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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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.