DraftKings FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks for June 23, 2017
*Chris Durell*
DraftKings / FanDuel MLB Lineup Picks for June 23, 2017
Welcome back for another TGIF edition of my daily fantasy baseball picks. With no afternoon games today, we get a full 15 game slate tonight. This gives us tons of different slates on both sites so be sure to get your subscription to the tools here at LineupLab to help you build better lineups. Let’s jump in and take a look at a couple pitchers to build around and some stacking options for tournaments.
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Starting Pitchers
Chris Archer
Opponent – vs. BAL
Park -Tropicana Field (Pitchers Park)
Vegas Favorite (TB -225)
Vegas Total (9.0)
The Rays are hanging on in the American League East thanks to their sparkling 23-16 home record which is second best in the league. After taking two of three from the Reds earlier in the week the Rays have now won seven of their last 10 home games and open a series with the Orioles tonight with their ace toeing the rubber. Chris Archer has given up some runs this year and sits with a 3.75 ERA but makes up for it in fantasy with his very high floor thanks to an elite 11.2 K/9 rate(4th in the league). The only knock on Archer this season has been the high walk rate(2.84 BB/9) but the good news is he faces an Orioles team that walks less than all but two teams in the league(6.6%) vs. right-handed pitching. Archer has also had some trouble with lefties(.335 wOBA) this season while dominating righties(.249 wOBA) and another bump in the projections is the fact Chris Davis(O’s most powerful LH bat) is out of the lineup. Look for Archer and the Rays to open the series with a dominating performance from their ace. He is safe in all formats.
J.A. Happ
Opponent – @ KC
Park – Kauffman Stadium (Pitchers Park)
Vegas Favorite (TOR -125)
Vegas Total (9.5)
His salary is back up in the $8K range on both sites but Happ still brings a lot of value to the table in this matchup. He spent a month and a half on the disabled list in April and May and struggled in his first two starts back but has been much better lately. Over his last two starts, Happ has allowed just three earned runs in 12.2 innings pitched with 17 strikeouts and just one walk while limiting the hard contact to 28%. He appears back in the form we saw last season when he posted a career-high 20 wins and the best part is the increase in strikeouts, even though I don’t think he maintains a rate over 10 per nine. As long as he keeps limiting the free passes (1.7 BB/9), he will give himself a much better shot at getting deeper into games and a shot at more wins. Tonight he gets a park upgrade as the Jays travel to Kauffman Stadium to take on a Royals team that ranks in the bottom third of the league vs. left-handed pitching. The opening line has Happ as a -125 favorite and I wouldn’t be surprised if it got even bigger closer to lineup lock. Happ makes an excellent SP2 on DraftKings or contrarian GPP play on FanDuel.
Stacks of the Night
Cleveland Indians vs. Adalberto Mejia (MIN)
I will be targeting the Indians heavily as my top stack in tournaments and even some smaller two and three-man stacks in cash games. They currently sit as big -170 favorites with the third highest implied run projection tonight as the Twins come to town to open a weekend series. The Indians have been red hot lately winning eight of their last nine games while scoring 68 runs which is an average of 7.5 runs per game. They will be facing rookie start Adalberto Mejia who has struggled in his first attempt as a major league starter. He is walking over 4.5 batters per nine innings and while he has only had one blow up game (8 ER to the Mariners), he will not be able to sustain such a high walk rate. He enters tonight’s matchup with a 5.53 ERA and 5.31 xFIP while also giving up an 18% HR/FB rate. All signs point to the Indians having their way with Mejia tonight. They rank 12th in wOBA and 10th in wRC+ vs. left-handed pitching and have some hitters that can take us to GPP glory tonight.
Top Players to Stack – Edwin Encarnacion, Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez
Value Options – Austin Jackson, Yan Gomes
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Kyle Freeland (COL)
The Dodgers are down the list a bit when looking at implied run projections and I think this helps with their ownership tonight. Along with the Indians, they are arguably the hottest team in the league winning seven straight and 13 of their last 14 games. They have sustained the winning streak with some timely pitching but most of all from their consistent and powerful offense. During those last 14 games, they have scored a total of 98 runs on their opponents which works out to seven runs per game. Over the last 14 days, they sit with a .400 wOBA and 153 wRC+ as a team and should be able to keep that pace up going up against Kyle Freeland tonight. He is another pitcher who has struggled with his control(3.53 BB/9) but has gotten away with it for the most part. While you would think a pitcher for the Rockies would have splits favoring the road but it is a different story for Freeland who has an ERA close to a half run more on the road while allowing opponents a wOBA of .345 while holding them to a .309 wOBA in Coors. It doesn’t completely make sense over a small sample size but it is something to monitor. He could be in trouble tonight as the Dodgers lineup ranks 5th in wRC+ and 10th in wOBA against left-handed pitching and make a high upside and very affordable stack.
Top Players to Stack – Logan Forsythe, Justin Turner, Corey Seager, Chris Taylor
Value Options – Enrique Hernandez, Yasiel Puig