Wednesday was "Opening Day" for the 2026 MLB season, but the scare quotes were included because there was a single game. Thursday is more of a proper Opening Day, though not every MLB team will have kicked off its season by the end of Thursday. The DraftKings DFS slate is focused on the afternoon games, which leaves us with nine games on the docket. First pitch is at 1:15 p.m. ET. Here are my MLB DFS lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Jacob Misiorowski, MIL vs. CWS ($7,500): Misiorowski hit MLB like a house on fire as a rookie, all limbs and heat, before he began to flag and get figured out a bit. Hey, so he isn't Paul Skenes. Such is life. Misiorowski is still only 23, and he had an 11.86 K/9 rate last season. The White Sox may be a bit better offensively this year, but after being down in the bottom five in runs scored for a bit, I can't envision them breaking out of the bottom 10 on that front just yet.
Matthew Boyd, CHC vs. WAS ($7,300): I can see the Cubs winning a lot of games this season, and I can see the Nationals losing quite a few, and thus a home win to kick off the season for Boyd is easy to envision. Last year, his first with the Cubs, Boyd had a 2.51 ERA at home. Washington finished outside the bottom 10 in runs scored in 2025 by a single run, but it didn't really add to its offense, and James Wood can only do so much improving.
Drew Rasmussen, TAM at STL ($6,700): Rasmussen has long been "good when healthy," and last season he was healthy. He made 31 starts and posted a 2.76 ERA. The Cardinals' numbers from last year mean something, but not as much as what other teams' numbers did, because this is a roster built upon the embracing of a rebuild.
Top Targets
I believe in rostering Byron Buxton ($5,700) when he's healthy, and I don't necessarily believe in Trevor Rogers' 2025 performance. A lefty with a career 4.36 ERA heading into the campaign suddenly goes and posts an 1.81 ERA? Sure, even his 2.81 FIP was quite good, but I don't know if he can put it all together in the same way again. Buxton is an elite power hitter, and he had an 1.050 OPS versus southpaws in 2025. He was also healthy enough to run a bit, and he swiped 24 bags in 126 games.
Fingers crossed this season goes more smoothly for Yordan Alvarez ($5,200), especially given that he is the one proven lefty bat in the Astros' lineup. Injuries limited the Cuban slugger in 48 games last season and sapped him of some of that power (though he did still post a .367 OBP). Over the prior four seasons, though, Alvarez had a .958 OPS and hit more than 30 home runs in every campaign. The righty Jose Soriano doesn't allow a ton of home runs, but he also walked 4.15 batters per nine innings last season, so even if Alvarez is just standing at first base four or five times in this one that could lead to some good results for your DFS lineup.
Bargain Bats
Last season, Yandy Diaz ($4,400) did a lot of damage at Tampa's temporary home. He won't have that this year, but he should still have his skill against lefties. Since 2023, Diaz has a .976 OPS versus southpaws. Matthew Liberatore, who is a lefty as you likely guessed, had his best season to date in 2025, but he still had a 4.21 ERA, so he wasn't exactly an ace.
The hype remains high around Samuel Basallo ($3,300) even though he really struggled in his first taste of MLB. In his age-20 season he had a .966 OPS in Triple-A as a catcher, so it's easy to see why people still believe in his bat. Joe Ryan posts sterling K/BB rates, but he is also homer prone. The righty has allowed 1.42 homers per nine innings in his career.
Stacks to Consider
Brewers vs. White Sox (Shane Smith): Christian Yelich ($4,500), Brice Turang ($4,300), Luis Rengifo ($3,000)
Aces abound when it comes to a club's first game, so it says something about the White Sox that Smith is going to be on the mound Opening Day. As a rookie he had a 3.81 ERA with a 4.09 FIP. The righty also had a 4.04 ERA on the road. Smith didn't allow a ton of home runs, and neither lefties nor righties hit him for a particularly high average, but lefties hit three times as many home runs as righties against him. Thus, a stack with three guys who can hit left-handed.
Yelich's 29 home runs last season were his most since his MVP days, and his 103 RBI were the second-most of his career as well. Since 2023, Yelich has a .382 OBP against righties, and last season he slugged .504 in those matchups. Turang is intriguing, because last season he added a high-level bat to his preexisting speed and fielding ability that led to him having a regular MLB role. Last year, though, the second baseman hit .288 with 18 home runs, with 15 of those home runs coming against righties. The switch-hitting Rengifo joins Milwaukee after spending seven seasons with the Angels. He's coming off a tough campaign, but he still had three triples, nine homers and 10 stolen bases. Maybe the change of scenery will help.
Cubs vs. Nationals (Cade Cavalli): Michael Busch ($4,600), Alex Bregman ($4,200), Nico Hoerner ($4,000)
MacKenzie Gore is with the Rangers, and so Cavalli gets the call for Opening Day. In 10 MLB starts last season he had a 4.25 ERA, but in 15 starts in Triple-A he had a 6.09 ERA. On top of that, his road ERA with the Nationals was 6.17. Cavalli is a righty, so I wanted at least one left in this stack, but righties averaged .381 against him so I do have two right-handed hitters.
The lefty Busch took a real step forward last season, hitting .261 with 34 homers and five triples. A first baseman who can leg out five triples is rare! Busch does need to figure out how to hit against lefties, but he slugged .554 against righties in 2025. Bregman joins the Cubs after spending one season with the Red Sox. He'll hope getting away from Fenway Park helps him. Bregman has a track record of being better against his fellow righties, and he has an .818 OPS in those matchups since 2023. Hoerner hits for average and he steals bases. Last season he hit .297, and he also stole 29 bases. That was actually a step down in terms of swiping bags, and it tends to be easier to steal on right-handed pitchers.
