DFS MLB Game by Game Breakdown – Friday, June 15

Welcome into the Friday edition of the DFS MLB Game by Game Breakdown! Friday brings us our normal sprawling 15 game slate so let’s get moving.

Yesterday’s split slate bright us a mixed bag. We fought the Mike Clevinger and Rhys Hoskins chalk in the early slate and escaped with a win. Had I played Hoskins and Nick Williams, the afternoon would have been much more lucrative. The Evening slate fell just a little short due to a chalky Michael Conforto. What I do want to point out is the crew at CPR is really good at this daily fantasy thing. Juan Carlos Blanco(@jcblanco22) and Brian Tulloch(@2lockSports) got me onto Anibal Sanchez in the evening. Reading everyone’s work can be a big boost to your game, as is following us on Twitter. Slates evolve during the course of the day. This article is usually finished up in the wee hours of the morning and things will change for the better when you listen to other people you respect. I didn’t put the right hitters together, but the Sanchez call was spot on and a great pivot from Domingo German. Now, let’s get to work on this beast of a slate tonight.

DFS MLB – Reds at Pirates

Reds Probable Starter – Matt Harvey, RHP 

5.97 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 17.5 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .295 average, .406 wOBA, 44.0 fly ball rate and 40.9 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .248 average, .314 wOBA, 30.1 fly ball rate and 38.5 hard contact rate

The best start that Harvey has had since he got to Cincinnati came against these Pirates a few starts ago. Obviously, the best way to attack Harvey is with lefty bats but the question is do the Pirates have the bats to take advantage of it. The one that carries the highest ceiling has to be Austin Meadows. The rookie has cooled off but he was hitting over .400 for awhile, so of course he had to come back down. Colin Moran was moved up in the lineup on Wednesday to the cleanup spot and if that happens again, he is very cheap and could help afford the one true ace on the slate. If you want to go with a Bucco stack, I think you have to include Corey Dickerson as well. Th slate is too big to sell out for Pirates righties.

Pirates Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Austin Meadows

Secondary Options – Colin Moran(elite if batting cleanup), Corey Dickerson

Pirates Probable Starter – Chad Kuhl, RHP 

3.95 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 22.2 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .250 average, .364 wOBA, 43.9 fly ball rate and 41.6 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .264 average, .313 wOBA, 34.0 fly ball rate and 30.9 hard contact rate

Kuhl has been pitching pretty well lately, even though he might not have the wins to show for it. His weakness has always been lefty hitters and the Reds profile as a fairly poor matchup for him. The wOBA, fly ball rate and hard contact all appear like it can go south for Kuhl in a hurry. Joey Votto and Scooter Gennett are expensive but they are both very good plays tonight. Scott Schebler is also a fine play, but $3,500 on FanDuel seems a little much. After letting a lot of players down in Kansas City, I don’t think the Reds will garner a lot of ownership.

Reds Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Joey Votto, Scooter Gennett, Jesse Winker

Secondary Options – Scott Schebler, Curt Casali(if active)

Home Run Pick – Austin Meadows

DFS MLB – Marlins at Orioles

Marlins Probable Starter – Jose Urena, RHP 

4.59 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 19.8 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .268 average, .323 wOBA, 30.7 fly ball rate and 45.3 hard contact rate

Vs RHH -.248 average, .300 wOBA, 30.1 fly ball rate and 42.3 hard contact rate

This game definitely isn’t the most appealing from a real life perspective and it’s not much of a different story for fantasy. There doesn’t appear to be much fantasy goodness to be had but Urena is actually a little bit interesting as a very deep tournament option. He’s not the best pitcher but he does draw a righty heavy lineup and he keeps the ball out of the air. Baltimore strikes out a ton against righty pitching at 25.2 percent and their best hitter has been cold the past two weeks. Manny Machado is only hitting .200 during that period and there aren’t Manny scary hitters past him in this lineup. The highest wOBA other than Macahdo for an everyday player is Mark Trumbo at .334. Machado’s price of just $4,200 on FanDuel is tempting but I won’t have much of this game.

Orioles Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Manny Machado

Secondary Options –Danny Valencia

Orioles Probable Starter – Kevin Gausman, RHP 

4.58 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 22.2 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .255 average, .329 wOBA, 38.0 fly ball rate and 27.5 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .305 average, .366 wOBA, 27.2 fly ball rate and 36.5 hard contact rate

Like I said, there just isn’t much here to really chase. You have to be selective on the big slates. Gausman could get blown up or he could throw a seven inning masterpiece. I just hat playing Marlins hitters but you could play J.T. Realmuto seeing as how Gausman is reverse splits. He certainly has the power to leave Camden Yards but I wouldn’t go out of your way to jam him into your lineup if you didn’t have to. This game is best served on the sidelines for me.

Marlins Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – J.T. Realmuto

Home Run Pick – Lewis Brinson

DFS MLB – Rays at Yankees

Rays Probable Starter – Nathan Eovaldi, RHP 

3.94 ERA, 0.63 WHIP and 19.0 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .200 average, .268 wOBA, 38.1 fly ball rate and 45.5 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .097 average, .177 wOBA, 39.1 fly ball rate and 13.0 hard contact rate

It’s kind of tough to take the stats for Eovaldi too seriously right now because he’s still working back from Tommy John. I know this much, giving ugly balls almost 40 percent of the time won’t end well in the long run in Yankee Stadium. I’m not too hot on paying the Yankee premium for the big guns of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton tonight. If you want a piece of the offense in this spot, Greg Bird and Brett Gardner are cheaper and on the “right” side of the split. I definitely can see the argument for the Yankees stack against Eovaldi but I think there are better options as we continue on.

Yankees Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Brett Gardner, Greg Bird, Gleyber Torres

Secondary Options – Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez

Yankees Probable Starter – Jonathan Loaisiga, RHP 

*Major League Debut*

Interesting side note here, there is a player who played for the Mariners back in the day that has the same exact name as the young Yankees starter. It threw me for a loop when I looked this guy up on FanGraphs because I couldn’t understand why the Yanks were calling up a guy who hadn’t played since around 2008. Anyways, what we know about Loaisiga in the minors is he had a big strikeout rate and had a 40-50 percent ground ball rate. I wouldn’t put a ton of of stock into any of that because he hasn’t pitched above AA so far in his career. My typical approach in these spots is to just avoid it. That’s even easier when you have the Rays offense involved. I don’t want to pitch Loaisiga and the only reason I would play Rays is in a full on stack to hope for a Loaisiga implosion.

Rays Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Matt Duffy, Wilson Ramos

Secondary Options – C.J. Cron, Jake Bauers

Home Run Pick – Greg Bird

DFS MLB – Nationals at Blue Jays

Nationals Probable Starter – Gio Gonzalez, LHP 

2.65 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 23.6 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .188 average, .210 wOBA, 34.9 fly ball rate and 25.6 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .243 average, .311 wOBA, 28.7 fly ball rate and 32.1 hard contact rate

This isn’t the best way to play but I personally won’t play Gonzalez tonight after he dropped a seven point performance on me in his last start. I never play him and felt I had no choice on that slate. This matchup tonight isn’t that formidable as the Blue Jays calling card against lefties is a low average and hitting for power. The best hitter in that mold for the Jays is Teoscar Hernandez. It wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t get a hit against Gonzalez, but he could be the hitter that takes him out of the yard. I don’t have a lot of interest in Toronto hitters because I do respect Gonzalez as a pitcher, even if we’re not friends right now.

Blue Jays Hitters to Target

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options -Teoscar Hernandez

Blue Jays Probable Starter – Aaron Sanchez, RHP 

4.33 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 17.8 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .306 average, .406 wOBA, 33.0 fly ball rate and 31.7 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .191 average, .265 wOBA, 31.1 fly ball rate and 33.6 hard contact rate

Now we’ve got to the first offense that I really want a piece of. The best hitters from the Nationals are on the left side of the plate and Sanchez could get stomped out tonight. Juan Soto, Bryce Harper and Adam Eaton are all very close in salary on FanDuel. The cheapest of the bunch is Matt Adams and I could see going with Eaton and Adams to save a few hundred bucks. You can probably only afford them both if you don’t pitch the ace tonight but there are other options on the mound. I’m not touching any righty bats for Washington and it will come down to roster construction for who I have in my lineup. A stack of all four lefties is not a terrible idea tonight.

Nationals Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Adam Eaton

Secondary Options -Matt Adams

Home Run Pick – Adam Eaton

DFS MLB – Twins at Indians

Twins Probable Starter – Kyle Gibson, RHP 

3.45 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 24.9 strikeout rate

vs LHH – .225 average .285 wOBA, 39.0 fly ball rate and 36.7 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .196 average, .286 wOBA, 26.4 fly ball rate and 37.7 hard contact rate

This isn’t usually the direction we go but we have to talk about the track record Gibson has against the Indians because it is not good at all. In 174 at-bats against the current players on Cleveland, Gibson has given up a .368 average to go along with a 1.045 OPS. Gibson is not in play for me tonight at all, especially going against Corey Kluber. You can have your pick of the Indians bats tonight because all of them have significant upside. From the value standpoint, Yan Gomes and Jason Kipnis stand out. Kipnis is especially attractive because he’s on the better side of the splits. I wouldn’t talk you off of any Cleveland bat this evening. They’re one of the better stacking options on the slate.

Indians Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Edwin Encarnacion, Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis

Secondary Options – Yan Gomes

Indians Probable Starter – Corey Kluber, RHP 

1.99 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 27.5 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .188 average, .234 wOBA, 31.0 fly all rate and 36.8 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .211 average, .243 wOBA, 29.0 fly ball rate and 38.8 hard contact rate

This side of the game couldn’t be much easier because you’re pitching Kluber and that’s it. Even with the strikeout rate being down from last year, Kluber has been utterly dominant this season. He’s not walking anyone and he’s giving up so little to both sides of the plate, there’s noting to pick at here. The ultra contrarian play would be playing Twins hitters but you wouldn’t see me doing that tonight. Kluber’s price is about the only thing making me hesitate just locking him in. He’s up to $12,000 on FanDuel and that is a hefty investment.

Twins Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – None

Home Run Pick – Jason Kipnis

DFS MLB – Padres at Braves

Padres Probable Starter – Clayton Richard, LHP 

4.40 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 19.4 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .218 average, .257 wOBA, 6.9 fly ball rate and 30.0 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .247 average, .323 wOBA,  24.7 fly ball rate and 41.6 hard contact rate

I really love playing Braves against lefties because even though their lineup has lefty hitters, they hit lefty pitching well. Ozzie Albies is almost always my go-to guy when the Braves draw a lefty, but he’s been pretty quiet recently. I don’t know if I can pay full price for him this evening, especially if I wan to play Kluber. I can’t play any lefty hitters against Richard given the minuscule fly ball rate. Richard did just see this squad on the fourth of this month and pitched pretty well, scoring 37 FanDuel points. That was in San Diego so maybe things go much worse for him tonight, but I’ll probably not be very heavy on Braves.

Braves Hitters to Target 

Elite Options -Ozzie Albies

Secondary Options – Dansby Swanson, Freddie Freeman

Braves Probable Starter – Brandon McCarthy, RHP 

5.03 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and 19.0 strikeout rate

VS LHH – .265 average, .365 wOBA, 27.4 fly ball rate and 26.8 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .318 average, .352 wOBA, 25.8 fly ball rate and 29.8 hard contact rate

McCarthy is not in a good spot with reverse splits because the Padres have righty hitters with power to make him pay. There’s a lot of risk with playing Padres because they strike out so much against righty pitching, but I could see San Diego knocking McCarthy around tonight. Jose Pirela is a solid low salary player is he’s leading off and even a hitter like Hunter Renfroe can be considered. I almost never play him unless it’s against a lefty and nobody will play him tonight. I won’t be using any Padres hitters in cash but a stack would be very sneaky. if you go that route, make sure you include Eric Hosmer. McCarthy gives up a slightly higher wOBA to lefties and and Hosmer himself has a babip of .389 against righty pitching .

Padres Hitters target 

Elite Options – Eric Hosmer

Secondary Options – Travis Jankowski, Jose Pirela, Hunter Renfroe, Franmil Reyes

Home Run Pick – Eric Hosmer

DFS MLB – Rockies at Rangers

Rockies Probable Starter – Chad Bettis, RHP 

4.40 ERA, 127 WHIP and 16.8 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .200 average, .281 wOBA, 29.2 fly ball rate and 34.0 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .288 average, .363 wOBA, 35.8 fly ball rate and 36.3 hard contact rate

The home road splits for Bettis are drastic but it’s not like he’s going to a pitcher’s park tonight in Texas. What does give me some pause about attacking Bettis is the Rangers have a lot of lefty hitters. Joey Gallo, Shin-soo Choo, Nomar Mazara and Jurickson Profar all will bat lefty and that doesn’t look like a spot we want to attack. Adrian Beltre is the best play by the splits but there’s two sneaky plays on that side of the platoon. Delino DeShields and Rougned Odor are both pretty cheap and could pay off handsomely. They’re probably more GPP plays because Odor will likely give you a zero and DeShields almost has to steal a base to make things worth it.

Rangers Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Adrain Beltre

Secondary Options -Rougned Odor, Delino DeShields

Rangers Probable Starter – Yohander Mendez, LHP 

16 IP total, 7.31 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 9.7 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .261 average, .325 wOBA, 33.3 fly ball rate and 22.2 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .302 average, .388 wOBA, 53.7 fly ball rate and 36.6 hard contact rate

We did the stats for the entire career of Mendez, which still isn’t very much of a track record. Anytime you can get the Colorado righty hitters against a mediocre lefty without the Coors Field bump in salary, you have to be interested. The three I want the most is Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story and DJ LeMahieu. Arenado especially just destroys lefty pitching with a .501 wOBA in 92 at-bats this season and is one of, if not the top hitting option on the slate. Story comes with a bit more risk because of his strikeouts but he’s hitting .400 the past two weeks. LeMahieu is the safest and cheapest play but also has the lowest ceiling of the three. I think playing Arenado and Story together is pretty feasible if you feel comfortable with a cheaper pitching option.

Rockies Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Nolan Arenado,Trevor Story, DJ LeMahieu

Secondary Options – Charlie Blackmon

Home Run Pick – Nolan Arenado

DFS MLB – Tigers at White Sox

Tigers Probable Starter – Mike Fiers, RHP 

4.01 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 17.4 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .260 average, .339 wOBA, 44.4 fly ball rate and 34.7 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .279 average, .347 wOBA, 43.6 fly ball rate and 37.0 hard contact rate

The FanDuel pricing for the best two hitters on the White Sox is curious at best. Both Yoan Moncada and Jose Abreu are under $3,500 and I’m very interested against a fly ball pitcher. I have to give Fiers a little bit of credit because he hasn’t been the gas can his numbers sometime suggest. Still, that amount of fly balls and hard contact is quite a lot. Moncada and Abreu have the power to take him out of the yard in a heartbeat and those two are about the only hitters I’d be looking at. If you want to go for a stack, throw Daniel Palka in there as well. In the past two weeks, his hard contact is over 57 percent on the fly balls are over 40 percent. A big game is coming very soon.

White Sox Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Yoan Moncada, Jose Abreu

Secondary Options -Daniel Palka

White Sox Probable Starter – Reynaldo Lopez, RHP 

3.26 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 16.7 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .238 average, .324 wOBA, 50.4 fly ball rate and 32.3 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .183 average, .264 wOBA, 42.5 fly ball rate and 29.3 hard contact rate

In his past seven starts, Lopez has five really solid ones and two absolute duds. I think he might be in line for another good start tonight because the Tigers just aren’t very good against righty pitching. They are 25th in baseball in ISO, OPS and wOBA against righties. I don’t know if Lopez will have a bunch of strikeouts because that’s not his game anyways and Detroit has a good strikeout rate. I was very interested in Leonys Martin until I saw he was $3,400. That’s a little rich for my blood because of his lack of power and I don’t think the Detroit offense can’t be trusted to drive in Marin even if he’s getting on base. This side of the game is a pass unless you want to use Lopez and a lot of big bats.

Tigers Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Leonys Martin

Home Run Pick – Yoan Moncada

DFS MLB – Phillies at Brewers

Phillies Probable Starter – Jake Arrieta, RHP 

2.97 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 17.1 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .252 average, .286 wOBA, 27.3 fly ball rate and 25.8 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .219 average, .280 wOBA, 25.6 fly ball rate and 22.9 hard contact rate

The regression monster has been visiting Arrieta the past two starts and that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The best attribute has been keeping the ball out of the air and that’s about it. Some of the runs last start came from the bullpen not being able to get out of a jam, but I always steer clear of pitchers seeing the same offense in consecutive starts. It’s just harder to fool hitters on back-to-back starts and with Arrieta, he’s not exactly fooling a lot of hitters anyways. It’s also fair to say that the fly balls and hard contact rate are very low.  On a slate this size, I’m not going to shoehorn any Brewers hitter in a cash lineup. The lefty hitters are a bit more attractive but I don’t want a whole lot from this side of the game.

Brewers Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Christian Yelich, Travis Shaw

Brewers Probable Starter – Brent Suter, LHP 

4.61 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 20.3 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .206 average, .280 wOBA, 38.0 fly ball rate and 37.0 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .270 average, .340 wOBA, 36.4 fly ball rate and 33.5 hard contact rate

I have some interest in the Phillies tonight and I really wish I hadn’t missed on Rhys Hoskins yesterday before his price went back up to normal rates. Cesar Hernandez has seen his price come down to where I’m willing to play him. Since he doesn’t have the power upside, I tend not to look his way once he’s over $3,400. A safe play is Carlos Santana because he should be able to get on base at the very least with his 18.8 walk rate. I won’t go much deeper than that because even with their seven run explosion on Thursday, Philly has been ice cold recently. The top of the order stack is very affordable and could be sneaky tonight. Super is nothing more than very average.

Phillies Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Carlos Santana, Rhys Hoskins

Secondary Options – Cesar Hernandez

Home Run Pick – Carlos Santanaa

DFS MLB – Cubs at Cardinals

Cubs Probable Starter – Jon Lester, LHP 

2.22 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 21.2 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .194 average, .258 wOBA, 40.8 fly ball rate and 29.4 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .207 average, .286 wOBA, 38.4 fly ball rate and 26.3 hard contact rate

Call me a hater, but I don’t think Jon Lester pitched well his last start. The line looks fantastic, but the Pirates just missed on a few pitches that could have made things look quite different. I would expect that the Cardinals to put out the same righty heavy lineup they played on Wednesday with the exception of Jose Martinez. He was put on the paternity list and will not be active for the game. I don’t know how heavy we want to be on the Cardinals because Lester has been good when we look at the metrics and St. Louis has seen the price really come up recently.

Cardinals Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Jedd Gyorko

Secondary Options – Marcell Ozuna, Tommy Pham, Yadier Molina

Cardinals Probable Starter – Michael Wacha, RHP 

2.47 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 21.5 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .181 average, .208 wOBA, 27.1 fly ball rate and 41.7 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .213 average, .305 wOBA, 29.4 fly ball rate and 44.8 hard contact rate

It’s kind of weird because each individual Cubs player is good against righty pitching, but nobody has a wOBA over .365. Wacha has been very good this season, but he does have a very poor track record against Chicago. As always, I put a little more weight in that when it’s a divisional opponent since the sample size tends to be bigger. The hard contact rates concern me slightly but it helps the fly balls are under 30 percent. I don’t know what to do with this Cubs squad. Most of them are up around their normal price points, so I think Ben Zobrist is going to be the only player I consider for cash. Anthony Rizzo is still scuffling around with a sub par season, and I don’t know if I’m going to play Kris Bryant again until he homers. We’re at a month and counting since his last one.

Cubs Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Ben Zobrist

Secondary Options – Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber

Home Run Pick – Tommy Pham

DFS MLB – Astros at Royals

Astros Probable Starter – Charlie Morton, RHP 

2.47 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 21.5 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .181 average, .208 wOBA, 27.1 fly ball rate and 41,7 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .213 average, .305 wOBA, 29.4 fly ball rate and 44.8 hard contact rate

Morton has scuffled just a little bit the past two starts and I don’t think I’m on him tonight. There’s other pitchers I feel more comfortable with at different price points. I will also say that I don’t want to attack Morton because that’s just a general rule against the Houston pitching staff. The game being in Kansas City helps the pitchers and the best Royals hitter is lefty, the wrong side of the split against Morton. Mike Moustakas would be a one-off that would be basically un-owned but it’s not where I’m heading tonight. This is a Morton or bust spot for me. I can’t get behind the Royals offense against a very good pitcher.

Royals Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Mike Moustakas, Jorge Soler, Whit Merrifield

Royals Probable Starter – Jakob Junis, RHP 

4.05 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 22.6 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .239 average, .308 wOBA, 48.1 fly ball rate and 36.1 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .246 average, .325 wOBA, 37.0 fly ball rate and 39.5 hard contact rate

My word, the Houston offense is hot right now. My keyboard is actually smoking right now because I’m typing their names. During their eight game win streak, Houston has scored four runs once and that’s the lowest amount in the streak. Junis doesn’t have a strikeout rate that scares me at all and you can feel free to stack Houston until they cool off. It’s a little funny to me that FanDuel jumped Evan Gattis up to $3,500 after about 10 days of having him far too cheap. That’s high all of the sudden, and I’d rather find the extra money for the big name players. Any of the big names from Houston are in play, especially the big four hitters.

Astros Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, George Springer

Secondary Options – Evan Gattis, Josh Reddick

Home Run Pick – Carlos Correa

DFS MLB – Angels at A’s

Angels Probable Starter – Tyler Skaggs

3.08 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 25.6 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .173 average, .211 wOBA, 41.8 fly ball rate and 35.7 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .268 average, .331 wOBA, 33.3 fly ball rate and 36.6 hard contact rate

He’s going to be vastly overlooked because the A’s can throw plenty of righties in their lineup, but the A’s aren’t all that great against lefty pitchers. As a team, they rank in the bottom 10 against lefties in average, OPS, and wOBA. They do have a very high ISO, so Skaggs is a risk/reward option because the A’s also carry a 23.9 strikeout rate. To me, this isn’t the spot to pay up for the A’s hitters. I’m happy taking a guy like Chad Pinder and his 64.9 hard hit rate against lefties at just $2,100 on FanDuel. Khris Davis is actually a little better against righty pitching, but he’s crushing the ball lately with three home runs in the past two games. Marcus Semien has seen his salary come down and is always interesting against a lefty.

A’s Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Chad Pinder, Mark Canha

Secondary Options – Marcus Semien, Khris Davis

A’s Probable Starter – Chris Bassitt, RHP 

1.29 ERA, 0.57 WHIP and 23.1 strikeout rate(1 start)

*Career Splits*

Vs LHH – .230 average, .301 wOBA, 38.2 fly ball rate and 30.0 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .288 average, .337 wOBA, 30.2 fly ball rate and 23.6 hard contact rate

Since Bassitt only has one start under his belt this year, we’ll dive into his career splits as a starting point. There’s only two players that I would consider in this spot and that’s Mike Trout(because duh) and Justin Upton. When those two get hot, they can carry a baseball team for a significant amount of time. Bassitt isn’t exactly the worst pitcher on the planet so I won’t be heading towards the full Angels stack. It’s just a matter of who I can fit with everyone else if I play Trout or Upton tonight. Trout will likely not carry a ton of ownership but we can see how things are going though the day.

Angels Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Mike Trout

Secondary Options -Justin Upton

Home Run Pick – Chad Pinder

DFS MLB – Mets at Diamondbacks

Mets Probable Starter – Seth Lugo, RHP 

1.77 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 27.0 fly ball rate

Vs LHH – .114 average, .175 wOBA, 34.7 fly ball rate and 22.0 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .237 average, .262 wOBA, 32.8 fly ball rate and 242 hard contact rate

The metrics look off the charts for Lugo but some of that is driven by the fact that he was pitching out of the bullpen for a good chunk of the season. I simply can’t suggest playing a borderline pitcher against the Diamondbacks right now the way they’re swinging the bats. Paul Goldschmidt went from people asking what’s wrong with him to one of the best hitters in baseball in startlingly quick fashion. I always like Jake Lamb and David Peralta against righty pitching and Peralta especially is hot with three homers in two games. Somehow he’s only $3,100 on FanDuel and he’s certainly in the running for a roster spot tonight.

Diamondbacks Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Paul Goldschmidt

Secondary Options -David Peralta, Jake Lamb

Diamondbacks Probable Starter – Zack Godley, RHP 

4.97 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and 21.9 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .265 average, .349 wOBA, 22.0 fly ball rate and 30.8 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .264 average, .338 wOBA, 34.9 fly ball rate and 39.6 hard contact rate

This spot is eerily similar to what we saw yesterday. on the one hand, we have a terrible Mets offense. On the other side, we have a Diamondbacks pitcher who just hasn’t had a good season. This isn’t the spot to attack tonight for a couple of reason. First, the range of outcomes is too wide to feel comfortable guessing what’s going to happen. Secondary, the better hitters for the Mets are lefties and Godley has really kept the ball out of the air to that side of the plate. You can still take a run at Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto and hope they both stay hot after yesterday.

We played heavy on this game yesterday but that won’t be the case tonight . I think Peralta is the best play from a salary standpoint.

Mets Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo

Home Run Pick – Jake Lamb

DFS MLB – Red Sox at Mariners

Red Sox Probable Stater – Rick Porcello, RHP 

3.54 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 21.9 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .235 average, .318 wOBA, 42.3 fly ball rate and 38.3 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .236 average, .268 wOBA, 26.2 fly ball rate and 22.2 hard contact rate

This game is very straightforward to me and we should be able to fly through it. I never play righties against Porcello because the success rate is pretty low. The lefties are where it’s at, but the issue is with Seattle, the lefties aren’t that powerful. Dee Gordon, Kyle Seager and Denard Span are the normal lefties, and only Seager has home run upside. Gordon is just a measly $3,000 on FanDuel and he can steal a base or two to make up for his lack of power. Seager and Span are both a little pricier but still firmly in play. I wouldn’t worry about any right handed hitters unless you like throwing away money.

Mariners Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Dee Gordon

Secondary Options – Kyle Seager, Denard Span

Mariners Probable Starter – James Paxton, LHP 

3.02 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 31.4 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .339 average, .427 wOBA, 28.2 fly ball rate and 30.8 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .168 average, .225 wOBA, 45.7 fl ball rate and 36.2 hard contact rate

Paxton might be one of the sneakiest plays on the entire slate. As a team the Red Sox rank 17th in average, 24th in OPS, 25th in ISO and 23rd in wOBA. That’s with Mookie Betts and J.D Martinez in the lineup, so the rest of the team is really poor against southpaws. Paxton is dominating this season, and is an elite tournament play because he’s basically still full price and everyone hates pitching against the Sox. I can’t say I blame them, but Paxton is actually set up for success tonight and I think he gets the better of this Boston lineup tonight. He’s one of the top three pitchers on the slate and is far cheaper than Kluber. I don’t see myself rostering too many Red Sox.

Red Sox Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez

Home Run Pick – Denard Span

DFS MLB – Giants at Dodgers

Giants Probable Starter – Derek Holland, LHP 

4.54 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 20.1 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .143 average, .195 wOBA, 40.5 fly ball rate and 20.5 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .257 average, .351 wOBA, 42.1 fly ball rate and 44.2 hard contact rate

Hello, late night hammer lineup! As our very own Brian Tulloch will tell you, the Dodgers have been good to us lately and tonight could be another night that L.A. is the difference maker in your lineup. Holland is giving up gobs of fly balls and hard contact to righties and I’m going to try to find a way to put Matt Kemp and Justin Turner into my lineups tonight. They have a .436 and .421 wOBA against lefties respectively. We’ll just have to hope Matt Kemp doesn’t channel his inner linebacker and truck stick the catcher like he did the other night. It’s not hard to see a scenario where both these guys hit bombs and shoot us up the leaderboard tonight.

Dodgers Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Matt Kemp, Justin Turner

Secondary Options – Chris Taylor, Kike Hernandez, Yasmani Grandal

Dodgers Probable Starter – Ross Stripling, RHP 

1.65 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 30.1 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .242 average, .262 wOBA, 35.0 fly ball rate and 18.5 hard contact rate

Vs RHH – .213 average, .256 wOBA, 34.2 fly ball rate and 29.3 hard contact rate

I’m a little hesitant to sink so much of my budget into Kluber, and if I don’t, Stripling is going to be my guy. The Giants have the seventh highest strikeout rate in baseball against righty pitching and Stripling has been terrific since taking over in the rotation. Also, the Giants played a 16 inning marathon yesterday in Miami. They then flew cross country and come back tonight, which could have a negative effect on them. I won’t have a single Giant on my rosters at any point tonight.

Giants Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Andrew McCutchen

Home Run Pick – Matt Kemp

DFS MLB Sample FanDuel Lineup

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P- Ross Stripling 

C/1B –  Greg Bird 

2B – Yoan Moncada

3B – Nolan Arenado 

SS – Amed Rosario 

OF – Austin Meadows, Chad Pinder, Matt Kemp

Utility – Justin Turner 

If this is the lineup we roll out there tomorrrow, it’s going to be a long night because we’re heavily invested in the Dodger game. I don’t really have a big issue with that, but I’m assuming Kluber is going to be chalk. I just feel that Stripling can get around 45 points. If Kluber hits 60, is it worth the extra $2,900 for the extra 15 points? I don’t believe so. Stripling could score higher than that as well. The offense we have here is pretty balanced with only Rosario being a true punt. I don’t love him, but I love everyone else. Having Bird, Moncada, Arenado, Meadows, Kemp, and Turner all in the same lineup could really pay off if Kluber is chalk and most players are playing cheaper offensive guys.

The Core – Matt Kemp, Chad Pinder, Nolan Arenado

Stacks to Consider – Pirates and Reds game stack with lefties, Yankees(vs Tampa), Indians(vs Minnesota), Rockies(at Texas), Astros(at Kansas City) and Dodgers(vs San Francisco)

Next: Top MLB DFS Plays and Rankings on Draft for Friday June 15

As always, may fortune be on your side and make sure to follow me on Twitter @bucn4life as MLB allows late swap. If there’s a late scratch and/or lineup cards aren’t put in for the late games, this article will always be updated on Twitter ASAP.