DraftKings MLB Picks June 25: Is MadBum really a bum?

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – JUNE 23: Christian Walker #53 of the Arizona Diamondbacks hits a RBI single against the San Francisco Giants during the fourth inning of the MLB game at Chase Field on June 23, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Picks June 25: Is MadBum really a bum?

We have a loaded 15 game slate for our DraftKings MLB tournaments. Rain has been an issue across the eastern two thirds of the country for the last ten days or so. Does it let up tonight? As usual, we will check the weather first before diving into this one. This is definitely a multi entry night!

DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Gerrit Cole ($11,500): Why are people so surprised when Cole gives up a run or two? It’s going to happen. After all, he has a 3.54 ERA. We aren’t playing him for the hope of a shutout. We’re playing him in hopes that he strikes out a dozen in six innings, something he has done three times in the last eight games. The Pirates aren’t a big strikeout team, but Cole is a legit threat for double digit strikeouts every time he takes the mound. I’ll take that over Scherzer’s inexplicable struggles against the Marlins.

Robbie Ray ($9,900): Think I’m nuts? Let’s jump into this a little further. Ray has started twice against the Dodgers this year. He has 42 DraftKings points in those two starts despite not winning either game. The high number of strikeouts makes Ray worth while, and his career numbers against the Dodgers reflect that. They are only hitting .237 against Ray in 135 at bats with four homers, 12 runs, and a whopping 57 strikeouts. Ray isn’t one of those guys that instantly stands out on this slate, but the more I look into this, the more I like it.

Blake Snell ($9,000): Snell’s price plummeted after he was blasted by the Yankees. My question is: why? Snell has been awful at Yankee Stadium. This does leave us with a unique opportunity to capitalize on his strikeout potential at a much lower than normal price. Of course, the caveat here is that Snell has not been that sharp lately and the Twins are one of the most dangerous offenses around. However, they are only hitting .234 in 47 at bats against Snell with a homer, four runs, and a whopping 18 strikeouts. I would say the potential returns are worth it at this price.

Middle Tier:

Andrew Heaney ($8,800): This much right handed power against Heaney scares me a little, but the strikeout potential here is very good. Now the bad news with Heaney. Both Snell and MadBum have better track records this year and in their careers. Heaney’s strikeout upside is higher, but not that much higher. The only real reason to chase Heaney is lower ownership.

Madison Bumgarner ($8,200): MadBum got Snellzillaed by the Dodgers in his last start too. Okay, not quite as bad as Snell, but it served to slash his price in much the same manner. Bumgarner is going to bounce back here. He has started against the Rockies twice already this year and put up 48.2 DraftKings points over those two games. He’s not going to shut them out. Hell, he will probably give up a homer or two as well. The fact is that MadBum should come out of this with a 20 spot, which is very nice for his price point.

Logan Allen ($8,100): Allen dazzled in his debut against the Brewers. While I don’t think he will escape Baltimore unscathed, he should be in line for the win and he will likely pick up a quality start. When you add in the strikeout potential against the free swinging Orioles, I can definitely see the appeal. On top of that, this slate is loaded with pitching, so you could have Allen at pretty low ownership too.

Bargain Pitchers:

Jack Flaherty ($7,900): Flaherty has a 2.49 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in eight home starts this year. His awful road numbers make his stats seem worse than they actually are. It’s simple. If Flaherty’s at home, use him. If not, don’t even think about it. The A’s are a good offense and they may run up his pitch count, but they also have to use a pitcher batting. There’s enough to like for the price on Flaherty tonight.

Ross Stripling ($7,700): Only the Dodgers would be so absurdly pitching rich that they can throw a guy like Stripling in there when Hill goes down. Stripling has a 2.65 ERA in six starts this year. On top of that, he has only allowed three hits in 7.1 innings against Arizona this year in a start and a relief appearance. Don’t expect Stripling to go deep into this game. That does limit his upside. However, he could flirt with 20 DraftKings points if he can go five innings.

Max Fried ($6,700): Wrigley with the wind blowing out isn’t normally the place we would try to find value. It feels weird just writing about it. It gets worse when you look at Fried’s recent numbers and his road ERA. So what gives? Well, Fried has allowed just one hit in two career starts against the Cubs. One hit, three walks, no runs. That is at least worth mentioning.

My picks: Bumgarner, Flaherty; Flaherty, Stripling; Bumgarner, Stripling; Cole, Flaherty

FanDuel MLB: SAN DIEGO, CA – APRIL 3: Manny Machado #13 of the San Diego Padres hits a two-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Petco Park April 3, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Stack Options:

Texas Rangers vs. Jordan Zimmerman:

Zimmerman had two great starts to begin the season. Then he was under 7 DraftKings points in the next five, losing points in two of those. His return to the rotation wasn’t much better last week. Zimmerman put up 6.8 DraftKings points in four innings against Pittsburgh. Zimmerman likely wont go more than five here either. Choo, Nomar Mazara, and Odor are my top targets. I like a super cheap Ronald Guzman as well. For the last spot, I would pay up for either Elvis Andrus or Danny Santana.

New York Yankees vs. Clayton Richard:

It’s a small sample size, and the Yankees have blasted Richard. That should be no shock to anyone. Stanton and Judge are the two best plays here. You can argue hard for Gary Sanchez, Luke Voit, DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres, and Joe DiMaggio as well. Every Yankee righty who has ever lived and is available on DraftKings is in play here tonight.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Walker Lockett:

Lockett didn’t even make it through three innings against the Cubs. On top of that, he didn’t pitch well against Philly last September. Both Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez hit homers off of him. Bryce Harper is still very reasonably priced. So is Hoskins for that matter. My fifth will probably be Scott Kingery here, but I can make a good case for Segura or Realmuto as well. Use whatever your budget allows.

San Diego Padres vs. Yacabonis/Josh Rogers/Rest of the worst bullpen in baseball:

There are a lot of sluggers on this team and a lot of terrible pitchers on the Baltimore roster. Renfroe, Franmil Reyes, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado back in Baltimore are all elite plays based on power alone. Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers don’t quite have the pop of the other guys, but they are still really good hitters. Anyone in this lineup is worth a look. You can stack this a dozen different ways and none would be wrong.

Boston Red Sox vs. White Sox bullpen:

The Sox aren’t calling up Dylan Cease, and Carson Fulmer isn’t stretched out. With the DFA of Despaigne, this looks like a bullpen game whether they like it or not. Boston had good enough hitters that a bullpen game shouldn’t throw them off. Mookie, J.D., and Bogaerts are the elite plays here. Since most of the White Sox bullpen is right handed, I’m leaning more toward Devers, Brock Holt, Jackie Bradley, and Benintendi to round out the stack.

Houston Astros vs. Trevor Williams:

Trevor Williams just got torched by the Tigers in a pitcher’s park – without a DH I might add – so excuse me if I don’t trust him. I would stack Astros if I could find five I wanted. Jose Altuve, Bregman, Josh Reddick, and Yordan Alvarez all look worth while. Actually, so does Michael Brantley. There are five Astros I want now with Altuve back. Stack away!

San Francisco Giants vs. Chi Chi Gonzalez:

How bad has Jeff Hoffman been this year? Bad enough that the Rockies are replacing him with a 27 year old with a 5.66 ERA for AAA Albuquerque. The Giants should reap the benefits of this. Brandon Belt, Joe Panik, Brandon Crawford, and Mike Yazstrzemski all look terrific for the price. The Giants value is going to make it possible for us to pay up for huge bats or aces, whichever you choose. You could probably even put Panda in here if you wanted to.

DENVER, CO – JULY 28: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Oakland Athletics during the third inning of interleague play at Coors Field on July 28, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /

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.

Jesse Chavez is starting and I want to go after him. Then I realize he’s playing the Tigers. There just isn’t much to go after him with. Niko Goodrum and Brandon Dixon seem like the best spots here. Harold Castro is a solid punt option too.

It’s a bullpen day for the Yankees, but that doesn’t mean what it does for most teams. The general feeling is that lefty Nestor Cortes will take over after Chad Green departs. This is a good thing for Cavan Biggio since he will face righty in his first at bat. This is also good for Vlad Jr and Grichuk as they will likely get at least two at bats against a lefty. Lourdes Gurriel is probably worth a look as well.

Sparkman hasn’t been bad enough to stack against, but as far as I’m concerned, Jason Kipnis and Jose Ramirez are still free spaces at their prices. Jake Bauers is worth a look too, and don’t forget the newly promoted Bobby Bradley, who slugged 24 homers in 67 games at AAA Columbus before heading up I-71.

I’m not convinced that the Nats are going to beat up on Trevor Richards, but I wouldn’t play him either. Anthony Rendon, Brian Dozier, and Robles have all homered off of him so far. They make for a nice mini stack.

Adbert Alzolay looked good in his first major league start. That’s the only reason I’m not advocating a Braves stack here. I’ll still be heavy on the Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis with some Acuna and Albies sprinkled in. I don’t expect a big outburst from the Braves, but I don’t just see Alzolay shutting them down either.

Marco Gonzales has been a disaster on the road, so I don’t care that he gets to face a pitcher and a largely left handed lineup. Jesus Aguilar and Travis Shaw have homered off of Gonzales before. Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich are my favorites to join them tonight. You could use Braun, but I think I would rather use that slot to punt with Arcia and pay up for a better pitcher.

Let’s say that for Zach Davies to live up to our expectations that he needs to hold the Mariners to two runs. That’s fair since he doesn’t strike out batters. The Mariners have only been held to two runs or less twice in June. The odds aren’t good for Davies. I wont go after him too heavily, but Crawford, Dee Gordon, Kyle Seager, and Mallex Smith are all on my radar.

How much do you trust BvP? Better yet, how much do you trust the wind blowing out at Wrigley? It didn’t mean much last night. The reason I ask is because Max Fried has given up just one hit to the Cubs in two career starts. That’s domination. Baez, Bryant, and Albert Almora are all worth a look here, but I may just leave this entire thing alone.

The Rays haven’t hit Kyle Gibson hard, but they have hit him well. Ji-Man Choi has the homer off of him. Brandon Lowe and Avi Garcia are my other targets for this game, though I can definitely see punting with Willy Adames as well.

Okay, we have established that MadBum isn’t pitching a shutout, right? Okay then. Both Mark Reynolds and Arenado have homered off of him twice, so that’s probably where you want to go after him. Blackmon and Chris Iannetta have the others.

You can crunch the numbers with Tyler Mahle all you want, but I still wont play him on the road, and especially not in an AL Park. All four Angels in the outfield/DH slots are worth a look. So is Tommy LaStella. I wont stack Mahle, but I will have an Angel or three in every build.

PITTSBURGH, PA – APRIL 07: Josh Bell #55 of the Pittsburgh Pirates points to the sky after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park on April 7, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB one-off plays:

Khris Davis is really the only A’s player I’m interested in. Flaherty’s home splits are tried and true. I likely wont go after him at all on a full slate.

David Peralta is probably my favorite Arizona play tonight. I can see the merits of Marte or Escobar, but I doubt they live up to their price.

If Ray can stay away from Kike Hernandez, he’ll be fine. Kike has three of the four Dodger homers against Ray with five of the 12 RBI.

Tell me you don’t absolutely love Yasiel Puig back in L.A. against a lefty. Nick Senzel and possibly Eugenio Suarez will make their way into a couple of my lineups as well.

More from FanSided

Logan Allen solidified his place as a starter after a strong debut against Milwaukee, but pitching in Baltimore in the summer is a lot different than San Diego. The Orioles have a lot of righties here. However, not many of them are worth using. Some combination of Pedro Severino, Trey Mancini, and Renato Nunez will find their way into my lineups, but not all three in one.

Playing on slates this large means we don’t have to settle. As in settling for the strikeout upside of Bieber. The Royals hit three homers against him last year. Lucas Duda had two of them. Merrifield had the other. I think I would rather throw one or two bats at Bieber than play him.

I don’t care what the past stats say for David Price against the White Sox. Price hasn’t looked right lately. I’m going to take a shot or two at him with James McCann and Eloy at the very least. Yoan Moncada looks like a great option too.

If you have read my stuff with any regularity, then you know to fade Mad Max against the Marlins. The price is at least enticing this time around, but again, we don’t have to settle. The Marlins are hitting .268 with six homers in 127 at bats. Granderson has three of them. Starlin Castro looks really cheap as well.

Gerrit Cole, meet Josh Bell. He is the one most likely to drive in a run or two against you tonight.

Nelson Cruz has the only homer for the Twins against Snellzilla so far. Sano and Cron are tempting for their power potential here though if you think Snell is still shell shocked from his last outing.

Chris Bassitt is more than Snellzilla. He probably shouldn’t be. I don’t like the price on Bassitt, but I don’t think the Cardinals are really going to take it to him either. Goldschmidt is still so cheap that he’s tempting, but if you actually want to win some money, it’s probably best to go after Ozuna or Matt Carpenter instead.

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