Thursday, July 1, has a seven-game main slate with some tricky weather situations. Let’s get into the top MLB DFS picks for pitchers and stacks for Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel daily fantasy baseball lineups.
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MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers and Top Stacks, Thursday, July 1
Yahoo Stack of the Day: Milwaukee Brewers at RHP Wil Crowe — 4.9 implied runs
Considering the weather issues in Atlanta, Denver and Washington, the Brewers are a safe option in Pittsburgh against the highly flammable Wil Crowe. Tonight will mark the 14th career start for Crowe, who has 54 innings under his belt in the majors. With a career 7.33 ERA, 16 home runs allowed and 1.78 baserunners per inning, it is easy to see why the masses are focusing on Milwaukee. Five of his home runs have been accounted for by lefties, with the other 11 going to same-handed batsmen.
Luis Urias celebrated his 200th game in style yesterday, going 4-for-5 with four RBIs, three runs scored and a pair of home runs. After no long balls in 109 at-bats last year, he already has 10 in 247 this year. Recent acquisition Willy Adames has been locked in, with a .399 wOBA, .294 ISO and a discerning 16.4% walk rate over the last month. Since being recalled from a stint in the minors, Keston Hiura has three home runs in his last six games. Omar Narvaez is one of the best-hitting catchers in the game, and his $17 salary should keep his popularity in check. Avisail Garcia always has fared well against same-handed pitchers and has a .222 ISO in his last 59 plate appearances. While Christian Yelich has shown signs of coming out of his season-long slump, skipping him today would be an easy way to gain some differentiation from the field.
Awesemo’s MLB DFS experts have created a new MLB Home Run & Strikeout Player Prop Tool that can help when making MLB DFS picks and offer some action down in the sports betting market. This expert tool is designed for predicting the probability of hitters to hit home runs and pitchers to reach a certain number of strikeouts.
Late Slate
San Francisco Giants at RHP Merrill Kelly — 4.9 implied runs
The Chase Field roof is scheduled to be closed tonight, though this game is still likely to be popular given that three main-slate games are dealing with various degrees of precipitation risk. Merrill Kelly has been quite effective in his last two starts, with only one run and 11 baserunners allowed in 13 innings. Keep in mind that Kelly did not debut until his age-30 season.
Mike Yastrzemski is expected back after fouling a ball off his shin on Monday and should be a priority target. Alex Dickerson has been seeing time in the middle of the order with Brandon Belt out, and gamers can definitely use his salary savings. Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey are fine options, and LaMonte Wade Jr. looks like another successful Giants reclamation project.
Spotlight Pitchers
Top Target: RHP: Jacob deGrom at Atlanta Braves — 3.1 implied runs
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $66 | FanDuel $11,500 | DraftKings $11,500
To be especially different tonight, gamers can leave Jacob deGrom off lineups and instead roster Atlanta hitters against him. In his last start deGrom did the unthinkable and allowed two runs. On the season he has now allowed six earned runs, while he himself has six RBIs. He is leading MLB with a 0.69 ERA, a 0.530 WHIP and 14.1 strikeouts per nine innings. Not only is this a career year, but it also has the makings of an all-time season.
Secondary Target: RHP Corbin Burnes at Pittsburgh Pirates — 3.0 implied runs
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $54 | FanDuel $10,600 | DraftKings $9,200
Although he does not have enough innings to qualify, Corbin Burnes is not doing too shabbily compared to the league aces. Both his 2.53 ERA and 0.921 WHIP would rank in the top 20, and his 13.86 strikeouts per nine innings would trail only deGrom. The Pittsburgh offense has been better now that they are healthy, though it still is not a terrifying lineup and has a lot of holes.
Wild Card Option: RHP Johnny Cueto at Arizona Diamondbacks — 4.3 implied runs
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $36 | FanDuel $8,900 | DraftKings $7,300
With so many weather issues, on the two-pitcher sites it looks like Johnny Cueto has to be considered. He has been solid this season and seems to finally be back into top shape. Injuries allowed him to make only 13 starts between 2018 and 2019, and it was clear he was still working his way back in 12 outings last year. The Arizona lineup is not bad, but it is not great either. So this is like a mirror image matchup. Feel free to play both sides of this one, particularly if either the bats or Cueto start to gain some traction with their projected popularity.
Final Thoughts for the Thursday, July 1, MLB DFS Slate
Keep an eye on the weather forecasts leading up to first pitch, with precipitation risk looming in Washington, Atlanta and Denver. 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.
