MLB DFS Playbook July 2: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Jul 02, 2023
Happy Sunday, everyone! Let’s keep the start of July going with some winning MLB DFS lineups. Today we get a 9-game main slate on DraftKings starting at 1:35 PM EST, and then on FanDuel, you get a bonus game with the Coors field game making the slate as well, with the Detroit Tigers taking on the Colorado Rockies at 3:10 PM EST making it a 10-game slate. We are down to about a week left before the all-star break, with teams starting to figure out if they are legit contenders this year or not as we get excited to watch all of the stars take the stage for the all-star game and home run derby. Plenty of stars to watch today as well in a big day of baseball, with some of the best pitchers in the game taking the mound in Spencer Strider, Gerrit Cole, and Kevin Gausman. Some exciting matchups going on this holiday weekend and endless ways to build your lineup, whether you are playing cash games or gpp tournaments, so let’s jump into today’s playbook! Be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the daily MLB projections, MLB DFS rostership projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting!
MLB DFS Playbook July 2
MLB Weather Updates
San Diego Padres vs Cincinnati Reds: Some thunderstorms rolling in but shouldn’t hit until at least 2 hours after game time so shouldn’t be a problem.
Cleveland Guardians vs Chicago Cubs: Currently raining hard but should be clear well before start time.
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
Spencer Strider, Gerrit Cole, and Kevin Gausman are all on a tier to themselves today with them being ranked in that order, but you will have to pay up if you want to get them in your lineups. They are so good with such incredible upside, though, that I am willing to fit any of the three into a lineup. There are a few other pitchers highlighted below to either pair with one of the top-tier studs or to take instead of them to focus more salary on hitters. As for hitters, some of my favorite offenses to target today include the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Guardians, and both the Detroit Tigers and Colorado Rockies if you are playing on FanDuel.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Spencer Strider vs Miami Marlins
Kevin Gausman vs Boston Red Sox
Gerrit Cole vs St. Louis Cardinals
Best Odds for a Win
Ranger Suarez vs Washington Nationals
Tony Gonsolin vs Kansas City Royals
Spencer Strider vs Miami Marlins
Kevin Gausman vs Boston Red Sox
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins
This one may be a bit controversial, with Sandy Alcantara having an extremely frustrating season for both Miami Marlins fans and fantasy owners. He had a solid outing in his last start against the Boston Red Sox, though, giving up only one run through 7 innings. He still comes at a huge discount with home much he has been struggling, and there obviously is plenty of risk with how he has been pitching and facing the Atlanta Braves today, but we know how good Alcantara can be when he is pitching well. I am willing to take the discount and bet on some positive regression to continue today.
Ranger Suarez, Philadelphia Phillies
Ranger Suarez has been pitching great lately. Over his last 4 starts, he has racked up 30 strikeouts in 26.1 innings, along with a 1.03 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. That has been against some quality opponents, including both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves on the road. Today he gets to face the Washington Nationals, who, even if they don’t strike out a ton, are still a decent team to pitch against.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
Detroit Tigers vs Connor Seabold (FanDuel Only)
Colorado Rockies vs Matt Manning (FanDuel Only)
Los Angeles Dodgers vs Brady Singer
Philadelphia Phillies vs Trevor Williams
Milwaukee Brewers vs Rich Hill
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Gary Sanchez, C San Diego Padres
Gary Sanchez is a bit of an all-or-nothing guy, but at catcher you have a lot of guys that will be giving you nothing on any given day, and the upside with Sanchez is at least better than most. Over his last six starts, he has 7 hits, including a home run and two multi-hit games. He is one of the best home run hitting catchers in the league still and is hitting in the best home run park in the league, so I am going to take a shot on getting the all today and not the nothing, and he can put one over the fence.
Josh Naylor, 1B Cleveland Guardians
Josh Naylor has been cleaning up in the 4-hole for the Guardians recently. Over his last 10 games has slashed .395/.422/.674 with 2 home runs, 6 doubles, and a stolen base. Jameson Taillon has struggled to keep the ball in the yard this season, with a 1.84 HR/9 to go along with his 6.90 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. The Guardians and Naylor should be able to do some damage against him today, and Naylor seems like a steal at his price with the run he has been on at the plate.
Matt McLain, 2B/SS Cincinnati Reds
The Reds might be the most exciting team in all of baseball right now, and Matt McLain is a big contributor to that. Over the last 7 games, McLain has had 12 hits, including 4 home runs and 5 doubles, along with 7 runs and 13 RBIs. Yu Darvish has been under the weather as well, so could be a rough game for him today in Cincy if he isn’t fully healthy, and I expect the Reds to put up a fair number of runs regardless.
Alec Bohm, 3B Philadelphia Phillies
Alec Bohm is seriously locked in at the plate right now. He has 11 hits over his last 5 games and is coming off a 4-hit game, including 2 home runs, and tallied 3 runs and 6 RBIs. I think Alec Bohm can follow up his incredible performance yesterday with another great game today against Trevor Williams who has a 1.8 HR/9 on the season and will likely have a tough time keeping the Phillies in check today.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Spencer Strider  $11,600 | Matt Olson $4,200 |  Nico Hoerner $3,400 |  José RamÃrez $4,400 |  Elly De La Cruz $4,300 | Ronald Acuña $4,700 | |
 Kevin Gausman $11,200 |  Mookie Betts $4,500 | ||||||
 Gerrit Cole $10,600 |  Fernando Tatis $4,000 | ||||||
| Medium |  Ranger Suárez $9,800 |  Josh Naylor $3,400 |  Ha-Seong Kim $3,000 |  Alex Bregman $3,400 | Matt McLain $4,000 | TJ Friedl $3,500 | |
 Sandy Alcantara $8,200 | Spencer Steer $3,600 | Lane Thomas $3,700 | |||||
| Low | Garrett Whitlock $8,000 |  Gary Sánchez $2,900 |  José Abreu $2,900 |  Josh Harrison $2,200 | Alec Bohm $3,000 |  Paul DeJong $2,900 | Brandon Marsh $2,900 |
| Rich Hill $7,800 | Jason Heyward $2,400 | ||||||
| Jake Fraley $3,400 | |||||||
 Andrew McCutchen $3,300 |
Stacks
| Phillies | Alec Bohm | Bryson Stott | J.T. Realmuto | Bryce Harper |
 DraftKings | 3500 | 3700 | 5000 | 5600 |
| Fanduel | 3000 | 3000 | 3000 | 3600 |
| Reds | Matt McLain | Elly De La Cruz | TJ Friedl | Jonathan India | Jake Fraley |
| DraftKings | 4600 | 5900 | 3900 | 4500 | 4600 |
| Fanduel | 4000 | 4300 | 3500 | 3300 | 3400 |
| Dodgers | Mookie Betts | David Peralta | Jason Heyward | Max Muncy | Freddie Freeman | J.D. Martinez |
| DraftKings | 6400 | 3200 | 2900 | 5100 | 6100 | 5400 |
| Fanduel | 4500 | 2400 | 2400 | 3400 | 4000 | 3700 |
| Rangers | Nathaniel Lowe | Adolis GarcÃa | Josh Jung | Corey Seager | Jonah Heim |
| DraftKings | 4400 | 5700 | 4600 | 6300 | 4600 |
| Fanduel | 3000 | 3800 | 3500 | 3900 | 3100 |
Player News
Daulton Varsho picked up three hits, three RBI and a homer in a win over the Angels on Thursday.
Varsho has only played in seven games this year, but they’ve been seven good ones. He’s homered three times already, and his slugging percentage is a remarkable — and entirely unsustainable — .727 over 22 at-bats. Varsho has been a mediocre offensive player in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, but it’s possible at the age of 28 he’s having a breakout campaign. Far from a guarantee, but possible.
Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in a loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday.
Ward, 31, gave the Angels a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer off Chris Bassitt in the first inning. He’s now gone deep in two of his last three games, and it ‘improves’ his slash to .181/.224/.391. Ward has been one of the most hot/cold players players in the sport over the last few years, so fantasy managers who can afford to make some roster moves may want to look at Ward while the going is good.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. picked up three hits and scored twice in an 8-5 win over the Angels on Thursday.
Guerrero also drew a walk. It gives the first baseman multiple hits in back-to-back games, and it’s the third time in May that he’s reached that mark. That’s helped raise his average from .268 to .295, and the only thing fantasy managers can be disappointed with is his .432 slugging percentage. That number should continue to climb as the season unfolds, but Vladdy Jr. has had some inconsistent seasons when it comes to power production.
Chad Green picked up his first save of 2025 with a scoreless ninth against the Angels on Thursday.
Green got the save after Jeff Hoffman worked in back-to-back games — and struggled — in the first two contests against the Angels. He struck out two and looked the part while needing just nine pitches to get through the inning. Hoffman should remain the closer, but Green is on his tail if the struggles were to continue.
Chris Bassitt allowed five runs — four earned — while working six-plus innings against the Angels on Thursday while picking up a win.
Bassitt allowed three runs over the first two innings on a pair of homers, but settled down over his next four frames. He came out to work the seventh, but ended up being charged for two more runs after leaving the contest. The 36-year-old veteran has forged a 3.35 ERA and outstanding 49/8 K/BB ratio over the first quarter of the season, but this wasn’t him at his best. He’ll get the Rays next week if the rotation order stays the same for Toronto.
José Soriano allowed three runs over five innings while not factoring in the decision Thursday against the Blue Jays.
Soriano left with a 4-3 lead, but it was erased quickly after his departure. The 26-year-old was not exactly dominant in his outing with eight hits allowed and four free passes, but he did strike out six to help balance things out a smidgen. Soriano takes an even ERA of 4.00 into a scheduled start against the Padres in San Diego on Tuesday. There should be better options for that one.