DraftKings MLB Picks June 12: Aaron Nola is the clear ace

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 07: Flags with Derek Jeters’ number on them fly over Yankee Stadium prior to Derek Jeter Day on September 7, 2014 before the game between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Picks June 12: Aaron Nola is the clear ace

We have a full Tuesday night, but there is a lack of elite pitching options that we would expect with every team on this slate. What we have is inflated prices on pitchers that aren’t aces. Which ones are worth trusting? Is there still value in the middle and lower tiers? In a word: Yes!

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There is no more than a 15% chance of showers for any of the games tonight. The only wind worth noting is a 12 mph wind out to center in Oakland and the same speed out to left at Yankee Stadium. Watch that one!

We will provide you with several options to build your lineup here. Want to spend all your money on pitchers and play bargain bats? We will highlight who is worth the money. Want to punt arms and pay up for the big boppers? We can help you with that as well, and everything in between!

These tips are based mostly on past performance. This is a nice tool for building a lineup, but should not be the only pieces of information you use. Stacking against a bad pitcher is always a good idea!

For you first time players, if you would like a free $10 showdown ticket for MLB or the NBA, use this link for the referral bonus with your first deposit of $5 or more! Then continue reading for tips on how to turn those DraftKings dollars into more!

Next: DraftKings Pitcher Plays

ST LOUIS, MO – JUNE 07: Miles Mikolas #39 of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches in the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at Busch Stadium on June 7, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Aaron Nola ($12,000): Nola is easily the best pitcher on the slate tonight, and is priced accordingly. Colorado hasn’t been as miserable on the road as in year’s past, but they still aren’t nearly as good as at home either. Blackmon is about the only guy I would use from a hitter’s standpoint, and at his price, I don’t trust that he can get much if anything off of Nola anyway. Nola has been brilliant at home this year with a 5-0 record, a 1.94 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP, and 45 strikeouts in 41.2 innings. He is in prime position to dominate again.

Mike Foltynewicz ($11,800): The current Mets have done pretty well against Foltynewicz, but that was in previous years. Not many teams have been able to get to Folty this year. He has a stellar 2.31 ERA, including a 2.55 ERA at his home park that caters to left handed hitting. That Mets offense has been pretty bad for a while now. Consider Foltynewicz option 1-A for tonight.

Miles Mikolas (10,900): This is a princely sum for Mikolas, but he picked up 21.4 DraftKings points on the Padres earlier this year. Mikolas has only allowed more than three runs once in 12 starts this year. This wont be the second time. I view him as the most stable of the upper tier picks, but Nola and Foltynewicz have more upside.

Middle Tier:

Lance McCullers Jr. ($9,600): The A’s are hitting a solid .263 against McCullers, but they only have one homer and three runs in 57 at bats. The 12 strikeouts are a little low, but the numbers are good enough if you want to move out of the top tier. The problem here is that McCullers has a nasty 6.75 ERA in two career starts in Oakland.

Jaime Barria ($9,200): Barria has been superb in his seven major league starts this year, posting a 2.48 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. The only team that Barria hasn’t put up 20 DraftKings points on in his last four starts is the Yankees. He played Baltimore and Houston in that span as well. This is a great matchup for Barria in the pitcher’s haven known as Safeco Field.

Clay Buchholz ($8,200): Buchholz has been brilliant in four starts for Arizona, posting a 1.88 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in those games. There is risk here since the Pirates have been all or nothing lately. They have scored seven or more runs in four of the past ten, but they have scored two or less in all of the other games. Which teams shows up tonight? Considering what Buchholz has done so far, I’m leaning towards the latter.

Bargain Pitchers:

Jake Odorizzi ($7,200): Odorizzi has only allowed three runs to the Tigers in 43 at bats with 12 strikeouts and no homers allowed. There is risk involved here since Odorizzi hasn’t exactly been consistent this year, but this Tigers offense is nothing to write home about. Odorizzi has shown flashes of brilliance this season. He should show a little more in spacious Comerica Park tonight.

Sal Romano ($4,500): If you are ever going to trust Romano, this looks to be the place to do it. The Royals have only scored 23 runs in the entire month of June. Romano gets a big park boost heading to Kauffman Stadium, which is pretty neutral as far as favoring pitchers or hitters. I don’t expect a huge game from him, but I can see Romano getting into the mid teens for DraftKings points, which is a huge return on this investment.

Austin Pruitt ($4,300): Pruitt figures to be the long reliever charged with going five middle innings tonight against the Jays. Yarbrough held his own against them last night. For the price, Pruitt should be worth the dart throw. I see him hitting double digit DraftKings points here.

BOSTON, MA – MAY 02: J.D. Martinez #28 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates with Mookie Betts #50 after hitting a two-run home run during the fourth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park on May 2, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images) /

Washington Nationals vs. CC Sabathia:

Sabathia has allowed at least one home run in each of his last five starts. Washington has plenty of right handed power with Mark Reynolds, Trea Turner, and Rendon. Bryce Harper is worth a look as well since CC is no longer an elite lefty. Michael Taylor has my interest with a lefty on the mound as well.

Boston Red Sox vs. David Hess:

True, Hess has pitched much better since the Red Sox first got ahold of him about two weeks ago. In the three starts since then, Hess has allowed just two runs in 18.2 innings pitched. That start for Hess was also in Fenway, and he surrendered five runs in 4.2 innings. It seems safer to stack against him. J.D. Martinez homered off of Hess twice in that game. Benintendi also homered off of Hess in that one. Mookie Betts is back, and is worth a look. So is Moreland and Rafael Devers if you think he is breaking out of his prolonged slump.

Minnesota Twins vs. Blaine Hardy:

The Twins are hitting .348 in 46 at bats against Hardy with ten runs, but they have yet to hit a home run. It is no secret that the Twins hit lefties hard, and Hardy has been no exception. Brian Dozier has scored four runs in four at bats against Hardy. Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario both have driven in a pair. Ehire Adrianza is 3-3 with two doubles. Sano and Eduardo Escobar are worth a look as well.

Atlanta Braves vs. Zack Wheeler:

Freddie Freeman and Tyler Flowers are a combined 8-15 with two homers and six RBI against Wheeler. I also like Ozzie Albies here. Markakis and Dansby Swanson are also worth a look if you plan on going with a full stack on Wheeler. You can. He has not been very good at home this year.

Chicago Cubs vs. Chase Anderson:

Anderson has been successful against a lot of teams prior to this season. The Cubs are not one of them. Although the Cubs are only hitting .244 against Anderson, they do have nine homers and 20 runs in just 135 at bats. Both Zobrist and Bryant have slugged three homers against Anderson. Almora, Schwarber, and Heyward have the others. Both Ian Happ and Willson Contreras are hitting .500 or better off of Anderson. There are a ton of options here!

Cleveland Indians vs. James Shields:

The Twins beat up on Shields last week. Cleveland has a very good chance of doing the same. The Indians are only hitting .233 against Shields, but they have eight homers and 26 runs in 215 at bats. Yonder Alonso is 3-9 against Shields. All three hits are homers and he has driven in nine. Edwin also has three homers and five RBI, but he is only 8-34 against Shields. Lindor and Lonnie Chisenhall have the other homers off of Shields. Michael Brantley is 11-35(.314) off of Shields, but only has four RBI to show for it. No matter, I like Brantley as a key piece of this stack or as a standalone option.

St Louis Cardinals vs. Phil Hughes?

The Padres have not yet named a starter for this game, but Hughes would be the best bet to take the ball if Lucchesi is not ready. I’m leaning towards Hughes here, but honestly, anyone not named Ross or Richard has been more than hittable on this staff lately. Expect Jose Martinez to stay hot. I also like Pham and Ozuna for the more expensive bats, but don’t overlook the reasonably priced Carpenter and Yairo Munoz.

Houston Astros vs. Daniel Mengden:

Mengden has had a solid season so far, but the Astros are hitting .316 with four homers and 19 runs in just 95 at bats. Mengden has been destroyed by Houston this year. He has allowed six runs in nine inning against Houston in two starts. Max Stassi, Evan Gattis, Correa, and Altuve have the homers. Correa and Altuve have combined for nine of the 19 RBI as well. George Springer and Alex Bregman are worth adding to this stack if you can afford it.

Next: Other notes for 6-12

MILWAUKEE, WI – APRIL 18: Eric Thames #7 of the Milwaukee Brewers is congratulated by teammates after a two-run home run against the Cincinnati Reds during the third inning at Miller Park on April 18, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Tanner Roark has been serviceable this year, so I’m not going to stack against him, even with Yankees. I will take Stanton and hit four homers and six RBI off of Roark in just 33 at bats. Neil Walker, another former NL East foe, is worth a look at a low price.

Eric Thames will rejoin the starting lineup tonight against Tyler Chatwood. His only hit in three at bats against Chatwood is a homer. Travis Shaw and Jesus Aguilar have also taken Chatwood deep.

Kauffman Stadium isn’t really conducive to a stack, and a lot of the Reds’ numbers are boosted by their home park. However, Ian Kennedy has been mostly awful this year. I like Votto. Gennett, and Eugenio Suarez here tonight.

Khris Davis is the only current A’s player to homer off of McCullers. He also has two of the three RBI. I’m not going out of my way to use an Oakland player, but Davis is worth considering as a standalone.

Trevor Williams is struggling lately, and a date with the surging Diamondbacks isn’t going to help any. I like Goldy and Peralta here. Nick Ahmed is also worth a look since he is the only Arizona player to homer off of Williams so far.

The Angels haven’t hit Mike Leake as hard as you may have guessed, but Justin Upton is 9-22(.409) with a homer, six runs, and three RBI. Trout is 4-9 with two doubles and a RBI off of Leake. Pujols could be worth a look as well.

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Middle Tier:

The dirty little secret about Jon Gray this year is that he isn’t even pitching well on the road this year. So his good past stats against the Phillies don’t mean much right now. I’m still buying stock in Cesar Hernandez and Rhys Hoskins here. Maybe Odubel Herrera as well.

It’s really tempting to stack on Clay Buchholz here, but he has been so good this season, this seems like a dangerous basket to put all of the eggs in. I may take a shot with Corey Dickerson, Austin Meadows, Marte, and Gregory Polanco since he is the only current Pirate to homer against Buchholz.

Leonys Martin is 4-11 with a pair of RBI against Jake Odorizzi in his career. Miggy could be worth a look here as well.

Nelson Cruz and Jean Segura are in play again. The Mariners hammered Heaney last night. It’s worth throwing a couple of them out there against the rookie lefty Barria.

Chris Stratton has been pretty good on the road, but after seeing the Marlins do well against MadBum, I’m more inclined to throw Realmuto and Starlin Castro out there and see what happens. Brian Anderson is hitting well lately, and is also worth a look.

Trevor Richards looks overpriced tonight for what little he has accomplished in the majors. I would rather go with Brandon Crawford and the red hot Andrew McCutchen against him.

Teoscar Hernandez and Granderson are about the only Blue Jays that I’m interested in tonight, and I use that term loosely. This offense doesn’t look all that great right now.

Brandon Nimmo is the only Met I would even consider tonight, and I still think that we can likely do better at that price range. For the record, Asdrubal Cabrera and Todd Frazier have both homered off of Foltynewicz in the past.

Adam Plutko had the worst start of his brief major career in his last outing, which was also against the White Sox. That game was in Cleveland. Chicago is a better hitting arena that Cleveland. Tim Anderson homered in that game. Jose Abreu drove in a run. I like Yoan Moncada and the power potential of Matt Davidson here as well. Engle and Tilson also drove in runs in that game if you are digging down in the Chicago outfield.

Colon has not been bad enough to stack against, but there are a couple of Dodgers that I’m interested in. Yasmani Grandal has homered off of him twice in nine at bats. Matt Kemp is also worth a look with the way he has been hitting right now.

The Pirates torched Caleb Ferguson in his major league debut, so I’m comfortable using several Rangers righties against him. If there are any left, that is. Adrian Beltre is definitely in play here. So is Kiner-Falefa. Chirinos, Profar, and Choo will cap off my Rangers stack. I have to take one shot at this!

I like Moose against Sal Romano, but that’s about it. This Royals offense is really struggling right now.

Bargain Shoppers:

Eduardo Rodriguez doesn’t have terrible numbers against the Orioles, but they aren’t good enough for me to pay five figures for him either. Adam Jones is 10-30 with two homers and seven RBI off of Eduardo already. Trey Mancini, Jonathan Schoop, Trumbo, and Chris Davis have all homered off of Rodriguez as well if you want to give Jones some company in your lineup.

We saw the Rays beat up on Gaviglio last night. They could do it to Jaime Garcia tonight. Most of the Rays’ righties are cheap. Carlos Gomez is 12-33(.364) with six runs scored and two RBI against Garcia. Matt Duffy, Wilson Ramos, and C.J. Cron are definitely worth a look as well. Don’t forget about rookie Jake Bauers. Of course, I can see the argument for using Garcia against the Rays. This is an all or nothing proposition on either side of it.

Next: DFS MLB Game by Game Breakdowns

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