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Welcome back RotoBallers to another edition of our free MLB DFS lineup picks and value plays. This article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel and DraftKings on 6/5/2022, Main Slate at 1:35 pm Eastern Time.
The lineup will range from some elite players to mid-priced options, and value plays. The main slate is nine games on DraftKings and 11 games FanDuel with a lot of different routes one can go with lineup construction and tournament strategy.
You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports. It's also essential to monitor injury news and today's MLB starting lineups. If you have any questions or comments, find me on Twitter @Mark_Kieffer and ask away!
DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Zac Gallen- P, ARI @ PIT ($9,800 DK, $9,800 FD)
Zac Gallen is my favorite cash game pitcher on the slate. On the season, Gallen has a 24% strikeout rate, a 6% walk rate, a 3.43 SIERA, and has only allowed 0.54 HR/9. He faces a Pirates team that isn't good. Pittsburgh has the fourth-highest strikeout rate in baseball (24.4%) and has scored the fewest runs in the National League. Their on-base percentage is the sixth-lowest in baseball, and their ISO is the seventh-lowest in baseball. Add in that Arizona is favored to win, and Gallen makes for a strong play today.
Kevin Gausman P, TOR vs. MIN ($10,200 DK, $10,100 FD)
Kevin Gausman is my favorite tournament option for the day. It doesn't matter to me if he is chalky or not, he has the upside I am wanting in tournaments. On the season, he has a 28.7% strikeout rate, a 2.5% walk rate, a 2.64 SIERA, and allowing just 0.30 HR/9. His K-BB% and SIERA are the best on the slate. The Twins are an average offense: ninth in on-base percentage, 12th in runs scored, 14th-highest strikeout rate, ninth in walk rate, and 13th in ISO. Minnesota also will not have Max Kepler nor Carlos Correa in their lineup, making it that much weaker. There's a high strikeout upside, a low probability of getting blown up, and a strong chance of picking up a win.
George Kirby P, SEA @ TEX ($8,000 FD)
George Kirby is just on the FanDuel slate but my favorite spend-down pitcher over there. Yes, the Mariners are underdogs to... Martin Perez, but there is a lot to like about Kirby. He has a 25.9% strikeout rate, an extremely low 2.8% walk rate, and the second-best SIERA on the slate (2.98).
Luis Castillo P, CIN vs. WSN ($7,900 DK, $8,400 FD)
I prefer Castillo on DraftKings but you can play on either site. Castillo is having a quietly good season: 26.7% strikeout rate and a 3.25 SIERA that is just a smidge worse than Eric Lauer's 3.21 SIERA. He also is allowing just 0.68 HR/9 and his 7.6% walk rate is the lowest it has been since 2018. There may not be as much strikeout upside here, as Washington has the second-lowest strikeout rate, but they also have the third-lowest ISO and are 14th in runs scored. Also, although Cincinnati is a hitters' park, the wind is blowing in. Castillo is always at risk of a blow-up but the lineup isn't that great. Roster him as an SP2 and have your fingers crossed!
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Matt Chapman- 3B, TOR vs. Devin Smeltzer ($3,800 DK, $2,800 FD)
Chapman may very well bat in the bottom half or third of the order which is not ideal. Smeltzer has a 4.64 SIERA with just a 13.6% strikeout rate. He has not allowed a home run yet, but he also faced the Royals twice and the Tigers once out of his four starts. Chapman has a .330 wOBA and .170 ISO this season against left-handed pitching.
Kyle Farmer- SS, CIN vs. Patrick Corbin ($4,800 DK, $3,100 FD)
Farmer is a much better value at FanDuel than he is on DraftKings. Corbin is a pitcher I am targeting today: high SIERA (4.38), low strikeouts (18.4% K%), high walk rate (9.2%), and allowing 1.16 HR/9. Farmer has a .470 wOBA and .450 ISO against left-handed pitchers this season. He has a .357 wOBA and .215 ISO against lefties in his career.
Santiago Espinal- 2B, TOR vs. Devin Smeltzer ($3,700 DK, $2,700 FD)
Espinal is an interesting play. As noted before, Smeltzer is not a good pitcher. This season Espinal has a .450 wOBA and .220 ISO against left-handed pitching. In his career, however, he has a .369 wOBA and 0.098 ISO against lefties. Will the real Espinal please stand up? I don't mind using him as a one-off, mini stacking with Chapman, or just fading him altogether if the budget allows for it. The other options I like at second base are Brandon Drury (DK $5.0K, FD $3.4K) and Jose Altuve (DK $5.1K, FD $3.6K).
Ryan Mountcastle- 1B, BAL vs. Zach Plesac ($3,000 DK, $3,100 FD)
Zach Pleasac is similar to Smeltzer. He has a 4.62 SIERA, a 15.3% strikeout rate, a 6% walk rate, and allows 1.46 HR/9. Mountcastle is likely to bat in the middle of the order and has a .320 wOBA and .170 ISO against right-handed pitchers this season.
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Austin Hays- OF, BAL vs. Zach Plesac ($3,800 DK, $2,900 FD)
Austin Hays saw his hit streak come to an end on Friday but then he started a new one yesterday. This season, he has a .380 wOBA and .160 ISO against right-handed pitching. While I prefer Hays on FanDuel, if looking for a bit more power upside and salary relief, Anthony Santander on DraftKings at $3,400 is fine too.
Teoscar Hernandez- OF, TOR vs. Devin Smeltzer ($4,100 DK, $3,300 FD)
In his career, Teoscar Hernandez has a .369 wOBA and .279 ISO against left-handed pitching. I wouldn't roster a cash game lineup with Hernandez, Espinal, and Chapman together but I would take all three for a tournament stack if looking to get different, throwing in either Vlad or Alejandro Kirk to complete the stack. Or you can take any of those guys as one-offs and be fine too.
Alek Thomas- OF, ARI vs. Zach Thompson ($3,300 DK, $2,900 FD)
Batting seventh is not ideal, but Zach Thompson is allowing 1.58 HR/9 while Thomas has a .377 wOBA and .288 ISO against right-handed pitching in this small sample size of 59 at-bats.
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
Here are a few stacks I am really liking today:
Houston Astros - They are expensive, so they did not appear in the write-up above. Jon Heasley has the highest SIERA on the slate (6.87), a low 11.1% strikeout rate, and a very high 17.8% walk rate. The Royals have the third-highest bullpen ERA (4.74). I am hoping that being in a hitter's park drives some people away.
Toronto Blue Jays - Smeltzer is not a good pitcher and eventually he will allow home runs and runs overall. It could happen today.
Baltimore Orioles - Plesac has a 4.62 SIERA, allowing 1.46 HR/9.
Chicago White Sox - This is my sneaky stack of the day. Yarbrough has a 4.57 SIERA and a low 16.9% strikeout rate. The bad part is we have no idea what the White Sox lineup will be. Hopefully, we don't have Leury Garcia batting towards the top or anything like that. Pollock, Vaughn, Abreu, Robert, and Grandal are the players I am most interested in, prioritizing Vaughn-Abreu-Robert in the stack.
If playing the FanDuel slate, Atlanta and Colorado are viable to stack in Coors.
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