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Happy Thursday, MLB fans and DFS grinders! We have another split slate on tap today with a 5-game afternoon slate on DraftKings, while FanDuel has only four games, with the Texas-Oakland game being available only on DK.
While most of our MLB DFS coverage here at RotoBaller is geared towards the main slate, I wanted to give you some of my favorite pitchers and bats for these early games that will help you cash in tournaments and cash game contests. I'll highlight my favorite pitching options here first and then give you some hitters at each price tier to consider as well as my favorite teams to stack up! You can read our DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the main slate and FanDuel DFS lineup picks for the main slate as well.
I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the DraftKings and FanDuel slates beginning at 1:05 PM on 7/1/2021. Be sure to also check out all the MLB player news, including late scratches, and the projected and confirmed daily MLB lineups for each DFS slate. You can also check out today's MLB DFS lineup picks for the main slate here, and read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports too. Let's get to it!
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MLB DFS Pitchers
Hyun-Jin Ryu ($9,800 FD, $7,500 DK)
Ryu and the Blue Jays are healthy -182 favorites at home against an inferior Mariners team. But Seattle can be a feisty squad and their offense unloaded on Steven Matz and the Blue Jays bullpen yesterday in a 9-7 win. We are paying a premium for Ryu on FanDuel, but his DK price is stupid cheap for a guy who is averaging 15 DK points per start this season.
Seattle sports a 27% K rate to LHP this season and only a .292 wOBA, but they do have some power. Ryu is a crafty lefty who uses an assortment of offspeed pitches to keep hitters off-balance. I think he should be able to keep the young Mariners' hitters at bay here today and the Jays will be counting on him to give them 6-7 innings after the bullpen was taxed last night.
Jose Berrios ($10,500 FD, $9.400 DK)
Berrios has a tough task here in this one as the White Sox are no slouches at the plate and he's going head to head with a Cy Young contender in Carlos Rodon as the opposing pitcher. I like the price and matchup better for Berrios, however, as the Twins can be really tough on lefties.
Berrios has not seen the division rival Chi-Sox yet this season, but he's having a great year going 7-2 so far in 2021 with a 1.08 WHIP and 19.8 DK points per start. Chicago is more dangerous against LHP as most of their big bats hit from the right side, so Berrios should have the platoon advantage here with few lefties to worry about. Minnesota needs Berrios to be the stopper here and salvage a game in this series and their bullpen was worked hard the last two games. His DK price is very attractive to me and pairing him with Ryu is going to give you a lot of salary left for bats.
Others to consider: Sean Manaea vs. Texas (DK only), Yusei Kikuchi vs. Toronto (GPP only)
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MLB DFS "Bats Worth Paying For"
J.D. Martinez – OF, BOS vs. KC ($4,300 FD, $5,600 DK)
Death, taxes, and JD against lefties, right? The ageless wonder is having himself another impressive season and is riding a nice little hot streak right now with two homers and eight RBI over his last four games. His splits against lefties have always been good and he hits Bubic's main offspeed pitch - his changeup - incredibly well. I am anchoring my Boston stacks around Martinez and he makes for a nice one-off play if you are stacking another team.
Aaron Judge – OF, NYY vs. LAA ($3,900 FD, $5,400 DK)
Judge is swinging a hot bat, too, with three homers in his last six games. I love targeting him against pitchers who throw a lot of sliders as he absolutely demolishes them and unlike his teammate Stanton, he has a high FB rate against them - meaning a better shot at a home run. Canning is a reverse-splits pitcher who might be in big trouble today in Yankee Stadium against this powerful collection of Yankees RHH.
Marcus Semien – 2B/SS, TOR vs. SEA ($3,700 FD, $5,600 DK)
Toronto is the one offense with a big total that I am probably not stacking, as I have a good bit of respect for their opponent Kikuchi. But Semien's profile against Kikuchi's pitches is impressive and so is his seven-game hitting streak in which he continues to pile up extra-base hits. Some of these Toronto hitters are actually better against RHP, but Semien (and Toescar Hernandez) are true splits righties who have significantly better splits against LHP.
MLB DFS Values
Phil Gosselin – 2B/OF, LAA @ NYY ($2,000 FD, $2,700 DK)
Gosselin is dirt cheap and hitting .330 on the year as a platoon player for the Angels. His power has been on display lately with two homers in his last three games and he should hit somewhere toward the middle of the lineup for L.A. today against lefty Jordan Montgomery.
Gavin Sheets – 1B/OF, CWS vs. MIN ($2,000 FD, $2,000 DK)
Sheets has burst onto the MLB scene with four hits in his first eight at-bats, including a two-run homer in last night's game. While Berrios is a good pitcher, Sheets will likely see the lousy Twins bullpen at some point and all we need is one successful at-bat for him to pay off his stone-minimum price tag.
Hunter Renfroe – OF, BOS vs. KC ($3,500 FD, $4,000 DK)
Okay, I am cheating here, as Renfroe probably doesn't meet the price requirements to be considered value anymore. But I wanted to mention just how locked in he's been at the plate recently. For a guy who has struggled with contact over the years, but showed enormous power, Renfroe has been much more consistent over the last month and has raised his average to .272 on the season and 12 homers. He's a guy with elite splits against LHP and if he keeps hitting like this he's heading towards the top end of the salary scale soon.
MLB DFS Hitter Stacks
Boston Red Sox vs. Kris Bubic
Boston is a team we want to stack against LHP, especially a guy like Bubic who is a largely average (at best) pitcher. They're an easy stack to build with Martinez, Renfroe, and Kiki Hernadez being the first clicks for me. Xander Boegarts is another righty we can add (if you can afford him) and then there are some potential value options in Bobby Dalbec and Michael Chavis. With a 6.2 implied run total at home, it's hard not to love Boston as they just continue to score consistently night in and night out.
New York Yankees vs. Griffin Canning
Watch the weather here, but if it looks playable then load up on some Yankees. I mentioned earlier that Canning is a reverse-splits pitcher who has some pretty significantly worse numbers against RHH over the last several seasons. His fly-ball rate paired with high hard contact rates, ISO, and wOBA make him an appealing pitcher to pick on. I usually avoid the Yankees because I think they are often over-owned on their name recognition, but this is too good of a spot to pass up as the Angels bullpen is below average - and pretty tired after having to work the entire game last night with Ohtani getting run in the first inning.
Other recommended stacks: L.A. Angels vs. Jordan Montgomery (value), Oakland Athletics vs. Dane Dunning (DK only)
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