DraftKings MLB Picks June 24: Is Giolito worth the money?

We have a smaller Monday slate for tonight’s DraftKings MLB tournaments with seven games on tap. A halved slate means less pitchers to choose from, than this slate seems more challenging than most. Our pitcher picks are going to be more important than usual here.

DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Lucas Giolito ($11,900): I totally understand a fade here. Seriously. The Red Sox are a good offense, Fenway is a tough go for opposing pitchers. However, the current Red Sox are only hitting .211 in 38 at bats against Giolito with one homer, three runs, and a staggering 15 strikeouts. Those are elite numbers. Don’t worry about the jacked up price on a short slate. CC is a gift. You can fit Giolito without much trouble, and he just might be worth it.

Jon Gray ($9,800): Gray pitched well against the Giants, netting 20.2 DraftKings points, in his first start against them this year. However, his career numbers against the Giants really aren’t good. Neither is his 4.55 ERA in six career start at AT&T Park. This may be the time to jump on Gray. There is massive strikeout potential here, and I would honestly use him over Kershaw. That said, I can see paying down at both pitcher spots. I’m not completely sold on any of the top options.

Middle Tier:

Eduardo Rodriguez ($8,700): You never really know what you’re getting with E-Rod. He held the White Sox to one run on six hits in six innings en route to 22.7 DraftKings points. That’s a good return for the price. Rodriguez has been much better at home, posting a 4.00 ERA. There is risk here of course with all of the White Sox righties. The Sox are only hitting .214 in 56 at bats with two homers and only three runs to go with 15 strikeouts. Not bad at all.

Julio Teheran ($8,100): BvP stats like this can’t all be wrong, can they? The Cubs are hitting just .168 in 101 at bats against Teheran with three homers, six runs, and 24 strikeouts. Numbers like that scream elite. The wind is really blowing out to right in Wrigley. That screams avoid. I love the numbers on Teheran, but wind in Wrigley is not something to be taken lightly. That could move me off of Teheran in a hurry.

CC Sabathia ($7,100): How can you not play Sabathia at Yankee Stadium? CC is 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA in six home starts. Toronto’s offense is waking up at the right time, but playing CC at home hasn’t failed me yet. Sabathia is no longer an elite pitcher, but he is much better than this price tag. Add in the short slate, and Sabathia will be one of the best per dollar players out there tonight.

Bargain Pitchers:

Adam Plutko ($6,900): Plutko did well in his one start against the Royals last year. He hasn’t been much this year. In fact, His numbers are very close to Keller’s. This could go bad for one or both of them. However, if you’re fishing the bottom for value, these are the two best bets as well. Plutko is a little better, at least in theory because of the Royals offense. The problem is that rain could take away both of these values. Thanks Mother Nature!

Drew Pomeranz ($6,300): At least we know if the Cleveland game is rained out that we have Pomeranz to fall back on for value. The Rockies are only hitting .229 in 35 at bats with one homers, two runs, and eight strikeouts. Pomeranz put up 14.3 DraftKings points in the first game against the Rockies this year. I’ll take that for this price. His 4.21 ERA at home compared to his 7.09 mark overall also gives Pomeranz an edge here, but the Rockies are scary right now.

Brad Keller ($6,000): Now this is an interesting one. Cleveland is hitting just .194 against Keller in 36 at bats with just one solo homer and 10 strikeouts to show for their troubles. In fact, Keller racked up 31.6 DraftKings points on the Indians earlier this year. The problem is Keller’s 4.45 ERA. and lack of strikeouts against everyone other than Cleveland. For you risk takers, it doesn’t get much more risky, or offer a higher reward, than this.

My picks: Giolito, Sabathia; Sabathia, Pomeranz; Rodriguez, Sabathia

DraftKings MLB Stack Options:

New York Yankees vs. Aaron Sanchez:

Aaron Sanchez actually has good numbers against the Yankees. He also has a 6.08 ERA in nine road starts this year. I don’t trust this. At all. Didi Gregorius‘s price makes him an elite play. I’m tempted to say the price on Stanton does as well. I have no qualms about paying up for Aaron Judge or Scary Gary either. And if LeMahieu is leading off? Yeah, I’ll have some of that too.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Steven Matz:

It has been a tale of two starts for Matz against the Phillies this year. In Philly, Matz gave up eight runs (six earned) without recording an out! Six days later, Matz turned in a quality start against the same Phillies in Flushing. We don’t really know what we are getting here. I would venture to say he’s going to get at least one out and probably give up less than eight runs. Other than that, he could give up one run in five or seven runs in three. Who knows.

Being it’s on the road, I’m chasing after Matz. Scott Kingery and Rhys Hoskins both have two homers and four RBI against Matz. Maikel Franco is 3-8 with a homer and three RBI. Cesar Hernandez and Realmuto have hit Matz hard as well. Bryce Harper has done well enough, but for the first time in a week, I’m not going to pay for him here. There’s too much other goodness for lower prices.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Zack Greinke:

Greinke has not done well against his former team. The Dodgers are hitting .294 with ten homers and 21 runs in just 119 at bats. Joc Pederson, Justin Turner, Bellinger, and Kike Hernandez all have homered twice against Greinke. Austin Barnes and Chris Taylor have the other homers. This looks like the time to jump on the Dodgers bandwagon again. If you do, good luck! They burn me all the time.

DraftKings MLB daily notes:

Arrieta hasn’t been all that great against the Mets. This could wind up being a high scoring game. Todd Frazier is 8-26(.308) with two homers and six RBI against Arrieta. Jeff McNeil, Carlos Gomez, and Conforto have all homered against Arrieta as well. Frazier is the one I will have the most shares of.

Tyler Naquin has the only homer against Brad Keller, but if I go after him, Naquin wont be one of the ones I use. Lindor, Jose Ramirez, and Kipnis are the ones I’m after. I don’t trust Keller. This could be another implosion for him.

Bryant, Rizzo, and Albert Almora have the homers against Julio Teheran. However, Kyle Schwarber and Jason Heyward being under $4,000 is criminally low with the wind blowing out. Teheran isn’t pitching a complete game or a shutout. There is still plenty of potential for Cubs bats, particularly lefties.

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.

This is one of those nights that Jon Lester should be glad he’s a lefty. That’s not saying that Acuna or Swanson can’t get into one here, but it’s less likely. That said, both Freddie Freeman and Matt Joyce have two homers against Lester in their careers. Ozzie Albies is a perfect 5-5 against Lester in his career. I can see stacking against Lester, but his 2.68 home ERA is going to cause me to go lighter on this than I should.

Clayton Kershaw‘s price is keeping me off of him. So is his 3.70 career ERA in 15 starts at Chase Field. Christian Walker has homered against Kershaw twice in five at bats. Escobar and Ketel Marte have homered off of him as well, and they are somewhat discounted tonight.

DraftKings MLB one-off plays:

Randal Grichuk has two solo homers in his career against CC Sabathia. Teoscar Hernandez has one as well, but you couldn’t pay me to play him right now.

More from FanSided

Benintendi hit the only homer against Giolito. Rafael Devers has two RBI, but still doesn’t have a hit against Giolito. I’m not sure I want any Boston bats here.

James McCann is why one offs were invented. He is 3-13 with two solo homers in his career against Eduardo Rodriguez.

I don’t really trust Adam Plutko, and to go after him I don’t even really know where to start. Merrifield I guess, but Hunter Dozier or Jorge Soler probably have better potential but a lower floor.

Kevin Pillar and Brandon Belt have the homers against Jon Gray. I’m not too proud to go after the value of Brandon Crawford or Joe Panik either. These are one-offs though. I’m not chasing with more than one Giant in any lineup.

Chris Iannetta has the homer off of Pomeranz, but if I go after Pomeranz, it will be with Arenado. He’s the Rockie you want tonight.

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