MLB DFS Value Vault June 9: Konnor Pilkington at Home for Cleveland
Tonight’s MLB DFS slate is pretty consistent for the most part as DraftKings and Yahoo Fantasy will use five-game slates starting at 7:10 pm ET for daily fantasy baseball lineups. Meanwhile, FanDuel is including the 6:40 pm ET game between the Nationals and Marlins to make their main slate a six-gamer. Despite the smaller slates, we still have some solid value options today on both sides of the ball for our MLB daily fantasy lineups. Konnor Pilkington of the Cleveland Guardians headlines the value list in his home matchup against the Oakland Athletics. Before you finalize your daily fantasy baseball lineups, be sure to keep an eye on the announced MLB lineups and the MLB daily projections for tonight's games. It appears that we have no weather concerns to worry about, which is amazing, but still keep up with the latest MLB weather report leading up to lock. Don’t forget to also check out our MLB Vegas Odds link for team implied runs totals, and use our MLB DFS lineup generator to build winning lineups. Let’s now dive into our MLB DFS top picks for Thursday, June 9th.
MLB DFS Pitchers
Konnor Pilkington – Cleveland Guardians
(DraftKings - $7100 / FanDuel - $7700 / Yahoo - $34)
Pilkington is coming off his best outing of the season in which he scored 27.1 DK points by tossing five shutout innings with eight strikeouts against the Royals. He now has a 2.65 ERA on the year with 23 strikeouts across 17 innings pitched. And now he’s one of the best matchups in the league with the A’s. Oakland is 29th in the league in runs per game, averaging just 3.22 per contest and they have the sixth-highest strikeout rate this season.
Jordan Lyles – Baltimore Orioles
(DraftKings - $6100 / Yahoo - $31)
Lyles is a very up-and-down pitcher, but we know the Orioles are fine with letting him pitch deep into games, which is a plus. He has twice scored north of 24 points on DK in his past four outings. He has a pretty favorable matchup on tap today with the Royals. Kansas City is 26th in the MLB in runs per game with an average of 3.69. This is a game where I can see Lyles going 6-to-7 innings and producing a solid line.
MLB DFS Hitters
Michael Harris – Atlanta Braves
(DraftKings - $2600 / FanDuel - $2200 / Yahoo - $8)
Harris had a big game last night, going 2-4 with a triple, double, two RBI, and two runs scored to finish with 21 DK points. He is now hitting .268 with four doubles, five RBI, and six runs scored through 11 games. He hasn’t hit any home runs or stolen any bases yet, but he has the ability to do both of those things and it’s only a matter of time. He is facing a bad pitcher in Brubaker, who has a 4.70 ERA and 1.45 WHIP across 11 starts this season.
Oscar Gonzalez – Cleveland Guardians
(DraftKings - $2200 / FanDuel - $2400 / Yahoo - $12)
Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to five games last night and he now has at least one hit in 10 of his first 11 games in the big leagues with six of those games being the multi-hit variety. He is hitting .364 thus far, but the counting stats haven’t come yet, but they will. He has reverse splits this year, slashing .379/.400/.517 against righties, compared to .333/.333/.400 against lefties and he is facing a pitcher in Kaprielian who has a 6.06 ERA.
Kevin Smith – Oakland Athletics
(DraftKings - $2000 / FanDuel - $2200 / Yahoo - $7)
Smith is ice-cold at the plate right now, but I can’t ignore his splits at this cheap price. He is slashing an unsightly .141/.169/.224 against righties this year, BUT he is slashing a very solid .277/.300/.489 against southpaws this year and the A’s are facing a lefty in Pilkington. Smith has also been better on the road, hitting .206 with a .241 OBP, compared to .170 and .183 at home, respectively.
MJ Melendez – Kansas City Royals
(FanDuel - $2600)
Melendez racked up 16.2 FD points yesterday as he continues to produce at the big league level. He is now hitting .255 with four home runs and 22 total R+RBI through his first 31 games in the show. While I do like Lyles today, left-handed bats have done far more damage against him, slashing .304/.388/.520 against him, compared to the .292/.325/.410 line that righties have produced, so this is a great spot for the rookie catcher.
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Player News
Daulton Varsho picked up three hits, three RBI and a homer in a win over the Angels on Thursday.
Varsho has only played in seven games this year, but they’ve been seven good ones. He’s homered three times already, and his slugging percentage is a remarkable — and entirely unsustainable — .727 over 22 at-bats. Varsho has been a mediocre offensive player in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, but it’s possible at the age of 28 he’s having a breakout campaign. Far from a guarantee, but possible.
Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in a loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday.
Ward, 31, gave the Angels a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer off Chris Bassitt in the first inning. He’s now gone deep in two of his last three games, and it ‘improves’ his slash to .181/.224/.391. Ward has been one of the most hot/cold players players in the sport over the last few years, so fantasy managers who can afford to make some roster moves may want to look at Ward while the going is good.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. picked up three hits and scored twice in an 8-5 win over the Angels on Thursday.
Guerrero also drew a walk. It gives the first baseman multiple hits in back-to-back games, and it’s the third time in May that he’s reached that mark. That’s helped raise his average from .268 to .295, and the only thing fantasy managers can be disappointed with is his .432 slugging percentage. That number should continue to climb as the season unfolds, but Vladdy Jr. has had some inconsistent seasons when it comes to power production.
Chad Green picked up his first save of 2025 with a scoreless ninth against the Angels on Thursday.
Green got the save after Jeff Hoffman worked in back-to-back games — and struggled — in the first two contests against the Angels. He struck out two and looked the part while needing just nine pitches to get through the inning. Hoffman should remain the closer, but Green is on his tail if the struggles were to continue.
Chris Bassitt allowed five runs — four earned — while working six-plus innings against the Angels on Thursday while picking up a win.
Bassitt allowed three runs over the first two innings on a pair of homers, but settled down over his next four frames. He came out to work the seventh, but ended up being charged for two more runs after leaving the contest. The 36-year-old veteran has forged a 3.35 ERA and outstanding 49/8 K/BB ratio over the first quarter of the season, but this wasn’t him at his best. He’ll get the Rays next week if the rotation order stays the same for Toronto.
José Soriano allowed three runs over five innings while not factoring in the decision Thursday against the Blue Jays.
Soriano left with a 4-3 lead, but it was erased quickly after his departure. The 26-year-old was not exactly dominant in his outing with eight hits allowed and four free passes, but he did strike out six to help balance things out a smidgen. Soriano takes an even ERA of 4.00 into a scheduled start against the Padres in San Diego on Tuesday. There should be better options for that one.