Today will be my last day contributing to the DFS Playbook on a regular basis due to a shift in responsibilities at FantasyAlarm.com. I hope the research and insight I have put in has been rewarding to you over these past dozen weeks or so, both in an enlightening fashion as well as financially. You guys are already in good hands with the Man, Jeff Mans and he just dropped one of the best DFS informational and strategic articles you will ever find in the How To Use The DFS Playbook. I recommend, or as Jack Bauer would say, “I wasn’t asking, I was just being courteous,” read that article now before going any further. I GUARANTEE you will be glad that you did.
Then bookmark these pages as a complement to the Playbook:
Fantasy Alarm MLB Daily Lineups
Daily Fantasy Baseball Projections
| Player | Pos. | DraftKings | DraftStreet | FanDuel | Reasons |
| Masahiro Tanaka | P | $11,600 | $24,805 | $11,200 | Tanaka looking to become 1st pitcher since 1914 to record a QS in first 17 starts and should have little trouble vs MIN in pitcher friendly Target Field |
| Max Scherzer | P | $10,400 | $20,999 | $10,300 | If you haven't figured it out, spend on pitching tonight. Vegas has given Scherzer and the Tigers the greatest odds of winning among any team going tonight |
| Matt Shoemaker | P | $6,800 | $14,064 | $6,600 | Bounce back beauty of the night right here folks as Shoemaker will face the youngest team in MLB, who not surprisingly, strike out more than any other team in baseball |
| A.J. Ellis | C | $3,100 | $4,643 | $2,500 | RvL vs COL SP Franklin Morales in Coors; Ellis hitting .294 (5-17) over last 6 gms |
| Chris Gimenez | C | $3,000 | $5,229 | $2,300 | Chris Gimenez has a small sample size of success of going 3-for-6 vs BAL SP Wei-Yin Chen giving him some upside among your potential punt options at this position tonight. |
| Paul Goldschmidt | 1B | $5,100 | $6,555 | $4,900 | Albert Pujols if you want to save some money |
| C.J. Cron | 1B | $3,600 | $6,730 | $3,100 | Ike Davis if you want to save the most money; if you Don't Like Ike and still need a cheap bat, with good matchup, and you are playing day game then Marlins 1B/OF Garrett Jones |
| Derek Dietrich | 2B | Not | In | LU | If you can't afford DET 2B Ian Kinsler who is rollin hot and has decent sample size of succes vs TB LSP Erik Bedard |
| Neil Walker | 2B | $3,700 | $5,723 | $2,600 | Brandon McCarthy blows and our projections have Walker providing the best F$/Pts value among all 2B going today with Derek Dietrich ranked 2nd |
| Adrian Beltre | 3B | $5,100 | $9,667 | $4,300 | Continues to quietly mash and you can save at 1B in order to spend here |
| Nick Castellanos | 3B | $3,300 | $5,211 | $2,600 | .293 (22-75) w/ 3 HR vs LHP this season and hitting about 90 pts higher at home than on the road at .311 |
| Jimmy Rollins | SS | $4,000 | $6,444 | $2,800 | 6-for-14 (.429) during 3-gm hit streak w/ two 2B and a SB and has owned MIA P going 19-for-50 (.380) w/ 2 HR |
| Elvis Andrus | SS | $3,900 | $5,511 | $2,300 | like the price, love the matchup |
| Josh Hamilton | OF | $4,300 | $5,368 | $3,400 | Hopefully you have been rolling with my recommendation of Hamilton who appears to have found his power struck, finally. Add in he will be glad to see HOU as he is 10-for-25 (.400) w/ 3 HR vs them and is 2-for-3 w/ HR and 3B career vs Brett Oberholtzer. Could be a great GPP play as many may shy away from him due to the LvsL matchup |
| Starling Marte | OF | $4,100 | $6,703 | $3,400 | If you guys aren't going to throw me a party on my last day with the Playbook at least I know Marte Parte will (Cutch probably will too but you save over $1K with the darling Startling) |
| Christian Yelich | OF | $4,300 | $6,444 | $3,800 | Lvs homer friendly righty Kyle Kendrick in MIA |
| Alex Rios | OF | $4,100 | $6,295 | $2,700 | Owns BAL LSP Wei-Yin Chen; Michael Choice an interesting discounted option too |
| Scott Van Slyke | OF | $3,300 | $5,529 | $2,700 | When there is a lefty facing the Dodgers than SVS should be considered; bonus game is in Coors |
| J.D. Martinez | OF/UTL | $4,200 | $6,600 | $3,800 | AL Player of the Month gets RvL matchup plus is still swinging a hot bat through 1st two games of July |
Player News
Kyren Paris hit a two-run homer in Wednesday’s win for the Angels over the Blue Jays.
That’s the first homer for Paris since April 9 when he went deep twice against Tampa Bay and caused everyone to lose all sense of rational thought. The 23-year-old did also single and walk to improve his on-base percentage to .311,, while the homer bumps his slugging mark to .378. There is long-term upside in Paris with flashes that suggest he can be a fantasy option. Fantasy managers should still absolutely looking elsewhere for options up the middle.
Jorge Soler hit a three-run double in the bottom of the ninth to give the Angels a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Trent Grisham went 1-for-1 with a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win over the Padres on Wednesday.
While the Yankees won this game on a walk-off in the 10th inning, Grisham’s game-tying home run in the eighth was the biggest moment. He came on as a pinch-hitter for Jorbit Vibas against the usually stout Jason Adam and smashed a two-strike changeup into the right field seats. This clutch shot will only continue to push Grisham’s playing time in the right direction after he just started eight of the last 10 games, hit either first or second in each, and already has 10 homers in 31 games played this season.
Jeff Hoffman blew a save and picked up a loss Wednesday against the Angels.
Devin Williams struck out three batters with one walk and hit another in a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win against the Padres on Wednesday.
The Yankees entrusted Williams with the all important 10th inning and the inherited ghost runner on second base after their dramatic comeback. While he loaded the bases and had some tense moments, he left the inning unscathed and opened the door for them to win it right after. It should be noted that Luke Weaver came on for what were the most important outs of this game at the time, after Ian Hamilton walked two to begin the eighth inning and Weaver allowed both of those inherited runners to score. He was called upon as the fireman though and will likely get the next save opportunity. Still, this was a massive step in the right direction for Williams.
Max Fried allowed five hits and one run with no walks and eight strikeouts over seven innings in a no-decision against the Padres on Wednesday.
Fried’s excellent season continued as he set down the Padres easily besides for a mammoth solo home run by Jackson Merrill. It was no matter though, as they rarely threatened otherwise and Fried continued to find his strikeout stuff. This was his fourth outing of the year with at least seven strikeouts, a mark he only hit 10 times last season in 29 starts. Fried with a strikeout rate that’s better than league average – which is where he’s at right now – is a clear top-10 pitcher in fantasy baseball. He’s set for a two-start week coming up against the Mariners and Mets.