MLB DFS Playbook June 11: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: Jun 11, 2023
Get excited for another glorious Sunday filled with baseball! We have a ton of day baseball happening today, with a 10-game main slate kicking off at 12:40 PM EST on DraftKings. If you are playing on FanDuel, you get a nice bonus of Coors field with them, including the San Diego Padres vs Colorado Rockies game making it an 11-game slate. There are some exciting pitchers taking the mound today, highlighted by Shane McClanahan taking on the Texas Rangers and Kevin Gausman facing the Minnesota Twins. There are tons of exciting offenses to target today, even if you are playing on DraftKings and don’t get the option of San Diego playing in Colorado. Should be a great day of baseball, so let’s dive into the playbook to help you cash today, whether you are playing cash games or gpp tournaments. 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 June 11
MLB Weather Updates
Washington Nationals vs Atlanta Braves: Thunderstorms happening at the park, not lookin great right now definitely consider avoiding the game all together.
Miami Marlins vs Chicago White Sox: Some rain could cause delays but not looking too bad.
Cincinnati Reds vs St. Louis Cardinals: Some thunderstorms happening here as well keep an eye on things as we get closer to game time.
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
I like paying up for pitching today. Shane McClanahan and Kevin Gausman are clearly the best two available, but you will have to pay to put either in your lineup. I am willing to pay up for them, but I also have a couple of pitchers I like that you can get for a bit cheaper. There aren’t any pitchers outside of the top 10 price-wise that I would consider much today, though. On the offensive side, my favorite teams to target today are the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, and Tampa Bay Rays.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Kevin Gausman vs Minnesota Twins
Freddy Peralta vs Oakland Athletics
Shane McClanahan vs Texas Rangers
Best Odds for a Win
Bryce Elder vs Washington Nationals
Freddy Peralta vs Oakland Athletics
Kevin Gausman vs Minnesota Twins
Shane McClanahan vs Texas Rangers
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers
Freddy Peralta provides plenty of upside with the ability to strike out a ton of batters. Given the matchup today for him is the Oakland Athletics, you should expect plenty, and this is about as close to being guaranteed a win that a pitcher can be. He struck out 9 batters in 5 innings in his last outing against the Baltimore Orioles and would not be the least bit surprised if he reaches double digits for the second time this season against the Athletics today.
Hunter Greene, Cincinnati Reds
Now we have another pitcher that has even more strike-out upside than Freddy Peralta. Hunter Greene has 37 strikeouts in his last 23 innings. He has the second-highest K/9 in the league, behind only Spencer Strider. While the St. Louis Cardinals are a strong lineup, in his last two starts against the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, he has only given up 2 hits and 1 run through 12 innings, along with 19 strikeouts. I don’t see any reason why Greene wouldn’t still rack up a ton of strikeouts and hopefully can continue to limit the hits as well.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
San Diego Padres vs Dinelson Lamet (FanDuel only)
Colorado Rockies vs Blake Snell (FanDuel only)
Atlanta Braves vs Trevor Williams
Baltimore Orioles vs Carlos Hernandez
Los Angeles Dodgers vs Taijuan Walker
Pittsburgh Pirates vs Carlos Carrasco
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Francisco Alvarez, C New York Mets
Francisco Alvarez is red hot right now with 4 home runs in his last 4 games. He has also moved to the number two spot in the lineup for the last 3 games and should continue to get that spot with him hitting this well and even got to DH on Thursday, showing that the Mets are trusting him enough to keep his bat in the lineup even when he isn’t catching.
Isaac Paredes, 3B Milwaukee Brewers
Isaac Paredes continues to dominate left-handed pitching. He has a .914 OPS against lefties this season and getting to face a very hittable one in Martin Perez should give him the opportunity to keep it up and the Rays should have no problem scoring runs. Paredes also has 3 home runs in his last 4 games, so hopefully will continue displaying that power today against the Texas Rangers.
Elly De La Cruz, 3B/SS Cincinnati Reds
Elly De La Cruz's price continues to rise every day, but it still isn’t high enough yet, in my opinion. He has gotten a hit in every game so far and appears to be ready for the majors. The Cincinnati Reds should have a good chance to put up a lot of runs today getting to face the veteran Adam Wainwright. I have faith that Elly will continue to impress, and maybe we even get to see his second home run today.
Marcell Ozuna, OF Atlanta Braves
Marcell Ozuna has a 7-game hitting streak going along with 2 home runs in that stretch. He continues to be a solid hitter for the Atlanta Braves while his price has remained low. Only six players have more home runs than Marcell Ozuna since May 1st. He provides great power upside and is in one of the best lineups in the league. Getting to face Trevor Williams should provide a good matchup for the Braves today as well.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Shane McClanahan  $10,500 |  Freddie Freeman $4,400 | Mookie Betts $4,200 | Max Muncy $3,900 |  Fernando Tatis $4,500 |  Juan Soto $4,300 |
 Kevin Gausman $11,400 |  Randy Arozarena $3,900 | |||||
 Bryan Reynolds $3,500 | ||||||
| Medium |  Freddy Peralta $10,200 | Vladimir Guerrero $3,500 |  Jonathan India $3,500 |  Isaac Paredes $3,200 |  Elly De La Cruz $3,800 | Anthony Santander $3,300 |
| Hunter Greene $9,600 | Jack Suwinski $3,300 | |||||
| Brandon Nimmo $3,100 | ||||||
| Low |  Matt Carpenter $3,100 | Jake Cronenworth $3,200 |  Royce Lewis $2,900 |  Trea Turner $3,000 |  Marcell Ozuna $3,000 | |
| Nick Pratto $2,900 | ||||||
| Ji Hwan Bae $2,900 |
Stacks
| Dodgers | Mookie Betts | Will Smith | Max Muncy | Freddie Freeman | J.D. Martinez |
 DraftKings | 6400 | 4000 | 5000 | 6200 | 5600 |
| Fanduel | 4200 | 5500 | 3900 | 4400 | 4000 |
| Pirates | Jack Suwinski | Connor Joe | Bryan Reynolds |
| DraftKings | 3600 | 3400 | 5200 |
| Fanduel | 3300 | 2900 | 3500 |
| Rays | Wander Franco | Randy Arozarena | Harold Ramírez | Yandy Díaz | Isaac Paredes |
| DraftKings | 6000 | 5800 | 4200 | 5000 | 4200 |
| Fanduel | 4100 | 3900 | 3000 | 3800 | 3200 |
| Reds | Spencer Steer | Elly De La Cruz | Jonathan India |
| DraftKings | 4400 | 4300 | 4900 |
| Fanduel | 3300 | 3800 | 3500 |
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.