MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Sunday, June 23rd

Max Scherzer will make his season debut today. We'll discuss whether or not to ride him at his fairly low price, among other things. 

Make sure to check out today's MLB playbook below before you get your lineups in on DraftKings and FanDuel as we present our MLB DFS picks for today, June 23rd!

MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, June 23

MLB Weather Today, 6/23

• Atlanta Braves vs. New York Yankees

There could be a few raindrops late in the game, but they won't be impactful enough to cause a delay or postponement. 

• Tampa Bay Rays vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

This is probably the riskiest game of the bunch. There will be scattered showers and storms early and then another line of storms towards the end of the game. 

• Boston Red Sox vs. Cincinnati Reds

There could be some spotty downpours early, meaning there could also be a delay early. But this game will finish once the rain concludes. 

• Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cleveland Guardians

There is also some early rain in the forecast. This game could start late, but once it begins, it'll go a full nine innings. 

MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

On today's slate, I'd recommend Sonny Gray as the best starting pitcher on the slate. However, don't be shocked if Bryce Miller and Reese Olson put up high-tier stats in today's games. 

It might be worth pitching Miller and Olson and then beefing up the hitting portion of your DFS lineup with the top names on the slate, such as Yordan Alvarez and Jose Ramirez. 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options For Strikeouts

• Paul Skenes (7.5, -135) vs. Tampa Bay Rays
• Nick Lodolo  (7.5, -105) vs. Boston Red Sox
• Sonny Gray (5.5, -170) vs. San Francisco Giants

Best Odds For A Win

• Bryce Miller (+110) vs. Miami Marlins
• Reese Oldon (+135) vs. Chicago White Sox
• Nick Lodolo (+140) vs. Boston Red Sox
• Max Fried (+140) vs. New York Yankees

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Sonny Gray, St. Louis Cardinals

Sonny Gray has struck out 31.6% of batters in the last 30 days. He's also held teams to a .078 ISO and wOBA of .232 in that time. It's primarily because of his high ground ball rate and ability to limit line drives. 

Gray will need to keep the walks down a bit. But other than that, he's become the exact ace pitcher the Cardinals wanted when they signed him. 

The Giants have hit a .093 ISO and wOBA of .257 with their projected lineup over the 30 days against righties. The lineup even has three batters with strikeout rates of at least 30% and seven batters with an ISO of no better than .111.

With a limited amount of threats, Gray is in line for a huge start.

Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

Paul Skenes will be a more risky play with the weather. But I still have to mention him in the core plays in case the weather clears up and Skenes gets a full game. 

After all, Skenes has earned 34.8% of strikeouts over the last 30 days. He's also walked only 3.3% of batters and has held teams to a .148 ISO and wOBA of .272 in those previous 30 days. 

He'll take on a projected Rays lineup that has struck out 22.9% of the time in the last month. However, the lineup also has five batters with at least 26.2% strikeout rates. With so many targets and a weak Rays lineup that has hit a .291 wOBA against righties in the last month, Skenes is an obvious candidate to be at the top of the list for starters today. 

Bryce Miller, Seattle Mariners

The Miami Marlins were just dominated by Logan Gilbert yesterday. The same could happen today with Bryce Miller on the mound. 

Miami's projected lineup has hit a .105 ISO and wOBA of .274 against righties in the last 30 days. The lineup has also walked only 3.5% of the time and has five batters striking out more than 23.2% of the time against righties in the last 30 days. 

While Miller hasn't earned a heavy strikeout rate against lefties, he's still managed 30.8% of strikeouts against righties and has held teams to a .056 ISO and wOBA of .244 over the last 30 days. 

Don't be surprised if Miller earns a quality start with a solid five or six strikeouts. 

Reese Olson, Detroit Tigers

It's probably unlikely Reese Olson gets a win. After all, he's 1-8 on the season. However, he's still held batters to a .109 ISO and wOBA of .291 this year.

Olson has struggled more against lefties recently, but he'll take on a White Sox lineup that is getting a .120 ISO and wOBA of .302 from lefties over the last month. Realistically, the White Sox right-handed batters have performed better against righties, but Olson has held righties to a .103 ISO and wOBA of .254 with 60% of ground balls over the last month. 

The matchup works out well for Olson statistically. However, the Tigers never score for him, so a win is probably not in the cards. 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

• Cincinnati Reds (4.5, -135) vs. Boston Red Sox
• Detroit Tigers (4.5, -125) vs. Chicago White Sox
• Atlanta Braves (4.5, -110) vs. New York Yankees
• Seattle Mariners (4.5, -105) vs. Miami Marlins

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Andrew McCutchen, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates will face Aaron Civale in today's matchup. While Civale has been poor against both sides of the plate this season, the right-handed pitcher has really struggled against righties more lately. 

Civale has allowed a .229 ISO and wOBA of .395 to his last 52 righties. He's also earned just 21.2% of strikeouts against righties while allowing over 32% of fly balls. Civale's ground ball rate is low, and he's not getting a high swinging strike.

Most threats in the Pittsburgh lineup will bat from the left side. But now Andrew McCutchen. He's a righty and will likely lead off for Pittsburgh. McCutchen has hit a .194 ISO and wOBA of .385 against his last 69 righties as a right-handed batter. 

He's also hit 34.1% of line drives against righties and has knocked 47.7% of hard contact against righties. A matchup against a righty struggling against righties is exactly what McCutchen needs.

Riley Greene, OF, Detroit Tigers

It won't be hard finding great outfielders on today's slate. 

Riley Greene has hit a .315 ISO and wOBA of .441 against right-handed batters over the last 30 days. He's also hit 38.5% of fly balls with 50% of hard contact against righties in the last month. 

Greene will match up against Jonathan Cannon of the White Sox, who has allowed a .271 ISO and wOBA of .465 to his first 62 lefties faced this season. Cannon has also earned just 21% of strikeouts and has allowed 30.4% of line drives. 

Admittedly, Cannon has performed better over the last 30 days, but he's still allowed a .167 ISO and wOBA of .315 to his previous 31 lefties. 

Jose Ramirez, 3B, David Fry, C/OF, Cleveland Guardians

The Toronto Blue Jays will throw Yusei Kikuchi today. He's a lefty who has allowed a .288 ISO and wOBA of .437 to his last 88 righties. 

He's also added just 17% of strikeouts and has allowed about 31% of fly balls with nearly 28% of line drives.

Therefore, we'll want to target the powerful righties in the Cleveland lineup. 

Jose Ramirez has hit a .273 ISO and wOBA of .459 against lefties over the last month. He's only struck out 10.8% of the time and has hit 72.4% of hard contact against lefties in the previous 30 days. 

On the other hand, David Fry has smashed a .269 ISO and wOBA of .420 in the last month. He's struck out 21.2% of the time but has walked 21.2% in the previous 30 days. Fry has limited ground balls well against lefties and has hit 63.2% of hard contact with a team-best 15.8% barrel percentage against lefties in the last 30 days. 

Back these two to have a big game today. 

Yordan Alvarez, OF, Houston Astros

Yordan Alvarez has smoked a .333 ISO and wOBA of .487 with just 10.3% of strikeouts over the last 30 days against righties. He's also hit 37.5% of fly balls and only 26.8% of ground balls over the last 30 days against righties. 

Today, he'll take on Albert Suarez of the Orioles, who has allowed a .156 ISO and wOBA of .363 to his last 40 lefties. Suarez is all over the place against lefties, allowing more walks than strikeouts induced over the last month.

He's also given up 32% of line drives while inducing only 28% of ground balls against lefties over the last month. 

Consider Alvarez has on of the bigger bats in your DFS lineup today.

Player Pool

• DraftKings
• FanDuel

$ Tier	SP	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	OF
High	Sonny Gray $10,700	David Fry $3,000	Vinnie Pasquantino $2,800	Ozzie Albies $3,600	José Ramírez $4,000	Bobby Witt $4,200	Aaron Judge $4,500
	Paul Skenes $10,400				Jeimer Candelario $3,700		Juan Soto $4,200
							Yordan Alvarez $4,100
							Steven Kwan $3,600
Medium	Logan Webb $9,900	Yainer Diaz $2,700	Ty France $2,800	Gleyber Torres $2,800	Austin Riley $3,400	Oneil Cruz $3,000	Bryan Reynolds $3,300
	Bryce Miller $9,800						Davis Schneider $3,300
							Riley Greene $3,200
							TJ Friedl $3,200
							Alex Verdugo $3,000
Low	Reese Olson $8,300	Sean Murphy $2,700	Rowdy Tellez $2,300	Colt Keith $2,600	Isiah Kiner-Falefa $2,500	J.P. Crawford $2,900	Andrew McCutchen $3,000
							Wyatt Langford $3,000
							Jack Suwinski $2,700
							Adam Duvall $2,600
							Hunter Renfroe $2,500
							MJ Melendez $2,500
							Joey Loperfido $2,500
							Will Benson $2,400
							Ramón Laureano $2,200
							Trey Cabbage $2,100
							Jahmai Jones $2,000

Stacks

Guardians	José Ramírez	David Fry	Steven Kwan
DraftKings	6200	5000	5400
Fanduel	4000	3000	3600

Astros	Trey Cabbage	Yanier Diaz-DUP	Yordan Alvarez	Joey Loperfido
DraftKings	2500	-	5500	-
Fanduel	2100	-	4100	-

Red Sox	Will Benson	TJ Friedl	Jeimer Candelario
DraftKings	3300	4400	4200
Fanduel	2400	3200	3700