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This article outlines the best daily fantasy MLB plays of the day at every position. We take a comprehensive look to uncover these core recommendations, factoring respective salaries into the analysis.
Please note, these player picks were organized early in the day. For MLB contests, always check lineups and weather closer to game time. Rain, wind, or unexpected managerial decisions could open up additional sources of value. Be sure to keep an eye on the MLB Headlines and Injuries desk.
There’s a chance for a late start in Atlanta (doubleheader) and an early end in Chicago. I’ll include both games in the analysis. That leaves us with a nine-game main slate on platforms that don’t use the full day. A couple of the later games to scope out include the Dodgers visiting the Diamondbacks (Corbin Martin) and the Brewers at the Rockies (Chi Chi Gonzalez).
PITCHER
Top Play: Hyun-Jin Ryu – Blue Jays (at Orioles)
Ryu is one of the few pitchers in the slate with a friendly matchup and an ability to run away with a game. Others like Taijuan Walker, Lance McCullers, and Sean Manaea have challenging matchups and/or cost more. Ryu has struggled with home runs lately, but that could be a function of facing the Yankess, White Sox, and Astros. His price is low relative to his projected output. A win is very likely opposite Matt Harvey’s shambling corpse.
Pivot: Kenta Maeda – Twins (at Rangers)
I’m not sure it counts as a pivot – Maeda is simply mispriced. Even with his struggles earlier this season, he’s a good value in a slightly better than neutral matchup. He looked sharp in his return from the injured list last week and should be on tap for about 90 pitches.
Also Consider: Lance McCullers, JT Brubaker, Nate Eovaldi, Adam Wainwright (7-inning game)
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CATCHER
Top Play: Salvador Perez – Royals (vs Eovaldi)
Perez stands alone among catchers in the main slate, especially if Gary Sanchez sits as I expect. The Royals backstop has an aggressive power-centric approach and lacks a weakness in the zone. Eovaldi is usually homer prone although he’s avoided damage this season.
Pivot: Ryan Jeffers – Twins (at Dane Dunning)
Dunning is a solid pitcher, but he makes short starts – usually just four innings. It’s a neutral matchup for Jeffers who has been adapting to life in the Majors. The Rangers bullpen is exploitable for fly ball hitters like Jeffers too. Since his most recent promotion on June 2, he’s batting .255/.286/.596 with all four of his home runs, a triple, and two doubles in 49 plate appearances. Among non-elite catchers, he might have the best power at the position.
Jeffers has started two games in a row so don’t be shocked if this is a Ben Rortvedt day. He too has more bat than a typical min-priced catcher – though he’s not nearly as talented as Jeffers.
Also Consider: Kyle Higashioka, James McCann, Willson Contreras, Christian Vazquez, Riley Adams
FIRST BASE
Top Play: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – Blue Jays (at Harvey)
This is a day when it’s possible to afford Guerrero and the rest of the Jays stack thanks to inexpensive pitching options. Harvey is in the conversation for worst starting pitcher in the league, and the Orioles regularly leave him out there as a sacrifice. This is one of the friendliest possible matchups for Guerrero.
Pivot: Rowdy Tellez – Blue Jays (at Harvey)
Tellez is having a rough go of it this season though he did smoke Triple-A pitching in his annual visit to the minors (just three games). Harvey is Triple-A caliber and thus we can expect positive outcomes. He’s also hiding behind Vladito so he should be practically unrostered.
Also Consider: Pete Alonso, Matt Olson, Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu, Bobby Bradley, Yuli Gurriel, Danny Santana, Lewin Diaz
SECOND BASE
Top Play: Marcus Semien – Blue Jays (at Harvey)
It’s no contest. With his frequency of pulled, fly ball contact, Semien easily leads the second basemen in projected output. In fact, he’s second-best in the entire slate, behind his teammate Guerrero. Semien is even reasonably priced.
Pivot: Luis Arraez – Twins (at Dunning)
Don’t overthink it – plan to spend some cash at second base today. If you insist on going cheap, Arraez is always among the likeliest hitters to plunk multiple hits. Of course, he lacks power and thus relies on a good lineup role and run production to turn in a healthy DFS point total. He might bat second if Josh Donaldson is still on the shelf.
Also Consider: Whit Merrifield, Jose Altuve, DJ LeMahieu, Jorge Polanco
THIRD BASE
Top Play: Kris Bryant – Cubs (vs Thompson)
Bryant has cooled of late (.137/.214/.216 in 56 June PA) and is at risk of a rain-shortened game today. For this pick to work, he’ll need to mash from his first at bat. Thompson has pitched well in two brief starts, but his profile reads as a homer prone reliever with fly ball tendencies. Should Bryant receive four plate appearances, he has better than a one-in-four chance to homer. It drops to one-in-five if we assume he only comes to the plate three times.
Personally, I prefer Cavan Biggio. He’s suddenly hot and is discounted. I didn’t think we needed to spend more attention on Blue Jays (and yet here I am with an aside about him anyway!).
Pivot: Abraham Toro – Astros (vs Dallas Keuchel)
Sadly, Toro did not start yesterday. Hopefully that means he’ll get the call today in a challenging matchup against one of the most renowned ground ball pitchers in the game. Toro has developed extreme contact and plate discipline skills. He hit .352/.485/.593 in Triple-A with more walks than strikeouts and a tiny 3.8 percent swinging strike rate – the kind associated with the likes of Nick Madrigal. Unlike Madrigal, Toro also hit for power – seven extra base hits in 68 plate appearances. The 24-year-old could be breaking out in a big way.
Also Consider: Cavan Biggio, Matt Chapman, Patrick Wisdom, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Gio Urshela
SHORTSTOP
Top Play: Jazz Chisholm – Marlins (at Alec Mills)
Again, Bo Bichette is technically my first choice, but there’s nothing to analyze. Good hitter, bad pitcher, friendly park. Done.
Chisholm, like Bryant and Javier Baez, works best if the rain holds off until after the game. Mills is a pitch-to-contact ground ball guy who’s missing the sharpness of command he needs to succeed in the Majors. Chisholm does skew towards ground ball contact, but it’s not enough of a problem to avoid using him (the weather is a bigger red flag). His worst weakness is a 31.8 percent strikeout rate. It shouldn’t be a problem against Mills.
Pivot: Tim Anderson – White Sox (at Lance McCullers)
Anderson is a BABIP machine. Despite a challenging matchup against a chalky pitcher, he rates as one of the best multi-hit threats. With the Crawford Boxes in play, he also has an elevated chance to homer. He’s also one of the cheapest shortstops on the docket despite projecting to outperform several of the names ahead of him.
Also Consider: Bo Bichette, Trea Turner, Javier Baez, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, Adalberto Mondesi, Gleyber Torres
OUTFIELD
Top Plays: Randal Grichuk – Blue Jays (at Harvey)
J.D. Martinez – Red Sox (at Mike Minor)
Grichuk isn’t the best hitter in the Jays lineup by any stretch, but he does have the distinction of batting cleanup while Teoscar Hernandez is on paternity leave. He has better than a one-in-three chance to homer. Red Sox haven’t gotten much love in today’s column. They’re a viable stack too against a homer prone southpaw. However, I prefer taking one-offs like Martinez. He projects for just south of one-third of a home run.
Pivots: Ronald Acuna – Braves (vs Wainwright)
Adam Duvall – Marlins (at Mills)
I really like these cheeky pivots today. Because he costs so much and will likely lose out on a plate appearance, there will be strong pressure away from Acuna. However, nobody does more damage in the first at bat of the game. He matches up well against Wainwright and virtually every other pitcher in baseball. You might have the cash to try this play if you use Maeda. Duvall doesn’t need a full game to be viable. We’re specifically targeting a nitro matchup between him and Mills. Against a neutral pitcher, Duvall has a one-in-ten chance to homer per batted ball. Versus Mills, it’s closer to one-in-five per batted ball. Because Mills is unlikely to strike him out, Duvall has around a one-in-three chance to homer in his first two plate appearances.
Also Consider: Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Joc Pederson, Kyle Schwarber, Starling Marte, Jesus Sanchez, Danny Santana, Clint Frazier, Miguel Andujar