Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks for Tuesday, June 18th
Long-time grinder, stlcardinals84, 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 favorite MLB DFS picks.
Happy Tuesday, Grinders! I’m filling in for Cheese today as he rocks with his annual summer music camp. This looks to be a fun 10-game slate with some intriguing options for us to discuss on both the pitching and hitting sides of the ledger. I would say it’s slightly tilted to the offense, especially given the hot weather that is engulfing most of the country right now. Stay safe and hydrated out there, folks!
We do have some weather concerns, highlighted by an early ORANGE rating in the TB/MIN game at Target Field and a YELLOW rating for the Coors Field game. I am going to write the article assuming every game plays, but be sure to keep an eye on our MLB Weather page that Roth updates throughout the day.
Let’s see what this Tuesday has in store for MLB DFS picks!
Tuesday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings
SORT OF A TOP TIER
Tanner Houck vs. Blue Jays
Logan Webb vs. Cubs
Framber Valdez vs. White Sox
Pablo Lopez vs. Rays
As I mentioned in the introduction, I will give a lean to the bats over the arms. It’s not that we don’t have solid pitchers going tonight — it’s just that we lack a lot of elite upside with the top arms. This will make more sense once we look at the 2024 numbers:
Houck – 2.08 ERA, 2.87 xFIP, 25% K, 4% BB
Webb – 3.02 ERA, 3.07 xFIP, 21% K, 5% BB
Valdez – 3.99 ERA, 3.46 xFIP, 19% K, 7% BB
Lopez – 5.33 ERA, 3.36 xFIP, 26% K, 5% BB
All of these pitchers are generally guys that are better in real life than for fantasy purposes. We don’t have an elite strikeout pitcher in the group, and it’s just a tough slate to navigate within the salary cap if you are spending up at pitcher.
I am starting with this note to tell you that you absolutely don’t need to spend up for pitcher tonight. It’s counterintuitive to how we usually handle MLB DFS given that there is less variance with pitching scores than with offense, but that’s just how this slate breaks down. You can absolutely skip this tier if you want to save salary with your pitching choices.
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