DraftKings MLB Picks June 4: Strasburg or Snellzilla?

LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 26: Walker Buehler #21 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after a strike out during the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox in Game Three of the 2018 World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 26, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Picks June 4: Strasburg or Snellzilla?

We have another giant 15 game slate for our DraftKings MLB picks again tonight. Maybe. The only place that really looks to have any kind of rain threat is Kansas City, and that is mostly the risk of a delayed start. More than likely that game gets played. So, yeah. 15 games. Plenty of places to make up and change our minds as the day goes on. Here’s where I’m at now at least!

DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Stephen Strasburg ($11,500): Strikeout upside? Check. Inferior opponent? Check. Home start? Check. Not that Strasburg’s home and road splits are much different. They are nearly identical. Strasburg doesn’t have much of a history against the White Sox, but they are a free swinging bunch. Strasburg may give up a run or two, but it wont really take away from what looks to be a really good outing.

Blake Snell ($11,000): This is a dream matchup for Snellzilla, but so were the Blue Jays. Snell had a strong outing, but not for the price against the Jays. I do think the Tigers will strike out more, but Snell isn’t quite the dominant force that he was last year. I still think he has as good a shot of anyone on the slate at 40 though, so I will have some exposure here.

Chris Paddack ($10,000): It’s hard not to consider Paddack here. He has a 1.42 ERA in five home starts so far this year. On top of that, Paddack has racked up 39 strikeouts in 31.2 home innings. The Phillies were held in check by Eric Lauer last night, and I think we can all agree that Paddack is better than Lauer. Paddack’s upside is as high as any tonight.

Middle Tier:

Kyle Hendricks ($9,500): I hate this price on Hendricks, especially since he isn’t really a strikeout pitcher, but you can’t deny those impressive home splits. Hendricks has dominated at Wrigley over the first two months. Hendricks is only 2-1 in five starts, but he has a 1.29 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, and 32 strikeouts. Not to mention his 25.6 DraftKings points per game average. There is a lot to like about Hendricks facing the Blackmon-less Rockies.

Masahiro Tanaka ($9,300): Tanaka gets a great matchup with the Jays. The current team is hitting just .167 with a homer, two runs, and 15 strikeouts in 42 at bats. The elevated strikeout potential carries over once again. Tanaka also has a strong 3.38 ERA in eight career starts at Rogers Centre. Tanaka’s rough outing against the Padres and the fact that there are so many other pitchers out there could keep ownership low. Tanaka seems low for a SP1 and high for a SP2, but I will be using him plenty in either slot tonight. I like the potential.

Griffin Canning ($8,500): Canning shut down the A’s last week, putting up 19.7 DraftKings points in six innings. The rookie has cruised through most of the season, and though I generally don’t go out of my way to use pitchers against the A’s, this is another good spot for Canning. Not great, but good enough for SP2 usage.

Bargain Pitchers:

Max Fried ($7,800): Some of the luster has worn off of Fried. He hasn’t been as strong as he was early on. However, this is one of the places where I would strongly consider using him. PNC Park is a pitcher’s park for the most part, and it is tough on right handed power. Fried will hold the platoon advantage for the lefties, so this matchup is looking pretty good for him. The Pirates offense looks pretty good right now, but being home against a lefty could quiet the bats a little.

Devin Smeltzer ($7,500): Smeltzer was brilliant against the Brewers in his first major league start. That’s a pretty god team that he shut down. Cleveland is worse against lefties, and it’s possible that Smeltzer could come up with another 20+ DraftKings point outing here. At this price, Smeltzer is going to make it into at least one lineup as a SP2. He has enough upside to consider here.

My picks: Paddack, Canning; Hendricks, Smeltzer

FanDuel MLB: MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – MARCH 31: Christian Yelich #22 of the Milwaukee Brewers celebrates after driving in the game winning runs against the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park on March 31, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB stack options

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Pablo Lopez:

Lopez has been brilliant at home, but on the road he has turned into Anthony Young with a worse ERA. Lopez has a 8.26 ERA in six road starts this year. The Brewers in Milwaukee aren’t going to help this any. Moose, Christian Yelich, and Eric Thames all look like elite plays. Since Lopez likely wont last long, I wouldn’t shy away from righties either. Lorenzo Cain is enticing batting leadoff, and Orlando Arcia is starting to heat up if you want to punt shortstop.

Boston Red Sox vs. Glenn Sparkman:

The Red Sox are 7-11 with eight runs lifetime against Sparkman, but surprisingly, no one has hit a homer off of him. That likely changes tonight. Benintendi is 2-2 with a pair of doubles. Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez would be my picks for a homer in this one. Rafael Devers is still on a tear, so it could be him too. I also think we need to use Mookie batting leadoff. The Red Sox could break the scoreboard here.

Baltimore Orioles vs. Drew Smyly:

There are a few chalky stacks out there, including the first two mentioned here. This one may not come across as obvious, but Smyly hasn’t been very good this year and the Orioles are going to throw nine righties at him. The ball really starts flying in Texas this time of year. Smyly is going to get his share of outs, but Trey Mancini, Renato Nunez, Hanser Alberto, Stevie Wilkerson, and Keon Broxton all have a lot of power. If they get into one, it’s going a long way. Jonathan Villar is a good option as well even if he doesn’t have the power of the rest of them. Villar is probably their most consistent hitter.

Cincinnati Reds vs. Genesis Cabrera:

Cabrera was nothing special in his first start. I know the Reds are an all or nothing offense, but with the amount of right handed power in this lineup, I want to take a shot at Cabrera in at least one lineup. Eugenio Suarez and Nick Senzel will have a lot of exposure in my lineups. So will Yasiel Puig and Philip Ervin at very reasonable prices. I will probably have a stack that includes some Votto, Tucker Barnhart, or Jose Iglesias as well.

San Diego Padres vs. Jerad Eickhoff:

Eickhoff has given up eight homers in his last four starts, giving up at least four runs in each. The Padres just blasted Nola last night. Can you image what they’re going to do to Eickhoff? Hunter Renfroe has been on a tear lately. Manny Machado hit a grand slam last night, so put him in there too. The rest is just chasing power, and there’s plenty. Franmil Reyes, Greg Garcia, Wil Myers, and Eric Hosmer are all worth a look here.

Seattle Mariners vs. Wade Miley:

Miley has a 5.14 career ERA in T-Mobile/Safeco Field. A Mariners/Astros game stack failed me last night, but I don’t that carries over to tonight. Miley’s former team has manhandled him so far. The Mariners are hitting .396 in 53 at bats against Miley with four homers and 15 runs with just nine strikeouts. I don’t care how bad the Mariners are struggling. These are elite numbers. Edwin is 7-18 with three homers and six RBI. Tim Beckham has a homer and five RBI. Mitch Haniger and Domingo Santana look really good too. I even like some Kyle Seager.

Houston Astros vs. Jon Niese:

Niese has not pitched in the majors since 2016 in what was a mess of a season for the Mets. On top of that, Niese has an ERA in the mid 5’s at AAA Tacoma. Yeah, the Astros are beat up. They don’t really seem to care. Bregman is the elite play here. I also like Robinson Chirinos and Myles Straw. Josh Reddick hits lefties well enough to put out there, and I like either cheap first baseman. I’m going back to the well tonight.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MAY 20: Miguel Sano #22 of the Minnesota Twins is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a three-run homerun during the eighth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on May 20, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB daily notes:

Reynaldo Lopez has either been really good or really bad this year. Four of his starts have come in above 20 DraftKings points. The rest have been single digits or negatives. Due to this, I will probably hedge my bets and just use Brian Dozier (the only Nats player to homer off of him), Juan Soto, or Rendon. Maybe all three if I bombard the 20 max.

Steven Brault has been good enough as a starter, and his home park isn’t really a spot for hitters. Still, the Braves have some good ones. Ronald Acuna is reasonably priced and Dansby Swanson is on a tear right now. You could take a shot with Albies, and I’m not even opposed to Freddie Freeman or Markakis since Brault wont go six innings. There are different directions to go here.

Clayton Richard has pitched well so far this year, but that still doesn’t mean I trust him against the Yankees. Honestly, his price has me wanting to take a chance with him, but there are still some big right handed bats in this lineup. Gary Sanchez and DJ LeMahieu could be good picks. Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier are good adds as well if you think Richard is due for a whoopin.

The Twins have hit Shane Bieber well enough that I’m not going to pay his nearly five figure price tag. I would much rather roll out some combination of Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, and Eddie Rosario. Luis Arraez is worth a look if you need to save some cash as well. I probably wouldn’t use more than two in any lineup though. Bieber has been strong at home this year.

I am resisting the urge to stack against Ryan Carpenter. He has been awful in two starts in Detroit, but his last two road starts were good. The Rays are better against righties, but I still want some of them here. A heating up Willy Adames is a good start. Yandy Diaz is priced right. If Tommy Pham and Avi Garcia are able to return, I’m using both of them.

Jeff Hoffman hasn’t been all that good, but he hasn’t been horrible either. The wind blowing out in Wrigley does make me nervous, but he hasn’t had a blowup in Coors, so I don’t want to get too carried away with Cubs. However, I’m locking in Schwarber leading off. I will also have plenty of exposure to Rizzo. It will be a little smaller on Bryant, Javy Baez, and Addison Russell, but it will still be there.

Eduardo Rodriguez has been a mess on the road, and the Royals have some righties that could give him trouble. Hunter Dozier and Merrifield immediately come to mind. Don’t forget about Adalberto Mondesi either.

I kind of want to use Dylan Bundy tonight. After all, he didn’t give up more than three runs in any of his May starts. However, it’s getting hot in Arlington. I think its probably better to throw Odor, Choo, or Nomar Mazara out there and see if one of them get into one. Bundy is still allowing homers despite limiting damage.

I like Luis Castillo as much as the next DFS player, but he hasn’t been particularly sharp lately. On top of that, the Cardinals have seven homers against him lifetime. Kolten Wong, Marcell Ozuna, Matt Wieters, Goldy, DeJong, Jose Martinez and Matt Carpenter have all homered off of him. Happy chasing!

I don’t really think that the Dodgers are going to smack Taylor Clarke around like the Rockies did in Denver, but with all of this left handed power, it’s not out of the question. I will have ample exposure to Cody Bellinger, Alex Verdugo, and Corey Seager here.

SAN DIEGO, CA – SEPTEMBER 17: Brandon Crawford #35 of the San Francisco Giants points skyward after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on September 17, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB one-off plays:

Fried hasn’t been great lately, but he hasn’t been awful either. If you want to go after him, it’s probably best to do so with Marte or Josh Bell. This looks like a nice matchup for Fried.

Randal Grichuk has the only current Blue Jays homer off of Tanaka. If you must take a shot at Tanaka, it should probably be here. No one else has hit him well.

More from FanSided

I’m going to limit my exposure to Cleveland here. They just don’t hit lefties well enough for me to take a run at Smeltzer on a full slate. That said, a reasonably priced Jose Ramirez is not a bad play. Neither is Lindor leading off.

Madison Bumgarner has a 0.73 career ERA in five starts at CitiField. Can he really do that this year, especially with the Mets starting no less than seven righties? I have my doubts, otherwise I would be touting him on one of the earlier pages. That said, I want to make sure you are fully aware of this. I’m going to limit my Mets exposure to probably Amed Rosario and maybe Carlos Gomez. Todd Frazier has smacked two homers against MadBum though.

The other side is much the same thing. I hate the price on Thor, and despite good numbers against the Giants, I see this more as a place for some good cheap punts that using Thor. Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik are going to be sprinkled throughout all of my lineups.

Chase Anderson has been good this year, especially at home, but the Marlins are no pushover. That said, it’s like playing roulette trying to pick which hitter will come through for you. The only constant for the last couple of weeks has been rookie Harold Ramirez. I like Ramirez the most, and could make room for Alfaro or a cheap Starlin Castro as well.

It’s hard to know what to do with Rockies when they hit the road after a homestand in which they blasted everything. Trevor Story was particularly blazing hot on the homestand, so I can see taking a shot with him or Arenado, but with the way Hendricks has pitched at home, I don’t want much if any exposure here.

Hyun-Jin Ryu has been nearly unhittable this year at home and nearly as dominant on the road. He also pitched well against Arizona in L.A. early this year. However, his price has reached a point where it’s hard to pay without elite strikeout numbers. Ryu’s are close, but not quite there. And I am definitely not paying his price considering his 4.89 ERA in seven career Chase Field starts. I may even go after him with Adam Jones.

Frankie Montas got knocked around a little by this Angels team in his last start. Calhoun has a homer and Tommy LaStella drove in a pair. I think I would limit my exposure to that though.

The only run that Canning gave up last week was a solo homer to Marcus Semien. Can he do it again?

I suppose you could use Bryce Harper against Paddack, but I’m not in any hurry to put anyone out there against him. His home dominance is for real.

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