Thursday marks the birthday of one of the most-important cultural figures of the last 20 years: me. Also, Beyonce. There are five games on the MLB docket for DFS purposes, with the first pitch coming at 6:40 p.m. ET. Here are my MLB DFS lineup recommendations for the occasion.
Pitching
Blake Snell, LAD at PIT ($9,000): Snell was in good form in August, which is worth noting because it was his first month of MLB action since getting injured in early April. The lefty had a 2.54 ERA and 10.8 K/9 rate in five August outings. Now, he gets to face the Pirates, a team that ranks last in both runs scored and team OPS.
Ryan Pepiot, TAM vs. CLE ($8,200): Next up I have former Dodger Pepiot for your consideration. He has a 3.70 ERA on the campaign, but in each of his last two starts he's gone five innings and allowed zero runs with a single hit. Cleveland will probably end up finishing 28th in runs scored this season, and it is also threatening to finish last in team OPS.
Top Target
Even though he's only played in 106 games, Jazz Chisholm ($5,200) has a good chance of putting up his first 30/30 season. The lefty has been doing his best to improve his resume as of late as well, as he's posted an 1.040 OPS over the last three weeks. Cristian Javier's last start went well, but over his 11 starts across the last two seasons he has a sub-2.00 K/BB rate. Additionally, since 2023 lefties have hit .275 against him.
Bargain Bat
This year Lenyn Sosa ($3,600) has shown enough power to hit 19 homers and get moved to first base by the White Sox. Although, the fact he is also eligible for second base in DFS lineups is a big part of the appeal, but if you roster Chisholm he'll be a bargain bat at first base. Earlier this year I noticed Sosa is one of the kings of medium power, with 54.4 percent of his hits qualifying as "medium." Taj Bradley has had issues with homers throughout his career. While he's gotten his HR/9 rate down to 1.11 this season, I think there is both correlation and causation in his K/9 rate plummeting to 7.57. There's a reason why a 24-year-old with hundreds of innings of MLB experience has made four Triple-A starts in 2025.
Stack to Consider
Royals vs. Angels (Kyle Hendricks): Bobby Witt ($5,600), Maikel Garcia ($4,600), Vinnie Pasquantino ($4,200)
Technically, Hendricks has been better than he was last season, as his ERA has fallen from 5.92 to 4.89. Of course, his K/9 rate has actually fallen to 5.88, and his road ERA is 5.05. I'm going with the Royals' big three, even though two of those are right-handed. Though Hendricks is also a righty, his fellow righties have hit .302 against him in 2025, and .286 since 2023.
Owing to the lofty standards he has already set, Witt has hit 20 homers and 41 doubles, stolen 34 bases, and might hit .300, but it's not attention grabbing. Those are, of course, remarkable numbers, and Witt also has a .995 OPS over the last three weeks. Garcia has soared past his previous personal bests with 15 homers and 34 doubles. He's also surprisingly threatening to hit .300 as well, having considerably improved his patience in 2025. Pasquantino would have gotten to 100 RBI last year if not for injury, and this year he's going to get it done (barring another season-ending injury; fingers crossed). The lefty is also on the verge of his first 30-homer campaign, and he's slugged .497 against righties.
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