MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers & Top Stacks for Thursday, June 17

Thursday, June 17, has a two-game afternoon appetizer followed by the enticing eight-game main course. 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, Thursday, June 17

Yahoo Stack of the Day: Toronto Blue Jays vs. RHP Michael King  — 5.4 implied runs

Tonight 26-year-old Michael King will be making his fourth start of the season. While he has decent numbers on the year, that is somewhat masked by working out of the bullpen for 30 to 50 pitches in multi-inning outings. Stepping into the rotation as the Corey Kluber replacement, King is averaging 66 pitches per start across 11.1 innings with a 6.35 ERA, 1.588 WHIP and 10 strikeouts.

Toronto is hosting this series in Buffalo at Sahlen Field, which is where its Triple-A affiliate plays. The Blue Jays are now fully healthy and just drilled a franchise-record eight home runs against Boson on Sunday. They have an impressive collection of power up and down the lineup that most teams can only dream about. Thursday’s salaries are not going to break the bank, and the Blue Jays are the perfect countermove for the Coors Field Extravaganza, which actually features good pitching tonight.

Gamers are paying top dollar for the privilege of rolling with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($27), who  leads the league with 22 home runs. Bo Bichette ($20) and Marcus Semien ($21) provide a bit of a discount, but Randall Grichuk ($15), Lourdes Gurriel ($14), Cavan Biggio ($14) and Rowdy Tellez ($11) will be the MLB DFS picks that open up room to average down the per-player Yahoo salary and maneuver to a full stack. For the extremely cost-conscious, feel free to start stacks with Teoscar Hernandez ($18) and work down the order from the cleanup spot. Each of these hitters has tallied ISOs over .200 over the last two-plus seasons against right-handed hurlers.

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Evening Slate

Chicago White Sox at RHP Jose Urquidy — 4.0 implied runs

While Coors Field is also on this slate, looking to the White Sox for differentiation seems like a viable strategy tonight. Game-time temperatures are expected to be in the mid-80s, and the Minute Maid roof is scheduled to be open. Jose Urquidy was off to a hot start this season before landing on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. This will be his fourth start since his return. In his prior two, he has allowed five home runs over 11.1 innings, though three of those were solo shots, so the damage was limited to only a 7.15 ERA in these tilts. Urquidy tends to survive his pedestrian 20.9% strikeout rate with just a 5.3% walk rate. However with his 43.2% fly-ball rate, he is constantly living on the edge with warning-track outs.

Jose Abreu is always a great place to start when looking to the White Sox. Though Yasmani Grandal has an anemic .153 batting average this season, 12 of his 21 hits have been for extra bases, including 10 home runs, and he is on pace for a career-high 30. Tim Anderson has become a complete hitter, and veteran Brian Goodwin will likely be hitting second after being called up from the minors only five days ago to replace Nick Madrigal. His salary is near the minimums across the DFS landscape. Chicago is a fine option as a full stack on the evening slate, though for the main slate, they are best used as a secondary stack for differentiation.

Late Slate

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. RHP Matt Manning — 5.2 implied runs

This will be the MLB debut for 23-year-old Matt Manning. He rates as a top-five prospect for Detroit, though he has struggled at Triple-A Toledo. With the pandemic-shortened season, he last saw regular action in 2019, going 133.2 innings for Double-A Erie and posting 10 strikeouts per nine innings and just seven home runs allowed. This year he was promoted to Toledo, where he has made seven starts while maintaining his 10 strikeouts per nine innings. However, in just 32.1 innings, he has allowed 11 home runs, which is somewhat worrisome.

Mike Trout is out and Shohei Ohtani is slated to pitch tonight, so his bat will not be an option. Justin Upton has been solid this month, with a .306/.460/.653 triple-slash line in 49 June at-bats. Jared Walsh is rounding into a solid talent and is not getting enough credit from the DFS world, and Max Stassi is white hot.

Spotlight Pitchers

Top Target: RHP Shohei Ohtani vs. Detroit Tigers — 2.4 implied runs

  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $37 | FanDuel $11,000 | DraftKings $8,100

FanDuel is going to make this an interesting decision point with the five-figure salary for Shohei Ohtani on a Coors Field slate. DraftKings and Yahoo are coming in with more palatable rates, and gamers can even consider pairing Ohtani with another top pitcher by selectively punting just two hitting slots. While it is not smart to bank on a win, Los Angeles is a hefty 2-to-1 favorite to secure the victory tonight. Ohtani has just 47.1 innings on the mound, but his 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings would be tied with Shane Bieber for the second best in MLB if he had enough innings to qualify. Ohtani has completed five innings in six of his last seven starts, which makes him the pitcher of record and eligible for the win if all the other conditions are met.

Secondary Target: RHP Joe Musgrove — 3.2 implied runs

  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $50 | FanDuel $8,500 | DraftKings $8,900

Tonight it will be 69 degrees at Petco Park where the Padres will be allowed to open up attendance to maximum capacity for the first time since the 2019 season. Joe Musgrove has a 2.50 ERA this season, and his 12 strikeouts and 0.83 base runners allowed per nine innings each rank sixth in the league. While the Reds have the second-best offense at home, they are in the bottom third of the league when on the road. Tonight’s projected lineup has a 25% strikeout rate over the last two-plus seasons, and that excludes the pitcher.

Wild Card: LHP Rich Hill at Seattle Mariners — 3.7 implied runs

  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $46 | FanDuel $8,300 | DraftKings $9,200

The only reason Rich Hill is making this list is because of how weak the Mariners current lineup iteration is with Kyle Lewis and Evan White on the shelf. This is a lofty salary, and there are already two better pitching recommendations on the late slate. The projected Mariners lineup has a grand total of 12 at-bats against Hill, so that plays into his favor at least for the first time through the order. This season in T-Mobile Park, Seattle has the second-least efficient scoring offense in the league and the third-highest strikeout rate. Hill is in play as a differentiation option.

Final Thoughts for the Thursday, June 17, MLB DFS Slate

Today there are no precipitation issues, and most of the outdoor stadiums will experience early-summer weather. 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.

Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].

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