June 18th MLB DFS Picks And Analysis – SportsGrid
June 18th MLB DFS Picks and Analysis
It’s another exciting night in MLB DFS as both DraftKings and FanDuel are offering six figure prize pools! Chris Pacheco of the DailyRoto Daily Fantasy Rundown shares some picks and analysis to help get you started with your lineups.
Danny Salazar (CLE) – Salazar ranks as our top starting pitcher on a slate that features Chris Archer, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke. This has a lot to do with strikeouts, which are king in DFS for pitchers. Salazar’s ERA is hovering around 3.50 (his SIERA is around a full run less than his ERA) but his strikeout ability (31 percent K rate, 38 percent chase rate and 14 percent SwStr rate) meshes well with his matchup today. The Cubs are ranked 21st in wRC+ and are striking out 25 percent of the time against RHP. This offense works counts (third ranked BB rate against RHP) but their free swinging nature will help Salazar rack up the Ks. Salazar has a less than stellar 12 percent hard minus soft hit rate but the safety in Ks quells any concerns here. The Cubs have a team total hovering around 3.5 runs and despite Salazar being our number one ranked starter, he’s consistently priced below the other top options on this slate. I’m more likely to deploy him in cash games on a site like DraftKings since the scoring (a strikeout is worth two points) plays in Salazar’s favor.
Brian McCann (NYY) – After reading some velocity reports, it looks like Mat Latos regained his fastball velocity (up from 90 MPH to 93 MPH in his last start) and his breaking pitches gained some velocity again. Latos has been hampered by injuries in the last few seasons but when he’s healthy, he’s a solid pitcher. He hasn’t been very good this season (just got back from a stint on the DL) but his expected ERAs all point towards him being a 3.5 run pitcher. The Yankees have a team total of 4.5 implied runs and they’re playing at home (short porch for those LHBs) but Latos potentially being fully healthy once again keeps me away from loading up on this offense. McCann is a good option because he’s a catcher (scarce position), he can hit for power (.202 ISO this season, back in line with his career ISO after posting a .174 ISO last season) and this ballpark helps pull hitters (Yankee Stadium increases LH power by approximately 17 percent above the league average). Another factor going for McCann is that the surrounding offense is better than Buster Posey’s (a lineup full of LHBs against a RHP) and he has been hitting third as of late (best lineup spot for DFS production). This helps diminish the gap in skill between these two hitters and they’re both ranked inside our top 40 hitters this evening.
Like what you see? We go way more in-depth at DailyRoto.com, with advice from Drew Dinkmeyer, Mike Leone, and others, that produced three Millionaire Maker winners in 2014.
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