MLB DFS Value Vault June 18: Taijuan Walker Toes the Rubber
We have a busy day of baseball ahead of us, but for our purposes we will be working off of the nine games beginning at 4:05 PM on the east coast as the MLB DFS main slate. There is a plethora of options to consider, and when setting your lineups, it is, as always, important to stay abreast of all of the latest MLB news, MLB weather, and MLB lineups. Our job here is to identify some MLB DFS value options for your lineup build this afternoon.
MLB DFS Value Pitchers
SP; DraftKings - $7,500; FanDuel - $7,900; Yahoo - $37
With Tylor McGill back on the Injured List, the Mets are really counting on Taijuan Walker to hold their rotation together. Walker has gone six innings in back-to-back starts and has consistently shown the ability to get through 90 to 100 pitches effectively while posting a 3.08 ERA on the season. With a 1.25 WHIP, there will be some traffic on the bases, but Walker figures to get sufficient run support today as the Mets’ strong offense faces Braxton Garrett on the other side of the ball. With just six strikeouts per nine innings, Walker doesn’t offer much in the way of upside here but he does a good job of limiting the damage and we have a solid chance at a victory.
SP; DraftKings - $8,000; FanDuel - $8,700; Yahoo - $43
Targeting Baltimore, especially now in the confines of the spacious left field in Camden Yards, will continue to be an approach we take this season. The fact that Jeffrey Springs strikes out a batter per inning puts him ahead of the majority of other pitchers in this tier, as regardless of what else transpires, we will consistently have the upside in that department. Springs has also posted 1.45 ERA so far this season (3.01 xERA) as he has been uncannily good (or lucky) with a strand rate of 97.4% so far this season. The fact that there have only been six barreled balls against Springs so far this season comes into play here and it also helps that opposing hitters have an average exit velocity of just 86.5 miles per hour.
MLB DFS Value Hitters
2B/SS; DraftKings - $2,500; FanDuel - $2,400; Yahoo - $10
Tampa Bay is projected to score about 4.5 runs today in a favorable matchup against Kyle Bradish, and the expectation is that the success will start at the top of the order with Vidal Brujan for the Rays. Last night he picked up two hits and while it has been tough sledding for him to this point (.158 for the season and .191 in June), Brujan does have hits in five of his last eight games and is always a threat to pick up a stolen base.
OF; DraftKings - $3,500; FanDuel - $2,300; Yahoo - $11
Let’s stay at the top of the order with Austin Slater for a team slated to score close to five runs today with the wind blowing out in Pittsburgh in a favorable matchup against José Quintana. Slater is hitting substantially better against southpaws in his career so we get to take advantage of the platoon advantage (.278/18 HR/453 AB vs. .225/11/475) today as well. While he only has a 3.8-degree launch angle this season, Slater does have a 10.9%-barrel rate and this is the ideal spot for him in which to find success.
1B; DraftKings - $3,500; FanDuel - $2,500; Yahoo - $11
At the risk of being duplicative since I wrote Yuli Gurriel up as a Waiver Wire pickup today as well, I am targeting the first baseman in DFS this afternoon. The same logic applies here as Gurriel appears to be heating up as of late with home runs in back-to-back games and hits in seven of his last eight. Houston will also be one of the more popular stacks today against Johnny Cueto as they are projected to score five runs and Gurriel provides some salary relief within that.
1B/3B; DraftKings - $2,700; FanDuel - $2,300; Yahoo - $13
The Mets’ offense has been humming along as of late, and J.D. Davis gets the platoon advantage today against Braxton Garrett. Of greater emphasis to me though is his .311 batting average so far this month and hits in six of his last seven games. Getting Davis’ Statcast page generates more in the way of optimism as he has a hard-hit rate of 62.1% to go along with a 12.6% barrel-rate and 93.9 mile per hour average exit velocity. With quality contact like that, good results are bound to come.
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