Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Sunday 7/19

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84) Last Updated 2026-07-19 14:14:26 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, Justin has you covered with an extensive deep dive into his favorite MLB DFS picks today on July 19, 2026.

Happy Sunday, Grinders! We have our normal Sunday main slate with a start time of 1:35 PM Eastern. There are 8 games available on DraftKings, while FD has added the CIN/COL game at Coors Field to make it a 9-game slate over there.

After yesterday’s debacle with the change in game time in Philadelphia and the doubleheader in Cleveland, let’s hope that the MLB Weather cooperates today. Things do look to be relatively clear at first glance outside of a chance of rain in Atlanta and Kansas City. We will have to keep an eye on that leading up to lock.

Let’s move along and see what this Sunday slate has to offer!

Sunday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel

TOP TIER PITCHERS

• Hunter Greene at Rockies (FD Only)
• Paul Skenes at Guardians
• Nathan Eovaldi at Braves
• Hunter Brown vs. Orioles
• Sonny Gray vs. Rays
• Nolan McLean at Phillies

We don’t have a clear-cut, dominant, #1 ace like Tarik Skubal on the slate this afternoon, but we do have a lot of very good pitchers going. However, the dividing lines among them are relatively small at first glance. Let’s see if a look at the 2026 data provides some better clues:

Greene (FD) – Third start of season
Skenes – 3.57 ERA, 3.19 xFIP, 29.5% K, 5.5% BB
Eovaldi – 4.04 ERA, 3.20 xFIP, 25.9% K, 5.6% BB
Brown – 3.57 ERA, 4.28 xFIP, 25.5% K, 14.4% BB
Gray – 2.54 ERA, 3.62 xFIP, 22.3% K, 6.3% BB
McLean – 3.52 ERA, 3.43 xFIP, 27.9% K, 8.7% BB

If you are playing on FanDuel, you do have Hunter Greene available. Don’t be fooled by his 6.97 ERA on the surface, as he has only made 2 starts, and that is wildly skewed by a .450 BABIP mark. His xFIP sits at 1.92, and he has 19 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings. While Coors Field is a dangerous place for any pitcher, the good news is that Greene can rely on his hard stuff to get outs, as it’s breaking balls that are most affected by the thin air. There are some strikeouts in this Rockies lineup, but Greene feels just a bit overpriced at $10,000. He’ll likely land in the middle of my wish list, and I don’t have a strong take on him at that salary. He’s a fine risk/reward option.

Paul Skenes is going to be my clear favorite from this group. He has the best xFIP, the highest strikeout rate, and the lowest walk rate. Some people may be concerned because the Guardians will load up their lineup with lefties, but Skenes has allowed basically an identical wOBA to both RHBs and LHBs this year. It’s a low-power lineup, and the offense has finally been getting Skenes some run support in recent outings. He’s my SP1 choice today.

Nathan Eovaldi isn’t too far behind Skenes. He has now logged 4 consecutive starts with at least 9 strikeouts, and he hasn’t walked more than 2 hitters in any of them. That nets out to a 37:5 K:BB ratio over those outings, and we know his stuff is solid. The matchup against the Braves is what puts him behind Skenes for me, but Eovaldi will also carry low ownership. I like getting overweight on him in multi-entry tournament builds.

Hunter Brown and Sonny Gray are a couple of pitchers I am less interested in. Brown is virtually off my radar until he shows that he can cut down on the walks, and he remains overpriced in DFS. I have a little more interest in Gray given that he was in fantastic form leading into the All-Star Break, but that is now reflected in his DFS salary tags. He is the most expensive pitcher on the board on FD at $10,200, and he’s not exactly discounted at $8,800 on DK. He’s a little more palatable there, but the Rays have some power in their lineup, and it’s not like Gray is a high-strikeout pitcher. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze at these salaries.

I don’t have a strong take on Nolan McLean. He’s fine, but I can’t put him ahead of Skenes or Eovaldi in a road matchup against the Phillies. His low 9.7% swinging-strike rate still gives me pause, and as I stated above, we have enough options to where we can afford to be picky in this tier.

SECONDARY ARMS

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