Early DraftKings MLB Picks June 6: Wheeler’s Revenge

We have a heavier Thursday for our DraftKings MLB tournaments due to a light Monday. The early DraftKings MLB slate is slightly larger with seven games, but most of the better pitching is on the later slate. That doesn’t seem to matter this week. Pitchers have been destroyed for the most part.

DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Zack Wheeler ($10,500): Wheeler gets a crack at the team that drafted him again. This is a good thing. Wheeler is 2-2 with a 3.03 ERA in six starts against the Giants. The current incarnation of the Giants is only hitting .246 against Wheeler with three runs and 16 strikeouts in 61 at bats. The upside for Wheeler is better than anyone else on the slate. That has been a bad thing lately.

Caleb Smith ($9,400): It takes some stones to throw a guy out there against the Brewers in Milwaukee, but this team is much better against righties than lefties. Smith did well against the Brewers last year until Yelich took him deep. The strikeouts have been there wherever Smith has taken the mound, so that helps mitigate the risk. That said, I think we might be better off just turning to….

Middle Tier:

Brandon Woodruff ($8,900): …..for $500 less. Woodruff’s price took a dive since he got smoked by Pittsburgh last week. A start like that will happen from time to time. Honestly, I can’t say that I’m not nervous about this. The Marlins have scored a lot of runs in this series. I’m pretty much playing Woodruff hoping that the Marlins bats are worn out. And that Woodruff only gave up four runs in the entire month of May.

Mike Foltynewicz ($8,500): How much are strikeouts worth to you? Because that is about all that you are getting from him right now. We all thought Folty was back when he locked down the Cardinals in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago, but allowing five runs to the Tigers at home last week make us stop and think again. Pittsburgh is a pitches park, but it is still fairly kind to lefty power. There’s plenty of risk here, but for what it’s worth, Foltynewicz has pitched fairly well in two road starts.

Jose Quintana ($7,500): Quintana has a 2.84 ERA in six home starts this year, so I’m inclined to use him against the Rockies. The Rockies are only hitting .217 against Quintana in 60 at bats and they have struck out a whopping 22 times. If Quintana can stay away from Arenado, he could have a really nice afternoon. Now the bad news: Quintana hasn’t broken the 20 DraftKings points barrier since April 23rd.

Bargain Pitchers:

Shaun Anderson ($6,900): So far, AT&T Park has not been kind to Anderson. His first career road start was at Baltimore last week, and he came out of there with 20.2 DraftKings points. There is similar upside in New York, but the Mets’ offense is better than the Orioles. I see the risk here, and the upside isn’t all that high. Anderson only has 13 strikeouts in four career starts. If this goes badly, it’s going to go really badly.

Ryan Weber ($6,300): Weber has been awful at Fenway and great on the road. In two road starts, Weber has allowed just one run in ten innings with just six hits, no walks, and eight strikeouts. This Royals offense isn’t all that dangerous either. The most threatening thing to Weber’s success today is the pop up thunderstorms that are going to make their way across Missouri. If SP’s are safe, Weber will be in all of my lineups.

Dakota Hudson ($6,200): Hudson had a horrendous start to the season, but he has righted the ship lately. Hudson only gave up 11 earned runs in six May starts. He doesn’t really strike anyone out which is why the price remains low, but he’s sure racking up the outs. Hudson has three straight games of double digit DraftKings points, topping 19 three times in the month. I like him on the cheap here. Another reason: Hudson has allowed just one home run since April 27th, and the Reds almost strictly rely on the long ball.

My picks: Wheeler, Weber; Woodruff, Hudson

DraftKings MLB Early one-offs:

The only Giant I really have any interest in is Brandon Crawford. He is 3-8 with two runs and two RBI. Panik is just 1-9, so if I punt, it will only be with Crawford.

I like Jalen Beeks, but the price on him is a little too high for me. If Beeks gets into trouble, the Rays don’t leave him out there to deal with it. His leash is a lot shorter than Yarbrough’s. Detroit may get to him. We all know that Miggy only hits aces anymore, so I would take my shots with Goodrum or Castellanos instead.

There isn’t much for the Royals that makes me want to use them lately. You could go with Merrifield or Mondesi, but I think there are better ways to spend that kind of money. The most attractive option in the catcher punt of Cam Gallagher.

It’s a broken record for me with the Marlins. Play Harold Ramirez and any other position you need to punt. The only one that’s not a punt that may also be in play is Jorge Alfaro. I’m a believer in Woodruff though. I’m only using Marlins in desperation for saving money.

Nolan Arenado is really the only Rockies player that I’m interested in here. He has slugged two homers against Jose Quintana in his career. Mark Reynolds has the other, but the only Rockie I’ll have any exposure to is Arenado.

DraftKings MLB Early Notes 6-6:

DeScalfani had a three start stretch in May where it looked like he had turned the corner. One of those was against these Redbirds, but DeScalafani has been awful lately. Add to that the .300 average in 120 at bats against him for the Cardinals, and we have a good place to stack. Matt Carpenter is 11-24(.458) with three homers and four RBI. Goldy, Marcell Ozuna, and Dexter Fowler have all homered against DeSclafani as well.

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I don’t know quite what to make of Shaun Anderson. He looked good against the Orioles, but the Mets are getting healthy, and they are hitting. Pete Alonso and Conforto pose major threats here. I also really like the price on Robinson Cano, but after he left the game last night, there is a good chance he wont play tonight. Then I would use Amed Rosario instead.

Chris Archer has dominated the Braves in his career, but I just can’t use him with as bad as he has been this year. I would much rather throw some Freeman, Albies, and Dansby Swanson at Archer. Josh Donaldson and Brian McCann have both homered against Archer before.

Foltynewicz gave up three homers to the light hitting Tigers last week, so I see no issue with taking a run at him here. I will only do it with lefties though. Josh Bell is an elite play. Gregory Polanco and Colin Moran aren’t far behind. Laugh if you want, but Moran is hitting .299 at PNC Park this year.

The Rays have clobbered Daniel Norris in his career. I’d hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they’re going to do it again. Yandy Diaz, Willy Adames, and Avi Garcia are my favorite plays. I will use Pham if he makes his return today as well. Brandon Lowe and Austin Meadows both his lefties well enough if you want to go with a full stack.

The Red Sox have slugged seven homers against Danny Duffy in just 89 at bats. Mookie has four of them and is 6-10 lifetime against Duffy. J.D. Martinez has two, and Xander has the other one. Those three are boing to be my core in many lineups. Michael Chavis looks really good too.

I still don’t trust Tyler Mahle, but I’m not going to all out stack on him like I would have against DeSclafani last night. Matt Carpenter and Goldy are my priorities here. I may have some Dexter Fowler because the price is right. Marcell Ozuna and Fowler are the two that have homered off of Mahle though.

There is no part of me that trusts Miklolas. Jesse Winker is 5-11 with two homers and five RBI already. Suarez, Tucker Barnhart, and Joey Votto have all homered against Mikolas as well. It’s also really hard to pass on Derek Dietrich right now.

A rookie making his major league debut at Wrigley? What could possibly go wrong? There are several different ways for us to look at this: The Cubs are going to be chalk plays. So we can use Peter Lambert in hopes that he lives up to the hype and trolls the Cubs. Or ignore the high ownership and leverage a Cubs stack by playing the lower owned pieces such as Addison Russell or Albert Almora. I definitely want Kyle Schwarber on the cheap and maybe some Rizzo, but I’m not enamored with a Cubs stack. Honestly, Lambert at $6,300 is rather tempting.

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