Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 7/1/16

Welcome to Friday baseball! We have a 13 game slate on our hands with some decent pitching options as well as some offenses in good spots. Make sure to check out our other articles as they will touch on tournament stacks, other pitching options and any weather concerns that may arise. Make sure to check out the podcast as well as it will go over the entire slate. Let's get into the top options at each slate!

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PITCHER

Jaime Garcia FD 8000 DK 7900
Opponent - MIL (Garza) Park - @STL
FD - 35.81 DK - 23.59

Pitching is absolutely atrocious today, as evident by the fact that I am recommending Jaime Garcia as the top overall pitcher. That being said, he is actually in a very good spot. The left hander will be taking on a Brewers team that has been bad against lefties with a .312 wOBA that is backed up by a 23.9% K rate and a 28.2% hard contact rate. Jaime Garcia on the other hand, has been excellent this season against both righties and lefties as he has sported a .309 wOBA and 3.36 xFIP. Those numbers are backed up by a 24.6% hard contact rate and a very low 24% ground ball rate. While I think this slate is a tournament one, Garcia is the guy to target if you are wanting to play cash games.

Nathan Eovaldi FD 7900 DK 5400
Opponent - SD (Rea) Park - @SD
FD - 32.12 DK - 21.1

If you are looking for a DraftKings specific play, Eovaldi is your guy. Sitting at only $5400, it is going to be nearly impossible to fade Eovaldi against the worst team in the league against righties. While Eovaldi is no superstar, he is a very good pitcher as shown by his batted ball and pitch f/x peripherals. He throws one of the hardest fastballs in the league and while it lacks movement, I don't think that is something we really have to worry about against the Padres. The Padres have been putrid this year against righties with a .283 wOBA, 77 wRC+ and a 22% soft contact rate. Eovaldi makes for a tremendous play in all formats on DraftKings and to a lesser extent on FanDuel, although I think he is definitely in play.

CATCHER

Evan Gattis FD 3000 DK 4400
Opponent - CHW (Gonzalez) Park - @HOU
FD - 10.63 DK - 8.06

Starting us off at catcher, we are going to look at the right handed power hitter in Evan Gattis. Gattis has been very good against right handers over the past 2 seasons with a .346 wOBA that is supported by a 35.2% hard contact rate and a 44.2% pull rate. While Gattis is a good hitter, he is nothing special. The real reason we are targeting him is because of who he is facing, Miguel Gonzalez. Gonzalez has been horrible this season, especially against righties as he has sported a .340 wOBA that is held up by slippery peripherals. Gattis makes for a great play in both tournaments and cash games.

Josh Phegley FD 2900 DK 3200
Opponent - PIT (Locke) Park - @OAK
FD - 9.76 DK - 7.49

If you are looking for a guy that will be lower owned and has just as much upside, you can look at Josh Phegley. Phegley is a platoon hitter that mashes left handed pitching. Dating back to 2014, Phegley has hit lefties to the tune of a .342 wOBA, .211 ISO and a 34.2% hard contact rate. We will touch on Jeff Locke a little later, but all you need to know for now is that he struggles mightily against right handers. Phegley makes for a great play in all formats.

FIRST BASE

David Ortiz FD 4300 DK 5500
Opponent - LAA (Chacin) Park - @BOS
FD - 15.57 DK - 11.71

1st base is loaded as always and David Ortiz is going to be top option on the slate. The Red Sox are going to have a fun time at the plate here against Chacin and the beating heart of the lineup will look to lead them. Jhoulys Chacin has exhibited a .368 wOBA against lefties over the past 2 seasons and his peripherals fully back that up. Ortiz on the other hand, has been on fire this season against righties with a .477 wOBA. Make sure to get exposure to this offense and Ortiz makes for a great way to do just that.

Prince Fielder FD 2700 DK 4000
Opponent - MIN (Santana) Park - @MIN
FD - 10.25 DK - 7.77

Fielder and the Rangers may not be very highly owned tonight, and I am loving that because they are 1 of my favorite tournament stacks of the night. They will be taking on Ervin Santana, a right handed has-been that now struggles mightily against lefties. In 2015, Santana held a .346 wOBA against lefties with BB peripherals to back it up. With a 32.2% hard contact rate and a 23.6% line drive rate, you can be sure that his wOBA is the real deal.

SECOND BASE

Brian Dozier FD 3100 DK 4900
Opponent - TEX (Perez) Park - @MIN
FD - 10.12 DK - 7.96

Brian Dozier is going to lead us off at second base as he will be taking on one of the worst pitchers of the night, Martin Perez. While Perez had some fluky starts at the beginning of the year, his numbers have corrected themselves as shown by his .341 wOBA and 5.08 xFIP against right handers. Dozier has been swinging the bat well lately and will look to continue that trend against Perez. With a .454 wOBA against lefties in 2015, I am sure he can handle Martin Perez just fine.

Derek Dietrich FD 2500 DK 3000
Opponent - ATL (Teheran) Park - @ATL
FD - 8.22 DK - 6.34

If you are looking to pay down a bit for a guy with safety and not much upside, you may want to take a look at Derek Dietrich. Dietrich is a right handed specialist (he hits lefty and dominates righties) and will look to do some damage against Julio Teheran. While Teheran is an elite pitcher against righties, he lacks a put away pitch against lefties which is shown by his 5.50 xFIP and his putrid 37% hard contact rate allowed. Dietrich makes for a solid play in cash games and could be considered for tournaments with the right roster construction.

SHORTSTOP

Xander Bogaerts FD 3300 DK 5100
Opponent - LAA (Chacin) Park - @BOS
FD - 11.99 DK - 9.61

As I mentioned when talking about David Ortiz, Jhoulys Chacin is a right hander that struggles mightily against both righties and lefties. Against right handers, Chacin has sported a .347 wOBA that is backed up by a 31.3% hard contact rate and a 24.8% line drive rate. Bogaerts on the other hand, has been spectacular against righties this year with a .378 wOBA and a .389 OBP. Bogaerts is a great option in all formats, especially on FanDuel at only $3300.

Trevor Story FD 2300 DK 3200
Opponent - LAD (Norris) Park - @LAD
FD - 9.09 DK - 7.36

Not sure what is going on here, but I will gladly run with it. Story is sitting at $2300 on FanDuel and $3200 on DraftKings. While I said I didn't know what was going on, I lied. These sites have the Rockies priced like they are playing Kershaw when in fact they are playing the ever so horrible Bus Norris. While Story is not as good against righties as he is lefties, he has still held a .369 wOBA against right handers. Story is a tough guy to fade in any format.

THIRD BASE

Travis Shaw FD 2800 DK 4100
Opponent - LAA (Chacin) Park - @BOS
FD - 9.38 DK - 7.28

Here we are back at it again with the Boston Red Sox, and this will not be the last guy mentioned from this offense. While there is not much more to say abut the match up, we can definitely touch on Travis Shaw. Shaw has been a very good hitter against right handers throughout his career with a .341 wOBA that is backed up by a 34% hard contact rate. While Shaw is a much stronger play on FanDuel, he can still be considered on DraftKings.

Danny Valencia FD 3800 DK 4100
Opponent - PIT (Locke) Park - @OAK
FD - 10.53 DK - 8.13

Valencia is a guy who is tremendous against lefties and struggles a bit against righties. Luckily, he will be taking on a southpaw and a poor one at that tonight. Jeff Locke is a lefty who has been terrible against righties and has the peripherals to back it up. Dating back to 2015, Locke has exhibited a 3.62 wOBA against righties with extremely putrid batted ball numbers such as hard contact rate and line drive rate. While I wish this game was in a hitters park, Valencia has shown his ability to hit homers in O.CO with 40% of them happening there.

OUTFIELD

Bryce Harper FD 4300 DK 5000
Opponent - CIN (DeSclafani) Park - @WSH
FD - 15.39 DK - 11.84

Bryce Harper took last night off and should be good to go here against Anthony DeSclafini and the horrible Cincy Reds bullpen. As shown last night, the Reds bullpen is the absolute worst in the league and gives up a ton of runs almost every game. Anthony DeSclafini, however, has been just as bad against lefties with a .362 wOBA. We all know Bryce Harper is one of the best hitters and baseball and his .381 wOBA against righties prove that. Harper is my top overall option in the outfield, however, it is pretty close.

Mookie Betts FD 3900 DK 5300
Opponent - LAA (Chacin) Park - @BOS
FD - 13.98 DK - 11.63

What more is there to say about this match up against Jhoulys Chacin? He is a right handed soft tosser that struggles against both lefties and righties, as well as holding runners. Mookie Betts on the other hand, has been one of the best hitters in baseball thus far as evident by his .370 wOBA and a 33.9% hard contact rate. Betts makes for a terrific play in all formats, especially on FanDuel as he is much cheaper.

Khris Davis FD 3800 DK 4700
Opponent - PIT (Locke) Park - @OAK
FD - 10.03 DK - 7.74

Moving back on to the Oakland Athletics, we have Khris Davis in the outfield. As I have mentioned a few times, Jeff Locke is absolutely horrible and he is somebody you should be targeting righties against as much as you can. Khris Davis is very good against lefties as proven by his .359 wOBA and 38% hard contact rate. Davis makes for a great play in all formats. Make sure to get some exposure to this offense as it will have one of the highest run totals on the slate.

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