The FantasyLabs MLB Player Models house numerous data points to help you construct your MLB DFS rosters.
They house our floor, median, and ceiling projections for each player, but that’s just the beginning of what you’ll find inside. You’ll also find our Trends tool, stacking tool, and more.
Also, don’t forget that for large-field tournaments, you can utilize our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 300 lineups, or use our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your teams for cash games or small-field tournaments.
Let’s dive into some MLB plays that stand out in our Player Models for today’s main slate.
Bargain Rating Picks
You might be asking: what is Bargain Rating, and why should I care?
Bargain Rating shows how much of a bargain a player is on one DFS site versus others. If a player is significantly cheaper on one site than the other, they will have a favorable Bargain Rating on the site where they’re more affordable and a poor Bargain Rating on the site where they’re more expensive. It’s a straightforward metric, but targeting players at reduced price tags is almost always a strong strategy in DFS.
Bargain Rating strongly correlates with player value, which you can quickly see with our predictive projected Plus/Minus metric.
Seeing how Plus/Minus helps you project how many points a player is expected to score compared to what their salary implies them to score, this is a good company for Bargain Rating.
MLB DFS DraftKings Bargain Value
JJ Bleday ($2,100): Outfielder, Oakland Athletics
Since joining the Athletics lineup on May 3, JJ Bleday has largely failed to turn heads. He is batting .210/.314/.381 on the season but is finally starting to show some life.
Over his last four games, Bleday has four positive Plus/Minus results, including his fourth home run of the season on June 14. The second-year big leaguer has improved his wOBA and xSLG from his rookie year.
The Athletics are now on a five-game slide after winning seven straight. They face Aaron Civale of the Guardians tonight, who owns a 2-2 record and a 2.67 ERA. The model loves Bleday as a bargain play on the slate. He doesn’t have to do much to return value on his bottom-end salary.
Leody Taveras ($2,800): Outfielder, Texas Rangers
Leody Taveras has crept above the .300 mark for the Rangers, batting .301/.356/.490 on the season. His eight home runs are already a career-high, and his 32 RBI puts him on pace for a career-high as well.
Six of those homers have come in June, as Taveras has shown an elevated fantasy ceiling potential. He has four 20+ DraftKings point performances in June with a +4.04 Plus/Minus average over his last 10 games.
The Rangers take on Dylan Cease and the White Sox today. Cease is 3-3 with a 4.31 ERA in 15 starts this season. Taveras has a lot of upside for his $2,800 salary.
MLB DFS Ceiling Projection Picks
Pitcher
Gerrit Cole ($10,900 DraftKings, $10,600 FanDuel) vs. Seattle Mariners
The Yankees ace continues to produce at a high level, owning a 7-1 record and a 2.75 ERA this season. After a rough end to May, Gerrit Cole has reeled off three quality starts in June, with exactly six innings thrown in each outing and four total runs allowed.
His 2.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in June are closer to his impressive April numbers, but the strikeouts continue to lag a bit behind his career averages. His 26.4 K% is his lowest since 2017.
Cole takes on a Mariners club near the bottom of the league in batting. Vegas has them with the lowest implied run total on the slate. Expect Cole to be a highly-owned stud hurler.
Hitter
Jose Ramirez ($5,200 DraftKings, $4,000 FanDuel) vs. Oakland Athletics
Ramirez showed his insane ceiling potential in back-to-back nights against the Red Sox on June 8-9. He tallied six hits, four homers, six RBI, and three walks in those two games, adding up to 76 DraftKings points.
With his .285/.349/.502 batting totals, Ramirez has explosive potential on a nightly basis and has an average Plus/Minus of +7.75 over his last 10 games.
The Guardians have a great matchup against the lowly Athletics and lefty Ken Waldichuk. Waldichuk is 1-5 with a 6.64 ERA in 10 starts and 16 total appearances this season. This matchup has the potential for another high-ceiling fantasy performance for Ramirez.
More MLB DFS Hitters and Pitchers
One of the great features of being a FantasyLabs Pro member is the option to purchase additional items in the FantasyLabs Marketplace.
In addition to our in-house MLB projections, THE BAT X from Derek Carty of RotoGrinders is available in our marketplace. With this purchase, you can use his projections alone or create aggregate projections within our Player Models.
For this example, we created a 50/50 blend with THE BAT X and the FantasyLabs projections to pinpoint some hitters that are standing out with this blend.
Pitcher
Clayton Kershaw ($10,500 DraftKings, $10,700 FanDuel) at Los Angeles Angels
His numbers may not be as strong as some of his vintage seasons, but Clayton Kershaw is still holding his own at age 35 in his 16th big league campaign.
Kershaw is 8-4 with a. 2.95 ERA in 14 starts. He has a 1.11 WHIP with a .295 xwOBA and 29.3 K%. In June, his ERA has dropped to 1.80, and he has struck out nine batters in two of his three starts. He scored over 30 DraftKings points in both of those outings, so his ceiling remains as high as ever.
The model likes Kershaw to produce a strong fantasy total tonight against the Angels, despite Los Angeles hovering in the top 10 of most offensive categories.
Kershaw also stands out using our PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy simulations table:
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Hitters
Tommy Edman ($4,100 DraftKings, $2,800 FanDuel) at Washington Nationals
With four double-digit DraftKings point totals in his last five games, Tommy Edman is in the middle of one of his best stretches of the season for the Cardinals.
The 28-year-old is batting .240/.310/.415 on the season with seven home runs and 27 RBI to go with 12 stolen bases.
Edman has a .345 wOBA and .213 ISO against lefties and faces left-hander MacKenzie Gore tonight for the Nationals. Gore is 3-5 with a 3.74 ERA this season.
Matt McLain ($4,800 DraftKings, $4,100 FanDuel) vs. Colorado Rockies
Rookie shortstop Matt McLain burst onto the scene for the Reds on May 15 and has only impressed since. He is swatting .317/.371/.496 with three home runs and 15 RBI in his first 32 major league games.
He already ranks third in the National League with four triples on the season and added three stolen bags to the stat line.
McLain’s salary has jumped quickly from $2,000 on May 15 to $4,800 today. There may still be some value left on the bone against the Rockies. He faces fellow rookie Noah Davis, making just his fourth start and fifth big league appearance. Davis is 0-1 with a 7.11 ERA in 12.2 innings in his short career.
