Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Sunday 8/23

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84)

Created Aug 23, 2026

Last Updated 2026-08-23 14:15:16 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 August 23, 2026.

Happy Sunday, Grinders! We have our normal Sunday main slate with a start time of 1:35 PM Eastern again today, with an 8-game main slate awaiting us on DraftKings. FanDuel is adding the CLE/COL and SF/BOS games to their slate, which gives us a 10-game slate over there.

This appears like it will be all quiet on the MLB weather front, so I am planning on this slate being all systems go for lineup building.

Unfortunately, this is just not a slate that looks exciting. There is a whole lot of “average” stuff out there, we have quite a few bullpen games going on, and there are some pitchers just returning from injury. This is one of my least favorite weekend slates that I have seen all year.

Let’s dig in and see if a deeper look helps uncover some more excitement.

Sunday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel

TWO ACES AT THE TOP

• Cristopher Sanchez vs. Cardinals
• Nolan McLean at White Sox

These pitchers clearly stand out ahead of the field today, and that will become even clearer once we dig into the secondary arms. For now, we’ll start with the aces. As usual, here’s a look at the 2026 data to get things started:

Sanchez – 2.51 ERA, 2.58 xFIP, 27.8% K, 5.6% BB
McLean – 3.34 ERA, 3.53 xFIP, 27.3% K, 9.1% BB

As you can see, Cristopher Sanchez has been the better all-around pitcher. He has the better ERA, the better xFIP, the (slightly) higher strikeout rate, and a much lower walk rate than Nolan McLean. Sanchez had a bit of a hiccup at the start of the summer, but he has put any concerns to rest at this point. He has a 1.17 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched this month, and the Phillies are rolling right now with 8 consecutive wins. They have closed to within 3 games of the Braves in the NL East race. The Cardinals are fading at the moment, and Sanchez feels like the clear SP1.

If you want to make a case for McLean, it would be that his matchup caters to more of a strikeout ceiling. While Sanchez has to face a Cardinals team that is near the bottom of the league in strikeout rate, McLean is facing a White Sox team that has the 6th-highest team strikeout rate on the year and over the last 30 days. That’s still not enough to put him ahead of Sanchez for me given the gap in their skill sets, but of course McLean is also a bit cheaper for DFS purposes. I wouldn’t fault you for playing either pitcher, and I also wouldn’t fault you for taking the double-ace approach and playing both of them together on DK. I’ll circle back on that a bit later.

THE SECONDARY ARMS ARE A MESS

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