Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Saturday 5/24

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84) Last Updated 2025-05-24 19:43:26 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! As usual, we have a split slate Saturday on tap. Today’s split slate leans more toward the afternoon games, but we do have a 5-game evening slate to go along with the 8-game afternoon docket. For one housekeeping note, FD is excluding the second game of the BAL/BOS doubleheader from their afternoon slate, while as of now, DK is including it. That surprises me a bit given that the second game is not starting until 6:35 PM ET. Assuming DK does not cancel that game from the slate, we still have 8 games on DK, while we are down to 7 on FD. I will be writing up both the afternoon and evening slates for you today.

As usual, we need to keep an eye on the weather. I am going to write this article assuming every game plays for now, as Roth does not have any of the games with a “RED” designation. As of the time I am writing this, the worst rating is a a “YELLOW / ORANGE” designation for the game at Coors Field, which is obviously an impactful one. Be sure to keep tabs on any updates by using our MLB weather page to make sure you are up to date before lock.

Let’s see what the start of this holiday weekend has in store!

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Saturday Afternoon Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings

TOP TIER QUARTET

Michael King vs. Braves
Max Fried vs. Rockies
Framber Valdez vs. Mariners
Bryan Woo vs. Astros

Editor’s Note: Michael King has been scratched.

We don’t have the eye-popping, strikeout-heavy aces going this afternoon, but this is still a quartet of quality arms. Let’s take a look at the 2025 data to date:

King – 2.59 ERA, 3.54 xFIP, 28.4% K, 7.6% BB
Fried – 1.29 ERA, 3.39 xFIP, 23.9% K, 6.0% BB
Valdez – 3.57 ERA, 3.26 xFIP, 23.3% K, 7.5% BB
Woo – 2.65 ERA, 3.44 xFIP, 24.8% K, 3.6% BB

It’s an interesting group, and I’ve sat here for about 15 minutes trying to think about how to best approach my explanation.

I think the best way to do it would be to start with Max Fried, as I think he will be the most polarizing of the bunch. In previous years, we wouldn’t mess with a pitcher like Fried in Coors Field. He wasn’t enough of a high-strikeout ace to overcome pitching in this park. However, the current state of the Rockies offense makes them a team we can target with opposing pitchers, even at Coors Field. Fried uses his fastball and sinker over 60% of the time, meaning a large percentage of his pitches are not breaking balls. I am not super concerned about his stuff being affected by the altitude as much. He does a good job at limiting hard contact, he’s a huge road favorite, and his strikeouts are above league average at 24%. He’s the SP1 for me this afternoon, but I understand if you don’t want to take the same path. It’s an easy decision on DK where Fried is priced down to $8,300; I definitely understand not playing him on FD at $11,000 if you are in a pinch for salary savings, but all of these pitchers are priced at $10,000+ on FD.

Michael King is the risk/reward option. He clearly has the best strikeout stuff of any pitcher throwing this afternoon, but he also has the highest xFIP of this top group. While the Atlanta offense has clearly not met expectations in 2025, the talent is still there. They also have Ronald Acuna Jr. back now, and his impact cannot be overstated. He hit about a 600-foot home run in his first at bat of the season on Friday (naturally, that was the only run the Braves scored in the game). I have enough faith in this unit to where I can’t bank on King as anything more than a GPP option.

Framber Valdez and Bryan Woo are the other two “safe” options. I’m going to give the edge to Valdez, and he would be my cash game pairing on DK along with Fried. After a slow start to the year, Valdez has posted a 2.83 ERA over his last 5 starts, and he hasn’t walked more than 2 batters in any of them. The Seattle lineup has the 7th-highest strikeout rate in the league against LHP this year, and I think there’s sneaky upside with Valdez. Woo is perfectly fine as well but just ranks a little lower for me.

Frankly, I have no issues with any of these pitchers. I will have the most exposure to Fried and Valdez, but I wouldn’t argue with any combination of this group, with the caveat that King is probably a bit too risky for cash game usage.

SECONDARY PITCHING OPTIONS

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