MLB Top DRAFT Picks (DRAFT.com): Tuesday, June 19th
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 have a full 15-game slate, with a normal 7:05 ET lock time. We have aces to choose from, Jason Vargas pitching at Coors Field, and plenty of other great matchups to target. Justin Verlander and Chris Sale are back in action tonight, and Twins ace Jose Berrios will oppose Sale at Target Field in Minneapolis. This looks to be an exciting slate with lots of options, so let’s talk about the weather and get right to it.
If you played at all yesterday (I did not), you will likely be dealing with some weather situations as you would have last night. It looked like the Indians and the White Sox were not going to get their game in early yesterday, and then they ended up playing with no issues until the seventh inning, when the game was finally delayed. The Cubs and Dodgers on the other hand, looked safe to target to bats early in the day. But as it got closer and closer to game time, it became clear that Cleveland was likely to start on time, and the main issues were in Chicago. You can never stress it enough in MLB DFS… Watch that weather up until lock, and in DRAFT terms, be ready to swap!
Weather:
We have a few to sort through today so let’s mention them before we move into today’s strategy. The first possible weather threat lies in Cincinnati, where the Reds will host the Tigers in interleague play. There is currently a 45-55% chance of thunderstorms in the few hours before and after game time, with a small of window of only a 20-30% during game time. It will be humid, so if it looks like it could play, I will certainly have my eye on some Reds bats. This game sports an implied run total of nine at the moment, and will be on my radar should the weather cooperate.
Another threat will be at Wrigley Field again where the Cubs are set to host the Dodgers. Right now this looks like just light rain, but that was the case yesterday as well. The chances of rain at game time right now exceed 70%, so this is another spot to keep an eye on, as it looks like it will be wet again.
The last weather watch will be in Denver at Coors Field where the Rockies will host the Mets. This is the least likely of the three games to see any sort of delay threat, but there is 40% chance of rain around what would be mid-game. It does not look at this point like it will last if it does rain, but this is easily one of the trickiest spots to predict weather. However, It will have to be a monsoon threat or a blizzard warning to keep me from drafting Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story over and over in this matchup against Vargas. I will likely fade the other two games above, as I have been up to this point, so I will be not be ranking any players in those games.
DRAFT MLB Pitcher Strategy:
We have already established we have two of the games best in action today in Sale and Verlander. They will be my top overall ranked players today, as both have that 15 FP type of floor in their matchups today. Since nothing really needs to be said here to justify these two as top picks, let’s move on to see what else we have to work with, so we are covered regardless of our draft position.
The next best options after our clear-cut favorites would be Mike Clevinger, who squares off against the White Sox, and Berrios who I touched on at the start of this article. Berrios is nowhere near as popular as Clevinger, and can be had in the fourth round fairly often. Clevinger is going in the second round if not the first pretty consistently, which is a little too high. I would rather have the strikeout upside from Berrios while grabbing my preferred hitters if faced with this decision.
The last two pitchers on my radar are Vincent Velasquez and Braves rookie Mike Soroka. One of these two will likely be my last pick if I miss on the top four. Velasquez continues to dazzle and over achieve. He bounced back nicely from his ten earned run embarrassment against the Brewers with a gem against the Rockies. Soroka has been decent in just four starts this season. He was up for a three start stint in May, and has recently rejoined the big club. If there is a knock on Soroka, it could be that he hasn’t faced anybody yet. Two of his four starts have come against the Mets, and one against Miami. Tonight he faces Toronto in interleague play, and this looks like another good spot if you need it.
DRAFT MLB Hitter Strategy:
Pretty straight-forward today as usual. This looks like another day to focus on the hot hitters and great matchups, as opposed to forcing stacks. Of course everyone wants a piece of Coors Field action, so pulling off a great stack is unlikely there. I am finding myself with plenty of Ian Desmond who can be had pretty late, and I like his chances to take Vargas deep tonight. I would prefer him over LeMahieu, who is also being drafted late.
There are a couple of under projected players in my opinion that I am focusing on instead of stacks. For some reason you really have to scroll through the IF list to find Paul Goldschmidt. Homering again in his first at-bat last night, this guy is the hottest player in baseball right now. Slide him way up in your rankings and grab him in the third round. Another under projected player to target and grab at the end of drafts is Nationals 19-year-old rookie phenom Juan Soto. It is a slight disadvantage to take a hitter who normally hits in the bottom third of the lineup on DRAFT, but Soto looks to be the exception right now.
DRAFT MLB – 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. Justin Verlander – Houston Astros – (1)
2. Chris Sale – Boston Red Sox – (2)
3. Mike Clevinger – Cleveland Indians – (16)
4. Jose Berrios – Minnesota Twins – (20)
5. Vincent Velasquez – Philadelphia Phillies – (21)
6. Mike Soroka – Atlanta Braves – (30)
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Infielders:
1. Nolan Arenado – Colorado Rockies – (3)
2. Trevor Story – Colorado Rockies – (5)
3. JD Martinez – Boston Red Sox – (9)
4. Giancarlo Stanton – New York Yankees – (10)
5. Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks – (12)
6. Ian Desmond – Colorado Rockies – (14)
7. Shin-Soo Choo – Texas Rangers – (15)
8. Jose Ramirez – Cleveland Indians – (17)
9. Francisco Lindor – Cleveland Indians – (18)
10. Freddie Freeman – Atlanta Braves – (19)
11. DJ LeMahieu – Colorado Rockies – (23)
12. Jake Lamb – Arizona Diamondbacks – (24)
Outfielders:
1. Mike Trout – Los Angeles Angels – (4)
2. Bryce Harper – Washington Nationals – (6)
3. Charlie Blackmon – Colorado Rockies – (7)
4. Mookie Betts – Boston Red Sox – (8)
5. Aaron Judge – New York Yankees – (11)
6. Brandon Nimmo – New York Mets – (13)
7. Michael Conforto – New York Mets – (22)
8. Adam Eaton – Washington Nationals – (25)
9. Juan Soto – Washington Nationals – (26)
10. Justin Upton – Los Angeles Angels – (27)
11. Andrew Benintendi – Boston Red Sox – (28)
12. Michael Brantley – Cleveland Indians – (29)
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!