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Welcome back to the Saturday edition of our MLB DFS picks here at RotoBaller. I'll be here all weekend, helping you navigate the various slates that both FanDuel and DraftKings are offering. Today is a bit of a mess, I'll admit, as DK has created an 11-game slate that starts at 2:05 PM, while FanDuel chopped up the early afternoon games and made their main slate at 4:05 PM. For the sake of consistency, I am going to cover all 11 of the afternoon games, but I won't get into the five evening games that start after 7:00 PM.
I hope you read this piece yesterday and used some of my picks to make some profit. Austin Riley, Adam Duvall, and Julio Rodriguez were all featured yesterday and had big nights, while Clayton Kershaw flirted with a no-hitter and ended up having a great outing. Let's see if we can't hit on a few more plays today, shall we?
As always, this article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Saturday's main slate locks at 2:05 PM EST on DraftKings, while FanDuel has their main slate set for 4:05 PM EST on 7/16/2022. 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
If you like data, here are some projections for today's starting pitchers. Green is good for the pitcher, while red is bad!
Justin Verlander vs. OAK ($11,100 DK, $11,100 FD)
We haven't seen an 11k pitcher on DK in a while, but Verlander might be worth every penny today. The drop-off in pitching is rather steep after JV with only a few other high-end arms and none of them have the same match-up here as Verlander does against the lowly A's.
JV is enjoying an incredible bounce-back year after missing nearly two full seasons and at age 39 he's doing what not many thought was possible - pitching as effectively and efficiently as he has at any point in his long career. He's a massive home favorite with 7+ strikeout upside, like with Kershaw yesterday I don't see any reason to get cute in cash games and I'd be willing to go over the field in tournaments as well. This is your "can't miss, smash spot" of the day regardless of which site you're playing on.
Max Meyer vs. PHI ($5,000 DK, $8,100 FD)
So DK really dropped the ball on pricing here, leaving Meyer at minimum price despite the fact that he is a highly-touted prospect with some solid AAA numbers. On FanDuel, 8100 is a much more fair price, though I'm not sure I want the rookie in his MLB debut as my only pitcher on a one-pitcher site like FD.
Meyer has shown some solid strikeout chops at AAA this year and gets a Phillies team at home where he has a solid park factor working for him. The Phillies' offense is still without Bryce Harper and has been trending down over the last two weeks, so the timing might be perfect for Meyer to have a big day in this spot. At only 5k as your SP2, you're not asking for much more than 10-12 DK points. I'm comfortable even pairing him with Verlander in cash games.
Also consider - Max Castillo vs. KC, Miles Mikolas vs. CIN
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Dan Vogelbach - 1B, PIT vs. Jose Urena ($3,200 DK, $3,200 FD)
I'm always hesitant to endorse any Buccos, being that they are my team and I am convinced they will always let me down. But how can we not like some Pirates' righties in Coors today against Urena, right? Urena is getting a chance to start once again, and the metrics look just as bad as you remembered them when he was in Miami. Only a 9% strikeout rate, 12% walk rate and an average exit velocity allowed of over 98 MPH. He has been getting more groundballs than he used to and that's probably the only thing that is saving him at this point. It's a small sample, but he's allowing a .440 wOBA to lefties and a .211 ISO. That's going to play well for these Bucco lefty bats and Vogelbach is a nice cheap source of power, who can also draw walks and get one base.
Oneil Cruz - SS, PIT vs. Jose Urena ($4,400 DK, $3,700 FD)
The rookie phenom has flashed incredible potential and also taken his lumps a bit, too. But he's scorching the ball when he makes contact and his small sample of batted balls against sinkers (Urena's primary pitch) show some amazing exit velocity. The price on Cruz has stabilized here and he's no longer a chalk value play, so we can fire him up in Pirates stacks without running with half the field. He has an impressive .245 ISO against righties so far, and the speed to pile up some extra base hits today if he puts a few balls in the gap of the spacious Coors outfield.
Andres Gimenez - 2B/SS, CLE vs. Michael Pineda ($4,000 DK, $2,800 FD)
Gimenez has been a crucial part of Cleveland's first-half success. He has more pop in his bat than many realize (.194 ISO against RHP) and some elite speed that allows him to swipe bases (7) and leg out extra-base hits. Pineda is a tough guy to stack against because I feel like he always manages not to get blown up, but he's clearly on his last legs as a starter with a 12% strikeout rate and 42% hard contact rate.
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Teoscar Hernandez - OF, TOR vs. Daniel Lynch ($3,400 DK, $2,600 FD)
Hernandez is a guy I love targeting against lefties as he has elite splits against southpaws. He had some of the best splits in the majors against LHP last season and has followed that up with a .366 wOBA and .283 ISO this season even after struggling earlier in the year with some injuries. He checks the recent form box as well, as he's hit safely in seven straight games and was 2-4 yesterday with a double and home run. Lynch has really labored this year and we know the KC pen behind him is one we like to target as well.
Charlie Blackmon - OF, COL vs. Mitch Keller ($5,200 DK, $3,800 FD)
Blackmon isn't the fantasy force that he once was, but let's not act like he's not still a really good hitter. He's been really good of late, in fact, with multiple hits in five straight games. He's my favorite Colorado play here against Keller and a really solid cash game play with his contact skills. Even if the good Mitch Keller shows up, the Pirates bullpen has been struggling of late and I expect Colorado to continue to score tonight after they dropped 13 on Pittsburgh last night.
Leody Taveras - OF, TEX vs. Logan Gilbert ($2,300 DK, $2,900 FD)
Taveras has been my cheat code for nearly a week now, and somehow DraftKings hasn't caught on or maybe they're not paying attention? The switch-hitting outfielder has double-digit DK points in six of his last eight games and has raised his average on the year to a lofty .346 during this hot streak. He's seen his spot in the lineup improve, too, getting moved up towards the middle of the order from the 8 or 9-hole where he had been hitting. Gilbert is a good pitcher, but he has struggled a bit lately and I have no problem taking a shot on an extremely hot hitter for this price, even in a tougher match-up.
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
Here are my top stacks for tonight (in the order in which I like them)
- Atlanta Braves (5.7 implied run total) vs. Paolo Espino (5.01 xFIP)
- Pittsburgh Pirates (5.2 implied run total) vs. Jose Urena (6.37 xFIP)
- Cleveland Guardians (4.6 implied run total) vs. Michael Pineda (5.48 xFIP)
Another day, another Braves stack in my lineups probably! Espino isn't likely to last long and you know much I like to pick on the Washington bullpen! Both sides of the Coors Field game look playable, and I think you can use Cleveland for value once again here against Pineda. One noticeable omission here is Houston, and they could easily go off against a bad pitcher, but they've struggled a bit lately to score and are clearly missing Alvarez's presence in the middle of the lineup.
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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