Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, and DraftStreet for 6/12/14

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Pitchers

A note on the big boys: Scherzer and Sale are facing each other, and both Detroit and the White Sox have decent offenses. I'm not touching either.

Zack Greinke FanDuel 9900 DraftKings 11600 DraftStreet 20202
Greinke has been back in Cy Young form this year, much to the chagrin of Doug and I's Scoresheet team, who smugly traded him away after last year's "lucky" performance. He'll face the Reds and the terrible pitcher Alfredo Simon. The Reds are the 2nd worst run scoring team in the majors this season behind only the Padres. Hard to think of a better spot for an elite pitcher, though you can ding him slightly for the park.

Jeff Samardzija FanDuel 7700 DraftKings 8900 DraftStreet 17259
Aside from one blow-up against the Brewers, Samardzija has been phenomenal this year. The lack of wins is an anomaly, and nothing to be concerned about other than the fact that the Cubs are a lower tier running scoring team. The good news is that they'll face Edinson Volquez, a pitcher who is bad and easy to score runs off of. How is that for analysis?

Wade Miley FanDuel 6200 DraftKings 7800 DraftStreet 14906
Want to a little bit off board with me for a second? With a bunch of expensive hitters available today, I'm going to throw out at least 1 Wade Miley lineup today. His xFIP is a full run below his ERA, the Astros are awful, and he will be away from his nasty home park. The Astros are the 3rd worst run scoring team in the AL, and they are trotting out the incredibly ragged arm of Scott Feldman. With 26 Ks and 17 walks in 56 innings, the Diamondbacks offense is going to rattle all over him, or something.

Also considered: Jon Lester, Roenis Elias, Kyle Lohse

Catcher

Carlos Ruiz FanDuel 2400 DraftKings 3900 DraftStreet 4298
Awesome match-up for Ruiz, who handles left handed pitching very well, and loves hitting at home in Philadelphia. I still don't understand why the price is so low on him, but I'll be buying while it is. The peripheral numbers are all solid, and while Ruiz isn't a huge upside play, he can still provide very solid performances routinely.

Buster Posey FanDuel 3300 DraftKings 4300 DraftStreet 6483
Posey certainly prefers left handers, but our projection system is rightfully skeptical of Blake Treinen's pitch to contact approach. He isn't going to fool the beast of hitter that is the Giants catcher, and he'll be putting the ball in play quite often.

A.J. Pierzynski FanDuel 2800 DraftKings 3600 DraftStreet 4572
Pierzynski's overall season line isn't much to look at, but he's still been terrific against right handers, which has always been his bread and butter. He'll bring his 123 wRC+ vs. righties against Josh Tomlin, and Tomlin's pitch around the plate approach suits Pierzynski's impatient eye. Boston is a great place for lefties to hit - so look for Pierzynski to put a few hard hit balls in play.

also considered: Yasmani Grandal, Evan Gattis

 

First Basemen

Freddie Freeman FanDuel 3700 DraftKings 4900 DraftStreet 8400
The price is climbing a bit on Freeman, but who on Earth cares? Jhoulys Chacin gets the dubious honor of worst pitcher of the day - his 24 Ks against 19 walks compounded with Coors field is going to make Braves hitters insanely hot today - and Freeman tops my list among them all.

David Ortiz FanDuel 3600 DraftKings 4600 DraftStreet 6908
Feels like I write this basically every time I do the picks, but you're still getting a mid-800s OPS with considerable upside - especially against right handers at home.

Justin Morneau FanDuel 3200 DraftKings 4300 DraftStreet 6004
Ervin Santana is merely good, and merely good isn't going to cut it against the Rockies at home. Morneau has been on a bit of home run drought recently, but the lack of runs and RBI is simple statistical variance. It will turn for Morneau at some point, and his price will spike. I'll be buying low until it does, especially against right handers at home.

Also considered: Mark Teixeira, Anthony Rizzo, Adrian Gonzalez

 

Second Basemen

Dustin Pedroia FanDuel 3200 DraftKings 4500 DraftStreet 6776
Pedroia definitely prefers left handed pitching, but he is terrific at home, and should have plenty of opportunities for his trademark "Laser Show" against Josh Tomlin, who is having a nice year, but is far from an ace.

Robinson Cano FanDuel 3700 DraftKings 5100 DraftStreet 7110
It's a pretty terrible day for 2nd basemen given how many games are on the slate, so it's with some reservation that I present Robinson Cano. Whitley has been pretty good this year, but Cano and the Mariners are much better against right handed pitchers than left. I'm banking on the Ms taking advantage of Whitley's relative inexperience and tendencies to pitch around the zone, something that benefits the impatient Mariners.

Aaron Hill FanDuel 2900 DraftKings 3900 DraftStreet 5237
Where crappy pitching overwhelms platoon splits. Hill boasts a huge split this year, but historically he's actually fairly similar against right handed and left handed pitching, and in case you missed it in my Wade Miley write-up, Scott Feldman is awful. He may actually be the worst pitcher of the day - sorry, Jhoulys.

Also considered: Jose Altuve, Jason Kipnis

 

Shortstops

Jose Reyes FanDuel 3600 DraftKings 5000 DraftStreet 8407
With a 2 steal game in the last week, it looks like Reyes' wheels are good to go, and I love the idea of taking him against a young pitcher in a good hitter's park. He's platoon neutral, so we're just looking straight park, pitcher, and price here.

Jimmy Rollins FanDuel 3000 DraftKings 4200 DraftStreet 6105
J-roll is looking like a poor man's version of himself - on pace for mid twenties homers and steals and a .740 OPS. That's actually a pretty great short-stop season. He slightly prefers right handers, but he really prefers bad pitchers. Eric Stults is one of those, and Philly is a great place to hit. Rollins makes a terrific play today.

Jean Segura FanDuel 2700 DraftKings 3600 DraftStreet 5211
No two bones about it, Segura has kind of sucked offensively this year. Consider, though, that his BABIP is more than 50 points off of last year's number. If he gets half of that back he's not nearly so punchless, and the counting stats and steals go up as well. The righty-heavy Brewers have a nice opportunity to get on track against Niese, and Segura could have a nice game here.

Also considered: Starlin Castro, Derek Jeter.

 

Third Basemen

Aramis Ramirez FanDuel 2800 DraftKings 4200 DraftStreet 6302
Niese has a nice ERA this year, but his peripherals don't back it up - his xFIP is a full run higher than his ERA. The Brewers have some lefty crushers, and they should have ample opportunity to put a bruising on Niese with Aramis right at the head of it all.

Kyle Seager FanDuel 3100 DraftKings 3800 DraftStreet 5246
Seager's price has dipped during his cold streak since his 2 homer game, but the dude still has a 221 wRC+ against right handed pitching at home this year. 221! That's Barry Bonds territory. Seager ain't Bonds, but against an inexperienced right hander, Seager and the Ms should have a good chance to put up some crooked numbers.

Pablo Sandoval FanDuel 3500 DraftKings 3700 DraftStreet 5597
3b starts getting pretty thin after the top 2 guys, but I like the reverse-platoon split Sandoval even better than our projection system does. The guy has a 130 wRC+ vs. righties for his career, and I doubt he and the Giants will have much difficulty with the young Treinen.

Also considered: Manny Machado, Brett Lawrie

 

Outfielders

Jose Bautista FanDuel 4400 DraftKings 5200 DraftStreet 9338
It's hard to imagine this match-up going well for Kevin Gausman. Bautista absolutely abuses lefties, but he can sure hit a right handed pitcher as well. Gausman's a fine young pitcher and all, but he just isn't used to facing guys who can patiently wait for a mistake like Bautista. Huge upside here.

Ryan Braun FanDuel 4500 DraftKings 5500 DraftStreet 8393
It's a day to spend on hitting, if you ask me. Braun has a godly career 179 wRC+ against left handed pitching, and Niese simply hasn't blossomed into the true #2 many thought he'd be. Braun should have a few RBI opportunities in this game, but frankly, he might not need them.

Jason Heyward FanDuel 3600 DraftKings 4900 DraftStreet 7647
It's easy to sour on "next big thing" guys who don't quite get there, but you'd be wise to ignore that instinct in considering Heyward tonight. Heyward didn't turn into a superstar, but it's not because of his ability to hit shitty right handers in Coors field. Games like these are why he's still in the majors - and even in a bad year he's posted a 123 wRC+ against right handed pitching.

Melky Cabrera FanDuel 3200 DraftKings 4500 DraftStreet 8051
The Melk-man will be batting around a bunch of Blue Jays who can kill righties, and he can run up a multi-hit game with the best of them.

Billy Hamilton FanDuel 3200 DraftKings 3800 DraftStreet 5415
This recommendation is going to seem crazy until you consider what Hamilton can (and will) do if he gets on base even once. All he really needs to do is get a couple of balls in play to have big upside, and I think he'll do that against Greinke. Facing a great righty actually doesn't hurt Hamilton as much as you might think because it reduces the chance he will face lefties later in the game. He couldn't hit against my left handed 1 year old. I'm serious.

Curtis Granderson FanDuel 3200 DraftKings 4200 DraftStreet 6242
As the only Met to crack this list, I'm submitting the Grandy-Man on upside alone. I'm pretty sure Doug would have included Lohse in the main featured pitcher's section, and rightfully so - but Granderson has bombed right handed pitching throughout his career and is as capable of a monster game as most.

Justin Upton FanDuel 3900 DraftKings 5200 DraftStreet 7355
It's just too tempting to look at Upton today, platoon splits be damned. I'm taking a stab on terrible pitching in a great pitcher's park, and stacking me some Braves in at least a lineup or two. This will be the first time I play Upton all year, so you can expect an 0/5 with 4 Ks in a 14-1 Braves victory.

Andre Ethier FanDuel 3100 DraftKings 3500 DraftStreet 5219
Ethier is pretty much without huge upside, but he still makes for a pretty safe play against right handed pitching, especially in good parks and bad pitchers. Simon doesn't have the put away stuff to take advantage of Ethier's ailing bat speed. Don't let the smooth ERA fool you - Simon is like to get rocked in this game.

Also considered: Carlos Beltran, Alfonso Soriano, Jay Bruce, Carlos Quentin, Hunter Pence, BJ Upton

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