Hard to believe we have already reached the final day before the All-Star break. Hopefully, you’ve had a successful first half of your MLB DFS season. The DraftKings main slate includes a whopping 11 games, which begin at 1:35 p.m. ET. The FanDuel main slate offers the same 11 games.
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- MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
Sunday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Sunday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (7/12)
| PLAYER | DraftKings Salary | FanDuel Salary |
| Zack Wheeler | $11,000 | $11,100 |
| Ian Seymour | $8,200 | $9,300 |
| Cade Cavalli | $7,100 | $9,100 |
- It’s truly amazing how easily Zack Wheeler has settled back into being one of the best pitchers on the planet after recovering from surgery. His strikeout rate is slightly down from last season, but is still an elite 29.4%. He has scored at 30 FanDuel points in 10 of his last 11 starts, with a remarkable 70 points in his most recent start.
- Ian Seymour has really leveled up over his last six appearances. You can say over his last six starts because he has followed an opener in a couple of those, but still operated as the primary option. In those six games, he has a strikeout rate of 33.3%. It’s certainly a tiny sample size, but for perspective, only three qualified pitchers have strikeout rates over 30% this season — Jacob Misiorowski, Dylan Cease and Jacob deGrom.
- Cade Cavalli has served his suspension and is eligible to pitch today. Remember that start in which he was involved in the altercation was a 70-point performance for him on FanDuel. While it hasn’t been consistent, Cavalli has five starts over 40 points on FanDuel this season. However, it’s his price on DraftKings that’s really appealing.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Washington Nationals Projected Lineup (7/12)
| POS | PLAYER | DraftKings Salary | FanDuel Salary |
| OF | James Wood | $6,600 | $4,400 |
| 1B/2B | Luis Garcia | $4,300 | $3,300 |
| 3B/2B/1B | Curtis Mead | $4,600 | $3,100 |
| SS | CJ Abrams | $5,700 | $3,900 |
| OF | Dylan Crews | $3,900 | $2,900 |
| OF | Daylen Lile | $3,600 | $3,000 |
| 2B/SS | Nasim Nunez | $3,500 | $2,900 |
| C | Keibert Ruiz | $3,400 | $2,800 |
| OF | Jacob Young | $3,000 | $2,600 |
- The Nationals’ offense just keeps hitting with a league-leading 508 runs scored. Their matchup today will be against New York Yankees right-handed pitcher Will Warren. It’s been a struggle for Warren since the calendar turned to June. In that period, he has an ERA of 6.21, which is only slightly better than his 5.49 FIP.
- Even though James Wood is expensive, he’s been among the most valuable DFS options all season. No matter which split you examine, it’s impressive. His OPS against right-handed pitchers is 1.010. Over the last 28 days, he has 17 extra-base hits, including eight home runs.
- You have to make sure that it’s a right-handed pitcher opposing the Nationals, but when it is, Luis Garcia is in play. He’s had a measly 38 at-bats against left-handed pitchers and has still found a way to be in the top five in all of baseball in RBI. That’s because he has a .910 OPS against right-handed pitchers. He also has six home runs in the past 12 games.
- It feels like Daylen Lile is playing himself into a platoon role. He has 34 extra-base hits this season, and 31 of them have come against right-handed pitchers. All 10 of his home runs have come against right-handed pitching. With today’s matchup against a right-handed pitcher, go ahead and use him.
Texas Rangers Projected Lineup (7/12)
| POS | PLAYER | DraftKings Salary | FanDuel Salary |
| OF/1B | Joc Pederson | $3,000 | $2,700 |
| OF | Wyatt Langford | $3,700 | $3,600 |
| 3B | Josh Jung | $4,300 | $3,100 |
| OF | Brandon Nimmo | $3,400 | $2,800 |
| 1B | Jake Burger | $3,700 | $3,000 |
| OF/SS/3B/2B/1B | Ezequiel Duran | $3,200 | $2,800 |
| OF | Evan Carter | $2,700 | $2,700 |
| 2B/SS/3B | Nicky Lopez | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| C | Kyle Higashioka | $2,600 | $2,500 |
- Corey Seager is still out, so the Texas Rangers are not quite back to full health, but they have been performing considerably better recently. Over the past 30 days, they have been a top-10 offense by wRC+. Their scheduled matchup today is against Cristian Javier, who has been pitching in a relief role recently.
- Wyatt Langford has hits in all three games since returning from his injury. In the second of those games, he hit a home run. Since the start of June, Langford has played in 23 games. His OPS in those 23 games is 1.001.
- Brandon Nimmo continues to have some massive home and away splits. In road games, his OPS is .855, but in home games it falls to only .631. Given that he’s posting career-best marks in average exit velocity, barrel rate and hard-hit rate, it feels inevitable that he’ll begin to have more success in home games.
- Joc Pederson is the type of cheap DFS option who can help you if you are trying to win a big contest. At the end of April, he had a .665 OPS. Since May 1st, he has posted a much more typical .856 OPS. That includes 13 home runs in 174 at-bats.
Core Studs
| POS | PLAYER | DraftKings Salary | FanDuel Salary |
| SS | Bobby Witt Jr. | $6,700 | $3,800 |
| C | Shea Langeliers | $5,400 | $3,600 |
| SS | Dansby Swanson | $4,100 | $3,300 |
- There are so many ways that Bobby Witt Jr. can score points in DFS. Not only does he have 35 extra-base hits, but he also has a league-leading 30 stolen bases. He’s faced Shane Baz eight times in his career, with both of his hits going for extra bases, including a home run.
- The Athletics have a road matchup against the Chicago White Sox today. The White Sox will be starting left-handed pitcher Noah Schultz. Only 33% of Schultz’s batted balls against have been groundballs, so there are plenty of opportunities for home runs. Shea Langeliers is the batter to target to take advantage of that matchup. His OPS against left-handed pitchers is 1.016, with eight home runs against lefties this season.
- While all three of Dansby Swanson‘s home runs this month have come in the first game, he has continued to get hits. He is currently in the midst of a six-game hitting streak, although none of his hits have gone for extra bases. That could change with a matchup against Andrew Abbott. Swanson is 6-for-17 against Abbott in his career with four extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs.
Value Plays/Punts
| POS | PLAYER | DraftKings Salary | FanDuel Salary |
| 3B | Austin Riley | $3,700 | $2,700 |
| 1B | Rhys Hoskins | $2,900 | $2,700 |
| C | Carson Kelly | $3,000 | $2,700 |
- It has not been the season that we’ve come to expect from Austin Riley, with only a .621 OPS. His previous career low in OPS over a season was .716 in the shortened 2020 season. Perhaps a matchup with Dustin May can help turn things around. Riley is 3-for-8 against May in his career with a pair of home runs.
- You have to make sure that Rhys Hoskins is in the lineup before locking him in your DFS lineups. He has sat a couple of times in the last week. If he is playing, he will be going up against Max Meyer. Hoskins has faced Meyer five times in his career, recording two hits, both home runs.
- Carson Kelly was mentioned in yesterday’s article for his prowess against left-handed pitching. That worked out well with a couple of hits, including a home run. He’s got another matchup today against a left-handed pitcher in Andrew Abbott.
Sunday’s Top 3 Underdog Player Props
Juan Soto (OF, DH – NYM): 0.5 RBI — Higher
While RBI props are typically something I avoid, I like the payout we’re getting from this one. Juan Soto can easily just drive in himself with a home run, considering he’s already hit four in July. They’ve helped him to post 12 RBI in 10 games this month.
Luis Arraez (1B, 2B, DH – SFG): 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBIs — Higher
This is a combination of an unstoppable force meeting a very movable object. Luis Arraez isn’t leading the National League in hits thanks to Otto Lopez, but he is still in second with 117 hits and a .331 batting average.
Meanwhile, even though he doesn’t technically have enough innings to qualify, Michael Lorenzen has still found a way to lead the league in hits allowed. In 92 innings, he’s given up a whopping 129 hits already.
Ian Seymour (SP, RP – TBR): 15.5 Pitching Outs — Higher
Now that Ian Seymour is starting to operate as more of a traditional starter, he should exceed 15.5 outs. He’s done so in his last three starts.
Seymour threw a season-high 94 pitches last time out, so he should have an ample opportunity to get 16+ outs today.
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