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Happy Thursday, RotoBallers! This is John Brubaker once again dropping some of my favorite plays for tonight's slate. Like last week, we have a decent-sized six-game slate tonight on DraftKings and a seven-game slate on FanDuel. While FanDuel is including the two 6:40 pm EST games, DraftKings is adding the second game of the Angels/Yankees doubleheader.
We finally have a decent-sized slate on a Thursday which is great, and I'll be sharing both my cash and GPP plays for tonight's slate. The slate is six games on DraftKings and seven games on FanDuel. I'll do my best to select teams and players that are on both slates, but I will clarify if they're just on one.
This article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings at 7:05 pm and FanDuel at 6:40 pm on 6/02/2022. The lineup picks will range from some elite players to mid-priced options, and value plays. 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!
DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Sean Manaea, SD at MIL ($9,700 DK, $10,200 FD)
I'll start tonight's slate off with Sean Manaea. Manaea is the most expensive pitcher on the slate on both sites, and for good reason. That reason mostly is, that there isn't much pitching on tonight's slate. Manaea comes into this one with a 3.58 xFIP and a 26.4% strikeout rate. My model projects Manaea to have a 3.39 xFIP and a 28.23% strikeout rate against the Brewers tonight while keeping the ball on the ground with a projected 49.87% ground ball rate. I typically wouldn't play him at this price, but we aren't left with much behind him.
Adrian Houser, MIL vs SD ($8,500 DK, $9,100 FD)
Another guy I wouldn't play at his price would be Adrian Houser, nor would I typically play two pitchers from the same game. I still won't play both of these guys in the same lineup in any GPPs, but strangely enough, this may be the optimal pair tonight. Despite his projected 4.05 xFIP and 17.69% strikeout rate, I grade Houser a bit higher due to the Padres projected wOBA + ISO against his pitch types (.449). While others like Keegan Thompson and Tony Gonsolin are playable as SP2 on DraftKings, I still prefer Houser's floor to both of them.
Also consider: Tony Gonsolin, Keegan Thompson
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Austin Riley - 3B, ATL vs. Austin Gomber ($4,700 DK, $4,200 FD)
As far as hitters go, I'll be starting with Austin Riley. Riley gets the benefit of playing in Coors tonight, so I'll certainly be looking to stack the Braves against Colorado southpaw Austin Gomber. While Riley has never faced Gomber, he has a projected.865 wOBA + ISO in this one and a whopping 57.77% hard-contact projection. I would say that if a player is projected to have a 57.77% hard-contact rate and is playing in Coors, I'd probably prioritize him.
Willson Contreras - C, CHC vs. Matthew Liberatore ($4,800 DK, $3,800 FD)
My second hitter of the day will be Willson Contreras. I like both of the Contreras brothers this evening but will opt for the Willson here. He'll face Matthew Liberatore who got the first win of his career back on Saturday against Milwaukee. I think Liberatore is, or at least will be good. However, Contreras grades out among the best infielders on the slate tonight, with a .948 projected wOBA + ISO, a 50.52% hard-contact rate, and a 50.13 rating.
Ramon Urias - 3B, BAL vs. Chris Flexen ($3,200 DK, $2,200 FD)
A bit of a sneaky value infielder here with Ramon Urias, coming off a 1-4 night last night where he hit a solo round-tripper. He'll take on Chris Flexen, who after a strong 2021, has come into 2022 not so great. Urias hasn't faced Flexen but has a wOBA + ISO projection of .889 against Flexen's pitch types, as well as a 47.01% projected hard contact rate and a 42.98 rating. They won't be one of my "primary" stacks tonight, but don't sleep on the swingin' O's, who have been putting up some runs lately.
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Ronald Acuna - OF, ATL vs. Austin Gomber ($5,900 DK, $4,300 FD)
As far as outfielders go, it's no surprise I'll be looking at Ronald Acuna. Acuna has faced Gomber three times in his career, going 1-3 with the only hit being a solo home run. He brings in a .720 projected wOBA + ISO against Gomber's pitch types, with a 42.84% projected hard-contact rate. While his rating 41.78 rating doesn't seem too high due to his price on either site, my model doesn't necessarily have a "Coors factor", so I have to factor that in manually. With all of that said though, Acuna has already gotten Gomber once, we know we're going to stack the Braves, and Acuna will be leading off so long as he's playing. He'll likely be the highest owned player on the slate.
Charlie Blackmon- OF, COL vs. Ian Anderson ($4,600 DK, $3,700 FD)
Staying in Coors, we'll take a look at the other side of things with Charlie Blackmon. Blackmon sees Anderson well, despite only seeing him twice. He's 2-2 against the 24-year-old right-hander with a home run and two RBI. His .648 projected wOBA + ISO against Anderson's pitch types show that Blackmon should get to Anderson once again today, and while I don't expect Blackmon to be perfect nor do I really expect him to go deep today, I'll have some solid exposure to him as well as C.J. Cron against Anderson.
Christopher Morel - 2B/OF, CHC vs. Matthew Liberatore ($3,700 DK, $3,300 FD)
We're getting a solid value play on DraftKings here with Christopher Morel. FanDuel has somewhat caught on regarding Morel's price, who comes into this one hitting .268 with two home runs and an OPS of .837. I project Morel's wOBA + ISO at .665 against Liberatore, as well as a 64.67% hard-contact rate. His 51.57 rating ranks the highest among all hitters today and should be a solid play whether you use him as a one-off, or stack him with Contreras and Patrick Wisdom.
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
Atlanta Braves vs. Austin Gomber
It's kind of a shame that Austin Gomber has regressed at Coors this year, though it was easy to see coming. Note that Gomber is still better at Coors than on the road, with a 4.13 ERA at home in four starts on the year. He draws a tough matchup with the Braves whose bats seem to finally be heating up. Atlanta ranks fifth in the majors against left-handed pitching in OPS, and ninth in wRC+. Their 51.14 stack rating is the highest on the slate, and they'll be my top stack tonight.
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Taijuan Walker
Taijuan Walker comes into this one 3-0 with a 2.83 ERA. He should regress somewhat due to his 4.5 xFIP, and we may see that from the Dodgers tonight. The Dodgers were victims of an embarrassing sweep at home against the Pirates this week. They've still been scoring runs though, and we can expect that from them again tonight. Like I mentioned with the Dodgers last week, I spread my ownership throughout their full lineup more often than with other teams, where I'll consolidate to 4-5 players. LA's 47.52 stack rating sits comfortably as the third-best stack on the slate, just behind the Chicago Cubs.
Also Consider: Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies
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