Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Saturday 9/5

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84)

Created Sep 4, 2026

Last Updated 2026-09-05 13:19:31 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, Justin has you covered with an extensive deep dive into his favorite MLB DFS picks today on September 5, 2026.

Happy Saturday, Grinders! Welcome to the start of a holiday weekend! We are only 4 days away from a lot of eyes shifting over to the NFL, and college football gets rolling in earnest today. While that may cause a shift in the interest level for some people, I can only assume that you have clicked on this article because you still want to hear about baseball, and I’m more than happy to keep talking baseball!

This Saturday gives us 9 evening games on the docket, and this looks to be a day that is all clear on the MLB Weather front. Hot and humid conditions continue across the Midwest, which gives us a good chance at offense in some games. However, there are a lot of very good pitchers going tonight, and we also have a game in Coors Field. It’s going to be a tricky slate with which to navigate the salary cap, and I would expect a higher-scoring night.

Let’s dig in and see what the start of this Labor Day weekend has to offer!

Saturday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel

SEVERAL ACE-ISH CHOICES

• Tyler Glasnow vs. Nationals
• Jacob deGrom vs. Rays
• Taj Bradley at White Sox
• Drew Rasmussen at Rangers
• Sonny Gray at Orioles

We have a pretty interesting group of top arms tonight, with 5 pitchers who have all had their share of success at varying points in 2026. All of them have somewhat “gettable” matchups tonight, so it might come down to some personal preference for ranking them. Before coming to that conclusion, let’s see if the statistics for the year help us parse things.

Glasnow – 2.79 ERA, 2.79 xFIP, 32.3% K, 7.3% BB
deGrom – 4.00 ERA, 3.16 xFIP, 29.8% K, 6.6% BB
Bradley – 3.85 ERA, 3.87 xFIP, 27.2% K, 10.1% BB
Rasmussen – 2.95 ERA, 3.22 xFIP, 26.0% K, 4.7% BB
Gray – 2.82 ERA, 3.59 xFIP, 21.8% K, 6.3% BB

Nobody would have expected this a couple months ago, but the Dodgers have been struggling mightily of late and are now in a fight with the Braves for the second bye in the National League playoff bracket. They have every incentive to try to right the ship at the moment, and Glasnow has looked sharp in 2 starts since returning from the IL with a 13:1 K:BB ratio over 12 innings. He pitched 7 innings of 2-hit ball in his last outing, and he draws a fine home matchup against a Washington lineup that has been a middle-of-the-pack group over the past couple of months. If you are looking for a pitcher with a combination of safety and ceiling, Glasnow is the most obvious SP1 choice.

Jacob deGrom might have the worst surface numbers of this group, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. His BABIP for this year is around 20 points higher than his career average, and I am intrigued if he checks in at lower ownership tonight. His last 3 starts have been 2 gems sandwiched around a disaster against the White Sox, but the others featured 10 and 8 strikeouts with impeccable control. I don’t want to prioritize a pitcher against the Rays generally, but deGrom is a very interesting tournament option. Another potential risk/reward play would be Taj Bradley. He has by far the highest walk rate of this ace tier, and that is dangerous in a matchup against a power-laden White Sox lineup. It is also very hot and humid in Chicago right now, and that’s enough to give me pause on Bradley. He might stay in my multi-entry tournament pool, but he is nowhere near a priority option.

Drew Rasmussen might have the highest floor of any pitcher on the slate, and that’s definitely noteworthy on a loaded docket. I continue to wait for the Rays to baby his pitch counts, but Rasmussen averaged almost 93 pitches per start in August. He hasn’t walked more than 2 batters in a SINGLE START all season, and it’s not like the Rangers are a dangerous offense. I still have some trepidation about targeting him at $9,300 on DK, but he’s earned the high salary tag and is a perfectly fine DFS option.

I am probably out on Sonny Gray. His strikeout rate is just a massive step down from all the other options in this tier, he feels overpriced, and we can be picky on a slate that has plenty of arms to choose from. Though there isn’t an active reason to dislike him other than the average strikeouts, I’ll pass in the context of this slate.

I will rank this tier as Glasnow > Rasmussen > deGrom > Bradley > Gray, with Glasnow being my preferred SP1, Rasmussen being a totally safe pivot, and deGrom/Bradley being the risk/reward choices.

SECONDARY ARMS

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