 25th in wOBA and 27th in wRC+ away from Great American Ball Park. Cincinnati has also dropped four of its last five games, including a 9-1 loss to the Cubs over the weekend, and starter Brandon Williamson carries a 5.56 ERA of his own into this one, setting up a potential shootout at Truist Park.

At $6,700, Ritchie is a contrarian value pitcher pick for tournament lineups that need salary relief at the pitching spot without fully punting strikeout upside, especially with Atlanta’s bullpen able to bail him out early if needed.

Chase Meidroth, 2B/SS — Chicago White Sox ($4,000 DK)

Meidroth has been one of the hottest bats in baseball over the last two weeks, riding a 12-game fantasy scoring streak that includes four double-digit fantasy point outputs and a season-high 30 FPTS. He’s slashing .268/.343/.401 with 15 home runs, 87 runs, and 58 RBI on the year, and September has been especially strong — he’s hitting .269 over his last 15 games with three doubles and two homers, including a two-run shot on Sunday against Detroit.

Tonight’s matchup at Kansas City plays right into his strengths. Meidroth crushes left-handed pitching to the tune of .329/.415/.546 with a 171 wRC+, a 12.4% walk rate, and just a 17.4% strikeout rate. He’ll face Royals right-hander Daniel Lynch IV, who carries a 4.43 FIP and a modest 5.6% K-BB% against right-handed hitters.

At just $4,000, Meidroth is a strong value play in the middle infield for both DraftKings cash games and FanDuel picks, offering a legitimate floor thanks to his contact skills and real pop against right-handed arms.

Henry Bolte, OF — Athletics ($4,500 DK)

Bolte is quietly one of the better power-speed combos in DFS right now, sitting on 11 home runs and 21 stolen bases with a .272 average and .753 OPS across 389 at-bats this season. Five of those 11 homers have come in September alone, and he’s riding an 18-game fantasy goodie streak that includes two massive 39- and 44-FPTS performances.

Tonight’s matchup lines up well: Bolte faces Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, who owns a 4.55 FIP and a 10.5% K-BB% against right-handed hitters on the season, numbers that dip further to a 4.93 FIP on the road. Against left-handed pitching specifically, Bolte carries a .278/.355/.476 slash line with a .198 ISO and 128 wRC+, even with a strikeout rate that climbs to 33.8%.

With the Athletics and Angels both playing out the string, this is a lower-profile game that could see thin ownership relative to Bolte’s upside, making him an intriguing GPP piece in outfield builds tonight.

Nick Loftin, 2B/UTIL — Kansas City Royals ($2,900 DK)

Loftin rounds out the value section as one of the cheapest plays on the board with real recent production behind him. Over his last three games, he’s gone 6-for-12 with a hit in each contest, good for fantasy outputs of 8, 14, and 7 FPTS.

Against left-handed pitching this season, Loftin is slashing .262/.348/.383 with a 10.3% walk rate and a manageable 17% strikeout rate, translating to a 105 wRC+ despite modest raw power. Tonight he draws White Sox southpaw Anthony Kay, who carries a 5.71 FIP and just a 6.1% K-BB% against right-handed hitters, making this a plus matchup on paper for a player already producing at the plate.

At under $3,000, Loftin offers real salary-cap flexibility, letting DFS players pay up elsewhere in the lineup — whether that’s Bradley at the top of the pitcher pool or a premium outfield bat — without sacrificing a bottom-of-the-roster spot that could still contribute meaningful production.

Building Your Lineup

Tonight’s slate rewards attacking two soft matchups: the Giants’ bottom-third home offense against Bradley, and the fading Reds lineup on the road against Ritchie. Pairing a strikeout-heavy stud like Bradley with a contrarian value arm like Ritchie leaves plenty of salary to build out a hitter-heavy roster around Meidroth, Bolte, and Loftin.

For cash games, Meidroth’s floor against left-handed pitching and Loftin’s recent hit streak make them safer building blocks than chasing power totals in tougher parks. In GPP formats, Bolte’s power-speed profile against Kikuchi in a lower-ownership game environment offers real differentiation, especially if the popular plays cluster around the marquee Rays-Yankees or Blue Jays-Orioles series. If you’re deciding between DraftKings and FanDuel pricing, double-check the exact salary structure on your MLB odds page before locking in, since value shifts can differ meaningfully between sites on a given slate. Whatever combination you land on, prioritize confirmed lineup spots and recent form over season-long averages this late in the schedule, when workloads and roles can shift game to game.