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MLB DRAFT DFS Picks (DRAFT.com): Wednesday, July 25th

By Chris Aliperto

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 30: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees has his batting helmet knocked off by a foul ball during the third inning against the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium on May 30, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 30: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees has his batting helmet knocked off by a foul ball during the third inning against the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium on May 30, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images) /
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MLB DFS
PHILADELPHIA, PA – JUNE 28: A baseball with MLB logo is seen at Citizens Bank Park before a game between the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies on June 28, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) MLB DRAFT DFS /

Why do you need another DFS site? Because DRAFT combines the excitement of a season-long draft into one set of games and gives you even more MLB DRAFT DFS action in your life.

Welcome to today’s edition of MLB DRAFT DFS 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.

If you are finding this article for the first time, 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.

MLB DRAFT DFS Picks – Slate Overview:

Today you might have to hit the DRAFT lobby a little early after reading this, as we have a 14 game slate on tap with an early start. It is pretty much an afternoon game day across the MLB today, as we have our first pitches of the day coming in New York at 12:10 ET where the Mets will host the Padres. Also starting bright and early are the Yankees, who will be in Tampa to finish up a series with the Rays. There will be a six game slate starting 3:07 ET, followed by a four game slate featuring the evening games, and getting underway at the standard 6:05 lock time.

Just like the past few days, we do have some weather concerns to keep an eye on. Rain is expected in Baltimore once again, as the Orioles try to finish up with the Red Sox. Philly looks wet again as well, and that early Mets/Padres game could also see some showers. It’s tough to even tell who will get the worst of it at this point, so let’s proceed to today’s pitching targets.

DraftKings
ARLINGTON, TX – APRIL 10: Tyler Skaggs #45 of the Los Angeles Angels throws against the Texas Rangers in the fifth inning at Globe Life Park in Arlington on April 10, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

MLB DRAFT DFS Picks – Top Pitching Targets

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.

Trevor Bauer – (13)

It will no doubt be a tough task for Bauer this afternoon against the scorching hot Pittsburgh Pirates, but with the way he has pitched this season, Bauer may have just the right arsenal to slow these guys down a bit. Rookie Shane Bieber was knocked around early yesterday, forcing the Indians to go the bullpen a lot sooner than they would have like to, which should give Bauer a longer leash today. Bauer is already a guy that can go over 100 pitches nearly every start, so this should bode well for him, as long as he can cool the bats of lefties Corey Dickerson and Gregory Polanco. With just one potential first round pitcher today not in the greatest spot, I will likely not have much Bauer today. If he does fall a bit in your draft, I think the upside versus the rest of the pitchers on the slate is worth a late second rounder or so.

Tyler Skaggs – (14)

Temperatures should be cooled off a bit in Anaheim compared to last night, so I think we are back in a decent spot for a good pitcher here. Skaggs has been great this season, pitching his way to a 2.68 ERA with 106 strikeouts in 104 innings pitched. He struggled to a quality start in his last start against the Astros giving up three runs over six innings, which gave him his sixth quality start in his last seven tries. The thing about Skaggs is that he doesn’t get blown up. Even in his bad outings he seems to keep the damage limited. His Angels will be heavy favorites once again against as they finish up this series with White Sox, and I will be drafting him if available around round four.  He should be one of the few safe bets for double-digit points out of the pitcher spot today.

Freddy Peralta – (21)

Peralta will get the pill for the series finale today in Milwaukee where the Brew Crew are hosting the Nationals. While he has no doubt regressed to the mean a little bit, Peralta is still a strikeout machine. The wildness has shown a bit this month as he as walked three batters each in each July start, but he continues to keep runs off of the board. He has posted a 2.65 ERA in seven starts now, with 50 strikeouts in just 37.1 innings pitched. The Nats will counter with struggling veteran Tanner Roark, who is just 3-12 with a 4.87 on the season. He has been especially bad in his last three starts, surrendering an unbelievable 17 earned runs on 28 hits in just 16 innings pitched. Peralta should at least be in a good position to pick up a W along with a 6-9 K’s, and is my favorite target for the final rounds of drafts today.

DraftKings
OAKLAND, CA – APRIL 22: Khris Davis #2 of the Oakland Athletics hits a three run home run against the Boston Red Sox during the eighth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on April 22, 2018 in Oakland, California. The Oakland Athletics defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-1. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images) /

MLB DRAFT DFS Picks  – Today’s Hitting Targets:

IF – Khris Davis – (8)

Krush Davis is heating up again, and DRAFT has adjusted his projection accordingly. I was hoping Davis was going to be a sneaky late rounder again, but that does not look likely today. He has been going as early as the second round today, and has one of the best match-up’s on the entire slate. Davis has hit right handed pitching a little better than lefties this year, but tonight he faces one of my favorite lefties to target against as of late in Martin Perez of the Rangers. One more game for the A’s in the Texas heat with the balls traveling well has me wanting to grab Davis as much as possible. In 26 plate appearances in his career versus Perez, Davis is 8-for-18 with two home runs.

IF – Paul Goldschmidt – (9)

A lower projected infielder to target today with all of this infield goodness to choose from for me will be Goldschmidt. Yes, I write him up often as he is one of my favorite hitters, but today he is slightly under projected, as he is the 12th ranked infielder on the board. Goldy has been a better hitter on the road this year, hitting 15 of his 22 home runs away from Chase Field, and today the Diamondbacks will be on the road at Wrigley Field, finishing up a series with the Cubs. Chicago ace lefty All-Star Jon Lester and his mighty 12-3 record will scare people off of Goldschmidt, but his numbers suggest the regression is unfolding before our eyes. Goldy has not faced Lester much in his career but has had some success, going 5-for-9 with a home run.

OF – Eric Thames – (12)

Well, back when I was talking about Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta, I briefly mentioned how bad his counterpart Tanner Roark is pitching as of late. While the Brewers lineup isn’t exactly mashing other than Jesus Aguilar, Thames just returned from the DL yesterday, and when he is healthy, he is as dangerous a hitter as anyone. He has not faced Roark in his career, but has been a much better hitter at Miller Park this year so that is one major positive to consider. Roark has been so bad, a Brewers stack with Thames, Aguilar and Lorenzo Cain could be a winning combo. If you grab Thames first, this stack should be easy to complete. He does have a high projection though, and will likely garner your second round pick at the very least.

OF – Aaron Judge – (23)

I never thought I would write up Judge as a potential late round steal, but here we are. The Yankees will finish up their series with Tampa, who will have Nathan Eovaldi on the mound. While he has pitched fairly well since returning from injury, we recently saw the fact that he can get blown up at any time. Just two starts ago, the Minnesota Twins lit him up for eight earned runs in just 2.2 innings of work. This is not exactly the greatest match-up on the planet today, but Judge has a projection of just 8.5, so you will have to scroll to find him. Any time I can get a power hitter the caliber of Judge with my last pick I am on board.

MLB DFS
CHICAGO, IL – MAY 22: Trevor Bauer #47 of the Cleveland Indians is greeted at the stairs of the dugout after scoring against the Chicago Cubs on an three-run RBI double hit by Yonder Alonso #17 (not pictured) during the fifth inning at Wrigley Field on May 22, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images) /

MLB DRAFT DFS Picks –  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. Trevor Bauer – Cleveland Indians – (13)

2. Tyler Skaggs – Los Angeles Angels – (14)

3. Freddy Peralta – Milwaukee Brewers – (21)

4. David Price – Boston Red Sox – (25)

5. Charlie Morton – Houston Astros – (28)

6. Danny Duffy – Kansas City Royals – (29) 

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Infielders:

1. J.D. Martinez – Boston Red Sox – (3)

2. Alex Bregman – Houston Astros – (4)

3. Jose Ramirez – Cleveland Indians – (5)

4. Francisco Lindor – Cleveland Indians – (6)

5. Matt Carpenter – St. Louis Cardinals – (7)

6. Khris Davis – Oakland Athletics – (8)

7. Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks – (9)

8. Jose Altuve – Houston Astros – (16)

9. Jesus Aguilar – Milwaukee Brewers – (19)

10. Marcus Semien – Oakland Athletics – (20)

11. Nolan Arenado – Colorado Rockies – (26)

12. Nelson Cruz – Seattle Mariners – (27)

Outfielders:

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

2. Mookie Betts – Boston Red Sox – (2)

3. Andrew Benintendi – Boston Red Sox – (10)

4. George Springer – Houston Astros – (11)

5. Eric Thames – Milwaukee Brewers – (12)

6. Shin-Soo Choo – Texas Rangers – (15)

7. Christian Yelich – Milwaukee Brewers – (17)

8. Michael Brantley – Cleveland Indians – (18)

9. Charlie Blackmon – Colorado Rockies – (22)

10. Aaron Judge – New York Yankees – (23)

11. Nicholas Castellanos – Detroit Tigers – (24)

12. Lorenzo Cain – Milwaukee Brewers – (30)

Next: Dont Miss: PGA DFS Golf 2018 RBC Canadian Open DRAFT Rankings!

That is all for today’s MLB DRAFT DFS 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!