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It's Friday and that means we are back to having all 30 MLB teams in action! The games are more chopped up than usual for a Friday with two early afternoon games and three early evening games that didn't make it onto the main slate for either site. That leaves us with a 10-game slate on FanDuel and DraftKings.
Coors Field is back in our lives which always makes things interesting, especially when there are major aces like Gerrit Cole and Corbin Burnes that we could choose to pay up for if we want. I tend to lean towards fading Coors on big slates, but there are some appealing pitching options in the mid-tier that could allow you to get Coors stacks in, and neither Colorado nor Arizona are even priced up that much compared to what we are used to seeing.
As always, this article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Friday's main slate locks at 7:05 EST on 7/1/2022. The lineup picks will range from some elite high-priced players to mid-priced options, and value plays. I'll give you a few of my top pitching options and then some infielders, outfielders, and teams to stack! You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports here. It's also essential to monitor injury news and today's MLB starting lineups. Now that we got all of that out of the way, it's onto the picks!
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DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Corbin Burnes @ Pittsburgh ($10,600 DK, $10,900 FD)
In the age-old Burnes vs. Cole debate, I'm firmly in the Burnes camp today for a few reasons. No shade intended towards Cole, but Burnes has been better this year from a DFS standpoint and the match-ups for both are drastically different in terms of strikeout upside as Burnes has the much better spot here against my Buccos. Cole is facing a Cleveland team that whiffs less often than any team in the majors against RHP this season. While I think both guys likely pitch well and lead their teams to wins, Burnes is the guy I am prioritizing if spending up and I think he's a lock for your DK cash games as your SP1. As the most expensive pitcher on FanDuel, he could hamstring you a bit so I wouldn't blame anyone for paying down a little further to someone like...
Cristian Javier vs. Los Angeles Angels ($9,200 DK, $9,100 FD)
Javier is coming off seven no-hit innings against the Yankees with 13 strikeouts. This is almost certainly a bit of an outlier performance and likely his season-high, but it does show that he has some pretty darn good upside when he's throwing strikes. He's one of only three pitchers with a 30% or better strikeout rate on the main slate (with Cole and Burnes being the other two) and gets the best match-up on the board for strikeouts here against the Angels. There is some danger here with Trout and Ohtani in that lineup, but Javier is a solid -165 favorite at home and backed by a good offense. Even if he's not racking up big strikeout numbers, I think he can pitch deep enough for a win and hit his floor.
Also consider - Lance Lynn, Joe Ryan
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Cal Raleigh - C, SEA vs. James Kaprielian ($3,500 DK, $2,500 FD)
You have to play a catcher on DK, so why not play a good-hitting catcher? Raleigh is still under the Mendoza line, hitting .199 so far but is now up to 10 home runs on the season. He doubled and tripled (how often do you see that from a catcher) in last night's win and has a .373 ISO against RHP over the last month. Kaprielian has been pretty bad this year, especially against lefties. He's striking out LHH at only a 12% rate while walking them 11% of the time and allowing a .265 ISO. The Mariners are a top stack for me, and on DraftKings, I will make sure Raleigh is in my stack as he had sneaky upside for a catcher over the last month or so.
Pete Alonso - 1B, NYM vs. Glenn Otto ($5,600 DK, $4,000 FD)
Are you someone who only plays Alonso against lefties? I used to be one of those people, too. But guess what? He's hitting RHP this year really well, too, and is having an MVP-caliber first half with 22 HR and 69 RBI. His last 30-day data against RHP really stands out to me as he has a .460 wOBA and .448 ISO in his last 65 plate appearances. He really excels against sinker/slider pitchers, too, so Otto fits the bill here. I don't think he will be popular based on his price, but he's absolutely a great one-off play if we want to hunt double-dong upside with a power hitter.
Carlos Correa - SS, MIN vs. Spenser Watkins ($4,600 DK, $3,400 FD)
After a bit of a slow start in Minnesota, Correa is officially back to doing what we expected from him when he came over from Houston in free agency. Over the last month, his .451 wOBA against RHP leads the Twins with Buxton right behind him. We are getting a clean-up hitter here for the team with one of the highest projected totals on the slate for a very fair price on both sites. I'd pay up for him cash games and make sure to anchor my Twins stacks around him. Well, around him and this next guy, of course!
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Byron Buxton - OF, MIN vs. Spenser Watkins ($5,700 DK, $3,800 FD)
Buxton is up to 20 HR on the season and is on pace for a huge year if he can stay healthy (all my buddies who have shares in season-long fantasy are praying). I wrote about his awesome R vs. R splits in the offseason and this year has been no different as he's sporting a .355 wOBA and .331 ISO against RHP so far. He's still striking out quite a bit, but against a guy who allows as much contact as Watkins does, I'm not too worried about that tonight. Watkins has had some drastic reverse splits this year, too, allowing a .403 wOBA and .291 ISO to right-handed hitters.
Riley Greene - OF, DET vs. Brad Keller ($2,400 DK, $2,600 FD)
We are still waiting to see some power, but the contact and plate discipline from Greene has been impressive through his first ten games as a big leaguer. He has a .373 wOBA against righties and an incredible 29% walk rate. That has translated to a solid floor for his fantasy game as he's finding his way on base every time out. If you need a punt, Greene brings a solid floor and he's bound to break out with a big game eventually with his talent. Keller is mediocre at best and we know the KC bullpen is well below-average.
Jesse Winker - OF, SEA vs. James Kaprielian ($4,100, $3,100 FD)
I rarely double-up on two players from two teams, but I realize that I have now written up two Mariners and two Twins. Deal with it! These are great spots tonight and I have both teams at the top of my list. As I mentioned with Raleigh, Kaprielian has been very hittable to lefties and Winker has really woken up over the last month after scuffling for much of the beginning of the season. He fits the bill of a cash play quite nicely - a good contact hitter that hits near the top of the order and who has solid power. These prices are very fair, too, and allow us to jam in a Seattle stack relatively easily with some good pitching.
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
Here are my top stacks for tonight (in the order in which I like them)
- Seattle Mariners (4.7 implied run total) vs. James Kaprielian (5.87 xFIP)
- Minnesota Twins (5.5 implied run total) vs. Spenser Watkins (6.67 xFIP)
I was on the Mariners last night, and they came through with eight runs. They will be seeing Kaprielian for the third time already this year and they hit him well once while being shut down the other time. Kap has been more bad than good this year and I will keep preaching that we need to attack this Oakland bullpen, too, as they've been getting worse as the year goes along.
Picking on Watkins might be grabbing the low-hanging fruit, but when a dude has an 11% strikeout rate and a 10% walk rate, as well as a 52% flyball rate to right-handed hitters this year, it's hard not to line up some Twins' righties against him.
I hope I gave you a head start on your research today and I wish you the best of luck! If you ever have questions about DFS or fantasy baseball, my DMs are always open and I appreciate you taking the time to read my picks today.
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