Covering the Bases: Saturday, June 24
STLCardinals84, one of the best tournament players in the game, is here to cover the bases for the upcoming MLB DFS slate. Whether you are looking for the top pitchers or the best stacks, Cards has you covered with an extensive deep dive into his MLB DFS picks.
Welcome to the weekend, Grinders! We have our usual split slate Saturday in store today, but it is another one where things are heavily skewed toward day games. Both FanDuel and DraftKings are offering a ten game “main” slate that starts at 4 PM ET, and that will be followed by a four game evening slate.
After a few crazy days this week, it seems like we are going to get a breather on weather issues today. I’m sure Kevin Roth is thankful for that! In any case, the main slate offers quite a bit of fun on both the pitching and hitting sides of the ledger, so let’s get down to business with some MLB DFS picks!
Saturday Afternoon Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings
Top Tier Arms
James Paxton at White Sox
Merrill Kelly at Giants
Jon Gray at Yankees
Max Scherzer at Phillies
For the second straight Saturday, we have a slate that is devoid of elite-level aces, but we still have some interesting options at the top. It’s quite the interesting group, with one pitcher returning from injury and looking like his old self (Paxton), two pitchers that are ascending in 2023 (Kelly and Gray), and one veteran trying to get back to ace status (Scherzer). As always, here’s a peek at the data:
Paxton – 3.29 ERA, 3.08 xFIP, 33% K, 7% BB
Kelly – 2.90 ERA, 3.61 xFIP, 27% K, 10% BB
Gray – 2.96 ERA, 4.38 xFIP, 22% K, 8% BB
Scherzer – 4.04 ERA, 4.07 xFIP, 26% K, 6% BB
Paxton definitely has the best metrics of the group to go along with his elite strikeout profile. He faces a White Sox team that grades out right around league average in most categories against LHP, but the problem is that we are going to want money to spend on bats today, and Paxton no longer comes at a discount ($10,100 FD, $10,300 DK). I like him quite a bit, and he’s my SP1 if salary isn’t a thing for you. Kelly is in the mix as well, and he is in fine form right now. He has logged five straight starts of 34+ FD and 16+ DK points, but he sits at a similar salary tag to Paxton. I prefer the Boston lefty if choosing between the two.
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