MLB DFS Expert Survey: Tuesday, September 1st

by Andy Means (meansy53)

Created Aug 31, 2026

Last Updated 2026-09-01 20:41:16 Premium Content Part of the product MLB DFS

Our panel of experts is here to give you their insights on MLB DFS today for the 9/1 main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. They’re here to answer key questions that will assist you in making those crucial lineup-building decisions. Curious who our experts have as their favorite sneaky stack? Or perhaps you’re wondering who they have as their top overall pitcher? Read their thoughts below!

MLB DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Expert Survey for Tuesday, September 1

Who is your favorite hitter to spend up for in cash games?

stlcardinals84: Pete Alonso
headChopper: Shohei Ohtani
stevietpfl: Pete Alonso
Dean78904: Gunnar Henderson (FD) / Pete Alonso (DK)

Who is your favorite hitter to spend up for in large-field tournaments?

stlcardinals84: Alex Bregman (FD) / Seiya Suzuki (DK)
headChopper: Seiya Suzuki
stevietpfl: Seiya Suzuki
Dean78904: Bobby Witt Jr.

What is your preferred tournament format (e.g. large-field, single-entry) to play on this slate? How do you plan to beat that field of opponents? What tactic or strategy will set you apart?

stlcardinals84: This is a fun slate. I plan to enter around 15-20 lineups in large-field contests, with a clear path on being overweight on both Jesus Luzardo and Sean Burke at pitcher. I don’t love targeting MacKenzie Gore when he is chalky, and I will be intentionally underweight on him. I really like the Cubs and Orioles as my favorite stacks, but I plan to get more exposure to the Orioles given that recency bias is likely to favor the Cubs with the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field again after they hit 9 home runs last night.

headChopper: I would love to be able to multi-enter this slate in large-field tournaments, but I will be playing small-field tournaments with one hand-built lineup on each site. That’s due to time restrictions with being on our GrindersLive show this evening, which should be a good one. You should tune in on our RotoGrinders YouTube page. Basically, my FD pitcher will come down to MacKenzie Gore or Gerrit Cole, and I’ll make the final decision when I see all of the MLB lineups come in. For DK, I want one of those good pitchers between Gore, Cole, and Jesus Luzardo, and then I will probably save some money at SP2. I’ll more than likely pick one stack I feel good about and one-off the other hitters around it.

stevietpfl: I’m going to focus on small-field tournaments. This is a fun slate, with 5 offenses with implied team totals over 5 runs. With this much offense, I’m expecting the stack ownership to be spread out a little more than usual. I think pitching is where I don’t want to get different. I want to play Gerrit Cole, Jesus Luzardo, MacKenzie Gore, and Sean Burke as much as possible. I will look for cheaper stacks with lower pOWN% to fit in those pitchers and try not to sacrifice too much with my overall top stacks. Where I want to be different, I want to look for players with lower pOWN% in some of these top stacks. For example, with Baltimore, I’ll look to use hitters like Dylan Beavers, Colton Cowser, and Coby Mayo in my stacks. The Marlins project well, but I don’t like stacking against Randy Dobnak. He’s allowed only 1 home run in his last 7 starts.

Dean78904: I mostly focus on single-entry and smaller-field contests. I don’t expect to get goofy at SP, as I anticipate keeping my pool limited to the presumed most-popular arms: Gerrit Cole, MacKenzie Gore, Jesus Luzardo, and Sean Burke. I like the Orioles fine, and I expect to have some, but I very likely won’t fully stack them in my main lineup. One way I like to get different in smaller-field contests is by rolling out a non-traditional stack iteration (e.g. 4-2-1-1, 3-3-2). The Royals, Cubs, and Dodgers join the Orioles as my favorite teams to target when it comes to bats.

Who is your favorite pitcher (when considering price, matchup, projected ownership, etc.) on the board and why?

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