MLB Draftkings Picks – June 19, 2017
Welcome to Lineup Lab’s Best MLB Draftkings Picks, where we feature our top players for our MLB Lineup Optimizer on Fanduel and Draftkings. Put your favorite stacks from the article below in our lineup optimizer and hit calculate. You can let it fill in the rest of the spots for you or choose your personal favorites from the MLB Player Lab.
Starting Pitchers
Clayton Kershaw Vs New York Mets
Park – Dodgers Field
There is nothing you can say bad about this guy. Sure, he’ll have his 2 or 3 starts where he struggles each year. You can’t really predict the match-up they come in, but they do usually occur on the road. He faces off with the Mets at home in Dodgers Field, favored by -250 in a game with a 7.5 over/under. The Mets hold by far the lowest implied run total on the entire slate and it’s for obvious good reason. Dodgers Field is definitely better for pitchers and the Mets are seeing a slight downgrade from Citi Field. The Mets are horrible against lefties, ranking 26th in the league with a .294 wOBA. They’re even worse on the road, ranking 29th and struggling to do much of anything. You can expect all the lefties to either sit or just strike out 2-3 times because Kershaw rarely even gives up singles to lefties. Good luck to the long swingers like Lucas Duda and whichever OF draws the unlucky start. Cespedes is really the only guy to be worried about, but he strikes out a ton and hasn’t been great since returning. You gotta love Kershaw. As always, it comes down to whether or not you can afford him. We do have a ton of offense sin good spots, so you should be able to find enough savings to make it work. With that being said, he is expensive and there is a case for paying down. Let’s take a look at a guy with some upside at a lower price tag.
Johnny Cueto Vs Atlanta Braves
Park – SunTrust Park
There are a few guys in this price range worthy of consideration, like Jon Lester and Corey Kluber. You then get Johnny Cueto, who’s 2a with Lester for me. Cueto is on the road and facing the Braves, who are still missing Freddie Freeman. Cueto has been extremely unlucky in his last few starts and his peripherals have been unchanged. This is a guy who completely takes way the running games and against a team without power, it doesn’t leave much for run production. I really don’t expect a clean slate out of Cueto here, but a solid 7 innings and 8 strikeouts with 1 or 2 runs are perfectly fine at his price. Cueto is still a workhorse for this team and Bochy is willing to push him around 110 pitches if things are going well. This lineup is extremely weak and has the potential to strike out a lot against the slider. The Giants will get plenty of runs for Cueto and the win shouldn’t be at all tough to get. He makes sense in all formats, but does still have a lot more risk than Kershaw. Cueto and Lester will be similarly owned and as of now, I’m split. Both are in solid spots and if you need to pay down a bit, you can go either way in either format.
Offensive Stacks
San Francisco Giants Vs Atlanta Braves (R.A. Dickey)
Park – SunTrust Park
We’ll stay in Atlanta and take a look at the San Fran offense, facing off with the aged R.A. Dickey. Unlike wine, pitchers get far worse with age. Dickey erupted at the age of 37 and is now just about done. This is likely his last season in the majors and I doubt he even lasts the full season. He’s allowing close to a .380 wOBA against both sides of the plate and it doesn’t even look flukey.He’s been horrible in Suntrust Park and Vegas thinks he will once again struggle. The Giants are projected to hit over 5 runs and you have to love an offense with such concentration and run expectancy. While the Giants have struggled a ton this season, they hit in the spacious AT&T Park, which kills a lot of offense. Suntrust is much better for hitting and they will be able to drive the ball over the wall there. Brandon Belt is the best hitter in the lineup against righties and ha sported a .383 wOBA over the last 2 seasons. You then run into Buster Posey, who has been battling a sprained ankle and may not be in the lineup. Hunter Pence, Joe Panik, and Denard Span all work there way into the mix after that and can be paired in any which way. After that, you’re taking a longshot in hope of a homer. With the Giants struggling this season, I doubt the stack is too highly owned.
Buster Posey belongs in the stack if he makes the lineup.
Main Stack – Brandon Belt, Joe Panik, Hunter Pence, Denard Span
Sneaky Stack – Brandon Belt, Joe Panik, Brandon Crawford, Nick Hundley
Seattle Mariners Vs Detroit Tigers (Anibal Sanchez)
Park – Safeco Field
Anibal Sanchez has found a way to be worse than R.A. Dickey. Sanchez is a full 10 years younger at 33 and has been the absolute worst pitcher in baseball so far this season. While we can’t use these as fact due to sample size, they’re still very telling. He’s allowing a .507 wOBA against righties and a .400 against lefties. Yes, you read that right. While the right split is a bit unrealistic, his numbers against lefties last season weren’t much better than a .400. I haven’t even listed the craziest stat of all. In just 20 innings of work, Sanchez has allowed an astonishing 9 home runs. The Mariners have a very concentrated offense and I’m not getting off of the big 3 (Cano, Cruz, Seager) in any of my Mariners stacks. They have been hitting well at Safeco Field and are projected to score over 4.5 runs. After the big 3, you can go plenty of ways. Ben Gamel will likely leadoff and he makes for a great choice. Haniger is also a great hitter and has the ability to match the production of the stars. Either way, this is a safe offense to target and they shouldn’t be very highly owned.
Main Stack – Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, Ben Gamel, Nelson Cruz
Sneaky Stack – Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, Mitch Haniger, Nelson Cruz