MLB DFS Picks Today: Perfect Lineup For June 25

Six-game main slates are where a tournament can be won with a single sharp build, and that's exactly the spot Dave Loughran and Josh Engelman walked into on Thursday's Perfect Lineup. Dave handled the pitchers, Josh found the stack, and the Single Lineup Sim at Stokastic.com filled in the rest. Here's the MLB DFS lineup they landed on for the Thursday, June 25 DraftKings slate, and the reasoning behind every piece of it — the kind of cheap, leverage-friendly build that wins large-field tournaments.

In Summary

• Slate: a six-game DraftKings main slate on Thursday, June 25 (MLB DFS).
• SP1: Cam Schlittler ($10,500) against a Red Sox lineup that ranks dead last against right-handed pitching.
• SP2: Tatsuya Imai ($6,300), the slate's top value arm versus a strikeout-prone Tigers order.
• Stack: the Arizona Diamondbacks against Michael McGreevy, a cheap, high-upside group the Data Hub loves.
• The build: locked the two arms and five D-backs, then let the Single Lineup Sim optimize the one-off bats.

Watch The Video

Dave and Josh build the whole lineup live, run it through the sims, and make the one swap that bumped the ROI. Watch on YouTube.

The Build At A Glance

Here's where the lineup settled after the final tweak in the Single Lineup Sim:

The pitching and the stack were the deliberate part. The last three bats came from the Sim, and we'll get to how that worked below.

How To Build Your Own Perfect Lineup

This entire build runs on two free-to-explore tools: the Stokastic MLB Data Hub for the pitcher value scores, top-stack ranks and ownership, and the Single Lineup Sim that turns your locked core into an optimized, salary-maxed build. You can start with the free Stokastic DFS Sims to see how the projections and ownership feed the build before you ever pay a cent.

⚾ Want the full toolkit? Stokastic MLB gives you the Single Lineup Sim, Contest Sims, projections and ownership that built this lineup. Use code PERFECT10 for 10% off any Stokastic MLB subscription, whether it's weekly, monthly or all-access. Lock in 10% off with PERFECT10

The Data Hub tells you which pitchers and stacks are mispriced; the Sims turn that read into a lineup that's actually optimized for the contest you're entering. New to terms like top-stack rate, value score or K-minus-BB? Our MLB DFS glossary defines the metrics the Perfect Lineup leans on. We break down each piece below — but that's the whole process, the same one Dave and Josh run on camera every slate.

SP1: Cam Schlittler Vs. A Helpless Red Sox Lineup

Cam Schlittler · $10,500 · Yankees vs. Red Sox

In Dave's words, this one was cut and dry: a strikeout arm against a lineup that doesn't hit righties and doesn't work counts. The matchup is the sell.

The case:

• Boston is dead last in wRC+ against right-handed pitching this season, 29th in weighted on-base average and 28th in isolated power.
• The Red Sox carry a top-12 strikeout rate and a bottom-five walk rate against righties.
• Schlittler ranks fifth in strikeout rate among all qualified pitchers this season and carries the fifth-lowest walk rate.
• He has been even sharper away from Yankee Stadium, where he's posted a 26% K-minus-BB rate and a .203 wOBA allowed.
• The bookmakers agree on the spot: a 6.5-strikeout prop and a 17.5-out prop, both juiced to the over.
• Boston carries a slate-low 3.7 implied team total.

The Stokastic Data Hub had Schlittler projected two full DraftKings points ahead of Cristopher Sánchez, and Schlittler is $1,000 cheaper than the Phillies' left-handed ace ($11,500) while drawing nearly identical ownership.

That's the leverage. Same ownership, lower price, and the slate's highest top-two-pitcher probability by a wide margin. When Dave ran the morning sims, Schlittler came back north of 50% to finish as a top-two scorer. At $10,500 with that kind of floor and ceiling, he anchors the build.

SP2: Tatsuya Imai Is The Slate's Best Value Arm

Tatsuya Imai · $6,300 · Astros vs. Tigers

This is where you make up the salary. It's a feast-or-famine spot and the crew said so plainly: Imai walks too many hitters and isn't the model of consistency, but at this price the swing-and-miss profile more than pays for the volatility.

The case:

• Imai carries a 26.5% strikeout rate, and at this price that profile more than pays for the volatility.
• The Tigers own the fourth-highest strikeout rate in the league against right-handed pitching and sit in the bottom 10 in wRC+.
• Four bats in Detroit's projected order carry strikeout rates north of 26% against righties.
• The wrinkle: Imai has struggled more against lefties than righties and is likely to see roughly six left-handed bats, but the sheer volume of swing-and-miss in that Detroit lineup balances the scales.
• The last time the Perfect Lineup rolled Imai as SP2, on a recent Friday slate, he turned a $6,000 price tag into 11 strikeouts and 30 DraftKings points, the best value on the entire board.
• On the Data Hub, Imai posts the highest value score by a mile while still ranking top-six in projected fantasy points and inside the top-two-pitcher probability tier.
• A 5.5-strikeout prop at that salary is the icing.

Lightning probably doesn't strike the same way twice, but you don't need 30 points from a $6,300 arm on a six-game slate.

The Stack: Arizona Diamondbacks Vs. Michael McGreevy

Arizona Diamondbacks · stack · vs. Cardinals (Michael McGreevy)

With the two arms set, Josh needed a stack that could fit any salary, and the Diamondbacks checked every box: a contact-heavy group against an arm that can't miss bats, at prices that leave room everywhere else. (If you want the deeper read on when an in-line stack is still worth rostering, our MLB DFS contrarian and leverage guide breaks it down.)

The case:

• In the Data Hub they ranked sixth in top-stack rate, third in top-value, second in stack score and sixth in ownership, so you get top-tier projected stack output at ownership right in line with the rank.
• Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy has next to no swing-and-miss stuff, strikes out almost nobody, and gives up the long ball even with solid command.
• Arizona's own profile against righties is unspectacular, sitting 28th in wRC+, dead last in strikeout rate and 25th in ISO, but against an arm that can't miss bats, the strikeout-averse D-backs are exactly the contact-heavy group you want.
• The prices are the saving grace: Ketel Marte comes in at $5,000 and Corbin Carroll at $5,500, with Pavin Smith all the way down at $2,200 if you want to punt a salary slot.
• The rest of the projected order, including Gabriel Moreno, Geraldo Perdomo and the back-end bats, all sit at $3,900 or below, which leaves room to load up almost anywhere else.

Locking It In With The Single Lineup Sim

This is the part the tools do better than any of us. With Schlittler, Imai and the five-man Diamondbacks group locked into the Single Lineup Simulator, the build needed a first baseman and about $2,800 per remaining slot.

The case:

• One click of "complete this lineup" and the Sim filled the rest from Stokastic's projections: a punt first baseman in Chaparro, plus Yordan Alvarez and Jason Dominguez in the outfield, spending every dollar of salary.
• The first simulation came back at a 29% Sim ROI, a 0.1% chance to win and a 32% cash rate, which is solid but a touch lower than Josh wanted.
• So he made one small move: out went Nolan Arenado, in went the $2,200 Pavin Smith.
• That freed up just enough salary for the optimizer to upgrade the outfield to Bo Bichette and George Springer while keeping Jason Dominguez, giving the lineup a secondary three-man cluster alongside the Arizona stack.

One swap, Arenado out and Pavin Smith in, pushed the build from a 29% Sim ROI to 38%, with the chance-to-win doubling to 0.2% and the cash rate ticking up to 33%.

You could iterate from there all night. But the throughline the Perfect Lineup landed on is simple: start with Schlittler and Imai, anchor to the Diamondbacks, and let the Sim do the heavy lifting on the one-off bats.

FAQ

Who are the top MLB DFS pitchers on June 25? The Perfect Lineup built around Cam Schlittler ($10,500) versus the Red Sox as the premium arm and Tatsuya Imai ($6,300) versus the Tigers as the top value play. Schlittler graded out with the slate's highest top-two-pitcher probability on the Stokastic Data Hub.

What's the best MLB DFS stack today? The crew stacked the Arizona Diamondbacks against Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy, a top-three value stack on the Data Hub at low ownership, with Ketel Marte ($5,000), Corbin Carroll ($5,500) and a punt-priced Pavin Smith ($2,200).

How did the Single Lineup Sim change the build? Swapping Nolan Arenado for the cheaper Pavin Smith freed up salary, and the Sim re-optimized the one-off bats to Bo Bichette, George Springer and Jason Dominguez, lifting the build from a 29% to a 38% Sim ROI.

Where can I build my own MLB DFS lineups? Start free with the Stokastic DFS Sims and the MLB Data Hub. Code PERFECT10 takes 10% off a full Stokastic MLB subscription if you want the complete Sim and Contest Sim toolkit.

Get the same tools the Perfect Lineup runs every slate. Use code PERFECT10 for 10% off any Stokastic MLB subscription and start building.

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