Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks Today for Tuesday 9/1

by Justin Van Zuiden (stlcardinals84)

Created Sep 1, 2026

Last Updated 2026-09-01 17:34:24 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 1, 2026.

Welcome to the month of September! The final month of the MLB season is officially here, and it won’t be too much longer before baseball takes a DFS back seat some days. However, there’s still money to be won in the interim.

Cheese hasn’t had a weekday off in a LONG time and has earned a breather today. He will also be filling in for me on Saturday in a couple of weeks, so you have me as your replacement on this Tuesday. FanDuel and DraftKings are giving us matching 9-game slates that start a little later than normal at 7:40 PM ET.

This looks to be a balanced slate, as we have a couple of aces going along with another game in Coors Field. It looks like it should be a relatively quiet slate on the MLB weather front, so it’s all systems go for lineup building. Let’s dig in and see what this Tuesday has to offer!

Tuesday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel

ONE CLEAR ACE, ONE QUESTION MARK, AND ONE OVERPRICED OPTION

• Jesus Luzardo at Diamondbacks
• Gerrit Cole at Angels
• Troy Melton at Twins

Our top three pitchers offer differing levels of intrigue. As usual, I will begin with a look at their 2026 metrics:

Luzardo – 3.09 ERA, 2.92 xFIP, 30.3% K, 7.5% BB
Cole – 3.19 ERA, 3.56 xFIP, 26.1% K, 5.2% BB
Melton – 1.86 ERA, 3.95 xFIP, 20.9% K, 7.3% BB

For what it’s worth, I broke up the tiers based on DK pricing; these are the pitchers that are priced above $9,000 on DK. There are a couple of additional pitchers priced above Troy Melton on FD, but not by a significant amount. As for Melton, his 2026 season has been remarkable in its good fortune. He has somehow maintained a 1.86 ERA through the benefit of a .230 opposing BABIP that is almost unheard of in a 97-inning sample. There is nothing in his batted-ball profile to suggest that it is sustainable at this rate, and his 20.9% strikeout rate is below league average. Even though he continues to get outs, he’s still not a DFS ceiling option, and he’s overpriced because of the ERA. He remains an easy fade.

I will just continue by discussing these pitchers in the reverse order that I listed them above. Gerrit Cole is your wild card in this tier. His overall results are still solid across the board, and his average fastball velocity is back to where it was in his 2021-2023 prime years. This is a positive sign, as is a matchup against the free-swinging, high-strikeout Angels. I don’t think you need to prioritize Cole, but with the velocity looking good and his low walk rate, he is definitely a top 3-4 option.

My favorite ace to roster is going to be Jesus Luzardo. In 5 starts during the month of August, Luzardo posted a 1.31 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 34.1 innings. He allowed just 1 hit over 7 innings against the Mariners in his last start. While this may not be the best matchup for him to showcase his strikeout ceiling (against the Diamondbacks on the road), Luzardo is capable of racking up strikeouts against any opponent when he has his best stuff. I have no concerns about his upside, and he will be my SP1 in a lot of builds. That is especially true if his projected ownership stays under 10% as it is right now in the late-morning hours.

I am ranking this tier as Luzardo > Cole > Melton, and that feels like a pretty obvious way to grade these pitchers – though Cole is very much live as a tournament option.

SECONDARY PITCHING OPTIONS

• MacKenzie Gore vs. Athletics
• Sean Burke at Astros
• Eduardo Rodriguez vs. Phillies
• Matthew Boyd vs. Brewers
• Kyle Bradish at Rockies
• Grayson Rodriguez vs. Yankees

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