June 16, 2016

Kevin Luchansky highlights the top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for 6/16/16. These are the top value and sleeper plays for your FanDuel MLB DFS lineups.

Ten games scheduled for today and that's a relatively high amount for a Thursday. Three take place this afternoon and the remaining seven will take place after 7:05 EDT for the Main slate. FanDuel has broken this out into three contests - Early Only (3), All Day (10) and Main (7).

If you're looking to derive any insights from Vegas lines, my suggestion would be take a heavy look at Baltimore at Boston (over/under of 10), and both the Rangers at Athletics and Yankees at Twins, which have over/unders of 8.5. The hitters with the highest positive park factors today are the Orioles and Red Sox right-handed batters and the left and right-handed batters of the Blue Jays and Phillies.

In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball MLB lineup picks for FanDuel on 6/16/16. The DFS lineup picks will range from high-priced to low-priced options and identify options who will out-perform their expectations, including sleepers and value plays on FanDuel.

DFS Lineup Stacks to Target for FanDuel

New York Mets Left-Handed Batters versus Juan Nicasio

I'll start this out by saying there isn't any one stack I absolutely love today, but on the relative scale, I like this one a fair amount. The Mets' bats finally woke up last night, they have some strong left-handed hitters available on the cheap in Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto, and they face a pitcher who struggles mightily against lefty bats. For the season, Nicasio has allowed a .410 wOBA and .553 slugging percentage against left-handed hitters. Throw in Cespedes, who hits right-handed pitchers very well (.297 ISO) and you've got a strong core of hitters in Flushing.

Baltimore Orioles Right-Handed Batters versus Eduardo Rodriguez

At some point, I think E-Rod will flash some middle to upper tier starting pitcher stuff - but that time is not here or now. This game features the highest projected run total of the day at 10, and I have a feeling the majority of the offensive clout is provided by the Orioles - particulalry their right-handed batters. It's a small sample size, but for the season, Rodriguez has allowed a .395 wOBA and .615 slugging percentage to right-handed batters. Consider the fact the right-handed hitters have the best positive park factors today, and you've got a pretty strong stack. The Orioles I'm targeting are Adam Jones, Joey Rickard, Mark Trumbo and Manny Machado.

DFS Starting Pitchers to Consider for FanDuel

Today's options are what I would consider slim-pickins'. While I'm not telling you to avoid cash games - especially if those are your thing - I'm not confident enough in any of these guys to lay much of my bankroll on the line in cash games.

Scott Kazmir (SP, LAD) - $8,000

Kazmir gets a nod from me for a handful of reasons. The first of which is consistency. His last start wasn't strong, but the three preceding all exceeded value and he was stellar in one of those, eclipsing 65 FanDuel points. He's averaging 8.1 K/9 and tonight, he has higher strikeout upside than usual facing a Brewers team that has struck out in nearly 29% of their at-bats against southpaws. Kazmir is also starting in his home park in Los Angeles, which happens to be one of the best pitcher parks in the game.

James Paxton (SP, SEA) - $8,500

Paxton is one of the most intriguing pitchers in baseball this season as he's experienced an incredible spike in his velocity rate and, in turn, his strikeout rate. Tonight he has a pretty strong matchup in a pitcher friendly ballpark in Tampa Bay. His control has certainly been an issue, but in tournament formats, his incredible 13.4 K/9 average combined with the Rays' 28.3% strikeout rate versus southpaws makes for a solid pick. The low salary of both Paxton and Kazmir leave a lot of room to load of up on heavy hitters, too.

DFS Infielders to Consider for FanDuel

Catcher (C)

Matt Wieters (C, BAL) - $2,800

It's not a total surprise that catcher is the weakest position tonight, but tonight's options seem particularly brutal. Wieters gets the nod for me since he's relatively cheap, has okay splits (.309 wOBA, .415 slugging percentage), and the biggest reason - I think he'll have ample opportunities to drive in runs and be driven home in what should be a high scoring affair.

First Base (1B)

David Ortiz (1B, BOS) - $4,100

Even with a price tag that starts with the digit four, I'm considering this a bargain for Ortiz. His numbers, specifically his splits (.450 wOBA, .371 ISO) speak for themselves, but the most enticing part about tonight's matchup is that Tyler Wilson is no match for Big Papi.

Second Base (2B)

Rougned Odor (2B, TEX) - $3,100

I toyed with a few other suggestions at second base but I'm going with price, splits and matchup in this one. Odor is priced much lower than normal, his splits against right-handed pitchers are strong (.338 wOBA, .235 ISO) and he gets to face a rookie pitcher in Daniel Mengden. I think the opportunities to drive in runs will absolutely be there as the Rangers chase Mengden from his first start.

Shortstop (SS)

Eduardo Nunez (SS, MIN) - $3,400

Another fairly priced middle infielder that has a lot of pop and a strong matchup today is Mr. Nunez. For the season, his splits - .381 wOBA, .310 ISO - are very impressive and he'll matchup with the pitcher formerly known as CC Sabathia.

Third Base (3B)

Nick Castellanos (3B, DET) - $3,000

While he hasn't struggled that much of late, he also hasn't put up any big numbers in the past week or so. As such, we've witnessed his price drop $200 this month and when you consider his splits and the matchup today, I'd consider him a bargain. His .298 ISO split is very impressive and I think there's a chance he's overlooked tonight as well.

DFS Outfielders to Consider for FanDuel

Shin-Soo Choo (OF, TEX) - $2,900

I'm a big fan of riding a hot bat, especially when said bats' salary price has yet to catch up with performance. It's a smaller split, but I love Choo's .410 wOBA split and his .214 ISO is fairly strong as well. Tonight, I really like his chances to keep up the production against a rookie pitcher making his first start.

Mookie Betts (OF, BOS) - $4,500

Like with the case of Big Papi, I can see Betts getting the best of Tyler Wilson a few times this evening. Betts' splits are among the best in the game, especially for a leadoff hitter, and he has strong park factors working in his favor, too.

Curtis Granderson (OF, NYM) - $3,400

I called out Granderson in my favorite stack at the top of this article and I'll be placing him in my standard (non-stack) tournament lineups as well. Nicasio is absolute trash against left-handed hitters and Granderson's splits - .386 wOBA, .270 ISO - are to be reckoned with.

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