Jakob Junis Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Aside from Jacob DeGrom and a few other value arms, it is tough to find viable pitching options on this slate. One intriguing option is Jacob Junis, who is at home in pitcher-friendly Kauffman Stadium to face the Mets. The Mets do have a scorching hot 131 wRC+ over the past 2 weeks, but have since lost good hitters due to injuries, and their lineup for tonight is largely unimposing. Their starting lineup tonight contains just two batters (Conforto and Alonso) who have an xwOBA greater than .315 vs. RHP on the year. Junis hasn’t been spectacular this year (4.80 ERA / 4.61 xFIP / 4.61 SIERA) but he does have a respectable 14% K-BB and is certainly capable of producing good starts here and there. If he can limit damage to Pete Alonso and Michael Conforto, Junis stands a good chance of hitting value on his $8.3k and $8.5k price tags on Draftkings and Fanduel, respectively. On a slate with very few options that stand out, Junis shouldn’t see high ownership given the Mets’ recent success and that he is facing Jacob DeGrom who should easily be the highest owned pitcher on the slate.

While it would seem beneficial to each team to have a RHP on the mound with the wind blowing out to left at Fenway tonight, Jakob Junis has allowed 13 of his 24 HRs to RHBs this year, while Cashner has allowed 13 of his 15 to same-handed batters. The Red Sox own the highest implied run line on the board (6.24), so bombs away. This much is obvious. However, Cashner has allowed 20 runs (18 earned) in 23.1 innings since being traded, facing each division opponent once. The Royals are not a productive offense vs RHP (88 wRC+, 11 HR/FB), but the top half of the lineup does feature three RHBs who have been proficient against RHP over the last calendar year in Whit Merrifield (119 wRC+, .153 ISO), Hunter Dozier (130 wRC+, .264 ISO) and Jorge Soler (127 wRC+, .290 ISO). The Royals are merely a middle of the board offense tonight (4.76) and are unlikely to be as highly regarded in GPPs as their opponents.

Jakob Junis has allowed multiple HRs in six of his last 13 starts, which is perhaps the most glaring stat here upon viewing conditions that are expected to strongly boost overall offense and power in Kansas City tonight. Another glaring stat is that his 29.7 Hard-Soft% is worst on the board, as his 89.6 mph aEV has led to a .354 xwOBA that’s just two points removed from his actual mark. Despite 5.12 implied runs, the Tribe is barely inside the top third of the board tonight and could go over-looked in this spot due to offensive struggles this season (90 wRC+, 13.7 HR/FB vs RHP), but this is a strong spot for them in a park that is generally power suppressing, though shouldn’t be tonight. LHBs have hammered Junis to the tune of a .362 wOBA and 45.2 Hard% over the last 12 months. While only Francisco Lindor (109 wRC+, .217 ISO) and Carlos Santana (118 wRC+, .213 ISO) are above a .200 ISO over the last calendar year against RHP, Oscar Mercado (142 wRC+, .185 ISO), Jason Kipnis (121 wRC+, .196 ISO), Jose Ramirez (95 wRC+, .190 ISO) and Jake Bauers (93 wRC+, .172 ISO) have shown some pop as well.