DraftKings MLB Early/Turbo Picks June 22: A bunch of Milone

The early slate is the de facto main slate for our DraftKings MLB tournaments today. There are ten games starting between 2pm and 4pm eastern. That wasn’t enough for DraftKings. Oh no. They had to split the ten games up more! The turbo is actually the early DraftKings MLB slate with three games at 2:15 eastern. That is followed by the seven games that start just after 4pm eastern.

DraftKings MLB Early Notes:

We’ll begin at the beginning. The one that stands out is Jose Berrios. However, this game is on the road. Berrios has really good numbers against the Royals overall, but he has a 5.08 ERA in six career Kauffman Stadium starts. Berrios has the best strikeout upside on the early slate, but I don’t know that he’s worth the money.

Next up is Zach Wheeler, he of the 5.55 road ERA in 2019. However, the wind is blowing in at Wrigley, and Wheeler shut out the Cubs over 6.2 innings in his only career start there. When it comes down to it though, I think I would rather use Jose Quintana and his 2.98 ERA in seven home starts this year. There is risk involved with all of these top tier pitchers, but Quintana looks like the safest option.

At the bottom, it gets tricky. The Twins kill lefties, and Duffy is no exception to that. The Twins haven’t hit him particularly hard, but with a strong wind out to left, I’m definitely avoiding Duffy today. That leaves the St. Louis game. The Angels are using an opener followed by Felix Pena. The Cards are going with Dakota Hudson.

Yes, the same Dakota Hudson who has a 3.23 home ERA this year. Hudson’s overall numbers are good, yet he is just $6,000. Hudson doesn’t possess the strikeout upside than many have and the Angels are hitting well right now. However, they are still down a DH (likely Ohtani). That leaves a hole in the lineup. I see Hudson as too cheap, and will definitely be pairing him with Quintana.

Not much stands out in the BvP universe. Due to the heat and wind in KC, I’m going heavy on Twins righties, even though it hurts me to fade Pujols in St Louis. I will use Wieters as my cheap catcher and Amed Rosario at short. Twins righties are going to take up 1B, 3B, and an outfield slot. That leaves us $5,200 for the last two OF slots and second base.

One of these will go to Trout just because I can. Another will go to either Kepler or Kris Bryant. There is no wrong answer. That leaves $4,200 for second base. I don’t see a lot I like there, and Javy Baez looks pretty cheap too. If we upgrade over Rosario, that leaves enough for David Bote or Schoop at 2B. I’m good with that!

DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Luis Castillo ($11,100): I don’t think Castillo is worth his price, but that’s about average for everyone on today’s slate. Castillo has started two games against the Brewers this year and has not gone more than five innings in either of them. The strikeouts are there, but he also gave up five runs. To put that into perspective, Castillo has only allowed 19 runs in 13 starts to teams not named the Milwaukee Brewers. However, no one else can come close to Castillo’s strikeout potential. That’s what you’re paying for, and it’s not like the Brewers are setting the world afire anymore.

Chris Paddack ($9,800): On merit alone, Paddack is probably worth this price. After all, he has a 3.15 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 65.2 major league innings this year. The thing that makes me nervous is that the Padres just brought him back to the majors after sending him own to monitor his innings. Even if Paddack is having a strong game, the chances of him going more than six innings are practically zero. Still, this is a soft landing in Pittsburgh in his return to the majors.

Middle Tier:

Mike Fiers ($9,300): Wow, this is quite a markup on Fiers, huh? The Rays are hitting a solid .250 against Fiers, but they only have two homers and three runs in 56 at bats with 12 strikeouts. Fiers got a solid 18.5 DraftKings points in his first game against Tampa, and honestly, that’s about what we should expect here. The 3.09 home ERA is nice, but it’s unreasonable to expect more than that today. That said, I trust Fiers more than Chirinos and he’s $1,000 cheaper. Fiers is about as safe as it gets this afternoon.

Tom Milone ($7,900): Hey class, we all saw what LeBlanc did to these Orioles earlier in the series, right? I’m guessing that we all saw what Milone did to the Royals in his last start as well. Honestly, Milone hasn’t allowed more than three runs in an appearance this year and sports a 3.03 ERA in six appearances while netting nearly a strikeout per inning. I trust Milone a lot more than Archer right now, and he’s $500 cheaper.

Bargain Pitchers:

Aaron Civale ($6,700): Civale will start in place of Mike Clevinger who is back on the IL already. Civale put together a 2.85 ERA in seven starts at AA Akron so far. Honestly, the Tigers pretty closely resemble a AA offense. I definitely see the upside here since the Tigers strike out quite a bit. Still, you should be nervous since the Tigers got to Trevor Bauer last night. There is risk involved here.

Elieser Hernandez ($6,500): Hernandez has given up five runs (four earned) and struck out 13 in 11.2 innings pitched over his last two starts after an uneventful 2019 debut against the Giants. Both of those games were against the Cardinals, a decent team. Just like the Phillies. Don’t expect miracles here, but this kind of strikeout upside at this price is worth taking note of.

My picks: Fiers, Milone; Milone, Hernandez

DraftKings MLB Stack Options:

Boston Red Sox vs. Nick Kingham:

It’s Christmas in late June! Kingham has a 9.54 ERA between Pittsburgh and Toronto this year. Although the Jays don’t intend this to be a bullpen game, it’s going to turn into that quickly. Kingham is going to get destroyed. Mookie and J.D. are my top plays. Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers aren’t far behind. I also really like Brock Holt for the price, and will probably use him over Benintendi whether I need the money or not.

Cincinnati Reds vs. Jhoulys Chacin:

You could consider a Reds stack here as well, but it’s been Joey Votto that has hit Jhoulys Chacin hardest, and he’s in a pretty significant slump. Votto is 7-22(.318) with two homers and four RBI against Chacin. Jose Peraza and Puig have the other homers. Honestly, Puig is my favorite Red today closely followed by Dietrich.

Cleveland Indians vs. Spencer Turnbull:

While I do agree that Spencer Turnbull at that price looks cheap, it’s an optical illusion. Hidden in that 3.27 ERA is just how bad Turnbull has been against Cleveland. In two starts against the Tribe, he has allowed nine runs in nine innings. If you take away those starts against Cleveland, Turnbull has a 2.57 ERA.

Jason Kipnis and Leonys Martin have the homers and five of the RBI. Oscar Mercado drove in three in his only game against Turnbull. Carlos Santana and Lindor looked good too. In fact, every Cleveland starter has scored one run against Turnbull this year. That means everyone from the stud to the punt is in play. I’m still a huge fan of Jose Ramirez this cheap.

DraftKings MLB daily notes:

Bryce Harper still looks awfully cheap. Come to think of it, so does Rhys Hoskins. I’m not sure that Hernandez is going to get blown up, but considering you can have two of the league’s elite against a non ace for $9,000, it’s worth a shot.

I can see the warrants of using Brian Johnson against the Jays, but this offense is starting to come around. The strikeout potential isn’t enough to overlook Johnson’s struggles in the majors this year. Vlad Jr. looks cheap for the price. I’m a big fan of Randal Grichuk here as well. I can even get on board with punting catcher with Jansen or Maile and using Teoscar Hernandez is he’s in the middle of the order again.

A team with the power of the Padres against a pitcher than has given up 15 homers in his last nine starts is a gift not often given. Hunter Renfroe, Manny Machado, and Franmil Reyes is a mini stack I plan on deploying at least once this afternoon.

Moose, Yasmani Grandal, Yelich, and Ryan Braun have all homered against Luis Castillo so far. Braun is the only one I wouldn’t go back to. That is his only hit in 12 tries against Castillo. Orlando Arcia could be an excellent punt here. Arcia is 7-15(.467) with three RBI lifetime against Castillo.

Do you want to take a shot at a rookie? Rookie starters this year, as with most years, have had a mixture of success and blowups in their first starts. This is especially true when a team is forced to turn to one of them due to injury, as is the case here.

Niko Goodrum and Christin Stewart stand out from the left side, but I can see using Brandon Dixon as well. I will have some Tigers sprinkled throughout this afternoon.

I want to use Milone this afternoon. I really do. Especially when you consider that Wade LeBlanc held his own against these Orioles. I’m stopping short of a stack, but this is one of the better spots the Orioles will have. Jonathan Villar, Trey Mancini, and Renato Nunez all hit lefties well. So does Pedro Severino. I’m going to play an Oriole or three in any lineup that doesn’t have Milone.

DraftKings MLB one-off plays:

Willy Adames and Tommy Pham have both homered against Fiers before. I don’t know that I really trust any Rays today though. Adames and Avi Garcia are solid punts, but I wouldn’t pay up for anyone in this lineup.

More from FanSided

I like Vince Velasquez against the Marlins, particularly since he pitched well against them earlier this year. The issue is the price. Velasquez hasn’t started a game in about a month, so I highly doubt he’ll go five innings. I want my Marlins exposure to be mostly scarce. Harold Ramirez and Curtis Granderson are probably the shots to take since Velasquez is worse against lefties.

Paddack hadn’t pitched all that well in the majors recently before the Padres sent him down to High A. There’s reason to think that the Pirates may be able to hit him, particularly with all these lefties in the lineup. Josh Bell is the elite play, but the guys like Corey Dickerson and Gregory Polanco are worth a one off as well. I just wouldn’t put more than one in any lineup.

Matt Olson is 2-5 with a pair of solo homers against Yonny Chirinos. The Rest of his teammates have one RBI in 36 at bats against Chirinos.

Cashner’s numbers against the Mariners aren’t horrible. They aren’t against most teams. Yet Cashner still gives up a handful of runs per game. You just need to know where to look. Here it’s fairly obvious: Kyle Seager. Seager is 7-25(.280) with two homers and six RBI against Cashner. The rest of the team has two RBI in 31 at bats. They are both from Dee Gordon.

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