MLB Top DRAFT Picks June 21st from Chris Aliperto and FantasyCPR

WEST PALM BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 28: A basket of official Major League baseballs in a basket prior to the spring training game between the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on February 28, 2017 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /

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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 Slate Overview:

Today we are working with a 10-game full slate starting at 12:05 CST with three afternoon matinee’s, followed by a seven game main slate which starts at 6:05 CST. This article will cover the full day, which will include another Mets/Rockies game for me to stack. There are a couple of weather spots to watch, so let’s cover those before we get into today’s new look second page, which will now cover my targets instead of basic drafting strategy.

Weather Watch:

It is still a long way from now until game time, but early weather forecasts show showers and thunderstorms for a couple of the evening games. Our first cause for concern lies in Cincinnati, where the Reds are scheduled to host the Cubs. It looks like it will be wet most of the day, with the greatest chances of rain creeping in around dinner time, and decreasing in the evening hours following. A late start is what I would predict at this moment, but keep an eye on this spot throughout the day.

There is a bigger threat of continuous rains throughout the day in Chicago, where the White Sox will welcome the Athletics in to Guaranteed Rate Field. Chances of rain exceed 70% over the course of the day, so it is looking like this has a strong possibilty of being postponed. There really isn’t much for great drafting options in this game anyways, but I will not have anyone ranked because this will be a weather fade for me. With our slate overview behind us let’s move on to my top targets.

MLB DFS /

DRAFT – DFS Today’s Top Targets:

I felt like changing this up a bit so welcome to the new format! It is pretty easy to decipher throughout my rankings what that day’s particular strategy will be, so let’s mix it up a bit. Instead of giving you some basic vanilla strategy, like repeating the fact that the Infield position is usually deep throughout, and the outfield position drops off pretty dramatically usually in terms of “lock” type plays, I will opt to point out the guys I am actually targeting and drafting. I think this will be more helpful in terms of understanding why I have certain players ranked where they are. Similar to the rankings, followed by each target will be their overall ranking of 30 in parenthesis.

Max Scherzer – Washington Nationals – (1)

Another Max slate, another first overall selection day for me. Other than Adam Jones who has hit Scherzer well in his career, this Orioles team that will face him is not only heavily strikeout prone, they are really struggling to score any runs. Scherzer has averaged over 15 FP per start this season on DRAFT, and sports the highest projection on the slate at 17.5 FP. He will likely be, and should be, the #1 pick in every draft you happen to do today. While there are three top aces in action tomorrow even on a limited slate, I will prefer the high floor, high ceiling of Scherzer at the top of my drafts.

Luis Severino – New York Yankees – (3)

Severino was magnificent his last outing, putting up a monster 21 FP performance, striking out nine over eight innings. That was against the feeble hitting Rays though, and he will no doubt be tested at least a bit more tonight, as the Mariners are in New York to face the Yankees. Severino’s All-Star season continues, as he is up to 10-2 on the season with a low ERA of 2.09. He has struck out 118 batters in just 99 innings of work. The Mariners will counter with their ace James Paxton, who is also a great option for his strikeout upside, but he could get hit a bit here against the mighty Yankees offense. I like taking Severino late first / early second round depending on my draft position, but I am likely passing on Paxton today, even though he will be my third ranked pitcher. I have my eyes on this next guy in the third or fourth round.

Tyler Skaggs – Los Angeles Angels – (14)

Welp. Skaggs has been getting sniped from me in the third round as the masses are catching on to him. After a few drafts, I have now switched gears to grab him in third round where necessary. After the top four pitchers here it becomes sort of a crapshoot. Madison Bumgarner could regain his form at home against the Padres, but has looked lackluster since his return. Zack Godley could very well spin a gem against the Pirates, but he has been a better pitcher at home. Skaggs however, has quietly been fairly dominant over his last three starts, and is putting up some great numbers. Those three starts have yielded three quality starts, three wins, and 20 strikeouts in 20 innings. I love riding hot pitchers, and Skaggs should fare well at home, as his Angels host the Blue Jays.

MIAMI, FL – APRIL 29: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies bats in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on April 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

DRAFT Top Hitter Targets:

IF – Nolan Arenado – Colorado Rockies – (2)

The top hitter on the slate today for me will be Arenado, as the Rockies get one more date with the Mets tonight. Southpaw Steven Matz will be on the bump for NY, and I want as much Rockies exposure as I can get. Arenado has been raking in this series, as he has now homered in back-to-back games. He is always a top play at home against a lefty, but he also has some success in a small sample-size against Matz. He is only 3-for-11, but all three of those hits are home runs. Arenado is the easy pick to leave the yard today, and he should be drafted right after Mad Max.

IF – Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks – (8)

Part of the reason I wanted to change this section of the article up was to stress the importance of spotting players whose projections are too low. I mentioned in Tuesday’s article that there is nobody hotter in baseball than Goldy, and his DRAFT projection was making him a steal. I have drafted him so much this week, and it is turning out to be profitable. Well the secret is out and his projection has been bumped up a little so if you want him, you will have to grab him in the second round more often than not. While there are 14 infielders with higher projections today still, if you watch any baseball you know how hot he is, and I recommend grabbing him earlier than we have been this week.

OF – Mookie Betts – Boston Red Sox – (6)

The Twins and Red Sox will finish off their only series at Target Field this afternoon, and the Twins will be looking to pull off quite the upset sweep. Bad against left-handed pitching this year, the Twins were able to get a couple runs off of Chris Sale and David Price the last two nights, and win a couple close games. I think the Sox will not want to let that happen today, and I am liking a Red Sox stack of Betts with JD Martinez and Andrew Benintendi. With all of the focus on Coors Field players, the Sox will face Kyle Gibson, and both Betts and Martinez have taken him deep twice in their careers. This stack has been pretty attainable, with Martinez getting drafted a bit late, due to a loaded infield position. If you end up picking five or six overall, consider Betts with that first pick.

OF – Eddie Rosario – Minnesota Twins – (16)

Rosario had another good night last night, going 2-for-3 and scoring 16 FP. The Twins will by trying to complete that sweep as they will face Rick Porcello, and if Minnesota wants to pull this off they will need production from the duo of Rosario and Eduardo Escobar. Both have been stellar up to this point in the season, and should garner All-Star consideration. Escobar leads the majors in doubles, and Rosario is quietly hitting .320 with 16 homers. When that OF position starts to look scarce in the third round, consider Rosario today.

TORONTO, ON – MARCH 29: Luis Severino /

DRAFT – DFS 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. Luis Severino – New York Yankees – (3)

3. James Paxton – Seattle Mariners – (10)

4. Tyler Skaggs – Los Angeles Angels – (15)

5. Madison Bumgarner – San Francisco Giants – (29)

6. Zack Godley – Arizona Diamondbacks – (30)

Infielders:

1. Nolan Arenado – Colorado Rockies – (2)

2. Trevor Story – Colorado Rockies – (7)

3. Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks – (8)

4. Ian Desmond – Colorado Rockies – (12)

5. JD Martinez – Boston Red Sox – (13)

6. DJ LeMahieu – Colorado Rockies – (14)

7. Asdrubal Cabrera – New York Mets – (17)

8. Giancarlo Stanton – New York Yankees – (20)

9. Joey Votto – Cincinnati Reds – (23)

10. Anthony Rizzo – Chicago Cubs- (24)

11. Todd Frazier – New York Mets – (25)

12. WIlmer Flores – New York Mets – (26)

Outfielders:

1. Charlie Blackmon – Colorado Rockies – (4)

2. Mike Trout – Los Angeles Angels – (5)

3. Mookie Betts – Boston Red Sox – (6)

4. Bryce Harper – Washington Nationals – (9)

5. Andrew Benintendi – Boston Red Sox – (11)

6. Eddie Rosario – Minnesota Twins – (16)

7. Brandon Nimmo – New York Mets – (18)

8. Adam Eaton – Washington Nationals – (19)

9. Aaron Judge – New York Yankees – (21)

10. Kyle Schwarber – Chicago Cubs – (22)

11. Justin Upton – Los Angeles Angels – (27)

12. Juan Soto – Washington Nationals – (28)

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!

MLB Top DRAFT Picks (DRAFT.com): Thursday, June 21st

By Chris Aliperto | Jun 21, 2018