Daily Fantasy Baseball 2015: Best MLB Position Player Picks for June 20 – Bleacher Report

Fifteen MLB games scattered throughout Saturday create separate slates for daily players to tackle on DraftKings.

To keep things simple, let’s analyze them through the early and night slates. Although the afternoon’s six games can also be split apart into two distinct contests, all bouts starting before 7 p.m. ET will lie under the day umbrella. That leaves nine matchups for the latecomers.

Both tilts are driven by an ace, with Max Scherzer taking the hill early and Corey Kluber pitching later. If Bryce Harper is out again, Francisco Liriano becomes just as intriguing as his Cy Young-caliber opponent. After that, users can free up money on offense with affordable No. 2 starters such as Trevor May, Jesse Hahn, John Lackey and Taijuan Walker. 

The pitching choices are fairly clear-cut, so let’s break down hitters all across Saturday to target.

Day

OF Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles ($4,700) at Toronto

Since last year, Adam Jones is hitting .354/.404/.616 with 12 homers against left-handed pitchers. He’ll test that dominance against Mark Buehrle, who is sullied with a .479 opposing slugging percentages at the Rogers Centre this season.

Inside a great hitters’ park, the aggressive Jones gets a soft-tossing lefty who pitches to contact. Everything is lined up for a big day, with Delmon Young also serving as a cheaper platoon play.

SS Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers ($3,800) at White Sox

In a week where they’ve already seen baseball’s two toughest lefties in Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale, the Texas Rangers receive a much more manageable adversary in Carlos Rodon. Typically not the ideal daily choice, Elvis Andrus boasts a career .351 on-base percentage against lefties.

The rookie hurler has already issued 25 walks through 44.1 innings, so Andrus should at least reach base while batting atop Texas’ otherwise lefty-loaded lineup. Inflation wiped out any Coors Field advantage for Jean Segura, so Andrus represents the best alternative to Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop.

Stack: Colorado Rockies vs. Milwaukee (RHP Kyle Lohse)

The chalk play is too good to ignore here. Kyle Lohse will step into Coors Field carrying a 6.44 ERA, the highest mark among all qualified starters. Although expensive, none of the Colorado Rockies cost $5,000 or more.

Managing a full Colorado stack will prove difficult, especially for those employing Scherzer. Catching fire with six homers this month, Carlos Gonzalez is back to an elite choice at home. Then again, Nolan Arenado has collected 15 of his 16 deep balls against righties this season, and Tulowitzki is the obvious top choice at shortstop. 

If forced to choose, rank them in that order. As long as they’re in the lineup, Nick Hundley and Ben Paulsen make cheap complements to one or two Rockies studs.

Night

C Derek Norris ($3,800), San Diego Padres at Arizona

Although he has yet to take a lefty deep this season, Derek Norris is hitting .341/.396/.477 against them. Over his career, he sports a 144 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) off southpaws.

While Robbie Ray has registered a 1.09 ERA through four starts, it comes with 5.84 strikeouts per nine innings (K/9), a .229 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and a 4.48 skill interactive ERA (SIERA). A change in venue to Chase Field also helps Norris’ cause for finally clearing the fence.  

1B Mark Teixeira ($4,700) and 3B Alex Rodriguez ($4,400), New York Yankees vs. Detroit

Can Alfredo Simon continue to perform above his peripherals? Not when he’s forced to pitch at Yankee Stadium. While generating a stellar .555 OPS versus righties, lefties have done better at .705, producing four homers.

Still pretty solid, but the 34-year-old must combat the short porch in right field against Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, who both pulverize righties at home. Teixeira is particularly appetizing given Simon’s splits, but Mr. 3,000 is good enough to bet against Simon’s success against righties.

OF Anthony Gose ($3,500), Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees

There’s just as much to like on the other side of the Yankees-Tigers matchups. Opponents are teeing off against Nathan Eovaldi to a tune of .329/.371/.464. Lefties fare even better, hitting an outrageous .400/.453/.556.

Nobody is saying to fade Miguel Cabrera, and J.D. Martinez is a particularly attractive value at Yankee Stadium for $4,200. Yet Anthony Gose is a lefty hitting .301 against righties while leading off for the dangerous Detroit Tigers. A .385 BABIP has certainly helped, but he has a great chance of reaching base for the ninth consecutive game.

He should put the ball in play and cross home plate once or twice, but don’t count on any stolen bases. Eovaldi hasn’t allowed a steal all year, the one negative in an otherwise great matchup given Gose‘s $3,500 cost.

2B/3B Justin Turner ($3,700) and OF Andre Ethier ($3,500), Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco

Sick of hearing about Justin Turner and Andre Ethier? Too bad. As long as they’re cheap and starting against righties, they’re worth tossing into all lineups. 

Brandishing a 4.68 ERA and 4.54 K/9, Tim Hudson hardly imposes any fear into the opposition these days. Employing one or both of these overlooked Los Angeles Dodgers sluggers saves cap space for Cabrera, Giancarlo Stanton or an expensive Yankees or Tigers stack.

Advanced stats courtesy of FanGraphs.

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