Sunday, June 26, brings a nine-game featured slate with a first pitch at 1:35 p.m. ET. Let’s get into the top MLB DFS picks today for pitchers and stacks for DraftKings and FanDuel daily fantasy baseball lineups.
DraftKings & FanDuel MLB DFS Picks Today (6/26)
Main Slate: Blue Jays at RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez — 5.3 implied runs
Happy Chi Chi Gonzalez Day! Clearly Milwaukee is desperate for pitching with Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff and Aaron Ashby all out with various maladies. The Brewers claimed Gonzalez off of waivers from the Twins, who had given the 30-year-old journeyman a couple of spot starts when they were shorthanded earlier this month. Across his 11 innings over three appearances, Gonzalez has a 7.36 ERA, a 1.55 WHIP and three home runs allowed while recording only six strikeouts. For his career, the Florida native has logged 272.2 innings with a 5.71 ERA and a dreadful 5.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
DraftKings has made things interesting today, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($6,000), Teoscar Hernandez ($5,500) and Bo Bichette ($5,400) all receiving lofty salaries. Considering a lot of gamers are going to want to work in the two ace pitchers today, the primary Blue Jays are not likely to pick up much popularity.
One way to roll with the top-tier pitching is to look to the back half of the Toronto lineup, with Lourdes Gurriel ($3,000), Matt Chapman ($3,600), Raimel Tapia ($2,800)and Cavan Biggio ($2,900) all coming in at significant discounts, considering they have the same favorable matchup.
Mid-Afternoon Slate: Twins vs. Ryan Feltner — 4.8 implied runs
The Stokastic Top Stacks Tool likes the matchup this afternoon for the Twins. It is going to be cooler today in Minnesota with game-time temperatures in the upper-60s, along with some wind in the 15 to 20 mph range blowing out to right field. Ryan Feltner is on the mound, and in his last 74 matchups against batters swinging the stick from the left side of the plate, he has suffered a .344 ISO and a 10.8% walk rate.
Max Kepler and Alex Kirilloff are the top targets, along with fellow lefty Luis Arraez, who is leading the league with his .347 average. It goes without saying, but just in case you were wondering, Byron Buxton is also a prime option and Carlos Correa can be utilized to complete the full stack.
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Late Slate: Giants vs. RHP Tyler Mahle — 4.4 implied runs
The Stokastic Top Batters Tool has identified the Giants as a source of several intriguing point-per-dollar options on offense. The righties had a field day last night, with Evan Longoria, Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores all launching home runs. Today, the lefties get a chance against Tyler Mahle, who has been very hittable this season and last.
San Francisco tends to make dramatic batting order adjustments depending on the handedness of the opposing starter. This afternoon, with a right-handed hurler on the mound, the Giants will likely have Mike Yastrzemski, Joc Pederson and Brandon Belt in the top half of the order. Luis Gonzalez would typically be leading off in this situation, though he is out with an injury. That means either Tommy La Stella or Brandon Crawford is likely to draw leadoff duties. Because the Giants are forever shuffling their lineup, the average salaries of their hitters are artificially lower, making them a solid source of fantasy production depending on their matchup.
Best MLB DFS Pitchers Today
Top Target: LHP Shane McClanahan vs. Pirates — 2.9 implied runs
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $10,300 | FanDuel $11,400
Quick, who leads the league in ERA, WHIP and strikeouts? Why, it is none other than Shane McClanahan. After an outstanding debut season, the 25-year-old southpaw has taken things to a whole new level this year. Pittsburgh is in the bottom third of the league against lefties from a run creation perspective. While the Pirates do have above-average power, the tradeoff is the third-highest strikeout rate at 25.4%. Toss in the pitching-friendly Tropicana Field and the Rays checking in as 2-to-1 favorites, and we have an easy recommendation for the top pitcher on Sunday.
Secondary Target: RHP Dylan Cease vs. Orioles — 3.4 implied runs
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $9,600 | FanDuel $10,500
Baltimore is in for a radical departure with ace Dylan Cease following Lance Lynn, who was quite hittable on Saturday. Cease has not allowed an earned run in his last five starts. However, that is a little misleading, as he had two unearned runs in Tampa Bay and six against the Dodgers in his first two appearances this month. In his last five starts, he is averaging 105.6 pitches per game, along with 37 strikeouts in 27.1 innings. The Orioles have a competent top four or five in their lineup, but their back half is a disaster with below-replacement-level bats. Sunday’s projected lineup has struck out at a 27.2% clip against right-handed hurlers over the last season and change. Cease is truly a strikeout artist, with a 32.7% rate over his last 1,000 batters.
Late Slate Target: RHP Kyle Gibson at Padres — 4.3 implied runs
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $8,400 | FanDuel $8,700
This is the 10th season as a starter for 34-year-old Kyle Gibson, and at this point we know what we are going to get. Clearly he still has a little left in the tank; however, we need to pick our spots when employing his services. San Diego certainly is shaping up to be a team to pick on as long as Manny Machado remains out of the lineup. The Padres will be loading up on batters swinging the stick from the left side of the plate, but it should be noted that Gibson does a good job of dealing with opposite-handed batsmen. The projected lineup for the Friars has a strikeout rate approaching 30% against right-handed hurlers, which is just absurd. While strikeouts have never really been part of Gibson’s game, with a little luck, he should be able to record half a dozen on Sunday afternoon.
Additional Opportunities
Shane McClanahan has a tremendous matchup today against Pittsburgh, but a lot will have to break his way for him to surpass his 8.5 over/under on his strikeout prop. While we will definitely want to ride with him in our DFS lineups, we can also hedge a bit in the MLB player props market. Currently, the Stokastic MLB Projections have him for 8.9 strikeouts, giving him just a 53% probability of exceeding that milestone. Though the sophomore wunderkind leads the league in strikeouts, he has recorded nine or more only five times this season in his 14 starts. Even with the Pirates being ridiculously bad against southpaws, nine strikeouts is still a tall order.
Other Pitching Options
- LHP David Peterson at Miami Marlins (Early)
- LHP Nestor Cortes vs. Houston Astros (Main)
- RHP Joe Ryan vs. Colorado Rockies (Mid-Afternoon)
- RHP Beau Brieske at Arizona Diamondbacks (Afternoon)
- RHP Tony Gonsolin at Atlanta Braves (Late)
One-Off Hitters
- Ji-Man Choi vs. RHP Roansy Contreras (Main)
- Trevor Story at RHP Aaron Civale (Main)
- Seth Brown at RHP Brady Singer (Mid-Afternoon)
- Dalton Varsho vs. RHP Beau Brieske (Afternoon)
- Freddie Freeman at RHP Spencer Strider (Late)
Final MLB DFS Thoughts & MLB Weather Notes
Cleveland looks to be the only venue with significant precipitation issues, though a postponement is unlikely. Chicago, New York, San Diego and St. Louis all have game-time temperatures in the mid-80s, which is a boost to offense.
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