DFS MLB Baseball Picks for June 13, 2021

We have an eleven-game slate with first pitch at 1:05 PM EST. Today’s slate of games is highlighted by Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees, taking on Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia. The highest implied run totals tonight sit with the Toronto Blue Jays (5.3), Cincinnati Reds(5.3), and Milwaukee Brewers(5.3).

We are not seeing any weather situations that should effect today’s games.

Here is a selection of today’s Core Players 50-50 MLB DFS lineup for 6/13/21 (using DraftKings Values)

Shane Bieber ($11,000)

Bieber has only given up five runs over his last three starts, and while the strikeout numbers hasn’t been consistent, the upside is certainly there(he has 12 as recently as May 27 in Detroit). To add to that he will be facing a Mariners team that has struck out 27.3 percent of the time over the last two weeks(3^rd highest in MLB in that time frame).

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($5,000)

Vlad has been destroying baseballs both lately and all season. He has hit home runs in back-to-back games, and he even had a steal yesterday. Things have clicked for the young slugger and he is well worth his cost today.

DJ LeMahieu ($4,100)

LeMahieu looks to be turning things around finally. He has multi-hit games in three of his last four games, and in those games he has two doubles and a home run. He will be facing Aaron Nola, who typically you would avoid, but he has given up at least three runs in three of his last four starts.

Brendan Rodgers ($2,900)

In two of his last three games Rodgers has hit a home run. He has hit in six of his last eight games and the former top prospect might be starting to figure things out at the major league level. Take the discount here.

Starling Marte ($4,500)

Looking at Marte over the last six days, and he has been special. Three games of three hits or more, three steals, two home runs and a double. Don’t look past how good Marte has been today.

The A List

Nick Castellanos OF ($5,200) – Castellanos has three straight multi-hit games, and an extra-base hit in all three of those games. He is hot, and will face the horrendous pitching staff of the Rockies today at home.

Josh Donaldson 3B ($4,200) – Donaldson’s average doesn’t look pretty, but he can still hit the long ball, as exhibited by his three home runs over the last three days. He is all upside, with very little floor.

Carlos Rodon P ($10,200) – Rodon’s situation today is ideal. He will face a Detroit lineup that isn’t great, and he is striking out nearly 38% of the batters he faces. I see him as a step down from Bieber, but that is mostly because Rodon is less likely to go deep into games.

The B List

Christian Arroyo 2B ($3,300) – As a value play, Arroyo isn’t a bad one. He is another player who has two home runs in this last three games. He comes in with some risk as all of his this in those games are home runs, but at his price if you can get something from him it’s a win, and if you get more than 10 points it’s a bonus.

Mitch Haniger OF ($4,300) – I would like Haniger a lot more if he wasn’t facing Shane Bieber, but even the best pitchers have bad outings. I wouldn’t hesitate to use Haniger as a contrarian play in a GPP given he has hits in four straight games and two home runs in that time as well.

Jonathan Schoop – 1B/2B ($4,400 DK) As a GPP play, I don’t mind Schoop. He won’t see high ownership, and he has hits in five of his last six games. Detroit likely won’t score a lot of runs, which is what keeps him from being useful in cash games.

Robbie Ray – P ($8,800 DK) Ray is coming off a 13 strikeout performance against the White Sox, and will face a Red Sox team that has a very good lineup, which creates some risk here, which is why he is a B lister today. He is the type of player who can be a difference maker in GPP games, as he could give you 10 strikeouts, and come out of this with little damage.

The C List

Brendan Lowe– 2B ($4,200 DK) Lowe has been red hot coming into today’s game, the problem is that he is facing a left-handed pitcher, and he has a batting average below 0.100 against lefties this season, which means there is a strong change he isn’t in the lineup, and if he is you’re really banking on him making a difference against the Orioles bullpen.

Joey Lucchesi– P ($6,200 DK) – Let me get this right you think someone should start a pitcher with a near 6 ERA against the Padres? This is a joke right? Well I understand that reasoning, the Padres over the last two weeks have been the worst hitting team in baseball, striking out more than 27 percent of the time, with a OBP of just 0.280, and a WRC+ of 69. This is a GPP play at its finest.

Reese McGuire– C ($2,300 DK) No one loves to pay down at catcher as much as I do, but there is reason to believe in McGuire. He has hits in each of his last two games including a home run, and if you’re looking to stack the Blue Jays who have a high expected run total, McGuire is a nice way to do it while paying up for some of their bigger bats.

The Strategy

Cash Games – Success in cash games is getting the right high-owned players. There is more than a handful of players today who are priced over 5k, but when we look closer at the ones who are actually performing this is why you see Bieber and Guerrero in the Core play section. They will both be highly used, but they are the most likely to provide a high return.

GPP Games – If you won’t to cash in a GPP today I suspect you’re going to need to do it with the value players. I would try to get at least two of them in, and try to hit on the upside of a Robbie Ray today, but I would still be sticking with those core plays of Bieber and Guerrero, but if you can get Castellanos in and another some other players to stack with them then you have a chance.

Go win your lineup and tell us how you did. Twitter (@FantasyDFSX) is a good place for that.