Covering the Bases: Sunday, July 16
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.
Happy Sunday, Grinders! We have the usual Sunday slate on tap for us today, with ten games available on the DraftKings main slate. FanDuel is adding the NYY/COL game at Coors Field, so we have eleven games to choose from over there. The presence of a Coors game on one of the two main sites will likely make your lineups look a little different between the sites today.
We have had some strong pitching in the first two days since baseball returned from the All Star break, so that leaves us without a lot of elite choices today. However, everyone is dealing with the same player pool!
Let’s see what this fun Sunday slate has to offer for MLB DFS picks!
Sunday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings
Top Tier Pitching
Zach Eflin vs. Royals
Zack Wheeler vs. Padres
Max Scherzer vs. Dodgers
Justin Steele vs. Red Sox
Gerrit Cole vs. Rockies [FD Only]
As I mentioned in the introduction, we don’t have a lot of elite pitching today. I was probably a bit aggressive with that statement, as we do have the likes of Scherzer and Cole on this slate. However, both of them draw very difficult matchups against the Dodgers and Rockies (at Coors), respectively. In any case, here’s the 2023 data:
Eflin – 3.25 ERA, 3.06 xFIP, 26% K, 4% BB
Wheeler – 4.05 ERA, 3.48 xFIP, 27% K, 5% BB
Scherzer – 4.31 ERA, 3.99 xFIP, 28% K, 6% BB
Steele – 2.56 ERA, 3.84 xFIP, 22% K, 5% BB
Cole – 2.85 ERA, 3.88 xFIP, 26% K, 7% BB
Gerrit Cole has advanced metrics that suggest second half regression, and his strikeout level just isn’t the same compared to a few years ago. Throw in a date at Coors Field, and I just can’t get on board with the play — especially since he is only available on FD where you only get one pitcher.
Justin Steele is another pitcher that I just don’t have any interest in today. We have a strong wind blowing out at Wrigley Field, and Steele has the lowest strikeout rate of this top group by a wide margin. He’s also priced near $10,000 on both sites, so there’s no reason to go here.
That leaves Eflin, Wheeler, and Scherzer.
