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Thunder Dan Palyo highlights the top DraftKings and FanDuel MLB DFS lineup picks for the afternoon slate on 7/3/21, and a couple of sleepers to consider while building daily rosters.
Another week of baseball is in the books and Saturday brings us the usual split slate action. For you MLB DFS junkies there's an extra slate to play today and I'm here to break it down for you. As we inch closer to the all-star break, let's soak up as many slates as possible since we will have to go without MLB DFS for (gulp) a whole three days here soon! We have a 7-game early slate on FanDuel that includes the Tampa-Toronto game, while DraftKings left that game off of their main slate and has the other six games on theirs.
While most of our MLB DFS coverage here at RotoBaller is geared towards the main slate, I wanted to give you some of my favorite pitchers and bats for these early games that will help you cash in tournaments and cash game contests. I'll highlight my favorite pitching options here first and then give you some hitters at each price tier to consider as well as my favorite teams to stack up! You can read our DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the main slate and FanDuel DFS lineup picks for the main slate as well.
I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the DraftKings and FanDuel slates beginning at 3:07 (on FanDuel) and 4:05 PM (on DraftKings) on 7/3/2021. 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 MLB DFS lineup picks for the main slate here, and read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports too. Let's get to it!
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MLB DFS Pitchers
Tyler Mahle ($8,100 FD, $9,600 DK)
I am a well-known Mahle-truther and I was excited to see his price on FanDuel all the way down around 8k. Mahle averages a cool 32 FD points per start this season and has averaged well over a strikeout per inning. He just continues to battle some inconsistency and run-up big pitch counts which have prevented him from pitching deep into games.
It will be his third go-round with the Cubs as he pitched well against them once and also had one of his worst outings of the season against them as well. If he's throwing strikes and getting ahead in the count, he can be as effective as just about any pitcher in baseball. I like him here at home against a Cubs team that can struggle to make contact against RHP, but it's certainly not a "safe" spot either and you might want to consider paying all the way to Darvish in cash games.
Kyle Muller ($6,900 FD, $5,300 DK)
The Braves rookie is making his fourth start of the season and while he hasn't pitched deep into games, he's flashed some impressive stuff and has allowed just two hits across 13 innings while striking out 15. His minor league walk rates are a tad concerning and we've seen him walk six hitters over that span, but it's clear that his strikeout potential has translated well to the majors.
The Marlins are a team I want to continue to target with left-handed starters. I was big on Drew Smyly yesterday, and he ended up pitching 5+ innings of shutout baseball with seven strikeouts. With the Fish striking out at such a high rate against lefties and Muller having shown such some strikeout chops already, I think he has the most point-per-dollar upside on the slate here.
Others to consider: Yu Darvish vs. Philadelphia, Tarik Skubal vs. Chicago (AL)
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MLB DFS "Bats Worth Paying For"
Christian Yelich – OF, MIL vs. PIT ($4,000 FD, $5,500 DK)
Slowly but surely Yelich has raised his batting average to .248 and is showing some signs of potentially breaking out in the second half. He hasn't hit for the power that we had come to expect, but right now he's getting on base with a ton of walks and has been held scoreless in DFS just once over the last month. We don't have much of a sample size from the Pirates pitcher Ponce, but he grades out as a well-below-average arm. Yeli has a nice floor here and a short porch in right field if he gets under one.
Jonathan Schoop – 1B/2B, DET vs. LAA ($2,900 FD, $5,300 DK)
Schoop could have made the values section on FD, where he's badly mispriced. He has some great splits against lefties and is currently riding a 7-16 hot streak over his last four games. He hits the two-seamer well, which is Keuchel's main pitch and I love him as a piece of a sneaky, cheap Tigers stack or as a one-off with his power against LHP.
Marcus Semien – 2B/SS, TOR vs. SEA ($4,100 FD)
Speaking of hot hitters, Semien is scalding right now with a nine-game hitting streak and three homers in his last four. He crushes left-handed pitching, especially fastballs, which makes me like him here against the hard-throwing lefty McClanahan from Tampa. This game isn't on the DK slate, but Semien is 2B and SS eligible on FanDuel and I would make it a priority to get him into lineups as he just continues to rake this season at the top of this potent Jays offense.
MLB DFS Values
Bryan Reynolds – OF, LAA @ NYY ($3,300 FD, $4,500 DK)
DK finally put some respect on Reynolds's name by pricing him up over 4k, but he's still very fairly priced on FD at 3300. The Pirates slugger is one of the best switch-hitters in baseball and a lot of people don't know much about him since he's languishing away in obscurity on a bad team. The guy is a legit hitter with 14 homers this year and a .314 average. He has power from both sides of the plate and hits for contact. The Brewers are rolling out their weakest starter in Eric Lauer today, a guy who throws primarily fastballs and has allowed a .229 ISO to righties.
Andrew Vaughn – OF, CWS vs. MIN ($2,400 FD, $2,900 DK)
Vaughn hit another homer last night, giving him eight on the year and two in his last three games. He has four straight multi-hit games and a .328 ISO against LHP this season. Skubal is a tough lefty, but has a major fly-ball tendency and has given up his fair share of homers this season.
Eric Haase – C/OF, DET vs. CHW ($2,700 FD, $3,700 DK)
Haase has seen Jake Rogers cutting into his playing time behind the plate, but he should get the call today with a lefty on the hill and Rogers having caught last night. He's also got some playing time in the outfield as the Tigers want to get his bat in the lineup, especially against lefties as he has elite power against LHP.
MLB DFS Hitter Stacks
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Cody Ponce
The Brew Crew has now won ten straight games and 12 of their last 13. The biggest part of this run has to be their offensive improvement from earlier in the season. Yelich is hitting now and youngsters like Tyrone Taylor and Luis Urias have made major contributions. The trade for Willy Adames has upgraded their infield, Jace Peterson is red hot and Omar Narvaez is one of the better-hitting catchers in baseball. This team is very stackable as Yelich is really the only expensive piece of a stack on FD and it's very stackable on DK, too, with the value that Peterson and Taylor bring.
Detroit Tigers vs. Dallas Keuchel
It's never fun to recommend a Tigers stack because they are capable of just going out and doing absolutely nothing - even against a very hittable pitcher like Keuchel. But their overall numbers and batted ball metrics have improved dramatically from earlier in the season when they couldn't hit lefties at all. We touched on Schoop and Haase already, but we can add guys like Robbie Grossman, Jeimer Candelario, and Miguel Cabrera to round out some really affordable stacks that should come in fairly low-owned.
Other recommended stacks: San Diego Padres vs. Zach Eflin
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