Zach Thompson gives his top studs and value plays for today’s fantasy baseball slate on DraftKings, which starts at 7:15 p.m. ET.

The second-to-last day of the Major League Baseball regular season features seven games that start at 7:15 p.m. EST or later. With the final Wild Card spot in both leagues and two American League divisions still undecided, the last two days of the regular season will be packed with plenty of drama and storylines to follow. With 14 teams in the player pool, many strong fantasy baseball plays are worth considering for your fantasy baseball lineup from different parts of the salary spectrum. Let’s dive in and break down the matchups to find the best MLB DFS picks from Saturday’s juicy nine-game slate.

The weather in Washington and Philadelphia looks rough this Saturday, but both of those games are before the main slate. Once we get to the evening contests, the forecast looks mostly clear with the wind blowing out in several of the West Coast venues, including San Diego and Sacramento. Especially as we come to the end of the season for teams without much to play for, be sure to confirm that the players on your roster are in the starting lineup for their team on Saturday night and give the weather a quick double-check as well to be sure to avoid any surprises.

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $60K Bat Flip [$20K to 1st]!

PITCHERS

Stud

Joey Cantillo, Cleveland Guardians vs. Texas Rangers, $7,600: While there are some interesting pay-up options, I actually like a few of the more affordable options even more. The Guardians and Tigers are each 86-74 with two games left. The Guardians have the tiebreaker for the division, while the two teams are one game ahead of the Astros for the final Wild Card spot as well. They’ll look to pick up a critical win on Saturday to continue their impressive surge to the playoffs.

Cantillo has been one of the key young arms during their recent success, and he’ll look to finish his season with a strong outing against the Rangers. Cantillo has earned at least 11 fantasy points in seven straight starts, averaging 18.2 fantasy points per game during that stretch. He has allowed one or zero runs in six consecutive games, posting a 1.32 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 34 innings.

He’s still affordable since he doesn’t always work deep into games, but he has a very high ceiling, which he showed with an eight-inning outing against the Royals in his last home start when he racked up 29.6 fantasy points. That kind of upside makes him an excellent play at under $8,000, leaving plenty of salary as an SP1 to build around.

Value

Bubba Chandler, Pittsburgh Pirates at Atlanta Braves, $6,200: Chandler entered the year as one of the most exciting young prospects expected to arrive in the majors this season. He had a strong start to the season in Triple-A but didn’t get the call and then faded a bit as the year went on. He finally got the call for his MLB debut on August 22. He has gone 3-1 with a 4.56 ERA and 3.03 FIP, but those numbers are dramatically higher due to one bad outing against the Brewers, when he gave up nine runs in 2 2/3 innings.

In his last two outings, Chandler has been much better, with six one-run innings against the Nationals and five shutout innings against the Athletics. In those 11 innings, the 23-year-old fireballer has 13 strikeouts. He posted 24.3 fantasy points against Washington and 26 fantasy points against the A’s. He has ace upside long-term and brings a high ceiling against the Braves, who are wrapping up a letdown season this weekend at home. He does bring risk, but he has outstanding value potential at this salary.

INFIELD

Stud

Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals at Athletics, $5,600: Witt is wrapping up another strong season for the Royals, who faded from the playoff race late but enter the last two games of the year at exactly .500 with an 80-80 record. They’ll finish the campaign at hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park, and on Saturday, they’ll have a favorable matchup against Luis Morales ($8,300), who has given up two home runs in each of his last three starts.

Witt is hitting .295 on the year with 23 homers and a .361 wOBA. His production is slightly down from his MVP runner-up performance last season, but he is finishing the year on a nice run. Over the last 11 games, Witt has six multi-hit games and has gone 17-for-49 (.347) with five doubles, a triple, two home runs and a .417 wOBA. He has a 48.8% hard-hit rate over that span with a 19.5% barrel rate that is a significant increase over his 12.7% barrel rate on the year.

Stud

Jorge Polanco, Seattle Mariners vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, $4,100: The winners of the AL West and NL West are meeting in Seattle this weekend. Both teams are locked into their playoff spots, with the Mariners headed for a bye and the Dodgers for a Wild Card series. The Dodgers are giving Tyler Glasnow ($10,000) one final tune-up before the playoffs, while the Mariners are still playing most of their regulars. Polanco got Friday off, but he should be back in the mix on Saturday against Glasnow.

Polanco has 26 hits in his last 21 games while hitting .342 with a .424 wOBA and 183 wRC+. His hard-hit rate and barrel rate are both up over that span, and he’s a solid mid-range play with good upside this Saturday.

Value

C.J. Kayfus, Cleveland Guardians vs. Texas Rangers, $3,100: Kayfus is hitting only .233 in his 42 games in the majors, but the 23-year-old lefty has been a meaningful contributor over the last month while playing both 1B and in the outfield.

He’s hit .298 in September with six doubles, two homers, 10 RBI and a .384 wOBA. Make sure he gets the starting nod on Saturday night, but if he doesn’t, he’ll be a nice value play at just over $3,000 with eligibility that helps him fit into several different roster constructions.

OUTFIELD

Stud

Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres at Arizona Diamondbacks, $5,700: Tatis has homered in back-to-back games and is up to 24 homers on the season, six of which have come in September. He’s finding a nice rhythm just before the Padres head into the postseason as one of the NL Wild Cards.

Over his last nine games, Tatis is hitting .378 (14-for-37) with three homers, three stolen bases and an average of 13.8 fantasy points per game. He’s in a favorable environment at Chase Field in Arizona and against lefty Eduardo Rodriguez ($7,300). E-Rod has had an up-and-down year but has looked better lately. However, Tatis has taken him yard before, going 1-for-2 in their tiny sample size of direct matchups.

Stud

Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels vs. Houston Astros, $4,400: Trout seems like he’s single-handedly going to keep the Astros out of the playoffs. He hit two homers and had 28 fantasy points on Friday in the Angels’ 4-3 win and now has four homers in his last five games.

While his numbers for the year are down, he has played 128 games, his highest mark since 2022 and his second-highest since the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He has 25 homers and a .340 wOBA but his .230 batting average is a huge dip from his prime seasons. Trout has been hot over the last week, though, so he makes sense as a mid-range play with power-dependent upside against AJ Blubaugh ($7,400) and the Astros, who are facing the pressure of having to win the last two games of the season and hope for help from the Guardians or Tigers losing as well.

Value

Zach Cole, Houston Astros at Los Angeles Angels, $3,100: One of the bright spots amid the Astros’ disappointing last month of the season has been the emergence of Zach Cole as a legitimate piece of their short-term future. He won the team’s Minor League Player of the Year award after hitting .279 with 19 homers, 18 stolen bases, and a .408 wOBA between Double-A and Triple-A.

The 24-year-old lefty has made a splash in the majors too, hitting .250 with three homers, seven runs scored, nine RBI and a .352 wBOA through his first 13 games. He has a 52.2% hard-hit rate and 13.0% barrel rate in those 13 games and brings both power and speed potential in Saturday’s matchup against Caden Dana ($5,400), who has an 0-3 record in his six games in the majors this season with a 6.39 ERA and 6.14 FIP.