This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
The first Sunday of June brings an abundance of afternoon baseball action. In fact, there are 11 games on the slate for DFS purposes. With the first pitch arriving at 1:05 p.m. EDT, here are the recommendations I've got from these matchups to help you ease into the month on a high note.
Pitching
Freddy Peralta, MIL vs. CWS ($11,000): If you've been paying any attention to MLB this season, you likely know Chicago's offense is bad. Like, really bad. Nearly any pitcher is worth rostering versus the White Sox, yet Peralta is someone with a 3.36 FIP and an 11.84 K/9 rate. That's a great pitcher against a terrible offense, which usually is a winning recipe.
Andrew Heaney, TEX at MIA ($7,300): This is fully a matchup play. Heaney, a lefty, has a 4.47 ERA, in line with his career 4.49 mark. That being said, the Marlins are bottom-five in runs scored. And I bet they'll be 29th when the season ends as they've also managed a sub-.300 OBP.
Simeon Woods Richardson, MIN at HOU ($6,800): Woods Richardson was a vaunted pitching prospect and he's only 23, but the bloom has slightly come off the rose. That being said, he was still considered a good pitcher when this season began, and he's finally been able to show why. SWR's strikeouts are low, yet so are his walks and homers leading to a 2.75 ERA and 3.10 FIP across eight starts. While Houston is around the top-10 in offense, it started the year a little slow and I don't feel like this is a matchup you need to avoid.
Top Targets
During his career, Rafael Devers ($5,900) has a .280 average and slugged .511. And this year, he's at .278 and .522. The southpaw has also recorded a .913 OPS against righties since 2022. You win some and you lose some when it comes to pitching prospects. Tarik Skubal might win the AL Cy Young, but Casey Mize is…decidedly mediocre. The righty has slumped to a 4.71 ERA through 10 starts while only striking out 6.16 batters per nine innings.
A catcher who can roll out of bed and hit 20 homers in a season is a highly-valuable player, and Salvador Perez ($5,400) is one of those. He even went deep 48 times once, and this year he's at 10 while slugging .521. Michael King was one of the pieces of the Juan Soto trade, and hasn't exactly made the Yankees regret that decision so far with a 4.76 FIP while giving up 1.77 homers per nine innings.
Bargain Bats
Against his fellow righties, Jordan Westburg ($5,200) has posted a .902 OPS. Zack Littell has been quite good on the mound with a 3.47 ERA from 11 starts with a 2.95 FIP and elite K/BB rates. However, he still has one issue and that's the fact fellow righties hit him well by batting .291 since 2022.
If a righty is on the mound, the Mets tend to find a spot for DJ Stewart ($3,200) in the lineup. He can't hit his fellow lefties, but has an .836 OPS versus righties since joining the club last year. And while a lot of Mets struggle at Citi Field, Stewart has managed a .798 OPS there. Like Littell, Pfaadt has made strides this year with a 4.16 ERA with a 3.23 FIP. That being said, he faces the opposite problem of Littell in that he really struggles against lefties as they've gone .290 against in 2024.
Stacks to Consider
Rangers at Marlins (Trevor Rogers): Adolis Garcia ($5,700), Marcus Semien ($5,100), Wyatt Langford ($3,500)
Last year was a wash for Rogers as he was limited to four starts. Unfortunately for him, 2024 is looking like 2022 - but only worse. He posted a 5.47 ERA and 2.36 K/BB rate two seasons ago and is currently at 5.65 and 1.76 from 11 outings. Righties continue to knock him around as they've gone .319 against him this year, which is why I've included three righties in this stack.
Garcia has hit 12 homers and stolen four bases. While he's consistently better at home and Sunday's matchup is on the road, a chance to face a lefty like Rogers makes him worth rostering. With 41 runs scored and 34 RBI through 57 games, Semien is on pace to exceed 100 of both for the third time in four seasons. He's surprisingly struggled with righties this year, but has an .885 OPS versus southpaws. Langford only recently returned from injury and has yet to establish himself in MLB. However, he entered the season as many people's choice for the best prospect in baseball, so why not take a shot on his talent?
Brewers vs. White Sox (Nick Nastrini): Christian Yelich ($5,500), Brice Turang ($4,800), Sal Frelick ($3,400)
It's not just terrible offense plaguing the White Sox. Even though Nastrini produced a 5.83 ERA at Triple-A, he's still received four MLB starts with a fifth on the way due to a lack of options. And it hasn't gone well for him with a 9.92 ERA while conceding 2.20 home runs per nine innings. Lefties have also gone .316 against, so I have three southpaws here.
I'm glad Yelich was able to return from his injury and find his footing as he's actually built upon his 2023 bounceback campaign having slashed .325/.413/.558 with six homers and eight steals. Batting .299, Turang has already stolen 20 bases. While he doesn't offer great power, he's slugged a viable .437 against righties and Nastrini sure seems homer-prone. Frelick has recorded a .347 OBP with seven doubles and seven swipes. For his part, his power tends to appear when he's at home as he's slugged .428 there over his career.
