MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Monday, June 24th
Published: Jun 24, 2024
Welcome to another Monday! We are reaching the end of June, and things are heating up in more ways than one. We should have another great week of baseball in store, so let’s kick it off strong by starting the week with some winning MLB DFS lineups!
We have a great 9-game slate this evening, which will begin at 7:10 PM EST on DraftKings and FanDuel. There are plenty of exciting matchups on the slate and a lot of different ways to construct your MLB DFS lineups, so let’s get right into today’s playbook and my favorite MLB DFS picks of the day!
MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, June 24
MLB Weather Today, 6/24
The weather all looks clear for today.
MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
We have some fantastic pitching options taking the mound today. Outside of my favorites, there are some other options I would consider today, including Tanner Houck, Garrett Crochet, Matt Waldron, James Paxton, and Griffin Canning.
On the offensive side, there are some lower-end pitchers to target today as well, with some of my favorite lineups to target including the San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Royals, Los Angeles Angels, and Atlanta Braves.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options For Strikeouts
- Garrett Crochet vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
- Cole Ragans vs. Miami Marlins
- Freddy Peralta vs. Texas Rangers
- Lance Lynn vs. Atlanta Braves
Best Odds For A Win
- Cole Ragans vs. Miami Marlins
- Matt Waldron vs. Washington Nationals
- Tanner Houck vs. Toronto Blue Jays
- Freddy Peralta vs. Texas Rangers
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals
Cole Ragans is my top pitcher on today's slate with a good matchup against the Miami Marlins, who have the lowest OPS against left-handed pitchers while also holding an over 21% strikeout rate.
Cole Ragans is having a fantastic season with a 3.13 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP, and a 28.9% strikeout rate. He is coming off a solid outing against the Oakland Athletics with 7 strikeouts through 6 innings, giving up 2 runs. He has a huge upside here today and should have no problem dominating the Marlins.
Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers
Freddy Peralta has had some rough outings lately, but he is coming off a very solid outing against the Los Angeles Angels, where he struck out 8 through 6 shutout innings, only giving up 3 hits. Freddy Peralta always has huge strikeout upside, and I trust him here despite those rough outings.
The Texas Rangers don’t strike out a ton, but I don’t care about that as much with Peralta’s strikeout ability. Overall, the Rangers' offense just hasn’t been that strong against righties, and I think Peralta can shut them down today.
Justin Steele, Chicago Cubs
Justin Steele is getting his second straight start against the San Francisco Giants. I don’t always love starters facing the same team twice, but I trust Justin Steele to handle it here today. He struck out 8 through 6.2 innings giving up only 2 runs off 4 hits.
Since his return from the IL in May, Justin Steele has a 3.27 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and a 22.9% strikeout rate through 9 starts. He has 3 straight quality starts, and though wins have eluded him so far, he has great win potential here today.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Kansas City Royals vs. Roddery Munoz
- Cincinnati Reds vs. Bailey Falter
- Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Carson Spiers
- San Diego Padres vs. Patrick Corbin
Core MLB DFS Hitters
*Note: Will Be Updated As Official Starting Lineups Are Released
Jeimer Candelario, 1B/3B Cincinnati Reds
Jeimer Candelario is having an incredible month. In June, Candelario has a 1.016 OPS and 8 homers. He has a hit in all but 2 games this month (the same amount of multi-homer games he has this month).
Most of his power has been against righties, but he has still been hitting well against lefties and has been better against lefties in his career, so he shouldn’t have any problem keeping up his strong month today against Bailey Falter.
Michael Busch, 1B/2B Chicago Cubs
I really like the Cubs today getting to face Spencer Howard. Michael Busch has been crushing the ball recently with a .997 OPS over his last 14 games. All 9 of his homers this season have come against righties.
Spencer Howard has done well limiting homers so far, but he hasn’t done much else; with a low strikeout rate and a 1.86 WHIP, the Cubs should be able to get to him today, and Michael Busch provides a great option at first or second today.
Willy Adames, SS Milwaukee Brewers
This is a super interesting matchup, splits-wise. Willy Adames is a right-handed hitter who is better against right-handed pitchers, and Michael Lorenzen is a right-handed pitcher who has been much better against lefties.
Right-handers are slashing .304/.377/.556 against Lorenzon, and Adames is slashing .265/.344/.470 against righties. So, all signs point toward a big game for Adames, who has also been hitting well recently. However, if you are stacking other Brewers with Adames, you may want to avoid the lefties.
Jarren Duran, OF Boston Red Sox
Jarren Duran has been absolutely incredible in June. He is 2nd in average and 8th in OPS amongst all hitters in June. He has a 1.083 OPS in June, along with 12 extra-base hits and 9 steals. He only has 3 games without a hit this month and 12 multi-hit games.
Outside of Duran being amazing, Chris Bassitt cannot get left-handers out. Lefties are slashing .290/.387/.439 against Bassitt this season. This Red Sox offense has been clicking lately, and I will be shocked if Duran doesn’t continue his amazing month today in this matchup.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Cole Ragans  $10,100 |  Logan O'Hoppe $3,800 |  Cody Bellinger $5,900 |  Ozzie Albies $5,200 |  Rafael Devers $5,700 | Bobby Witt $6,500 | Marcell Ozuna $6,000 |
| Tanner Houck $10,500 |  Gary Sánchez $3,800 | Matt Olson $5,000 | Austin Riley $5,100 |  Willy Adames $5,100 | Jarren Duran $5,400 | ||
 Manny Machado $5,000 | Tyler O'Neill $5,000 | ||||||
| Medium |  Freddy Peralta $9,500 | Freddy Fermin $3,000 |  Jeimer Candelario $4,300 |  Michael Busch $4,400 | Joey Ortiz $4,000 |  Ha-Seong Kim $4,400 |  Bryan Reynolds $4,500 |
| Justin Steele $8,500 | Rhys Hoskins $4,100 | Jake Cronenworth $4,500 | David Hamilton $4,100 | Wilyer Abreu $4,300 | |||
| Ian Happ $4,300 | |||||||
| Low | Matt Waldron $8,300 |  Kyle Higashioka $2,900 |  Matt Carpenter $3,200 | Enmanuel Valdez $3,400 |  Donovan Solano $3,200 | Dansby Swanson $3,900 | Alec Burleson $3,900 |
 Griffin Canning $6,100 | Dominic Smith $2,900 | Jonathan India $3,400 | Brendan Donovan $3,700 | ||||
| MJ Melendez $3,200 | |||||||
| Hunter Renfroe $3,100 |
Stacks
| Red Sox | David Hamilton | Tyler O'Neill | Wilyer Abreu | Jarren Duran | Rafael Devers |
| DraftKings | 4100 | 5000 | 4300 | 5400 | 5700 |
 Fanduel | 2900 | 3200 | 2900 | 3800 | 3700 |
| Brewers | Rhys Hoskins | Willy Adames | Joey Ortiz |
| DraftKings | 4100 | 5100 | 4000 |
| Fanduel | 2900 | 3500 | 2800 |
| Reds | Spencer Steer | Jonathan India | Tyler Stephenson | Jeimer Candelario |
| DraftKings | 4500 | 3400 | 4000 | 4300 |
| Fanduel | 3200 | 3000 | 2700 | 3600 |
| Cubs | Michael Busch | Cody Bellinger | Ian Happ |
| DraftKings | 4400 | 5900 | 4300 |
| Fanduel | 2600 | 3200 | 3400 |
| Royals | Vinnie Pasquantino | Bobby Witt | Freddy Fermin | MJ Melendez | Hunter Renfroe |
| DraftKings | 4300 | 6500 | 3000 | 3200 | 3100 |
| Fanduel | 2800 | 4200 | 2600 | 2500 | 2500 |
Player News
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that Zach Eflin (lat) is likely to return and start Sunday against the Angels
It was assumed that Eflin would be back this weekend, but now we have a concrete date. The 31-year-old may not be at full strength after throwing fewer than 60 pitches in his rehab start, but the Orioles feel confident enough to have the right-hander back on the bump for the series finale against the Angels.
Riley Greene is not in the lineup for the first game of a doubleheader against the Rockies on Thursday.
Greene will get a break and likely return to the lineup for the second game of the twin-billing. Zach McKinstry will get the start in left field while Greene rests.
Yu Darvish (elbow) is facing live hitters on Thursday.
Darvish has been throwing bullpen sessions and traveled to the team’s complex in Arizona to face live hitters on Thursday. It will be his first time facing live batters since a spring training appearance on March 13th. He will likely need a few sessions like this before the Padres can map out a rehab appearance timeline for him.
Adael Amador is starting at second base and batting ninth for the Rockies on Thursday.
Amador has now started three of the last four games at second base for the Rockies. He’s gone just 7-for-43 this season with 15 strikeouts in 16 games. He’s just 22 years old, so there is plenty of time for him to adjust to the MLB level, but he doesn’t need to be on redraft radars right now.
Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting second for the Orioles on Thursday against the Twins.
With Cedric Mullins sitting out on Thursday, Gunnar Henderson will bat lead off, and Holliday will jump up from sixth in the order to second. Holliday is riding a hot streak right now, and the Orioles are taking advantage. This is likely just a one-game sample with no Mullins or Adley Rutschman in the lineup, but Rutschman has been struggling, so perhaps it could become a more permanent spot in the lineup for Holliday moving forward.
Endy Rodriguez (finger) had his splint removed this week.
Rodriguez suffered a lacerated right index finger on April 14th. Now that he is out of his splint, he “is playing catch and doing a slightly modified swing.” Once he can progress to taking full swings, we’ll have a better sense of the timeline for his return.