Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Saturday 8/1

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84) Last Updated 2026-08-01 16:52:36 Premium Content Part of the product MLB DFS

Long-time grinder Justin Van Zuiden (aka stlcardinals84) is here to cover the bases for the upcoming MLB DFS slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. Whether you are looking for the top pitchers or the best stacks, Justin has you covered with an extensive deep dive into his favorite MLB DFS picks today on August 1, 2026.

Welcome to the first day of August! It’s hard to believe that we are already into the final 2 months of the MLB season, and football will be right around the corner. I’m still going to enjoy baseball while it has the center stage even though my Cardinals have hit the skids over the past month. Today should bring us some joy in the way of a fun 10-game evening slate with a lot to love regarding both the pitching and hitting sides of the ledger.

We will need to monitor weather conditions in Atlanta, where there is a chance of storms tonight, and in Chicago, where it will be raining all day but hopefully clearing by game time. Outside of that, it looks to be all clear for lineup building.

I will focus the article today on the main evening slate given that is where most of the games land today. If you are playing the 4-game afternoon slate, we’ll have Expert tags and analysis available in our MLB DFS optimizer, LineupHQ, to help get you rolling.

Let’s dive in and see what today has to offer!

Saturday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel

A TRIO OF ACES

• Cristopher Sanchez at Orioles
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Red Sox
• Jacob deGrom at Astros

We get things started with a strong group of top pitchers, and I am sure we will see at least one big performance out of this trio tonight. As usual, I will start the proceedings with a peek at the 2026 statistics.

Sanchez – 2.73 ERA, 2.59 xFIP, 27.2% K, 4.8% BB
Yamamoto – 2.72 ERA, 3.34 xFIP, 24.5% K, 5.8% BB
deGrom – 3.67 ERA, 3.13 xFIP, 29.6% K, 5.4% BB

It is not surprising that all of these pitchers have strong metrics. Cristopher Sanchez has the best xFIP. Jacob deGrom has the highest strikeout rate. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has the best ERA and consistently pitches deep into games. You may recall that I wrote last weekend that he leads the league in innings pitched per start at around 6 2/3 innings per outing. That is incredible in this day and age.

If I am being totally honest, whom you decide to play in this range will largely come down to personal preference. None of these pitchers has an obvious “elite” matchup that is better than any of the others, and they are all quality pitchers. If you have a personal desire to pick a certain pitcher out of this group, do it. I am partial to Yamamoto because of his consistency and the fact that Dave Roberts trusts him to go deep into games. I know the Red Sox have been playing much better baseball of late, but their offense is going to come back to earth at some point. I’ll side with Yamamoto here. His matchup also gets an upgrade if Willson Contreras is out of the Red Sox lineup, as he left last night’s game after getting hit on the head by a pitch.

Cristopher Sanchez does worry me a little bit. He wasn’t sharp in the All-Star game in his home park. He had a 6.65 ERA in July. He hasn’t been quite as sharp, and you’re still paying a Cy Young premium for him. He’s third on the list for me tonight, but I completely understand if you take the other viewpoint. I also have some slight concern about deGrom with a recent dip in his strikeouts, but the overall season marks are still strong.

In short, I am not here to tell you whom to play in this ace tier. I am playing Yamamoto, but Sanchez and deGrom are viable as well. My rankings are Yamamoto > deGrom > Sanchez, but your mileage may vary.

SOLID SECONDARY ARMS

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