Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Sunday 7/13

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84) Last Updated 2025-07-13 14:18:55 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 Sunday, Grinders! Welcome to the final day before the All-Star Break. I hope you are all able to enjoy some time away from DFS for a few days coming up. The MLB grind is a LONG one with a 162-game season, and a small break is certainly welcome. Of course, we’ll all be anxious to get things going again once we see how slow the sports calendar is by the middle of the week, but it is still a good opportunity to clear the brain and start fresh.

If we’re trying to make this final day count before the break, we will need to dig for some offense. This 11-game main slate is definitely skewed toward the pitching side, though I am seeing some (likely) contrarian options that I am liking quite a bit.

Some managers might opt to give players an extra day off with the break coming up, so keep a close eye on the MLB starting lineups page, and we’ll keep you covered as the lineups are posted throughout the morning hours. We also need to monitor the MLB weather with Roth posting an early ORANGE/YELLOW caution for the ATL/STL game.

Let’s dig in and see what this final Sunday before the break has to offer!

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Sunday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings

TOP TIER PITCHERS

Hunter Brown vs. Rangers
Freddy Peralta vs. Nationals
Sonny Gray vs. Braves
Nathan Eovaldi vs. Astros
Logan Gilbert vs. Tigers
Jack Flaherty vs. Mariners

This is a really strong group of aces to close out the first half of the season. Well, it’s not technically the first half, as we are already 60% of the way through the year, but that’s what everyone calls it. I digress. With the caveat that we need to keep an eye on the weather forecast if planning to use Sonny Gray, here is a look at the 2025 data for these 6 arms:

Brown – 2.21 ERA, 2.86 xFIP, 30.8% K, 7.6% BB
Peralta – 2.74 ERA, 3.99 xFIP, 25.8% K, 8.4% BB
Gray – 3.51 ERA, 2.92 xFIP, 26.9% K, 4.5% BB
Eovaldi – 1.62 ERA, 2.72 xFIP, 26.8% K, 4.0% BB
Gilbert – 3.88 ERA, 2.39 xFIP, 35.1% K, 5.8% BB
Flaherty – 4.70 ERA, 3.65 xFIP, 29.3% K, 9.5% BB

If you just look at the metrics above, Hunter Brown and Logan Gilbert stand out as the elite options. I like both of them quite a bit, and I have no qualms about using them as an SP1 in any lineup build. That is particularly true for Gilbert on FD, where he is quite discounted. However, I will caution that he has looked a little shakier in recent starts. Brown has been the consistent force all year long, and while the Rangers aren’t quite as good of a matchup as they were a month ago, he’s probably the safest option there is.

Sonny Gray is also fine, but I am concerned about the weather in St. Louis. In addition, the Cardinals have a strange habit of pulling him when he’s only in the 80-pitch range, and that simply limits his ceiling. I don’t love him nearly as much as the others in this group. The same goes for Eovaldi in a matchup against the Astros or for Flaherty with his elevated walk rate and underwhelming overall profile.

My favorite ace on the entire board is going to be Freddy Peralta. It seems weird when you consider that his 3.99 xFIP is actually the highest among the 6 aces that I have listed. I almost never take this approach, as I greatly value xFIP (or SIERA) as a predictive metric. However, we also have to take into account that DFS is a single-day game. All that matters is today’s matchup and today’s result for now. That’s where Peralta gets a boost. The Brewers are playing great baseball right now. They have won 6 games in a row. They got a walk-off morale boosting win yesterday. The Nationals are simply playing out the first-half string, and many of their players are likely already making golf plans for the break. The Nationals have a LH-heavy lineup, and Peralta has held lefties to a .275 wOBA this season. He has also pitched better in his recent starts. All these factors combine to make Peralta my favorite option despite the lesser overall season metrics.

I am ranking this tier as Peralta > Brown > Gilbert > Gray for my top 4, but your opinion may vary, and that’s OK. These pitchers are all very close in terms of projection.

SECONDARY PITCHING OPTIONS

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