Here is a look at our Daily Fantasy Sports – Major League Baseball Lineup Tips for June 19, 2018:
Pitchers:
Mike Clevinger is my favorite top end guy on the slate today, even with more talented arms above him. He gets a nice discount off of the very top and faces a White Sox team that is very capable of allowing a big game from an opposing pitcher. Clevinger has seen the White Sox twice and has produced 18 K’s in 13.2 innings while only surrendering 2 earned runs. I assume Clevinger will be less owned than both of the top end guys who do have what look to be appealing matchups. Verlander gets the Rays, who have been unimpressive and Sale gets a streaky but down Twins team who has killed him in the past. Both are good plays in both formats, but on such a big slate, I prefer taking a cheaper guy who has flashed similar upside.
Mike Soroka is a really talented young pitcher that is in a good spot vs. a Blue Jays team that does not profile well against Soroka. Soroka is a pitcher that limits hard contact and throws a lot of sliders at right-handed bats. This should be a great matchup for him barring any pitch count setbacks. In his return from the DL, Soroka started off with 6, no-hit innings until finally surrendering a hit in the seventh and being immediately taken out at only 74 pitches. If I had to guess, Soroka should be able to go 90 pitches, if not more. If we get word on anything more than 90 pitches, I’m in.A limit of anything less than 90 is going to be tough to justify at a high price tag.
Besides two starts ago, Vince Velasquez has been as consistent as they come when it comes to outings that return good fantasy output. Velasquez now faces a very right-handed heavy lineup that he should thrive against. Velasquez has also faced this team earlier and threw a rather clean 6 innings with 25 DK points to show for it. The main concern I have with the Cardinals is that they may be starting to heat up. If you combined this lineup at its best, they are borderline elite at the top, however, we have seen nothing close to that. Recently, Matt Carpenter and Marcell Ozuna have really heated up and Carpenter specifically scares me today. That being said, Velasquez should be able to avoid damage if he can limit walks tonight.
I wish the Brewers threw Freddy Peralta in spots that were good for him, but today, that isn’t quite the case. Peralta is a swing and miss guy and has good stuff, but the Pirates do not help pitchers in that category. I don’t mind betting on talent in a big ballpark here, but understand this isn’t the spot to go all in.
Domingo German’s stuff is nasty, but he has this problem that seemingly a lot of Yankee pitcher struggle with. STOP THROWING MEATBALLS WHEN YOU’RE UP IN THE COUNT. Simple, at least it seems like it should be. Tanaka, Gray, formerly Pineda, and now German, all seem to get ahead and rack up strikeouts but before you know it they allow a 3 run bomb on an 0-2 pitch and you hope they can salvage the start. Rousing endorsement, I know. Again, German is talented and if everything is working, he has massive upside, but this Mariners team is scary enough to make me extremely cautious.
Jefry Rodriguez is…. Interesting??? I need someone down here and maybe Jefry is my guy. He has been good in the minors this year and seems like he could have the stuff to get it done for one night. This isn’t a guy I expect to come up and stun the world, but he seems to have 2 solid pitches, which is my biggest concern and reason for hope. Let’s talk about hope. He has a good, hard fastball that should work well against a right-handed heavy Baltimore team. He also has a solid curveball that he should throw effectively to righties as well. His only other pitch is a changeup that he doesn’t show too much confidence in and won’t fit well against the matchup. I think he can get through the lineup a couple of times unscathed and throw up a solid performance. 2 pitches scares me in terms of upside. Generally, 2-pitch pitchers end up getting sent to the bullpen or forced to get another pitch at the same level as the other two because they struggle deeper into games. I could see this happening to Rodriguez, but at a cheap tag, I’m willing to side with the hope in this case, but it isn’t for the weak.
Stacks:
COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORS. Done.
But seriously, I may just play 100% and call it a day. This is clearly the worst pitching matchup we have had all year in Coors and the Mets offense showed signs of life yesterday just to pile on. I played all of the Mets (Except Nimmo, of course) yesterday but was very skeptical at their actual ability to hit the ball and take advantage of the park. They came through for me and I will no longer be afraid, although probably to my detriment. Vargas is a dream matchup for most of the key players on the Rockies including Arenado, LeMahieu, Story, Desmond, and hopefully Murphy. I will have multiple lineups with all sorts of combinations of this game.
I don’t think Eric Lauer is THAT bad and one day he will be good. Oakland is not the spot. Most of Oakland’s power comes from the right side and Lauer is not a guy that creates a lot of swing and miss opportunities. Oakland should be good for a couple of homers and maybe a massive game if they get some hits in between.
David Hess is better than people thought but not good and this matchup is HORRIBLE. The Nationals offense is top 5 in baseball and is getting healthy in a hurry. With the emergence of Juan Soto, they have added depth and power while getting back Eaton and Daniel Murphy to annoy pitchers and get on base. The Nationals are very much in play and a great stack as they can really explode from time to time.
Matt Koch is BAD, like REALLY BAD. I think the Angels go way overlooked tonight in a bad park against a rather unknown pitcher that hasn’t been that bad. Koch has gotten a combination o good spots and a lot of luck. Koch’s BABIP is .244, way below what it should be (5th lowest on slate), especially since his hard-hit% is the third highest on the slate. He is getting hit hard and getting lucky and this is a great spot to jump on the Angels and take advantage of a spot that is better than it looks at first glance.
Secondary Stacks: Detroit, Texas, Indians, Yankees