Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 6/24/17

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Pitcher

EARLY
Corey Kluber FD 10800 DK 12600
Opponent - MIN (Gibson) Park - @CLE
FD - 41.98 DK - 27.74
In the afternoon slate, the system loves it some Corey Kluber, and it isn't even close. He comes in head and shoulders above the rest of the pack in the early slate in both points per dollar and raw point total projections. He's looking almost Kershawesque at not quite a Kershaw price tag. The comparisons don't exactly stop there either. Ten starts in to the season, and Kluber is striking out nearly 1.5 more batters per 9 than his career totals, which is also a full batter more than Clayton, while his bb/9 (2.34), BABIP (.303), and xFIP (.301) all hover close to Clayton's totals, which we'll touch on momentarily. Cleveland rocks, and they're fully expected to rock the Twins this afternoon as our friends in Vegas have them coming in with an early line of -234. Minnesota isn't terrible at baseball, they have a .323 team wOBA which is slightly above average, and rock a 98 wRC+ which is slightly below average, and strike out 22% of the time against right handers. When you consider all of the other names taking the hill in the afternoon set, paying up for Kluber is looking better and better. Love him for cash games, and while one of those cheaper guys could suprise in a GPP, I wouldn't completely fade away from Kluber there either.

Consider: Marco Estrada in the Very early.

MAIN
Clayton Kershaw FD 12300 DK 12500
Opponent - COL (Chatwood) Park - @LAD
FD - 45.38 DK - 29.97
On the main slate, well, was there any real doubt? Particularly when you look at the pricing. Clayton's pricing across the industry is the second lowest it has been all season. Aside from two starts in Coors Field, on Fanduel he's only been at this price one other time and on DraftKings He's never been this low. Now, while he may not be the Clayton of old, and Sale and Scherzer have been arguably been having better seasons in regards to xFIP and K's per 9, he is still Clayton Kershaw and this is the express train to bargaintown. Through 15 starts we've constantly shouted from the rooftops that you just have to play Kershaw regardless of price, because well, he's Kershaw, so at a season low this is just a no brainer. The Rockies have a .350 wOBA in Coors field, but this weekend they're in Chavez Ravine, and their road numbers take quite a dip, tumbling all the way down to .312. Then of course there is the fact that they strike out 23.6% of the time against southpaws. Now excuse me while I head up to the rooftop to once again stress Kershaw is the play, regardless of cash or GPP, the price is oh so right.

Lance Lynn FD 7400 DK 7100
Opponent - PIT (Cole) Park - @STL
FD - 28.92 DK - 19.09
Even though he's relatively cheap, Kershaw will still take a good chunk of change from your salary, so you want a nice value play for your SP2 on DraftKings. Say hello to Cardinals right hander Lance Lynn. Lynn doesn't scream safety, and he got hammered by the Orioles and the long ball in his last outing, giving up 4 bombs and only lasting 4.2 innings. Today however he has the good fortune of hosting the Pirates, who as a team have not been very good at the whole offense thing this season. Pittsburgh's .310 wOBA and 90 wRC+ are each ranked sixth worst in the majors this season, though they're only striking out 19% of the time this season which stands to limit his upside. St. Louis is a -120 favorite in this one, so as long as he get's some help from his offense and keeps the ball in the yard, he should be able to provide just enough when paired with Clayton in cash games on DraftKings.

Consider Robbie Ray.

Catcher

EARLY
Willson Contreras FD 2800 DK 3900
Opponent - MIA (Nicolino) Park - @MIA
FD - 10.19 DK - 7.92
The price is starting to slowly inch upward on Wilson Contreras, but for a catcher batting in the top third of the order, especially with a line up like the Cubbies offer, he is still a bargain across the industry. Contreras ranks 9th among catchers with a .312 wOBA. He homered Thursday night in the series opener, his second in four games, and he's reached base safely in four of his last 5 games, with double digit FD points in three of those. If he's in the top two thirds of the order he's in play, if he's top three, he's pushing must start territory.

Consider: Yan Gomes as a value play in an Indians stack.

MAIN
Yasmani Grandal FD 3000 DK 3800
Opponent - COL (Chatwood) Park - @LAD
FD - 9.17 DK - 6.92
Grandal hasn't been in the Dodgers starting lineup for the past two games, though there are no reports suggesting anything of concern. The most likely scenario would be consecutive games against lefties, who Grandal has been struggling against, compared to Austin Barnes. Tonight the Dodgers will take to the field against right hander Tyler Chatwood, so we should expect to see a return to action for Yasmani. Against right handed pitching this season Grandal has a .351 wOBA which is fifth among all eligible catchers against the split, with a .363 BABIP and 8 of his 9 home runs coming off of right handers. Keep an eye out for the Dodgers lineup, but I see no reason why Grandal shouldn't return tonight, and if he's in, he's in play.

Consider: Chris Herrmann if he's in the lineup.

First Base

EARLY
Eric Thames FD 3400 DK 4500
Opponent - ATL (Dickey) Park - @ATL
FD - 12.89 DK - 10.08
Eric Thames price seems to have spiked, and is now trending down some, which is wonderful news for those of us who love to lock his bat and potential home run in to our lineups. Thames had a stretch of four games in which he homered last week, and his bat has been on the quiet side since then, going 2-20 in 5 starts since, but don't let that deter you. Despite his recent slump, he's still rocking the sixth best wOBA among eligible first basemen with a .397 and his wRC+ sitting at 142 and he's behind only Logan Morrison for lead at HR for the position. he'll get a shot to turn things around today against R.A. Dickey.

Consider: Edwin Encarnacion averaging 21.97 FD points in his last 10 games.

MAIN
Miguel Cabrera FD 4000 DK 3600
Opponent - SD (Lamet) Park - @SD
FD - 12.31 DK - 9.32
I love this play much more on DraftKings where he is coming in as a complete steal. Miggy went 0-3 with a walk in last night's opener at Petco following a series with Seattle where he went 3-16 with a HR, 2 walks and 2 RBI. The 34 year old Cabrera's numbers seem to be trending downward this season, but he is still sporting a respectable .348 wOBA. Today he steps in to the box against Dinelson Lamet, whose 7.50 ERA is among the worst on the slate. I can't say I'll pull the trigger on FD but on DK, Miggy is definitely in play.

Consider: Hanley Ramirez on FD for nearly 1K less, with similar projections.

Second Base

EARLY
Jason Kipnis FD 3400 DK 4300
Opponent - MIN (Gibson) Park - @CLE
FD - 11.75 DK - 9.38
The price has been on a slow but steady rise for Jason Kipnis these past couple of weeks, but it's yet to reach a point where I would give pause to rostering him, particularly against Kyle Gibson and his 6.56 ERA. Kipnis comes in to the game with a .299 wOBA which climbs to .311 against right handed pitching. He went 0-4 at the plate last night, picking up just a walk in the series opener. He's reached base safely in 8 of his last 9 games, 5 of which were double FD point performances. A fine cash play, and a must have in a Cleveland GPP stack.

Consider: Javier Baez with a .343 wOBA against lefties.

MAIN
Brandon Drury FD 2800 DK 4300
Opponent - PHI (Lively) Park - @ARI
FD - 9.51 DK - 7.46
Ben Lively makes his fifth career start today in Chase Field against the Diamondbacks. The young Phillies right hander has put together 4 quality starts to date, against the likes of the Red Sox, and, last time out, these same Diamondbacks back in Philly last weekend. Put that in the favor of Brandon Drury and his Arizona teammates, as they have now seen his stuff and it's fresh in the memory. Drury, a reasonably priced, middle of the lineup guy, split the past week between Philly and Colorado going 8-21 with a walk, 2 doubles 7 RBI and a run scored. If you're starting Kershaw, then there's some nice PPD salary relief potential coming from the Arizona second baseman.

Consider: Chase Utley if leading off

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Shortstop

EARLY
Francisco Lindor FD 3600 DK 4800
Opponent - MIN (Gibson) Park - @CLE
FD - 12.34 DK - 9.95
The Indians, as they always tend to be, are an excellent stacking option for tournaments today, and it all starts with the table setter. Francisco Lindor let us down last night, never making it out of the batters box, but today is a new day and with it comes a new pitcher to target. This time, Kyle Gibson. Gibson will come into his 13th start with a .360 BABIP and 5.05 xFIP, walking just over 4 batters per 9 innings. Lindor meanwhile, has been somewhat inconsistent this season, though 4 of his last 7 games have been multi hit efforts. For the price, Lindor is coming in as an elite point per dollar play on FanDuel.

Consider: Troy Tulowitzki as a GPP value play.

MAIN
Xander Bogaerts FD 3900 DK 4700
Opponent - LAA (Ramirez) Park - @BOS
FD - 11.97 DK - 9.57
Xander Bogaerts went 2-4 at the plate last night in the series opener with the Angels for his 4th double digit FD point performance in 5 games. Bogaerts has been lighting the basepath on fire this season, his .362 wOBA is the fourth best at the position. Tonight the Angels look to counter with J.C. Ramirez. The right hander brings a 4.20 xFIP and a .310 BABIP into the game along with a 39.2% hard contact rate. I'll take Xander in all formats.

Consider: Chris Owings with hits in 9 straight games.

Third Base

EARLY
Kris Bryant FD 3900 DK 4900
Opponent - MIA (Nicolino) Park - @MIA
FD - 14.45 DK - 11.13
Take a look at those projections. Only one other position player (he plays OF for Washington) is coming in with a higher projected point total in the system, and while that player will cost you about $1000 more salary, the projection is only .01 higher. Kris Bryant is a phenomenal play on the early slate against Justin Nicolino. Nicolino, is making his fifth start of the season, with an 0-1 record. He's strugged with both his control and the long ball, walking nearly 4 batters per 9 while allowing 2.25 home runs per. Bryant's .387 wOBA is third at the position this season, and it climbs to an astounding .479 against southpaws.

Consider: Evan Longoria
MAIN
Justin Turner FD 3800 DK 4300
Opponent - COL (Chatwood) Park - @LAD
FD - 10.45 DK - 8.1
This isn't the sexiest play of the day, but the position as a whole isn't very pretty on the main slate, with most of the top point per dollar plays coming in early. So here we are with Justin Turner. I'd prefer him against a lefty, but Tyler Chatwood is ripe to be picked on, especially outside of Coors. For what it's worth Turner looked good against the Mets this week, with 2 home runs in the series, and three home runs in his last 4 games along with 8 RBI and 5 runs scored. In cash games I love Turner, for GPP, I just don't see a ton of upside for the price, especially if pairing him with his pitcher.

Consider: Jedd Gyorko with three HR in his last 6 games.

Outfield

EARLY
Brett Gardner FD 3800 DK 4400
Opponent - TEX (Bibens-Dirkx) Park - @NYY
FD - 12.17 DK - 9.77
The Yankees pulled out a close one in the opener of the weekend series against the Rangers in Yankee Stadium last night, with Brett Gardner going yard in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. It was Gardners first home run since June 8th, Gardner has been somewhat streaky as of late, but his .344 wOBA is still nearly 20 points above his career number and his 13 HR have him on pace to shatter his career high 17 back in 2014. Today he faces Austin Bibens-Dirkx, a 32 yr old career minor leaguer, making his 4th career big league start. In 8 total appearances this season including out of the pen, Bibens-Dirkx has a 4.25 ERA and 5.21 xFIP but the sample size is too small to really garner anything solid. This is less about the pitcher and more about Gardner, who is an excellent play in all formats in the early slate.

Jose Bautista FD 3800 DK 3800
Opponent - KC (Vargas) Park - @KC
FD - 11.48 DK - 8.59
With Kevin Pillar struggling, the Jays have moved Joey Bats into the leadoff spot going forward in an attempt to shake things up. The Jays are still struggling, and fighting to climb into contention after a sluggish start to the season fueled by the absence of Tulowitzki and Donaldson and the struggles early on of Jose Bautista. It wasn't long ago when Bautista would appear here and I would question how do I justify this selection, but now, things have returned to normal and Jose Bautista has once again become that guy who jumps to the top of the list when considering your options for the outfield on a given slate. After starting out with a .257 wOBA in April, he tore things up in May with a .436 and currently sits at .323 on the season. He's also hit 11 HR through May/June after going yard only once in the first month of the season. Today he'll follow up last night's 3-5 performance against Jason Vargas who comes to the hill with a 4.69 xFIP and .286 BABIP.

Consider: Giancarlo Stanton against Lefty Lester

MAIN
Andrew Benintendi FD 3500 DK 4300
Opponent - LAA (Ramirez) Park - @BOS
FD - 11.79 DK - 9.54
Mookie Betts FD 3800 DK 5200
Opponent - LAA (Ramirez) Park - @BOS
FD - 14.38 DK - 11.76
The Red Sox beat up on the Angels last night in game one of the series and look to continue that tonight against J.C. Ramirez. Mookie Betts was hitless at the plate in last nights opener, but did manage to draw a walk, stretch it with a stolen base, and made his was home to score. He's now reached base safely in 8 of his last 9 games. If you're not stacking this game and just need a cheap play to fit in your outfield, look to Andrew Benintendi. The young rookie has been on quite the run lately, doubling last night and coming home to score, the 11th time in his last 12 games he has found his way on to the basepath. I'd recommend trying to fit both in your lineup, but if you can only fit one I'd defnitely go with Benintendi in all formats.

Gregor Blanco FD 2900 DK 4400
Opponent - PHI (Lively) Park - @ARI
FD - 11.4 DK - 9.55
David Peralta FD 3500 DK 4900
Opponent - PHI (Lively) Park - @ARI
FD - 12.86 DK - 10.36
Just as we established with Brandon Drury above, these two DBacks outfielders are great values and present an excellent way to save some salary while running Kershaw. Blanco is pretty much a must play if leading off again with Ben Lively on the mound. He Homered while going 4-10 with 3 RBI last weekend at Citizens Bank Park. Peralta was 5-11 last weekend against the Phillies with a triple. Both stand to give Lively a tough time as he makes his second straight appearance against a Diamondbacks team competing with the Dodgers for top spot in the NL West.

Consider: Stephen Piscotty

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