After a light Thursday of MLB action, the weekend series kick off Friday. There are 11 games on the DFS docket, with the first pitch at 7:07 p.m. ET. Let's kick off the weekend with gusto! Here are my MLB DFS lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Shane Baz, BAL vs. SFG ($8,400): Baz finally pitched a full season in 2025 and it went, eh, fine I guess. He finished with a 4.36 FIP and 9.52 HR/9 rate with the Rays, but he had a 5.90 ERA at home. Do recall Tampa played in a Triple-A park last season, and it was conducive to offense. It's early, but the Giants are really struggling to start 2026. We're talking 41 runs through 13 games and a .618 OPS as a team.
Chad Patrick, MIL vs. WAS ($8,200): Patrick has a 0.96 ERA through two starts this season, though that's not sustainable, obviously. Last year as a rookie, though, Patrick managed a 3.53 ERA and 0.98 HR/9 rate. Now, the Nationals have started this season red hot offensively, but it's too early for me to buy into that. This was a below-average offense in 2025, and the lineup got worse this offseason.
Davis Martin, CWS at KAN ($6,700): My suggestion with a lower salary on the mound for Friday is Martin. He really struggled with strikeouts last season but managed a 4.10 ERA. This year he has a 2.45 ERA through two starts, though those starts have been against the Marlins and scuffling Blue Jays. The Royals did finish in the bottom five in runs scored last year, so maybe Martin can continue his impressive start to this campaign.
Top Targets
Last year, Christian Yelich ($5,500) had 29 homers and 16 stolen bases even though his average fell to .264. He's hitting .372 to begin this campaign and he's notched a homer, a triple and three stolen bases. Yelich also has an .884 OPS versus righties since 2024. Jake Irvin, a righty, has a career 5.02 FIP, and last season he allowed 1.90 home runs per nine innings.
After a couple seasons in which he showed a decline from "high-level hitter regardless of position" to "good for a second baseman," Jose Altuve ($5,200) has come out of the gate strong in 2026. He has an 1.030 OPS with six extra-base hits and a stolen base. I am not sold on Emerson Hancock's start to this year. He has a career 4.90 FIP, 1.49 HR/9 rate and 6.31 K/9 rate. Altuve should at least be able to pick up a hit or two while Hancock is in this game.
Bargain Bats
Though he can't stay healthy and has never developed as a player in the way expected based on his draft status, Royce Lewis ($3,600) can still deliver counting stats at third base, which is sufficient for DFS purposes in the right matchup. Last year he had 13 homers, 18 doubles and 12 stolen bases in 106 games, and this season he has two of each. Patrick Corbin has been called up from the minors because, well, the Blue Jays are desperate I guess? The 36-year-old lefty has posted a 5.47 ERA over the prior five seasons, and righties have hit over .300 against him in that time.
After spending two seasons stalled out at Triple-A in the Yankees organization, TJ Rumfield ($3,000) got to make the move to the Rockies. He wasn't bad in Triple-A, posting a .372 OBP with 89 extra-base hits. The lefty has started his tenure with Colorado with a .341/.404/.561 slash line. Unfortunately, it seems all but official that Walker Buehler is done as a viable MLB pitcher. Since missing the 2023 season, he's posted a 5.23 ERA, including a 9.45 ERA through two starts this season.
Stacks to Consider
Red Sox at Cardinals (Dustin May): Roman Anthony ($5,100), Wilyer Abreu ($4,800), Willson Contreras ($4,100)
Speaking of former Dodgers pitchers who seem to have lost the ability to cut it at the MLB level! After missing 2024, May returned with the Dodgers in 2025, but he was then moved to Boston. After the righty posted a 4.96 ERA on the campaign with a fastball two to three miles per hour slower than it used to be, May was left to sign with the rebuilding Cardinals. Through two starts he has a 15.95 ERA. I know that's only two starts, but that's still horrendous. Since May is right-handed, I do have two lefties from the Red Sox in this stack.
Anthony, a vaunted prospect, has started slow, but he has one double, one triple, one homer and one stolen base. Last season in his first taste of MLB action, he managed a .903 OPS versus righties and a .910 OPS on the road. Abreu has come out of the gate on fire. He has an 1.110 OPS with four doubles and three home runs already. Contreras had 20 homers and 31 doubles with the Cardinals last season. This is slightly about the notion Contreras might be looking to excel against his former team, but more about May letting righties hit .269 against him since his return.
Atlanta vs. Cleveland (Slade Cecconi): Ronald Acuna ($5,700), Drake Baldwin ($4,500), Mauricio Dubon ($3,400)
Yes, Cecconi's last start went well, but his first start went so poorly he still has a 5.23 ERA. In his final season with the Diamondbacks he had a 5.02 FIP and 1.87 HR/9 rate. The move to Cleveland, however, only yielded a 4.64 FIP and 1.64 HR/9 rate in 2025. Location doesn't seem to matter for Cecconi, so I'd stack this Atlanta trio against him.
Acuna is off to a slow start (even with three doubles and two stolen bases), but I am zero percent concerned. Last season he had a .997 OPS at home, and a .978 OPS against his fellow righties. Baldwin has emerged as one of the best-hitting catchers in MLB. He had 19 homers and two triples in 124 games in 2025, and this season he has an 1.013 OPS with five home runs. I'm recommending Dubon for a few reasons. One, he is a shortstop on a salary that is easy to manage, and offensive upside is lower at that position. Two, he's started his tenure with Atlanta with a .918 OPS through 12 games. Three, since 2024 Cecconi's fellow righties have hit .285 against him.
Agree with these recommendations? Give them a spin with various combinations of other players in RotoWire's MLB DFS Lineup Optimizer.
