Friday, June 4, rolls out a mega main slate with every team in action. Let’s get into the top MLB DFS picks for pitchers and stacks for Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel.
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MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers and Top Stacks, Friday, June 4th
Yahoo Stack of the Day: Boston Red Sox at RHP Michael King — 4.8 implied runs
While this is just the second start for Michael King, all seven of his appearances have been multi-inning efforts this season. Though he is technically no longer a rookie, he has just 50.2 innings in The majors. Projection systems like him as a long reliever who does a decent job of limiting home runs, ranging from 1.3 to 1.4 per nine innings, and with adequate strikeout stuff between 7.75 and 8.32 per nine innings. With Corey Kluber on the injured list, King will be slotting in as the fifth starter. Today gamers should expect 55 to 65 pitches, or around three innings. The Yankees will then turn to their bullpen with lefties Nestor Cortes, Lucas Luetge and Wandy Peralta working in conjunction with righty Jonathan Loaisiga to pick up the remainder of the game.
J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts are the priority targets as they excel against pitchers of either handedness. Rafael Devers has hammered righties with a .326 ISO over his last 308 plate appearances, and he is an intriguing MLB DFS pick for an early home run. Hunter Renfroe has light-tower power with a .226 ISO against same-handed hurlers and a .318 ISO against lefties — the $16 salary on Yahoo is likely to keep most gamers at bay. If looking for a full stack, switch-hitting Danny Santana, catcher Christian Vazquez and Alex Verdugo can be used to round things out.
Evening Slate
Milwaukee Brewers vs. RHP Matt Peacock — 4.8 implied runs
Tonight gamers are going to be flocking to the Coors Field Extravaganza, which currently has an 11-run implied total. Temperatures at first pitch will be nearly 90 degrees, and warm weather boosts the offensive production in the thin Denver air. Instead, look for some countermoves and alternatives for leverage against the field.
This will be the fourth start for Matt Peacock, who began the season working out of the bullpen. This is likely the last stop for Peacock since he will likely be released if he is not able to stick with the Diamondbacks. There is not a lot of upside for Peacock, who barely cracked the top 35 prospect rankings for Arizona. Generally considered a ground-baller with little strikeout upside and marginal command, fly-ball hitters will have the opportunity to take any mistakes out of the yard.
The primary target will be Christian Yelich, though Daniel Vogelbach, Omar Narvaez and Travis Shaw deserve consideration as lefty power hitters with reasonable salaries across the DFS sites. Arizona’s bullpen has languished in the bottom five this season by most standard and advanced metrics. This should not be a surprise considering the collective relievers have posted similarly poor results when looking at the two- and three-season timeframes as well.
Late Slate
Chicago Cubs at San Francisco Giants — 4.5 implied runs
To be clear, none of the three late-slate games are particularly interesting from an offensive perspective for the full Friday slate. The Angels’ offense is nothing to write home about, and taking the Mariners against Shohei Ohtani is not particularly appealing. The Giants’ offense is missing Brandon Belt and Mike Yastrzemski, plus Evan Longoria is dinged up. The Mets are facing Blake Snell, so that takes them out of the primary spot, which leaves either the Padres or the Cubs.
San Francisco has not announced a starter tonight after designating Logan Webb to the injured list yesterday. Aaron Sanchez is already on the injured list, so tonight will likely end up as a bullpen game. The expectation is lefties Scott Kazmir and Conner Menez will be combining with righties Nick Tropeano and Matt Wisler as the freshest arms available.
Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo are the power trio to target in this matchup, as they are equally adept against righties and lefties. Switch-hitting Ian Happ is fine in any format and deserves consideration as a one-off on the main slate with this reasonable salary. Joc Pederson is the wild card, though it would make sense to keep him at the top of the order, even if it is a southpaw starting for San Francisco since it will probably be a bullpen game. Willson Contreras is the top catching option for the evening action.
Spotlight Pitchers
Top Target: RHP Max Scherzer at Philadelphia Phillies — 3.6 implied runs
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $56 | FanDuel $11,200 | DraftKings $11,400
With all 30 teams in action and a game in Coors Field, Max Scherzer is actually going somewhat under the radar. He is posting stellar numbers across the board, with a 2.34 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings. The Phillies offense is still without Bryce Harper and Didi Gregorius, which creates a noticeable talent drop-off for the back end of the lineup. If this salary is a little too rich on FanDuel, by all means turn to Freddy Peralta ($8,700) for a $2,500 savings and just as much upside as Scherzer along with a 2-to-1 of Milwaukee earning a victory.
Secondary Option: RHP Shohei Ohtani vs. Seattle Mariners — 4.0 implied runs
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $44 | FanDuel $9,500 | DraftKings $7,600
Much like Peralta’s wrong salary on FanDuel, DraftKings somehow assigned Shohei Ohtani a lower salary than both Jon Gray and Frankie Montas in Coors Field, Spencer Turnbull squaring off against the White Sox, and Blake Snell, who has tallied 1.4 DraftKings total points across his last two starts. Just put Ohtani on the majority of your rosters and move on to the other positions.
On FanDuel the $9,500 is more of a decision point, and it is unlikely that Ohtani will qualify for a quality start since he has completed the sixth inning only twice this season and Peralta is $900 less. The Yahoo salary is a great deal, and there are enough sub-$10 hitters to open up options there.
Wildcard: RHP Cody Poteet at Pittsburgh Pirates — 4.0 implied runs
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $37 | FanDuel $6,900 | DraftKings $6,600
This is a nice matchup for rookie Cody Poteet in the pitching-friendly environment of PNC Park. Even with the return of Ke’Bryan Hayes, who missed the last two months with a wrist injury, there are not many scary hitters among the 2021 iteration of the Pirates. By pairing Ohtani and Poteet on DraftKings, there is flexibility to do pretty much anything with double stacks, as that will leave a whopping $4,475 per position player. On Yahoo the $37 is a little high, but the strikeout upside for Poteet is intriguing. This seems like an unnecessary play on FanDuel with so many discount dandy bats providing salary relief.
Final Thoughts for the Friday, June 4th MLB DFS Slate
This should be a fun tournament slate, as there are many different roster construction strategies that are viable tonight. As always, be mindful that salaries and scoring formats differ across the various fantasy sites, and a home run play on Yahoo may be a below-average MLB DFS pick on DraftKings or FanDuel.
