MLB DFS Value Vault June 17: Jon Gray Has a Great Matchup
As we enter another big weekend of major league baseball, tonight’s MLB DFS slate is consistent as DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo all offer 12-game slates starting at 7:05p ET. This is a big slate that includes a game in Coors Field and a few spots where the wind is blowing out so there are many ways to go when building your daily fantasy baseball lineups. One thing that will be important is finding the right value pieces to go along with arms like Carlos Rodón and the big pricey bats of Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Manny Machado. There are no rain issues at the moment, but you always want to check the DFS Alarm MLB weather report before lock as well as announced MLB Lineups, updated MLB Vegas Odds for implied run totals, and the MLB DFS lineup generator. Now it’s time to get that Vault open and find the top value plays for tonight’s slate.
MLB DFS PITCHERS
Jon Gray (TEX) $6,900 DraftKings / $8,600 FanDuel / $39 Yahoo
Jon Gray is one of the top overall values on the DraftKings slate and can easily be fit in as an SP2 in cash games. He is facing the Tigers, one of the worst offenses in baseball that is striking out at a 25.7% clip with a 14.5% swinging strike and 29% Whf/Sw% rate. With a team .147 ISO/.292wOBA they are just plain horrible at the plate and Gray comes in with a 27% K rate (10.2 K/9) over his last five starts.
Ross Stripling (TOR) $5,800 DraftKings / $6,800 FanDuel / $30 Yahoo
Ross Stripling has been a godsend for the Blue Jays filling in for Hyun Jin Ryu who is out for the season to repair his left elbow. Two straight starts with just one hit allowed in each has been more than the Jays certainly hoped for. Even when he was in the bullpen he was near lights out and is now 3-1 on the season with a 3.14 ERA/1.00 WHIP. The bad news is that he is facing the mighty Yankees who are on a historic roll in a hitters park, Rogers Centre. Stripling is worth a shot if multi-entering lineups due to his low price which will add some funds to your fantasy bats.
MLB DFS Hitters
Ha-Seong Kim (SDP) $3,300 DraftKings / $2,900 FanDuel / $19 Yahoo
On a normal slate these would be appropriate salaries for Kim but tonight he is in Coors and far too cheap for the game environment. He gets the platoon advantage over left-handed Kyle Freeland and has a solid .193 ISO/.380wOBA on the RvL split this season. He has also been hitting with much more power as of late with a 1.057 OPS over his last eight games and a .350 batting average with a .456wOBA and .500 OBP over the last week. Kim will be a popular cash play on all sites tonight
Tyler O’Neill (STL) $3,600 DraftKings / $2,600 FanDuel / $16 Yahoo
A sub-$4K DK/$3K FD Tyler O’Neill is still just too cheap. Since returning from injury he has been the O’Neill of 2021, hitting .300 over the last week and .310 over the last month. His power still lacks but he is in the perfect spot to hit a bomb tonight with the winds blowing out at 15 mph in Fenway against Michael Wacha and the Red Sox. Going back to the start of last season O’Neil has a .230 ISO on the reverse split with a 40.3% flyball and 46% hard contact rate while Wacha is allowing 47% hard contact to right-handed bats. O’Neill is in play in all formats tonight.
Jake Burger (CWS) $3,500 DraftKings / $3,100 FanDuel / $18 Yahoo
We have to make sure that Jake Burger is back in the lineup tonight (wrist) and if he is he will be a strong tournament play and a part of a sneaky White Sox stack. Burger has been raking in June with a slash of .359/.419/.795 and .436 ISO/.504wOBA. He has four home runs, 10 runs scored, and 10 RBIs in that span. It gets even better as he is facing a lefty-hander in Framber Valdez. Burger has smashed left-handed pitching to the tune of .304 ISO/.422wOBA with a 54.8% flyball and 48.4% hard contact rate.
Jesús Aguilar (MIA) $2,100 DraftKings / $2,700 FanDuel / $15 Yahoo
There are some really nice values tonight at first base including Eric Hosmer and Luke Voit of the Padres playing in Coors but if you are looking for a low-owned, cheap “boom or bust” look no farther than Jesús Aguilar of the Marlins at minimum price. With so many pay-up options, tonight Aguilar could fit nicely in some lineups, and always is a threat for a home run or two from the cleanup spot. Over the last week, he has been hitting .280 with 3 HR/7 RBI to go along with both an ISO and wOBA of over .400. He will be facing right-hander Carlos Carrasco but has done just fine on the reverse split over the last couple of seasons with a .255 ISO/45.6 % hard contact and has hit 25 of his 39 home runs since the start of 2021 against RHP.
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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.