MLB DFS Picks Today (6/22/26): Top DraftKings Pitchers & Stacks for Monday
Monday’s MLB DFS main slate on DraftKings is a nine-game board built around strong pitching and a Coors Field game, and my build starts with Blue Jays righty Dylan Cease ($10K) as the clear top spend. Cease headlines a deep arm pool, Anthony Kay ($6.5K) is the value I keep coming back to, and the stacks I want most are the Red Sox at Coors, the Dodgers, and the Brewers. There is real postponement risk in the Cubs at Mets game, so confirm lineups before lock.
Nine games is a healthy slate, even if it likely plays as eight with the Mets game in danger of a postponement. The first game gets going at 7:07 PM ET, and there is plenty to work with: Cease leads a pitching pool that offers safety up top and value in the middle, while nine offenses carry an implied run total of 4.0 or better. Here is how I am sorting the pitchers, hitters, and stacks for Monday night.
Slate Breakdown
This is a pitching-friendly slate with a genuine front-end arm at the top, but the bats are far from an afterthought. Cease headlines a strong group of pitchers, with pricey options that offer safety and ceiling plus some mid-range and value names worth a look. Even so, nine offenses come in with implied run totals of 4.0 or better per DraftKings, so there should be plenty of scoring to chase.
The one game that changes everything is at Coors Field, where the Red Sox draw the night’s highest implied total. The weather to watch is in New York: Cubs at Mets is trending toward a postponement, which would shrink the board to eight games and likely cost us Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga. Build with that in mind, and confirm the official lineups before first pitch.
Best DFS Pitchers for 6/22
Dylan Cease is the top overall pitcher on Monday’s slate, with Anthony Kay as the best value and Hunter Brown as the GPP upside dart. The pool is deep enough that I am comfortable spreading exposure across three very different price points.
Cease moved onto this slate after his original start was postponed, so he takes the ball when the Blue Jays host the Astros. He is not cheap and the matchup is not a gift, but he suppresses power across the board and is missing bats at a 35% clip regardless of handedness. He owns the top projection and ceiling on the board, so while you can leverage against him with Astros stacks, he looks like the clear SP1 to me.
Kay is the obvious value and my frontrunner for the best SP2 on the main slate. He ranks only sixth in raw projection, but he is dirt cheap and draws a depleted Guardians lineup that is still without Jose Ramirez. Kay has tormented left-handed hitters all year, and that is most of what Cleveland has left. His 29% whiff rate against lefties gives him a real ceiling at this salary, and even a righty-heavy counter from the Guardians is a talent downgrade that favors him.
Brown is the most expensive pitcher on the slate and he does not project like it, which are the only reasons to fade him. If we lose Imanaga to weather, that nudges Brown even higher as a contrarian tournament play. He threw 92 pitches and generated 20 fantasy points in his return from a layoff, so GPP players should be happy to take the chance if the field is gun-shy. The matchup with Toronto is tough, but the slate-breaking upside and ownership leverage only add to his appeal.
Top DFS Hitters for Monday
If you want the slate’s best bats, start with Shohei Ohtani as the top spend, Tyler O’Neill as a cheap value, and Brice Turang as a GPP pick riding a great park shift. All three run through favorable spots on Monday night.
Remember when Ohtani was scuffling to start the year and people wondered if he was washed? That aged quickly. He has five homers in his last nine games, and while a mild park downgrade and a near-$7K tag mean you do not have to play him, he is still the best hitter in the field and owns the top projection. He also draws Zebby Matthews, who surrenders a .183 ISO to lefties, whiffs left-handed bats at just a 20% clip, and leans on a fastball-slider mix that Ohtani punishes.
Tyler O’Neill is at his best when his power plays against a middling lefty, and that is the setup here against Sam Aldegheri. O’Neill destroyed lefties last year (.235 ISO), Aldegheri leans on his fastball, and the park is favorable for power with the wind blowing out to left. At this salary, he is an elite salary-saver if he gets the nod. You can sanity-check the venue swing yourself with public park factors from Baseball Savant.
Brice Turang is far from the only GPP bat I like, but he might be my favorite. The Brewers have been hot for a month, and Monday they get a big park upgrade visiting Great American Ballpark. Brady Singer has not been sharp in 2026, with his strikeouts down and a .241 ISO allowed to lefties, and Milwaukee knows how to get on base and do damage in the right spots. Turang’s .172 ISO against righties should travel well in that park.
Best DFS Stacks to Target
The three stacks I want most are the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Brewers, with the Rockies, Orioles, and a dash of Astros as my leverage pivots. With this many viable offenses in play, it is fair to assume at least one of the top stacks pays off.
Boston heads to Coors Field, so it gets a natural boost and owns the night’s highest implied run total. Coors has not quite been itself this year, ranking 10th for home runs, but it still sits first overall for scoring. The Red Sox are not the most reliable offense, and that built-in ownership is exactly why I am fine pivoting elsewhere on a slate this size. Against Ryan Feltner’s reverse splits, I lean toward their righties. These implied run totals come straight from the betting markets, and our over/under betting guide breaks down how game totals work.
The Dodgers grade out as my second stack. They carry the second-best implied total and a strong matchup with Zebby Matthews, who has struggled against lefties, and Minnesota’s park has played well for scoring. Ohtani leads the charge, but the usual suspects from the left side all look good against him.
Because the Dodgers and a Coors game both exist, the Brewers might come in a touch lower owned than they should. Milwaukee is not a big power source, but it has some pop and gets on base, which is a bad combination for Brady Singer given the park upgrade. Great American Ballpark ranks third for scoring and second for homers in 2026, so I love the Brewers here.
For leverage, I would start with the Rockies and Orioles. With the field fixated on Boston, a cheaper Colorado stack is in play, even though the Rockies project better against righties and draw lefty Jake Bennett, which leaves Hunter Goodman as the standalone bat. Baltimore is the one I think gets overlooked: Aldegheri is showing severe reverse splits, but I will trust the Orioles’ numbers and a top-10 power park, with Pete Alonso in the pricey tier and O’Neill an elite salary-saver if he plays. The Astros are a thinner dart against Cease, who can be beaten even when he is not walking many.
Building Your Monday DFS Lineups
This projects as a fun slate, and there are admittedly a lot of ways to build it. You now know the top arms and the stacks I want most, but the depth here means plenty of reasonable lineups will not look alike.
There are still underrated offenses like the Twins, Reds, Angels, and Cardinals, while arms such as Kyle Bradish, Gavin Williams, and Michael King also deserve a look if you want to get off the chalk. The Mets postponement only sharpens those leverage decisions, since the field will crowd a slightly smaller pool of games.
Piecing together your lineups comes down to the right full stack, a reliable SP1, and a little luck. Build a core around Cease, Kay, and some mix of the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Brewers, then use the leverage spots to separate from the field. Good luck on Monday.
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Frequently Asked Questions
A few common questions about Monday’s MLB DFS slate, the weather situation, and how to read these plays.
Is the Cubs at Mets game getting postponed on Monday?
There is real postponement risk. The Cubs at Mets game in New York is the one to watch, and a postponement would shrink the main slate from nine games to eight and likely remove Cubs starter Shota Imanaga. Build with that in mind and confirm official lineups before lock.
Who is the best value pitcher on Monday’s DraftKings slate?
Anthony Kay at $6.5K is the best value arm. He has dominated left-handed hitters all season and draws a Guardians lineup still missing Jose Ramirez, so his price lets you spend up on bats while still rostering a pitcher with a real ceiling.
What does GPP mean in DFS?
GPP stands for Guaranteed Prize Pool, the large-field tournaments where a small share of lineups win most of the prize money. GPP plays are higher-variance, lower-owned picks (like Hunter Brown or a Rockies stack) you use to separate from the field, as opposed to safer cash-game plays.
What time does the DraftKings main slate lock on Monday?
The main slate locks at first pitch of the earliest included game, 7:07 PM ET on Monday. Any player whose game has not started is still eligible until then, so confirm late lineup and weather news before the slate locks.
