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MLB Top DRAFT Picks (DRAFT.com): Monday June 4th

By Chris Aliperto

DENVER, CO - JUNE 10: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim sprints towards home plate to score in the first inning of an interleague game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on June 10, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. The Angels defeated the Rockies 10-8. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JUNE 10: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim sprints towards home plate to score in the first inning of an interleague game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on June 10, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. The Angels defeated the Rockies 10-8. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 23: A baseball sits in the dirt following the Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres game at Nationals Park on May 23, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) DRAFT /

Why do you need another DFS site? Because DRAFT combines the excitement of a season-long draft into one set of games!

Welcome to the very first edition of MLB Top DRAFT Picks from FantasyCPR. The DRAFT app can be downloaded to your mobile device through your app store, or you can access their desktop site here.

I play quite a bit on DRAFT, and have always been a big fan of the snake draft format. On DRAFT, you roster one starting pitcher, two infielders, and two outfielders. They offer head-to-head, 3-man, 6-man and 10-man drafts that start upon filling. Also, they have a tournament format, where one contest will span a few days. The further you advance, the more you win. I play mostly the six-man contests for cash games, which payout to the top two spots.

Who am I you may ask? My name is Chris Aliperto and I can be found on all DFS sites as “JuanBond”. I have previously written DFS strategy and season-long fantasy articles for Forward Mile, and currently write for FanCaveDFS. I am beyond excited to bring everything I have learned to FantasyCPR and the FanSided Network. Truth be told, I recently got back in to writing after a long hiatus mostly because of Brian Tulloch, and his #PicksAndPivots article. I am a huge fan of Brian, and the rest of the CPR team, so this opportunity is such a thrill for me. Thank you to FantasyCPR for allowing me to continue to pursue this passion with all of you, and also for giving me a huge platform to talk about DRAFT!

My goal here will be to give you my strategy for drafting today on DRAFT, followed by my top 30 overall rankings. Strategy of course changes day by day, depending on what type of slate we are working with. I always start with my pitcher, as everything else revolves around that. After having completed my rankings for today and done a few six-man drafts, here is how I am attacking this slate.

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NEW YORK, NY – MAY 30: Luis Severino #40 of the New York Yankees reacts after the last out of the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium on May 30, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images) /

DRAFT – DFS Strategy

Tonight we are looking at one of the smallest slates of the year, as there are just four games. Monday’s and Thursday’s are usually the days teams will have off, but I cannot remember a time so far this year there has been this few games. At least there should be good weather everywhere, and for only having eight pitchers to choose from, the slate isn’t terrible. We have a couple of guys worthy of being taken at the top, so let’s dive in to the pitcher strategy to see what we are working with.

I should also mention that there is an early slate featuring the first game of the doubleheader between the Tigers and the Yankees. This will focus on the slate that starts earlier, and uses the FIRST game of that particular match-up, and the three late start games. I like the idea of using this slate for two reasons. One, we won’t have to deal with the possibility of some of the Yankees stars sitting that second game, and two this is the featured slates with the only tournaments available until likely this afternoon. Even though the start times are so spread apart, this really doesn’t matter on DRAFT, because you can always swap a player if he is not in the lineup

Pitcher Strategy:

Again, with only four games, my first thought here was better get a pitcher early. However, after taking a closer look, the other options are not too shabby. I do think Luis Severino and Zack Godley should be taken early, but guys like Nick Tropeano against the Royals, and both pitchers in the Braves/Padres game in Julio Teheran and Clayton Richard, have been pitching well as of late. All three could very well match the output of the top two.

After these five pitchers though, it gets quite ugly. You will have to choose between guys like Danny Duffy and Derek Holland. I guess if I find myself in this situation of having to grab to the last pitcher, it will be Holland if he goes for San Francisco. At the time of writing this, there are still conflicting reports on who will toe the rubber for the Giants. I am seeing either Holland or another lefty in Ty Blach. So keep an eye on that situation if you find yourself in this awful spot.

Grabbing hitters early will be more important to me, as I will be looking to stack up my favorites on such a limited slate. With that said, don’t sleep too long on your pitcher though, and end up with that last guy.

Hitter Strategy:

On short slates, our options are usually quite limited. With just eight teams in action, it will be a dog fight in most drafts to lock up the top stacks. The clear favorites today will be the Yankees at home against the Tigers, and the Angels at home hosting the Royals. After those two it really becomes anybody’s guess. The Diamondbacks appear to be in a good spot, as they are heating up at the right time, and should face the veteran lefty Holland. This should bode well for Paul Goldschmidt, whose bat as come alive as of late.

My sneakier stack of the day which I will be targeting will be the Braves. They are a left-handed hitting team for the most part, but they actually hit lefties very well. Among the best in the league in fact. Consider Nick Markakis and Ender Inciarte in play, along with the obvious studs in Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman. There are few one-offs who will also be in play of course as well, and they will be covered in the rankings.

If one thing is certain about hitters today, there is a big difference in-depth between IF and OF. OF has the top studs of the day in Mike Trout and Aaron Judge, but really thins out fast soon after that. IF is deep however, and I can rank up to 20 guys worth drafting. Looking at my rankings, my exact strategy is shaping up to be OF, OF, P, IF, IF. Of course this is subject to change as drafts play out. If I draft fifth and for some reason the top four pitchers all go, I will likely draft my pitcher then. Remember, we do not want to be stuck with that last pitcher today!

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NEW YORK, NY – MAY 29: Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the New York Yankees looks on against the Houston Astros during their game at Yankee Stadium on May 29, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

DRAFT – Today’s Rankings

My rankings are pretty easy to follow. I have ranked the top 30 overall. We will go six deep at pitcher, and twelve deep at IF and OF. Rankings are broken down into positions, and following each players name will be their overall ranking in parenthesis.

Pitchers:

1. Luis Severino – New York Yankees – (1)

2. Zack Godley – Arizona Diamondbacks – (7)

3. Nick Tropeano – Los Angeles Angels – (8)

4. Julio Teheran – Atlanta Braves – (9)

5. Clayton Richard – San Diego Padres – (15)

6. Danny Duffy – Kansas City Royals – (30)

Infielders:

1. Giancarlo Stanton – New York Yankees – (3)

2. Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks – (6)

3. Ozzie Albies – Atlanta Braves – (10)

4. Freddie Freeman – Atlanta Braves – (12)

5. Didi Gregorius – New York Yankees – (13)

6. Ian Kinsler – Los Angeles Angels – (14)

7. Gary Sanchez – New York Yankees – (16)

8. Eric Hosmer – San Diego Padres – (17)

9. Mike Moustakas – Kansas City Royals – (19)

10. Gleyber Torres – New York Yankees – (24)

11. Miguel Andujar – New York Yankees – (26)

12. Albert Pujols – Los Angeles Angels – (27)

Outfielders:

1. Aaron Judge – New York Yankees – (2)

2. Mike Trout– Los Angeles Angels – (4)

3. Justin Upton – Los Angeles Angels – (5)

4. Brett Gardner – New York Yankees – (11)

5. Aaron Hicks – New York Yankees – (18)

6. Nick Markakis – Atlanta Braves – (20)

7. Travis Jankowski – San Diego Padres – (21)

8. Andrew McCutchen – San Francisco Giants – (22)

9. Ender Inciarte – Atlanta Braves – (23)

10. David Peralta – Arizona Diamondbacks – (25)

11. Chris Owings – Arizona Diamondbacks – (26)

12. Nick Castellanos – Detroit Tigers – (29)

As you can see, I like the Yankees and Angels quite a bit tonight. On a tiny four-game slate, there really usually isn’t a whole lot of ways to go obviously. Expect to see a more elaborate article as the days go on, the slates get bigger and I get familiar with how I can relay this info better to you. You will find a link to follow me on Twitter below, and if you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see about DRAFT on a daily basis I am all ears!

Next: DFS MLB Game by Game Breakdowns

That is all for today’s MLB Top DRAFT picks on FantasyCPR. If you have any questions regarding any of my rankings, reach out to me on Twitter at @JuanBondDFS. You can also leave a question right here in the comments, and I will do my best to respond. Good luck tonight and happy drafting on DRAFT!