Early DraftKings MLB Picks June 27: Nola Nola Nola!

The early slate is the de facto main slate for our DraftKings MLB tournaments again tonight. Six of the ten games are matinee games, but most of the good pitching is on the four game night slate. At first glance, the afternoon slate looks nasty, and not in a good way. First, the weather!

DraftKings MLB Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Aaron Nola ($10,700): Today’s opponent is one reason why Nola has such a high ERA on the season. The Mets teed off on him in CitiField earlier this year. However, Nola has a strong 3.19 ERA at home and has only been under 28 DraftKings points once in his last four home starts. Nola seems to be coming around, and his home numbers at least make it feasible to consider him this afternoon.

Zack Wheeler ($10,000): You may not think Wheeler deserves this spot, and you would largely be right. Remember what I said about pitching on the early slate though? It’s so bad that a pitcher with a 4.69 ERA, in a series that has blown up the scoreboard, is the second highest guy on the slate. His opponent is the first. Wheeler has owned the Phillies this year though. He has held them to three runs in 14 innings, racking up 53.8 DraftKings points along the way with one start in each location. That track record is enough for me to stick with Wheeler this afternoon. And there’s the little fact that Jason Vargas baffled these guys last night.

Middle Tier:

Brad Peacock ($9,400): It’s hard to pay this for Peacock, but when you look at the rest of the pitching, it’s understandable. Peacock is the most consistent of any of the pitchers on this slate, and I could see using him as the SP1 in cash games. For GPP I’m not sure he has the upside of Wheeler or Nola, but this is a sizeable savings and the Pirates still haven’t hit against anyone but the Padres lately.

Mike Leake ($8,300): The Brewers are only hitting .214 in 98 at bats against Leake with only two homers, nine runs, and 21 strikeouts. There is risk here with the Brewers offense and the hitter’s park that they reside in, not to mention the weather. The Brewers are cold right now, so this is the time to go after them. A lot of us did with LeBlanc last night, and that went fairly well. I’m warming up to Leake more and more.

Bargain Pitchers:

Jalen Beeks ($7,600): The Rays have been quick to give Beeks the hook all year, but he does have a 2.00 ERA in 27 road innings. This Twins offense is dangerous, and if Beeks gets himself into trouble again, he wont get a chance to get himself out of it. The easy answer is don’t drop down this far at all. That’s hard with all of these good offenses though.

Chase Anderson ($7,400): It is really ugly at the bottom. So ugly that I’m considering a guy with a 4.70 ERA and 54.04 ERA at home just because he has 55 strikeouts in 51.2 innings pitched. This strikeout upside is nice. I’m not going to lie. Anderson’s track record prior to this year is promising as well, but I really can’t give a ringing endorsement here. The only thing Anderson has going for him is that he has dominated lefties this year and Seattle is mostly left handed.

My picks: Peacock, Leake; Nola, Anderson; Wheeler, Peacock

DraftKings MLB stack options:

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Martin Perez:

Yeah, the Rays offense is chilly right now, but they have bombarded Martin Perez to the tune of a .366 average in 71 at bats. Mike Zunino has homered off of him three times, so lock in Zunino. Meadows, Avi Garcia, and Pham have hit him well too. If Guillermo Heredia finds his way into the lineup, he is 10-23(.435) with four runs and a pair of RBI against Perez. Willy Adames is a great way to get exposure on the cheap, and Tommy Pham is starting to come back to his April form.

Chicago Cubs vs. Bryse Wilson:

Let me get this straight: a 21 year old that was blasted in his first start is priced at $8,600? I would rather pay bottom dollar for a Braves long reliever. If you are going to stack today, the Cubs are probably the place to look. Schwarber is too cheap batting leadoff. I really like Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward in this spot too. Even the right handed duo of Bryant and Baez is in play.

Houston Astros vs. Joe Musgrove:

Musgrove trolled everyone against the Padres last week. The chances of that happening against his former team are not good. Musgrove’s ERA is high enough and Houston is healthy enough for this to turn bad quickly. George Springer has hit the ground running. He even hit a homer last night. Altuve and Josh Reddick are still cheap. Bregman and Yordan Alonzo are still raking. Good luck Musgrove!

Atlanta Braves vs. Tyler Chatwood:

I was on Chatwood at home a few times earlier this year. His home numbers are solid. However, the Braves have just punished him in his career. Atlanta is hitting .385 in 52 at bats with a homer and 14 runs. More homers will come. I promise. McCann has the homer, but likely wont start. Where do we go from there? How about Freddie Freeman, who is 8-16 with six runs and four RBI? Markakis has driven in three against Chatwood. Are you seeing a pattern? Yep. Chatwood gets creamed by lefties. That means add Albies and Matt Joyce if he’s in the lineup, or Camargo if he starts.

DraftKings MLB early notes:

Ariel Jurado has given up 17 runs in his last four starts, so I’m not really interested in chasing a pitcher with no strikeout upside, even against the awful Tigers offense. I would rather take a shot with Castellanos, Niko Goodrum, or Dixon.

Spencer Turnbull hasn’t had his best stuff lately, and the Rangers hit righties almost 30 points better than lefties. On top of that, Turnbull’s ERA is more than a run higher at home. I would much rather throw some Rangers at him, and there is something for everyone. Joey Gallo, Choo, and Nomar Mazara are the upper tier. Those of us looking to save money have great values in Ronald Guzman and Rougned Odor. I’m not sure I would stack against Turnbull, but I will have some exposure

More from FanSided

Jalen Beeks hasn’t gone longer than three innings in three of his last four outings after relieving Stanek. I wont use him, and I may even throw a couple of Twins out there. I wouldn’t shy away from Kepler or Rosario since Beeks hasn’t been around long anyway. Nelson Cruz and Astudillo hit righties well enough to run them out there as well.

Chase Anderson has just one quality start all year and a 5.07 ERA at home. This is probably the time to throw some Mariners at him. Not the lefties though. Anderson has a reverse split thing going on here. Lefties are hitting just .168 against Anderson in nearly as many at bats as righties. Go after Anderson with Domingo Santana or Tim Beckham and maybe Kyle Seager.

I’m not sure I really want to go after Wheeler or Nola. Both actually look like good options today. However, these lineups are full of one off picks. Scott Kingery, Maikel Franco, Cesar Hernandez, and Bryce Harper have all homered off of Wheeler. Conforto and Dominic Smith have the homers against Nola.

Peacock being the most consistent starter on this slate means I don’t want to go after him too heavily. Josh Bell is always in play. You could probably take a shot with Polanco if you wanted to, but there are better places to spend the money.

Eric Thames and Ryan Braun have the homers and eight of the nine runs against Leake. If you are going after him it should be with them. Again, there are probably better places to attack than paying $5,800 for Yelich.

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