MLB DFS Picks, Spotlight Pitchers & Top Stacks: The Rookie, the Veteran or the Ace?! (June 27)

Friday wraps up the work week with a festive featured slate locking at 7:05 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel for MLB DFS picks today. Yahoo is reaching forward to begin at 6:40 p.m. ET, including all 15 games for their largest contests. As usual, leveraging Stokastic’s MLB DFS Sims optimizer and MLB DFS projections is the smartest way to uncover value. Whether you’re building the best MLB DFS stacks today, locking in top pitchers or rounding out your roster with high-upside value plays, using data-backed tools is key.

According to the Stokastic MLB DFS Top Stacks Tool, the Atlanta Braves look great at home against rookie Mick Abel, while San Diego enjoys a park upgrade in Cincinnati, squaring off against Nick Martinez. Rookie Will Warren profiles well against the Athletics, who are in the Bronx this weekend. Jose Quintana is another salary saver, or for those feeling spicy, Logan Gilbert is a bucks-deluxe option.

MLB DFS Optimizer Picks Today: Spotlight Pitchers & Stacks

MLB DFS Optimizer Picks Today: Spotlight Pitchers

Warren is the third-best prospect in the New York system, and he is just inside the top 75 of most industry lists. Deception is the name of the game for Warren, who has an excellent sweeper, sinker and changeup, which helps his 92 to 94 mph fastball be more of a gotcha pitch when he uses it. This has enabled the 26-year-old to overperform his strikeout expectations, with 11.47 per nine innings, courtesy of a 29.4% rate. The league will start to adjust at some point, though the movement on his sweeper should continue to give Warren an edge that he can wield for a while.

The Athletics are leaning heavily on young players this season, which means a lack of experience and savvy. Jacob Wilson, Nick Kurtz, Max Muncy, Denzel Clark and Willie MacIver are all rookies, while Lawrence Butler, Tyler Soderstrom, JJ Bleday and Max Schuemann barely have more than a season in The Show. Six or seven of these players will be in the lineup tonight, which bodes well for Warren against his fellow noobs.

The Rockies have a 69 wRC+ on the road this season against southpaws, indicating that they score runs 31% less efficiently than league average. Their .121 ISO is also in the bottom quartile, and their 29.0% strikeout rate is the highest in the league under these parameters.

Gamers know that targeting Colorado is a savvy strategy ,and while all of the above is baked into the projections, it still seems like Quintana is going underrepresented in tournaments.

Quintana is in his 14th MLB season, and the 36-year-old has been well into his “crafty lefty” phase for several years. He has been lucky with a 2.98 ERA against a 4.21 xERA, 4.62 FIP and 4.83 xFIP, while an elevated strand rate (80.2%) masks low strikeouts and high walks of 5.96 and 4.14 per nine, respectively.

In his last trio of tilts, Quintana recorded 90, 101 and 101 pitches, so with a little luck tonight, he should be in the mix for a quality start and a handful of strikeouts.

Tonight in Texas, RHP Logan Gilbert will be making his third outing since returning from a forearm strain that cost him a month and a half. The Seattle ace had three rehabilitation appearances, allowing him to ramp up his workload, so he should be in the mix for around 90 to 95 pitches tonight.

Across his 10 frames this month, he allowed four home runs, though three came on Sunday in the Windy City at the hands of the potent Chicago Cubs. He also had 16 strikeouts in this timeframe, so there is not much cause for concern, aside from a salary that is indicative of a workload closer to 100 pitches. Over the last 30 days, Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, Marcus Semien, Josh Smith, Wyatt Langford, Jake Burger and Josh Jung combined for 17 home runs, one triple, 32 doubles, 75 runs and 145 strikeouts in 586 at-bats (this is not very good, for those not used to seeing raw numbers like this).

MLB DFS Optimizer Picks Today: Top Stacks

Main Slate Primary Target: San Diego Padres

Across his last 925 batters faced, the only thing that Martinez has done well is limit walks, though that is a byproduct of his lack of strikeout stuff and failed attempts at inducing ground balls. The soon-to-be 35-year-old has also allowed more than his share of power to same-handed batsmen, which bodes well for Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr.

Rounding out full stacks, Gavin Sheets is providing some salary cap relief while performing well above league average when he holds the platoon advantage. Young Jackson Merrill also has some pop in these situations, and, of course, three-time batting champion Luis Arraez is always in play. Thursday was an off day for the Reds, though the Cincinnati bullpen saw a lot of work in the first three days of the week. This is one of the oldest relief corps in the league, with five of the nine members in their 30s and the three other players averaging just over 26 years of age.

Stokastic’s MLB DFS Single Lineup Simulator is a game-changing tool that transforms lineup construction through powerful, data-driven simulations — essential for serious DFS players. See how the Simulator analyzes this single lineup for today’s MLB DFS slate:

Main Slate Alternate Target: Atlanta Braves

The 23-year-old was the 15th overall selection in the 2020 MLB Draft, though he is only the 13th-ranked prospect in the Philadelphia farm system, projecting as a low-leverage reliever. While he was chosen straight from high school, his prep profile did not advance as the Phillies expected. He has a solid fastball but has not been able to develop anything consistent to serve as a secondary pitch, and his control has been dicey.

Ronald Acuna Jr. has a lofty salary on DraftKings ($6,500), though that is easily offset by Alex Verdugo ($3,000) or Michael Harris II ($3,300) from the bottom of the order. Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna round out the core four priority plays, with catcher Drake Baldwin worthy of consideration on DraftKings and Yahoo to take care of the pesky backstop requirement on those sites.

Today’s Top Sports Betting Picks

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Take a bet like Jonathan Aranda hitting a home run tonight. On the surface, it’s a simple play. But behind the scenes, it’s a +EV bet — meaning it’s mathematically profitable based on the best odds available. And with Portfolio EV, you’re not relying on one-off picks. You’re stacking dozens — even hundreds — of +EV wagers at scale using the Mass Entry tool, turning small edges into long-term profit.

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Aranda will have the platoon advantage on RHP Tomoyuki Sugano, with the 35-year-old “rookie” struggling against left-handed power. The former NPB star has had underlying walk issues, and now batters are starting to make better contact, rendering his cunning and guile less potent than it was for the two months of the season.