Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Saturday 7/12

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84) Last Updated 2025-07-12 14:43:31 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.

Happy Saturday, Grinders! We have another split slate to start the weekend, but this Saturday is heavily skewed toward the afternoon games. DraftKings is giving us a big 11-game main slate starting just after 1 PM Eastern, while FanDuel has condensed it down to a 7-game main slate by only including the games that start at 4 PM Eastern. I will just discuss the options under the lens of the DK slate, but I will notate which options are not available on the FD main slate.

We had quite a few games on Friday with weather delays, and my neighbor had a tree get struck by lightning in the midst of the Friday shenanigans. Thankfully, everything is okay and it missed the power lines, so we are still all systems go for electricity. Given how crazy it has been over the last few days, be sure to keep a close eye on our MLB weather page to view all the latest updates leading up to lineup lock. Roth’s analysis has been invaluable this week.

If you are playing the evening slate, we’ll also have you covered with tags and blurbs in our MLB DFS optimizer for that set of games. Let’s dive into this main slate and see what the start of the weekend has to offer!

Editor’s Note: Looking for more places to play? Check out our Underdog Fantasy promo code and PrizePicks promo code, two of the best DFS apps available today.

Saturday Afternoon Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings

TOP TIER PITCHERS

Garrett Crochet vs. Rays
Max Fried vs. Cubs (DK Only)
Casey Mize vs. Mariners (DK Only)
George Kirby vs. Tigers (DK Only)

We start off this Saturday with an intriguing group of top arms, though I presume there’s a clear-cut winner out of them. Before I get to that conclusion, let’s check the 2025 data:

Crochet – 2.39 ERA, 2.74 xFIP, 31.3% K, 7.0% BB
Fried – 2.27 ERA, 3.31 xFIP, 23.6% K, 5.1% BB
Mize – 2.63 ERA, 4.00 xFIP, 20.7% K, 5.9% BB
Kirby – 4.22 ERA, 3.23 xFIP, 25.1% K, 4.5% BB

Let me get the easy part out of the way. If you are playing on FanDuel, Garrett Crochet is literally the only pitcher that is even available from this tier. He is your SP1 over there, and there is just no conversation we can even have about it.

Frankly, the conversation is essentially the same on DK as well. Crochet has the best xFIP of this group by a solid margin. He has the highest strikeout rate by more than a 6% margin. The walks are a slight issue at times, but even a 7% walk rate is not outrageous. Even if we try to factor in matchup, there’s no change to this conclusion. All 4 pitchers are facing teams that are comfortably above .500 on the season, and all the opponents have capable offenses. The Rays rank just 21st in team ISO against LHP this year, so give me the pitcher who can miss bats. I just can’t endorse the lower strikeouts of Fried against the Cubs or Mize against the Mariners. The risk outweighs the potential reward with both of them.

Garrett Crochet is my SP1 today by a wide margin. It’s not close.

If you do want a GPP pivot, my preferred target would be George Kirby. He looks back to his usual self with a 3.23 xFIP and low walks, and his strikeout rate has bumped up to 25%. I don’t love targeting pitchers against the Tigers, but they do have the 6th-highest strikeout rate in the league against RHP in 2025. Kirby is my second favorite option in this range on the DK slate.

SECONDARY PITCHING OPTIONS

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