Milwaukee Brewers' Corbin Burnes pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday, June 6, 2021, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
The fantasy baseball season has been terrific! It's been fun watching these pitchers and lineups adapt to the new environment, but it feels like the offenses are starting to come around. Baseball is all about grinding away night after night, and we have to do the same thing as these players. It's not always going to work out every night, but putting yourself in the best position to succeed should put you ahead of the pack. These articles are a good starting point for any slate, and we love the pitching recommendations for this card. With that in mind, let's start with last year's NL Cy Young winner.
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Opponent - ATL (Max Fried) Park - MIL
FD - 41.37 DK - 22.94
Burnes took down NL Cy Young honors last year, but this has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for three years now. CB has a 2.25 ERA and 0.93 WHIP since 2020. His strikeout numbers are even more impressive, recording 379 whiffs across those 272 innings. We love that when looking at his recent form, throwing at least six innings in each of his last six starts en route to a 1.33 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, and 11.7 K/9 rate in that span. Some of you might be worried about a matchup with the defending champs, but they rank 21st in OBP and dead-last in K rate this season. The most strikeout-heavy team facing one of the best strikeout pitchers makes Burnes one of the safest plays out there.
Opponent - OAK (Daulton Jefferies) Park - OAK
FD - 41.25 DK - 21.95
This DraftKings price is silly. Gray has been an $8K player on both sites for most of his career, totaling a 3.61 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in his nine-year career. That's pretty good, and we love this recent resurgence, registering a 3.49 ERA and 1.16 WHIP since 2019. His Ks have been on the uptick, too, striking out 452 batters across those 381 innings. His pitch count was held back earlier on, but 82 pitches in his most recent outing mean he should be close to a full workload. That looks even better with Sonny slinging a 2.16 ERA and 16.2 K/9 rate over his last two starts. Facing Oakland in a revenge game is the icing on the cake, with the A's ranked dead-last in runs scored, OBP, OPS, and xwOBA in one of the most pitcher-friendly ballparks around.
Drew Rasmussen (FD $8000 DK $7900) has a 2.67 ERA and 0.92 WHIP this season and enters this fantastic matchup as a -190 favorite.
Opponent - ARI (Zach Davies) Park - LAD
FD - 14.37 DK - 10.83
Freeman is always one of the safest options on every slate. This guy is a guarantee for 100 runs, 100 RBI, 30 homers, and a .300 AVG at the end of every season. Many people believe those numbers will get higher in the heart of this ridiculous Dodgers lineup, and Freeman is showing glimpses of how special he can be. Over his last 28 games played, Freddie has a .333 AVG, .439 OBP, .549 SLG, and .988 OPS. Those are obviously some of the best numbers in baseball, and we don't anticipate Davies to slow him down. The soft-throwing righty has a 5.35 ERA and 1.52 WHIP since the start of last season and will surely struggle with a lefty bat like this.
Opponent - SD (Blake Snell) Park - PHI
FD - 12.38 DK - 9.19
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