DraftKings MLB Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 6/12/15
Now that the NHL and NBA seasons are nearly finished, it's the perfect time to start playing MLB DFS, if you haven't already.
DraftKings has contests going on each night where you can win real cash prizes. And with a nice slate tonight in baseball, it's the perfect chance to join and play. After all, new users at DraftKings get a free entry into a league with up to $100,000 in prizes.
Not sure who to select? Don't worry, we've got you covered with tonight's optimal lineup.
Be sure to check out our optimal lineups prior to games starting to ensure each player is in his team's lineup.
| Player | Opp | Salary | FP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton Kershaw (SP, LAD) | @SD | $12,800.00 | 21.18 |
| Jeff Locke (SP, PIT) | PHI | $6,000.00 | 14.80 |
| Brian Dozier (2B, MIN) | @TEX | $5,300.00 | 11.42 |
| Hanley Ramirez (OF/SS, BOS) | TOR | $4,600.00 | 9.87 |
| Charlie Blackmon (OF, COL) | @MIA | $4,600.00 | 10.30 |
| Adrian Gonzalez (1B, LAD) | @SD | $3,900.00 | 9.03 |
| Pedro Alvarez (1B/3B, PIT) | PHI | $3,700.00 | 8.98 |
| Yasmani Grandal (C, LAD) | @SD | $3,100.00 | 7.40 |
| Anthony Gose (OF, DET) | CLE | $3,000.00 | 8.18 |
| Andre Ethier (OF, LAD) | @SD | $3,000.00 | 8.03 |
The pitching tonight is spectacular, and as you see in the lineup above, Clayton Kershaw is our favorite hurler. He'll face the Padres in San Diego, one of the best pitcher's parks -- if not the best -- in the bigs. The Padres do have right-handed bats that could give Kershaw some trouble, but even still, San Diego ranks 19th in baseball in wOBA versus southpaws, so it's not as though this lineup is potent. And we all know Kershaw's upside, although he hasn't shown much of it this season.
The second pitcher that our algorithm spit out is a little more interesting in Jeff Locke. Now, because pitching matters so much in DFS, I wouldn't advise using this lineup in a cash game, because Locke could certainly blow up -- he's been pretty atrocious of late. But there's some upside given his cost. He'll be in Pittsburgh, a nice pitcher's park, against a Phillies lineup that's been one of the worst in the bigs this year. They've hit lefties better than righties for sure, which isn't good for Locke, but at $6,000, he's saving you a lot of cap to spend elsewhere. Again, don't get cute and play him in cash games.
The rest of the lineup doesn't have a ton of surprises. There's a small stack of Dodger bats -- two left-handers -- which makes sense considering they're facing an inexperienced righty tonight. The downside here is that it's not in a hitter-friendly park, but despite playing at home in a not-so-great ball park for hitters, the Dodgers are still quite easily the best club against right-handed pitching with a .350 team wOBA.
Pedro Alvarez makes an appearance as well. Though he's sort of boom or bust (another reason that this lineup is more geared towards a tournament), he gets a bad righty tonight at PNC Park. Against right-handers throughout his career, El Toro has hit to a .227 ISO, which is over 100 points higher than what he sees against left-handers. At a cheap price, he's not a bad play.
