Covering the Bases: Sunday, June 11
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 our usual large Sunday main slate today, but with a couple of caveats:
1) FD is including the Coors Field game that starts at 3:10 PM ET. DK is not including this game. We also have an ORANGE/YELLOW weather designation for this game, so things could get tricky here.
2) Due to the weather forecast, the HOU/CLE game has been moved up an hour and will now start at 12:40 PM ET. DK has adjusted the lock time of contests today, so make sure to get your lineups in early. FD has not announced anything as of the time I am writing this. They will either need to similarly adjust their lock time or remove that game from the slate. Keep an eye on this; for now, I am writing as if the game will still be included on their slate.
UPDATE – FD has also moved lock time to 12:40 PM ET
Sunday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings
The Top Options
Kevin Gausman vs. Twins
Shane McClanahan vs. Rangers
Mitch Keller vs. Mets
We are greeted with a trio of aces on this Sunday slate, and all three have been fun to watch this year. Let’s take a look at their numbers this season:
Gausman – 2.63 ERA, 2.52 xFIP, 34% K, 6% BB
McClanahan – 2.02 ERA, 3.56 xFIP, 29% K, 10% BB
Keller – 3.60 ERA, 3.22 xFIP, 28% K, 6% BB
All three of these pitchers have been absolutely fantastic in 2023, with Keller taking the biggest leap forward compared to his previous data. However, Gausman is the class of the group with the lowest xFIP, highest strikeout rate, and lowest walk rate. Gausman has also been red hot of late, allowing just one run over 13 2/3 innings in his two June starts, and he has a 24/2 K/BB ratio in those outings. He also benefits from facing a Twins team with a depleted lineup right now, while the other two pitchers have more difficult matchups.
To make it clear, Gausman is absolutely the SP1 today.
Now, it’s also worth keeping an eye on pOWN% here. If Gausman’s numbers get extraordinarily high, you could certainly make a case to pivot to the others in GPP builds, especially if you like to be contrarian. I’ll still have plenty of Gausman in any case. Keller would actually be my next choice with the Mets missing Alonso right now, as I don’t love using McClanahan against a pesky Texas lineup when you consider that the Rays are often careful with his pitch count. The difference in fantasy production with an extra 10-15 pitches can be more than what you would generally expect, and that scares me a bit with the Tampa ace.
I am ranking this trio as Gausman >>>> Keller > McClanahan today, though all are obviously viable in some capacity.
The Secondary Options
Lucas Giolito vs. Marlins
Freddy Peralta vs. A’s
Bryce Elder vs. Nationals
Hunter Greene vs. Cardinals
Shane Bieber vs. Astros
Braxton Garrett vs. White Sox
Even though we have some aces pitching today, don’t sleep on this secondary group of pitchers. There are some interesting upside targets in here. Again, you know the drill — here are the 2023 stats for all six:
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