Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Saturday 8/30

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84) Last Updated 2025-08-30 16:42:10 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, Cards has you covered with an extensive deep dive into his favorite MLB DFS picks.

Welcome to a long holiday weekend, everyone! The final weekend of August brings us the usual split-slate Saturday on tap, but today’s MLB slate is heavily weighted toward the evening games. In addition, we actually have a Saturday where the slates line up between FD and DK, with 4 early games starting at 3:07 PM ET and 9 late games starting at 7:10 PM ET.

I will focus today’s article on the larger evening docket. If you are looking for content for the smaller early slate, we will have you covered with some tags and analysis in our MLB DFS optimizer.

As for the evening slate, it looks to be fairly balanced between pitching and hitting options, and it looks like there will be several viable roster build approaches available. Let’s dive in and see what this Saturday has in store!

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Saturday Night Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings

TOP TIER PITCHERS

Nick Pivetta vs. Twins
Logan Gilbert vs. Guardians
Tyler Glasnow vs. Diamondbacks
Trevor Rogers vs. Giants
Jack Flaherty vs. Royals

This is an interesting group of aces. It’s not the strongest set of pitchers we have ever had, but it’s a unique one. I’m not really sure how to describe it other than “unique.” We’ve got some pitchers who have returned from injury. We’ve got some newfound aces. We’ve got some veterans. It’s an intriguing mix. As usual, let’s begin with a look at the 2025 data:

Pivetta – 2.82 ERA, 3.81 xFIP, 26.7% K, 6.8% BB
Gilbert – 3.69 ERA, 2.52 xFIP, 34.7% K, 6.0% BB
Glasnow – 3.36 ERA, 3.61 xFIP, 29.6% K, 12.6% BB
Rogers – 1.40 ERA, 3.49 xFIP, 24.1% K, 6.0% BB
Flaherty – 4.87 ERA, 3.66 xFIP, 28.4% K, 8.6% BB

Simply based on the data, it’s clear that there may be some differences of opinion with regards to how to handle this tier. I do not think there is one absolute “must” play out of the group. However, I do have a strong preference for Logan Gilbert. I like his matchup against a low-power Cleveland lineup, and Gilbert has an xFIP that is almost a full run lower than every other pitcher in this tier. He also has the highest strikeout rate by a wide margin. The higher ERA is largely a function of bad luck, and Gilbert is the clear choice for me.

I really don’t have a super strong take on the other pitchers outside of putting all of them a few notches below Gilbert. You could certainly mix and match them in multi-entry GPP builds. I will likely exclude Trevor Rogers because he has the lowest strikeout rate, and we can afford to be picky on a deep slate for arms. Tyler Glasnow is the most risk/reward option of the bunch with his command issues, but he is the one pitcher who can possibly match Gilbert with strikeouts if he has his “A” stuff.

Nick Pivetta has the most intriguing matchup against a Twins team that is rolling with the youth movement right now, and he’s probably my 2nd choice from this tier if I am looking for safety.

In short, Gilbert is the clear SP1 choice for me. I will likely include everyone else outside of Trevor Rogers in my MME GPP pool.

SECONDARY ARMS

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