MLB Top DRAFT Picks (DRAFT.com): Tuesday, June 5th

CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 06: Jose Ramirez #11 and Francisco Lindor #12 of the Cleveland Indians celebrate scoring on a hit by Carlos Santana #41 in the first inning against the New York Yankees during game two of the American League Division Series at Progressive Field on October 6, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/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 today’s 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.

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.

DRAFT – DFS Strategy

Today we are working with a full fifteen game slate, starting with the first game of a double-header between the White Sox and the Twins at Target Field, starting at 3:10 CT. Currently by DRAFT projections it appears that Jose Berrios is in line to pitch this game. He is NOT however, so be aware of that. I am still seeing conflicting reports, but it appears that Fernando Romero will pitch the second game, with 22-year-old Zack Littell throwing the first. Littell was acquired from the Yankees last July for Jamie Garcia, who was in Minnesota for about a week. Littell struggled in AA but was still bumped to AAA, where he has actually been showing improvement. He has generated a respectable 2.57 ERA in four starts, and struck out 30 in 28 innings.

It was looking like there were going to be a couple of weather spots to keep an eye late last night, but everything appears to look good at the moment. My only concern at is in Washington, but I am not concerned enough to avoid Max Scherzer at this point. With all things considered, Let’s move on to my pitcher strategy for today.

DRAFT Pitcher Strategy:

We have a fantastic selection of pitchers to choose from today, including some of the game’s top aces. Today is a day where I will strive to pick one of the top dogs in Corey Kluber or Max Scherzer with my top pick. Both are in fantastic spots, as Kluber faces the Brewers in a huge strikeout potential match-up, and Scherzer faces the Rays at home, in what is an even better spot in my opinion. James Paxton is also a first round pick today, but has a bit tougher match-up than top guys, as he faces the Astros in Houston. He should also rack up double-digit strikeouts, but is nowhere near in as good of a position to get a win than Scherzer or Kluber.

After these three, we have a couple of guys returning from the DL, also in pretty favorable spots. Carlos Martinez returns as a heavy favorite facing the Marlins at home, and Madison Bumgarner will make his 2018 debut at home as well, facing the Diamondbacks. I tend to avoid guys making their first start off of an injury, so these two are pretty much off of my radar unless forced into the situation. I will prefer the red-hot Ross Stripling, who is pretty much going undrafted due to his low projection.

DRAFT Hitter Strategy:

So many games, so many stack options. What works well for me when doing multiple drafts over the course of the day on huge slates, is identifying two or three top stacks to target, and probably more importantly, finding a couple to fade as well.

I will start with a sneakier stack I am on in Washington with Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Juan Soto. Of course it matters where you draft if you land Harper, but if you are late first round and grab him, look to pair him with these two. My top stack lies in Cleveland where the Indians will face Brewers right-hander Junior Guerra. Guerra somehow has a 2.65 ERA on the season, but looks to be due for some serious regression. Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor and Michael Brantley are all on my radar, and I am drafting them as much as possible.

My backup stacks will depend on how my first round pick goes. Mike Trout pairs well with Justin Upton and Ian Kinsler, and don’t overlook the Athletics stack of Khris Davis and Marcus Semien. Of course there is PLENTY of great individual match-ups to target as well. If you find yourself looking for a good one-off to compliment your stack, look to lower projected guys who are likely to hit a homer today. The two obvious choices today are Nelson Cruz and Manny Machado. Scroll down far enough to include them in your pre-draft rankings!

FanDuel MLB: PHOENIX, AZ – MAY 13: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals hits a solo home run in the third inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 13, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/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. Max Scherzer – Washington Nationals – (1)

2. Corey Kluber – Cleveland Indians – (2)

3. James Paxton – Seattle Mariners – (5)

4. Madison Bumgarner – San Francisco Giants – (18)

5. Carlos Martinez – St. Louis Cardinals – (19)

6. Ross Stripling – Los Angeles Dodgers – (30)

Infielders:

1. Francisco Lindor – Cleveland Indians – (6)

2. JD Martinez – Boston Red Sox – (8)

3. Giancarlo Stanton – New York Yankees – (11)

4. Manny Machado – Baltimore Orioles – (12)

5. Jose Ramirez – Cleveland Indians – (13)

6. Mitch Moreland – Boston Red Sox – (15)

7. Trea Turner – Washington Nationals – (17)

8. Marcus Semien – Oakland Athletics – (21)

9. Brian Dozier – Minnesota Twins – (22)

10. Freddie Freeman – Atlanta Braves – (27)

11. Greg Bird – New York Yankees – (28)

12. Nelson Cruz – Seattle Mariners – (29)

Outfielders:

1. Mike Trout – Los Angeles Angels – (3)

2. Bryce Harper – Washington Nationals – (4)

3. Andrew Benintendi – Boston Red Sox – (7)

4. Charlie Blackmon – Colorado Rockies – (9)

5. Aaron Judge – New York Yankees – (10)

6. Justin Upton – Los Angeles Angels – (14)

7. Eddie Rosario – Minnesota Twins – (16)

8. Michael Brantley – Cleveland Indians – (20)

9. Brett Gardner – New York Yankees – (23)

10. Brandon Nimmo – New York Mets – (24)

11. Marcell Ozuna – St. Louis Cardinals – (25)

12. Juan Soto – Washington Nationals – (26)

Next: Get set for Fantasy Draft with Picks and Pivots!

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!