Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Sunday 7/20

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84) Last Updated 2025-07-20 14:29:04 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! We have a bit of a unique slate on FD today, with FD adding ALL of the late afternoon games to its main slate. That means FD has added the 3:00 PM ET start in Colorado (as usual), but they have also added the 3 games that start at 4:00 PM ET. It’s basically an all-day slate over there with 12 total games, while DK is going with the more traditional 8-game slate that cuts off the later games. Given that the FD slate includes Coors Field plus several high-end pitchers that aren’t available on DK, it’s basically like you are playing 2 different slates if you are playing on both sites.

This division between FD and DK is going to give me a lot more to write about, so I need to get straight to work. We don’t necessarily have a lot of concerns for today, but we do have quite a few “yellow” designations popping up with the MLB weather today. Keep a close eye on that as we get closer to lock.

Let’s dig in and see what this Sunday has to offer!

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Sunday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings

There are so many good pitchers today that I have to put 3 tiers out there in order to split things up the best. That’s another new wrinkle that we have for this Sunday!

TOP TIER ACES

Garrett Crochet vs. Cubs
Nick Pivetta vs. Nationals
Ranger Suarez vs. Angels
Hunter Brown vs. Mariners [FD]
Bryan Woo vs. Astros [FD]

This is a really strong group of top-end starters, and it seems like most teams have saved their better pitchers for the 3rd game after the break. Here is a look at the 2025 data for this group of aces:

Crochet – 2.23 ERA, 2.68 xFIP, 31.2% K, 6.6% BB
Pivetta – 2.88 ERA, 3.51 xFIP, 28.1% K, 6.7% BB
Suarez – 2.15 ERA, 3.46 xFIP, 23.5% K, 6.6% BB
Brown – 2.43 ERA, 2.87 xFIP, 31.1% K, 7.7% BB
Woo – 2.75 ERA, 3.59 xFIP, 24.3% K, 4.7% BB

Let’s start with a DK discussion. If you are playing over there, you only have the first 3 of these pitchers available. This feels like a pretty logical breakdown, but Ranger Suarez becomes the easy first cut of that group. His strikeouts just don’t reach the level of Pivetta or Crochet, and it’s not even close. What keeps him in the potential conversation is a matchup against an Angels team that has struck out at the highest mark in baseball against left-handed pitching this year at a whopping 28.3% clip. However, that’s just not enough for me to put Suarez ahead of Crochet and Pivetta. Suarez will still be in my MME tournament pool, but not at the same levels as the others. He’s even further down the list on FD, where he is very expensive and where there are plenty of additional options.

The question then becomes whether Crochet or Pivetta is the better SP1 choice. Crochet has the better ERA and xFIP to go along with a higher strikeout rate, and he would be the clear choice here 90% of the time. Today is at least close enough to have a discussion on the matter, as Crochet has to face the Cubs while Pivetta draws the Nationals. The Cubs are a low-strikeout team and rank 4th in the league in team ISO against LHP, so the matchup is much tougher for Crochet. I totally get the argument if that sends you to Pivetta, but I still prefer Crochet. When he has his best stuff, he is matchup proof, and he will have the L/L edge over some of the more dangerous Cubs hitters in Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker (though Tucker has shown reverse splits at times in his career). It’s a close call. If you put a lot of weight into the matchup, then pivot to Pivetta.

FD gives us a couple of additional options here with Hunter Brown and Bryan Woo, as they face off against each other in Seattle. Both have strong overall profiles, but I will lean to the high strikeouts of Brown. Players who are also building lineups on DK may not be focusing on these later afternoon games, and that may keep ownership in check here. I like Brown as my favorite GPP arm on FD, and I will keep both of these pitchers in my pool.

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