Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Saturday 6/6

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84) Last Updated 2026-06-06 16:19:28 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 June 6, 2026.

Happy Saturday, Grinders! We have a bit of a weird Saturday on tap to start the first weekend of June. There are quite a few early games today, and DraftKings has given us a healthy 9-game main slate starting at 2:10 PM ET. However, FanDuel has done their usual trick of splitting up those earlier games into a pair of smaller slates. As such, I will focus the analysis for the early games on the larger DK slate. If you are playing on FD, you can split the analysis as appropriate for the differing start times. I will then also discuss the 5-game evening slate for both sites, which is the “main” slate on FD.

The weather looks largely clear today with the exception of some showers in New York later that could impact the BOS/NYY evening game. We will have to keep an eye on that as lineup lock gets closer. Otherwise, it should be all systems go for lineup building.

Let’s dive in and see what the start of the weekend has available for MLB DFS picks!

Saturday Afternoon Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel

TOP TIER PITCHERS

• Spencer Strider vs. Pirates
• Joe Ryan vs. Royals
• Braxton Ashcraft at Braves
• Shane McClanahan at Marlins

This isn’t the best pitching slate we’ve ever had, but there are still a few intriguing names at the top of the board. As usual, let’s begin with a look at the 2026 data for these 4 aces:

Strider – 3.77 ERA, 3.84 xFIP, 31.5% K, 13.4% BB (31 innings)
Ryan – 3.20 ERA, 3.41 xFIP, 28.0% K, 5.0% BB
Ashcraft – 2.77 ERA, 3.15 xFIP, 27.3% K, 5.7% BB
McClanahan – 2.45 ERA, 3.76 xFIP, 23.9% K, 8.6% BB

All of these pitchers are sitting with above-average strikeout rates and solid overall profiles. Many people will default to Spencer Strider as the SP1 on this slate, but I’m going to pump the brakes on that just a little bit. He is still in the midst of a 5th straight season with declining velocity, and I don’t think the 31.5% strikeout rate is sustainable. The command remains an issue, and the Pirates are a much improved team offensively this year. If the projected ownership is high, I am intentionally going to be underweight on Strider today, as he isn’t even a home favorite against Braxton Ashcraft.

Speaking of Ashcraft, he’s just as viable — if not more viable — than the aforementioned Strider. His numbers are spectacular across the board, and he’d be the ace of this Pittsburgh staff if Paul Skenes didn’t exist. He has great command, does a good job of keeping hitters off balance, and has the same 14% swinging-strike rate that Strider has. The Braves are a dangerous offense, but Ashcraft is an underrated pitcher. He’s a great tournament option.

My favorite target in this tier is going to be Joe Ryan. After a relatively slow start to the season, Ryan put together a great month of May with a 31:5 K/BB ratio and a 1.73 ERA over 26 innings. He got hit around a little bit in his first June start, but he still had 9 strikeouts and 0 walks in that outing. The stuff is there, the command is there, and he has a fine matchup against a relatively weak-hitting Royals team. All things considered, he is my top spend.

Shane McClanahan is fine, but he’s probably the odd man out in this tier. The $9,500 salary is elevated, especially for a pitcher who has only made it through 6 innings once all season. The Marlins do have the 7th-highest team strikeout rate against LHP this season, so there is a path to success for McClanahan, but I definitely prefer both Ryan and Ashcraft.

I am ranking this tier as Ryan > Ashcraft > Strider > McClanahan this afternoon.

SECONDARY ARMS

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