MLB DFS Value Vault June 20: Oneil Cruz Set For Season Debut
MLB DFS 6/20 – Tonight’s slate is consistent across the board as DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo will use eight-game slates starting at 7:05 pm ET. Despite a medium-sized main slate today we have plenty of strong value options both on the mound and at the dish. Noah Syndergaard and Josh Winckowski are my top value arms, but Caleb Kilian could be worth a shot as well. For offense we are looking at a lot of young hitters, including Oneil Cruz making his season debut, and one big mispricing on Yahoo. It appears that we have no mlb weather concerns to worry about, which is amazing, but still keep up with the weather center leading up to first pitch. Lastly, don’t forget to check out our Vegas Odds link for mlb implied runs totals and to use our mlb dfs lineup generator. Let’s dive into our mlb dfs picks today!
MLB DFS Pitchers
Noah Syndergaard, Angels (DraftKings - $6400 / Yahoo - $33)
Thor has pitched really well this year outside of his abysmal strikeout rate (35 Ks in 51 innings) with a 3.53 ERA. His upside is a bit limited with the low strikeout rate, but he has a favorable matchup against the Royals tonight. The Royals are 27th in runs per game this year. I would be surprised if Thor has a massive scoring night, but a storng outing would not surprise me at all (something like 6 innings, 1 run, 4 Ks and a win).
Josh Winckowski, Red Sox (DraftKings - $6200 / FanDuel - $6500 / Yahoo - $30)
Wincowski pitched very well in his last outing, firing five shutout innings against the A’s with three strikeouts and picking up the win to finish with 18.3 DK points. And while that was against a terrible offense in the A;’s, he gets another terrible offense today in the Tigers. Detroit ranks dead last in scoring this year and are the only team averaging fewer than three runs per game. They also have the sixth highest strikeout rate in the league this year.
MLB DFS Hitters
Jack Suwinski, Pirates (DraftKings - $2200 / FanDuel - $2200)
I’m going back to the well on Suwinksi today after having him in my Pirates stack for the Playbook yesterday. He came through in a huge way, blasting THREE home runs and scoring 44 points on DraftKings. He is only hitting .230 on the year but he has 11 home runs and two steals in 47 games, so the upside is plentiful. He’s been fantastic at home, slashing .284/.337/.636 with NINE of his 11 bombs and BOTH of his steals. He faces Killian, who has a 8.00 ERA and 1.67 WHIP through his first two starts in the bigs.
Oneil Cruz, Pirates (DraftKings - $2000 / FanDuel - $2000)
Cruz is officially being called up by Pittsburgh to make his season debut today. He was only hitting .233 at AAA but he did have nine home runs and 11 steals already and that is what makes him worth the price of admission for DFS (especially since he’s the minimum price anyways). I don’t have him listed in here today, but Cal Mitchell is also an intriguing play for the Pirates at nearly the minimum price and they could once again be a sneaky stack today of Suwinksi, Cruz, Mitchell.
Riley Greene, Tigers (DraftKings - $2100 / FanDuel - $2800)
Greene is off to a nice start thus far as he is 2-5 with four walks and two runs scored through his first two games in the big leagues. He has plenty of power and speed upside which is exactly what we are looking for in DFS. I do like Wincowski today, but it’s hard to still not like Greene at this price.
Taylor Ward, Angels (Yahoo - $8)
Ward hasn’t been swinging the hottest of bats, so I get the price drop (he’s in the mid-tier range for DK and FD), but Yahoo went to the extreme and made him nearly the minimum price. Despite being cold, he did go 3-4 with two runs yesterday, so that could be what he needed to get it back going. He’s still hitting .309 on the year with 10 home runs and 60 total R+RBI across 45 games of action and today he gets to face a bad pitcher in Bubic (8.36 ER and 1.89 WHIP this year across nine games). Ward also been amazing at home this year, slashing .362/.500/.596 across 16 games in Los Angeles.
C.J. Abrams, Padres (DraftKings - $2000 / FanDuel - $2300)
I am going to keep this one brief because it’s not even clear if he will be called up today, but I do like Abrams if he’s brought up to the big club. He has been hot at AAA, is near the minimum price, and facing a bad pitcher in Davies.
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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.