The top pitchers, the top play at every position, and the day's best stacks ranked for single-entry and big-GPP — with ownership, leverage, exposure and cap-legal builds for both contest types.
Big main slate, and Vegas is telling you where the runs are before you build a thing. Five offenses are implied for 5+ runs, headlined by Minnesota at 5.5 in a 9.5-run game — and a cluster of 5.3-implied bats right behind them. On the mound, two arms sit in smash spots against bottom-three offenses. Everything today flows from those two facts.
🔒 COURTEDGE PREMIUM
Unlock the full Main-slate blueprint
Behind the paywall: the top pitchers ranked, the top play at every position with the why, all seven stacks ranked for single-entry vs GPP with exposure targets, and cap-legal sample builds for both.
What you get with CourtEdge Premium
- ✅ All premium picks daily — graded, verified track record
- ✅ Every lineup lab — MLB, PGA, NBA, MMA builders + sims
- ✅ Live +EV board — de-vigged edges across every book
- ✅ Every premium write-up — including this one
See live picks & track record at courtedge.net/picks
The Arms — Pitchers Ranked
Two tiers today: the safe aces in elite matchups, and the low-owned leverage arms that let you win a big GPP without paying up. In single-entry you can trust the chalk aces; in GPPs, at least one of your two starters should come from the leverage tier.
| Pitcher | Sal | Proj | Ceil | Own | Why | DFS ID |
|---|
| Logan Webb SF chalk | $9,700 | 19.2 | 28.8 | 24% | Bottom-3 matchup (opp 28/30), highest floor on the board. The SE anchor. | 828873 |
| MacKenzie Gore TEX | $8,300 | 16.4 | 21.8 | 13% | Softest matchup on the slate (opp 29/30) at a mid price. Elite K upside, moderate ownership — the best SP value. | 1054965 |
| Bryce Miller SEA chalk | $10,000 | 18.1 | 30.2 | 27% | Top price, top ceiling (30.2), but the chalkiest arm. Fine in cash, a fade candidate in large GPPs. | 1120065 |
| Dustin May STL | $7,800 | 14.5 | 30.6 | 12% | ceiling The single highest ceiling of any arm (30.6) at a discount. Boom-or-bust — a GPP dart with a real 30-burger in the range. | 917992 |
| Joey Cantillo CLE leverage | $8,500 | 16.7 | 26.9 | 4% | 2nd-highest projection on the board at 4% owned. The premier leverage ace — pair him with a chalk stack and you're differentiated at the highest-scoring position. | 1055386 |
| Spencer Arrighetti HOU leverage | $8,200 | 15.1 | 22.9 | 3.5% | Sub-4% owned with a 22.9 ceiling. Cheapest path to a strikeout game nobody else has. | 1318220 |
| Shane McClanahan TB chalk | $9,000 | 15.0 | 22.1 | 25% | Good matchup (opp 27/30), but heavily owned. Cash-viable, low-leverage. | 875827 |
| Trey Yesavage TOR leverage | $8,000 | 14.2 | 24.4 | 2% | 2% owned mid-price arm — a deep-GPP dart when you want max uniqueness on the mound. | 1519320 |
Pitching plan. Single-entry: Webb + Gore is the sharp, high-floor pairing. GPP / 150-max: keep one anchor (Webb or Gore) and rotate Cantillo / Arrighetti / Yesavage into the second slot for leverage. Never roster an arm against a stack you're using.
Top Play at Every Position
One name per spot, with the why. Ownership and leverage tell you which are cash-safe (chalk) and which are the GPP separators (leverage).
| Pos | Top Play | Sal | Proj | Ceil | Own | Why | DFS ID |
|---|
| C | Drake Baldwin ATL leverage | $5,100 | 10.6 | 21.6 | 4% | Best catcher on the slate by projection AND leading off a 5.0-implied ATL lineup at 4% owned. Elite catcher leverage. | 1397116 |
| 1B | Matt Olson ATL leverage | $5,200 | 9.8 | 18.5 | 0.3% | 18.5 ceiling in the 3-hole of a top-6 offense at 0.3% owned. If ATL scores, almost nobody has him. (Cash pivot: Ohtani $6,700.) | 657863 |
| 2B | Ozzie Albies ATL leverage | $4,300 | 8.9 | 14.6 | 2.6% | Cheap, hits 2nd in the ATL stack, 2.6% owned. Correlates with Baldwin/Olson. (Ceiling pivot: Tommy Edman LAD, 18.4 ceil.) | 830219 |
| 3B | Junior Caminero TB | $6,100 | 10.0 | 18.1 | 8% | Top 3B projection with a 18.1 ceiling. (Extreme-leverage pivots: Max Muncy LAD & Manny Machado SD, both under 1.5% owned.) | 1358467 |
| SS | Jeremy Peña HOU value | $4,500 | 10.8 | 19.4 | 4.8% | Slate-best SS projection (10.8) and ceiling (19.4) at a value price and single-digit ownership. Leadoff bat — the best pure SS play. | 876320 |
| OF | Fernando Tatís Jr. SD | $5,800 | 11.3 | 22.4 | 7.5% | Top OF projection and a 22.4 ceiling leading off. (Co-#1: Yordan Alvarez HOU, 23.2 ceil, $6,500 — the two highest-ceiling bats on the board.) | 919910 |
Best value bats (proj per $1K, sub-$3.5K): Ty France SD $3,200 · Heriberto Hernández MIA $3,400 · Steven Kwan CLE $3,000 · Griffin Conine MIA $3,200. These are how you afford Webb + a stud stack.
The Stacks — Ranked for SE vs GPP
Same seven offenses, ranked two different ways. Single-entry rewards the highest-floor correlated stack; GPP rewards the low-owned stack that wins you the tournament outright. Here's how they split:
Single-Entry ranking (floor + safety)
- LAD (5.3) — the stars. Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, Muncy, Pages — highest-floor 5-man on the board. Safest primary in a one-bullet build.
- MIN (5.5) — slate-best implied total and cheap bats (Lee, Jeffers, Bell, Lewis), so you can pay up at pitcher. Best value primary.
- TOR (5.3) — Vladdy + Springer + Kirk, contact-heavy and cheap. Reliable secondary.
- ATL (5.0) — usable even in SE because the bats are good; you just get leverage for free.
Big-GPP ranking (ceiling + leverage)
- ATL (5.0) — leverage Olson 0.3%, Muncy-tier bats, Baldwin 4%, Harris 0.9%. A 5.0-implied stack the field is not on. If Atlanta erupts, you're alone at the top. The tournament-winning stack.
- MIA (5.3) — value Lopez (19.8 ceil), Stowers (18.1), Hernández, Conine — the cheapest high-ceiling stack on the slate. Frees max salary for two aces.
- CWS (5.3) — Murakami, Vargas (18.0 ceil), the Montgomerys — mid-price and under-owned.
- SF (5.0) — Devers, Ramos (18.5 ceil), Arraez — quietly a sub-2%-owned 5.0 stack.
- MIN (5.5) — highest total, but a hair chalkier (Bell 15%, Lewis 17%); still elite.
Exposure targets — 150-max: Overweight the leverage 5.0+ stacks and spread across several so one shutout doesn't sink you.
- ATL 30–35% · MIA 25–30% · CWS 15–20% · SF 10–15% · MIN/TOR/LAD 10–15% each (the chalkier side of your portfolio).
- Keep total stack exposure roughly 2/2/2 in shape: 2 stacks you're heavy on, 2 moderate, 2 as low-owned darts.
Single-entry: pick ONE primary (LAD or MIN) as a 5-stack + a 2–3 man secondary (TOR or ATL). Don't spread thin — one big inning wins it.
The ATL leverage stack (batting order)
| # | Player | Pos | Sal | Ceil | Own | DFS ID |
|---|
| 1 | Drake Baldwin | C | $5,100 | 21.6 | 4.0% | 1397116 |
| 2 | Ozzie Albies | 2B | $4,300 | 14.6 | 2.6% | 830219 |
| 3 | Matt Olson | 1B | $5,200 | 18.5 | 0.3% | 657863 |
| 4 | Michael Harris II | OF | $4,800 | 17.4 | 0.9% | 1169617 |
| 6 | Austin Riley | 3B | $4,000 | 16.2 | 1.1% | 874756 |
The MIA value stack (batting order)
| # | Player | Pos | Sal | Ceil | Own | DFS ID |
|---|
| 1 | Otto Lopez | SS | $4,700 | 19.8 | 9.9% | 1057489 |
| 2 | Kyle Stowers | 1B | $4,000 | 18.1 | 11.2% | 1115829 |
| 3 | Heriberto Hernández | OF | $3,400 | 17.0 | 10.7% | 1118337 |
| 6 | Griffin Conine | OF | $3,200 | 15.4 | 4.9% | 876060 |
How to Build — Both Contest Types
Single-Entry (one sharp, defensible lineup)
- Anchor pitching: Webb + Gore. Two elite matchups, high floor, off every stack.
- Primary 5-stack: LAD or MIN — highest floor / highest implied.
- Secondary 2–3: a correlated piece of TOR or ATL for a backup rally.
- One value bat ($3.0–3.4K: France / Kwan / Hernández) to fit the studs.
- Max the cap ($49.5K+), confirm lineups are posted, one measured leverage piece (e.g., Peña at SS). Don't run six one-offs — correlate.
Big GPP / 150-Max (portfolio + leverage)
- Repeated core: keep one ace (Webb or Gore) and one anchor bat across most builds.
- Lead with leverage: heaviest on ATL and MIA per the exposure table; those low-owned 5.0+ stacks are your ceiling.
- Rotate the second arm: Cantillo / Arrighetti / Yesavage for uniqueness on the mound.
- Mix stack shapes: 5/2/1, 5/3, 4/2/2 across the portfolio — don't run the same shape 150 times.
- Differentiate on the margins: repeat what you believe (the aces, ATL), rotate the darts (Muncy, Machado, Yesavage). Never diversify your core and repeat your darts.
The read of the day: the chalk (Webb, Miller, MIN, LAD) is good and cash-safe — but the tournament is won on the ATL leverage stack + a low-owned ace. Own the inning the field forgot.
Build it in ~90 seconds: load this slate in the
CourtEdge MLB Builder — the stacks, exposures, and cap-legal SE + 150-max sets are pre-wired. Sim your lineups in the
Contest Sim before you lock.