Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Saturday 5/16

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84) Last Updated 2026-05-16 15:31:07 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 May 16, 2026.

Happy Saturday, Grinders! We have the usual Saturday schedule with games spread out all over the place. There are 3 early starts followed by 3 later afternoon games and 8 evening games. DraftKings has combined all the afternoon games into one 6-game slate, whereas FanDuel has split them up into a pair of small slates. As such, I will focus on the DK early slate and the main evening slate in the article today.

With sunshine ruling most of the country over the last few days, weather again does not look to be a concern. It should be all systems go for another day of baseball.

Let’s dig in and see what the start of another weekend has in store for MLB DFS picks!

Saturday Afternoon Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel

AFTERNOON PITCHING OPTIONS

Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could come up with separate pitching tiers for the 6-game afternoon slate. This is a docket that is very heavily skewed toward the bats, and it’s not exciting at all from a pitching perspective. I knew it was trouble the moment I opened up the DK slate and saw that Nick Martinez was the pitcher with the 2nd-highest salary. Buckle up, folks. It’s just going to be about hanging on with pitching on this slate.

• Cristopher Sanchez at Pirates
• Bubba Chandler vs. Phillies
• Sandy Alcantara at Rays
• Nick Martinez vs. Marlins
• Casey Mize vs. Blue Jays
• Eduardo Rodriguez at Rockies
• Kyle Leahy vs. Royals

It’s not pretty, but everyone is dealing with the same options. As usual, let’s begin with a look at the 2026 data for these pitching options:

Sanchez – 2.11 ERA, 2.47 xFIP, 28.4% K, 5.9% BB
Chandler – 4.62 ERA, 5.47 xFIP, 19.7% K, 15.6% BB
Alcantara – 3.90 ERA, 4.46 xFIP, 16.1% K, 8.3% BB
Martinez – 1.70 ERA, 4.24 xFIP, 16.1% K, 5.2% BB
Mize – 2.90 ERA, 3.64 xFIP, 27.3% K, 8.6% BB (31 innings)
Rodriguez – 2.25 ERA, 4.66 xFIP, 16.5% K, 11.0% BB
Leahy – 4.31 ERA, 4.25 xFIP, 17.8% K, 9.4% BB

If you remove the 2026 numbers for Casey Mize given his smaller sample size (he has missed 3 weeks due to injury), Cristopher Sanchez has an xFIP that is over 1.75 runs better than every other pitcher we have available. He has the highest strikeout rate by over 8%. He has the 2nd-lowest walk rate behind only Nick Martinez.

Basically, Cristopher Sanchez is the best pitcher on the slate by a country mile. While the Pirates are much improved offensively, they also have relatively mediocre numbers against lefties to go along with the 4th-highest team strikeout rate against LHP to this point of the season. This just isn’t a conversation for me. Even if he is 75% owned, let the other 25% of people make the mistake of fading him. I just don’t see a great argument for fading Sanchez, especially since you need to play 2 pitchers on DK. Just play Sanchez.

Bubba Chandler is a talented young pitcher who looked dynamic in his cup of coffee debut in late 2025, but he has not been good this year. The batted ball data is bad, the xFIP and SIERA are bad, and the 15.6% walk rate is abysmal. The Phillies busted out offensively last night and are playing much better these days, and I have very little interest in Chandler here. Anything is possible on a thin slate for pitching, especially given his general talent level, but it’s a tough sell regardless. He ends up at #5 or #6 overall on this small slate (which is more of an indictment of the pitchers we have to choose from as opposed to a ringing endorsement of Chandler).

Sandy Alcantara got back in the mainstream media attention with 3 fantastic starts at the beginning of the year, but he has a 6.21 ERA in his last 6 outings. He’s never been a high-strikeout pitcher, and he has to face a Rays team that has the best record in the American League. Nick Martinez is also a low-strikeout arm on the other side of this game. Both of these pitchers are fine. They’re relatively safe, but there’s just not a huge ceiling. If you are just wanting to secure 10-14 points without risking a disaster, I think you can use either pitcher. I don’t think either one is a GPP winner, and Martinez is wildly overpriced on DK at $8,800. I prefer Alcantara for that reason if choosing between them.

Casey Mize is the big wild card on this slate. His early season numbers looked really good, and he was generating a lot more swings and misses than in previous seasons. However, he was then sidelined for close to 3 weeks with an oblique injury, and he did NOT go on a rehab assignment. I don’t mind him generally, but we have some issues here. First, he’s unlikely to get a full allotment of pitches. Second, he’s facing a low-strikeout Blue Jays lineup. I just don’t see any sort of ceiling here either, and I will have no exposure.

I don’t know what to make of Eduardo Rodriguez. His 2.25 ERA is almost entirely the result of a fortunate BABIP that is almost 80 points below his career norm. The batted ball data is poor. The strikeouts are poor. The walks are high. He’s pitching in Coors Field. On the other hand, the Rockies are a very high-strikeout bunch against lefties, and Rodriguez may end up somewhat underowned here. With very few pitchers offering ceiling potential today, Rodriguez has to be on the short list of options. He’s a risk/reward GPP play given the opponent.

If you want to go super cheap, I guess Kyle Leahy is available. The Royals aren’t much good, and the Cardinals need innings out of Leahy after an 11-inning game last night. Leahy has allowed just 1 run over 10 1/3 innings over his last 2 starts, and he’s a palatable value SP2 if you desire.

AFTERNOON PITCHING SUMMARY

Yuck. Do I need to even say anything else? Since I have to give some sort of recap, I’m begrudgingly typing words into this section. This is a slate that is going to be won by high-scoring bats; you are simply trying to avoid land mines with pitchers. Cristopher Sanchez is the clear SP1 for me, and it’s basically throwing darts from there. I wish I could make some outstanding options appear, but I just can’t. Here is how I am ranking them:

1) Cristopher Sanchez

(gap)

2) Eduardo Rodriguez
3) Sandy Alcantara
4) Nick Martinez
5) Bubba Chandler
6) Kyle Leahy
7) Casey Mize

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