Thursdays are typically travel days for MLB teams, so we get smaller MLB DFS slates. That’s no different today. The DraftKings main slate begins at 6:30 p.m. ET and includes six games. FanDuel’s main slate includes the same six games.
Thursday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Thursday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (6/25)
- An ace pitcher can give you a nice advantage in smaller slates. There is no more prominent ace on this slate than Cristopher Sanchez. His strikeout rate has dropped a bit, but 28.5% is still an elite mark. He’s one of only three pitchers with a strikeout-to-walk ratio over six, along with Cam Schlittler and Jacob Misiorowski.
- Speaking of Cam Schlittler, he is also available for this slate. He’s coming off his best start of the season with 40 points on DraftKings and 67 points on FanDuel. That’s the 10th time he scored at least 40 points on FanDuel. Today will be his third time this season facing the Red Sox. He has gone 13.2 innings in the previous two games with a 1.32 ERA and 10 strikeouts.
- There may not be a more erratic pitcher this season than Tatsuya Imai. He’s had two starts this season when he didn’t even make it through the first inning. He’s also had three starts with eight or more strikeouts, including his most recent game. Imai’s last start was six innings, where he allowed three earned runs and struck out 11 batters without issuing a walk. He is much more interesting on DraftKings at his price.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
St. Louis Cardinals Projected Lineup (6/25)
Thursdays are typically travel days for MLB teams, so we get smaller MLB DFS slates. That’s no different today. The DraftKings main slate begins at 6:30 p.m. ET and includes six games. FanDuel’s main slate includes the same six games.
Thursday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Thursday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (6/25)
- An ace pitcher can give you a nice advantage in smaller slates. There is no more prominent ace on this slate than Cristopher Sanchez. His strikeout rate has dropped a bit, but 28.5% is still an elite mark. He’s one of only three pitchers with a strikeout-to-walk ratio over six, along with Cam Schlittler and Jacob Misiorowski.
- Speaking of Cam Schlittler, he is also available for this slate. He’s coming off his best start of the season with 40 points on DraftKings and 67 points on FanDuel. That’s the 10th time he scored at least 40 points on FanDuel. Today will be his third time this season facing the Red Sox. He has gone 13.2 innings in the previous two games with a 1.32 ERA and 10 strikeouts.
- There may not be a more erratic pitcher this season than Tatsuya Imai. He’s had two starts this season when he didn’t even make it through the first inning. He’s also had three starts with eight or more strikeouts, including his most recent game. Imai’s last start was six innings, where he allowed three earned runs and struck out 11 batters without issuing a walk. He is much more interesting on DraftKings at his price.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
St. Louis Cardinals Projected Lineup (6/25)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| 2B/SS |
JJ Wetherholt |
$4,900 |
$3,600 |
| C |
Ivan Herrera |
$4,600 |
$3,800 |
| 1B/OF |
Alec Burleson |
$4,700 |
$3,600 |
| OF |
Jordan Walker |
$5,300 |
$3,900 |
| OF |
Lars Nootbaar |
$4,000 |
$3,200 |
| SS |
Masyn Winn |
$3,400 |
$2,800 |
| C |
Jimmy Crooks |
$2,400 |
$2,500 |
| 3B |
Blaze Jordan |
$3,100 |
$3,000 |
| OF |
Nathan Church |
$3,000 |
$2,600 |
- Right-handed pitcher Zac Gallen has a 6.10 ERA. While it hasn’t been necessarily quite that bad, he is clearly struggling. His expected ERA is 5.69, and his FIP is 4.97. That expected ERA mark is the third-worst mark amongst qualified pitchers. Gallen’s strikeout-minus-walk rate is an extremely pedestrian 7.4%, which is the third-worst mark in baseball among qualified starters.
- After a bit of a down May, JJ Wetherholt has found his groove again in June. Wetherholt’s OPS in May fell to .665. In June, it’s up to .790 as he already has three home runs this month after hitting two in all of May. Even as a rookie, he’s posted a more-than-solid 44.6% hard-hit rate.
- Alec Burleson is quietly pacing towards a career-best season, at least in the power department. His career highs in home runs and RBI are 21 and 78, respectively, both set in 2024. Through only 77 games, he already has 13 home runs and 57 RBI. Burleson has the sixth-best OPS in baseball against right-handed pitchers (1.020).
- If you’re looking for a more affordable player in the Cardinals’ lineup, consider Blaze Jordan. It’s still a very small sample size, but he has five extra-base hits in his first 12 career games. That comes with a 44.3% hard-hit rate.
Chicago Cubs Projected Lineup (6/25)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| OF |
Pete Crow-Armstrong |
$6,500 |
$4,100 |
| 3B |
Alex Bregman |
$4,300 |
$2,800 |
| 1B |
Michael Busch |
$4,500 |
$3,100 |
| OF |
Seiya Suzuki |
$5,000 |
$3,100 |
| OF |
Ian Happ |
$4,800 |
$3,600 |
| 2B/OF/3B |
Matt Shaw |
$3,000 |
$2,500 |
| 2B/SS |
Nico Hoerner |
$4,100 |
$3,000 |
| C |
Carson Kelly |
$2,900 |
$2,800 |
| SS |
Dansby Swanson |
$3,600 |
$2,900 |
- The Cubs will be seeing a familiar foe for the second time this season in Freddy Peralta. He’s coming off one of the worst starts that any pitcher has had all season, when he allowed 10 earned runs in only 2.2 innings. His ERA of 4.83 is currently his worst mark since 2019. While he’s been a bit unlucky with a 3.85 expected ERA and 4.32 FIP, that FIP is also the worst of Peralta’s career, suggesting he’s definitely struggling.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong has been the best hitter in June. His wRC+ is a league-leading 262 and he has the most home runs of any player with 10. The second-highest wRC+ of any player in June is Jac Caglianone at 217. Crow-Armstrong has also gone 6-for-17 against Peralta in his career.
- Two hitters on the Cubs have struggled to hit for average against Peralta, but they have made the most of their hits. Ian Happ is only 5-for-39 against Peralta in his career, but four of those hits have been home runs. He’s already at 16 home runs this season. Michael Busch only has three hits against Peralta in 23 at-bats, but all three of them have been home runs.
- We’re finally starting to see some signs of life with Dansby Swanson, at least in the batting average department. He’s had hits in six straight games, which raised his average over .200 for the first time since May 10th. Even while his batting average has disappointed, he still has 11 home runs, 46 RBI and nine stolen bases.
Core Studs
- I continue to believe that when any hitter is more expensive than Yordan Alvarez on the slate, that makes him a deal. On DraftKings, there are four players more expensive than him today. On FanDuel, only James Wood is pricier. Alvarez continues to lead the league in expected weighted on-base average, expected batting average and expected slugging rate.
- The power has been a disappointment for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. this season, with only four home runs. He has two home runs against righties in 218 at-bats and two home runs against lefties in 57 at-bats. Today’s matchup is against left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore.
- Anytime you see Paul Goldschmidt against a left-handed pitcher, you have to consider him. He continues to lead the league in OPS against lefties at 1.304. His matchup today is against left-handed pitcher Connelly Early.
Value Plays/Punts
- Wyatt Langford looks much better since coming back from his forearm flexor strain injury. He’s played 18 games since returning and has hit six home runs in that span. He also has a .978 OPS since returning.
- It could still be that Brandon Nimmo just hasn’t adjusted to playing in Texas, but at least to this point, he has some striking home-and-road splits. He’s played 37 games at Texas and has one home run and a .620 OPS. In 40 road games, he has seven home runs and a .881 OPS. Nimmo is actually posting the best barrel rate and exit velocities of his career.
- It’s just surprising to see Kazuma Okamoto priced so cheaply. He’s up to 17 home runs and a .790 OPS in his first 78 Major League games with essentially no discernible splits. His matchup today is against left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore.
Thursday’s Top 3 Underdog Player Props
Ian Seymour recently joined the starting rotation. He’s made three starts this season, but only one of them has gone five innings.
Seymour has struck out at least five batters just once this season. That was against a Red Sox team that strikes out 22% of the time. Today’s matchup is against the Royals, who strike out only 20.7% of the time.
Curtis Mead has a difficult matchup against Cristopher Sanchez, and he’s already been struggling mightily in June.
Mead has cleared this line in only eight of 20 June games, including yesterday, when he hit a pinch-hit two-run home run.
Only the Nationals have had better offensive marks against left-handed pitchers than the Yankees this season. While Connelly Early has done a good job of keeping runs off the board with a 3.64 ERA, his expected ERA is 4.39 and his FIP is 4.87.
Early allowed three earned runs against the Yankees earlier this season.
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