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Mark Strausberg highlights the top FanDuel MLB DFS lineup picks for 6/16/21, and a couple of sleepers to consider while building daily rosters.
Man, am I excited for this Wednesday slate of FanDuel action! Wait, maybe that's just excitement for my New York Islanders playing in the Stanley Cup semifinals as I type. No, it's definitely the night of MLB action we have ahead of us this fine Wednesday evening. I'll leave the Islanders for our NHL writers to rave about.
Read below to find out what players I will be suggesting for your lineups, as I provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 6/16/2021.
Be sure to also check out all the MLB player news, including late scratches, and the projected and confirmed daily MLB lineups for each DFS slate. You can also check out today's DraftKings MLB DFS lineup picks, and read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports too. With that out of the way, here are my picks for tonight.
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Overview
This Wednesday is jam-packed with intriguing options to build our daily lineups. At the top, we've got Gerrit Cole and Jacob deGrom pitching on the same night (which could line them up to face each other July 4 weekend at Yankee Stadium, sign me up for that pitcher's duel). Both are certainly in play, but both have risk as well. Cole is facing a tough Toronto lineup at hitter-friendly Sahlen Field and deGrom was pulled with side tightness after 80 pitches in his last start. On the other coast, we've got surprise Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler facing off against three-time Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw.
With four studs on the mound, there's not a lot of wiggle room if your lone starter doesn't hit. Sure, Justus Sheffield, Ian Anderson, and Aaron Civale are intriguing options, but the risk/reward with them is very high on a loaded slate where points will be flying and it'll take a high point total to cash. Nailing the correct (and hopefully low-owned) stack will be critical. Each hitter listed below has upside on his own, but plays in a lineup we should consider stacking to try and maximize the points we earn.
FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Cash Game/GPP Anchor Play:
Jacob deGrom - NYM vs CHC ($12,200)
It has to be deGrom. The side tightness issue that ended his last start after just 80 pitches (and six shutout innings) is a concern, but he wouldn't be pitching in mid-June if he or the Mets were worried. I know, I know, this is the Mets we're talking about and their history of handling star players' injuries is baffling at times, but I'm trusting deGrom himself on this one. If the best pitcher of our generation says he's healthy enough to pitch, then I'm playing him in DFS.
There's really not much to say about deGrom that isn't being crammed down our throats 24/7 by the New York media. His 0.56 ERA is threatening the modern-era ERA record set by Bob Gibson before MLB lowered the mound to give the hitters more of a chance (sound familiar?). He's striking batters out at a 46.1 percent rate. Cue up the eye-popping emoji. His salary is exorbitant, but in cash games, you simply will not finish in the money if you fade deGrom and he posts even a double-digit strikeout game with, say seven one-run innings. I tried last time he pitched. It didn't work despite deGrom exiting early. Pay up for deGoat.
GPP Play
Zack Wheeler - PHI at LAD ($10,800)
Normally this section is reserved for a lower-salary pitcher who could be low-owned. However, every slate is different. This slate will feature a boatload of points from the top four pitchers on the slate. All four should be highly rostered and the likelihood of all four busting is low. On nights like this, my GPP strategy is to play the pitcher who should be the lowest rostered and that's Wheeler who is $600 more than Kershaw and has to face the Dodgers as opposed to Kershaw who will get a light-hitting Phillies lineup that will likely be missing Bryce Harper and Jean Segura.
Attacking the Dodgers isn't always recommended, but it can be done with the right pitcher. Max Fried dominated them last week for 37 FD points at less than two percent ownership, to cite a recent example. Wheeler is in great form having lasted at least seven innings in nine of his last 10 starts (he threw six innings of two-run ball in the other start). He led the Majors in strikeouts for the month of May and is posting a 1.17 ERA through 15 1/3 June innings. He's upped his four-seamer usage since joining the Phillies and the results have been spectacular. He ranks in the 96th percentile in average fastball velocity and the pitch is earning whiffs at a 26 percent rate, an extremely high mark for a non-breaking pitch. Los Angeles is a brutal matchup, but they're not unbeatable. If we trust the old adage "good pitching beats good hitting" we could make some money tonight with a low-owned Wheeler.
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FanDuel DFS Infielders
Brandon Belt - 1B, SFG vs ARI ($2,700)
If we're paying up for pitching we need to save money with bats and the Giants are one of my go-to stacks when needing affordable bats with big upside. Belt will have the platoon advantage versus Merrill Kelly and Belt loves hitting at home where he has a 1.048 OPS compared to .671 on the road. Kelly has a 5.14 ERA and is a below-average strikeout pitcher. After Kelly is a bad Diamondbacks bullpen. Stack up the Giants.
Ozzie Albies - 2B, ATL at BOS ($3,100)
Albies is criminally underpriced for a player batting third in this Braves lineup. Atlanta is implied for 4.9 runs, the second-highest total on the slate. Albies is finding his stroke as he's slashing .340/.397/.509 thus far in June. Click on Albies and move on.
Carlos Correa - SS, HOU vs TEX ($3,500)
The top stack of the night and the only lineup as of Wednesday morning to have an implied run total over five. Houston bats will be popular, especially the lefties (see below) but don't forget about Correa who has displayed reverse-splits tendencies as his .523 OPS versus right-handers is over 50 points higher than when he has the platoon advantage. Jordan Lyles is a pitcher to attack with bats and Correa is right in the middle of that.
Miguel Andujar - 3B/OF, NYY at TOR (Buffalo) ($2,500)
Andujar is another player that turned it on when the calendar flipped to June. He's batting .300 through 40 at-bats and has four homers this month. Sahlen Field is a hitter-friendly park and the Yankees bats should all be in play versus Ross Stripling. While Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton will be popular, using the bottom-of-the-order hitters can be a way to differentiate from the masses. Andujar at $2,500 is a great way to do that.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Harold Ramirez - OF, CLE vs BAL ($2,500)
Ramirez is batting .270 this season thanks to an eight percent improvement in his strikeout rate from last year. He's got a .157 ISO and possesses big power when he elevates the ball. Unfortunately for him, he's hitting 53 percent ground balls this season. Akin, however, is a fly-ball pitcher with a FB% over 43 percent. If Ramirez can get under a pitch he could provide an inexpensive dong.
Yordan Alvarez - OF, HOU vs TEX ($3,700) AND Michael Brantley - OF, HOU vs TEX ($3,000)
Houston lefties will be popular but it's hard not to attack Lyles. The Texas righty has a 5.37 ERA with an equally troubling 4.91 FIP. Left-handed batters have a .356 wOBA against him and he's walked 15 batters against only 24 strikeouts. We may need to look for less-rostered hitters in GPPs, but in cash games, I'll gladly eat the chalk with Alvarez, Brantley, and even Kyle Tucker if he's over his illness that kept him out on Tuesday.
Good luck with your entries!
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