MLB Cash Game Picks : 6-12-15

Cash Game Locks: MLB Daily Fantasy Baseball

Cash games typically reward high floor rosters. You don't need to score 60 points on FanDuel or 160 on DraftKings to win money. Instead you should aim for a nice base of around 40 and 120 points respectively. Our MLB Cash Game Picks will highlight the top pick and a value pick at each position for both platforms.

Pitchers

Why couldn't one of these guys have been throwing yesterday? Coming off one of the season's ugliest slates for cash-game pitching, we're overburdened with aces tonight. The top play of the day for me comes down to Kershaw versus King Felix. I'm favoring the former, because while the Padres don't whiff quite as much as the Astros, their 22.5% strikeout rate versus lefties is plenty sufficient to prop up Kershaw's strikeout safety net. Also, Petco. The power-sapping San Diego park should limit the bad home-run luck that has artificially inflated Kershaw's ERA this season. In a lot of ways, we're splitting hairs, because there are reasons to invest in each of the top four arms tonight. But the preceding combined with a -220 moneyline makes Kershaw the play here.

It's not often that somebody with these prices tags qualifies as a budget option, but that's how imperative I think it is that you spend up on pitching tonight, and Bumgarner does come with significant savings relative to Kershaw and Hernandez. The Diamondbacks don't strike out a ton and aren't an overall great matchup against lefties, but AT&T Park aids the case for Bumgarner, as does the Giants' win probability. I don't see the upside here that you get with Kershaw, but I do think it's a pretty safe play.

Catcher

The park won't do him any favors, but everything else tilts heavily toward Grandal as the play at catcher. He's got a gorgeous 15.5% walk rate that you can believe in because he's right in line with what he's done at every stage of his career. He also displays a strong preference for hitting from the left side, and he's matching up against Odrisamer Despaigne's 4.84 FIP. Petco's overall suppression of offense caps the ceiling, but the floor is high.

First base

We'll move on from the Dodgers soon, but not until we've properly emphasized Despaigne's mediocrity. Same as above, Petco dampens offensive potential, but it's actually not that inhospitable to lefty power. It's true that Gonzalez is running a little hot on BABIP this season, but he's supplying elite production at mid-tier prices and in a highly favorable matchup. The .425 wOBA and 12.6% walk rate against righties is just too good to pass up here.

Second base

Dozier looks like the clear play at second on a pure points basis. The question will be whether or not you find the price tag worth it. Even though he's not running quite as much this season, the trifecta of power and speed with a solid walk rate you get out of Dozier is pretty tantalizing – even when he's not facing Wandy Rodriguez. Dozier flat-out hammers left-handed pitching (.377 wOBA, .238 ISO) and the splits are even more dramatic this season (.311 ISO!!!). And you're getting all this in one of the best places to hit outside of Coors Field. If you can fit him into your lineups, you'd be well-advised to do so tonight.

If you can't afford Dozier, Walker's not a bad buy either. Fun fact: Kevin Correia is apparently still a person who gets paid to pitch baseballs. In related news, Ruben Amaro Jr. remains the foremost authority on unintentional MLB humor. Back to Walker, we're still waiting on 2014's power to return, but that's not what you're paying for here. You're paying for a guy on the plus-side of the platoon who's facing a 34-year-old pitcher with a career 4.52 FIP.

Third base

It appears Evan Longoria has become kind of an average dude as far as third basemen go. We're into the second season of diminished power and a so-so batting average, but don't let that obscure the fact that he's still mashing lefties (.385 career wOBA, .387 in 2015), or that he's facing John Danks (4.76 FIP) or that U.S. Cellular is a wonderful place for right-handed hitters to ply their trade.

Shortstop

Thinking about DFS shortstop is often the worst part of my day. There are a few options you might consider here, and discerning which one is the least gross is not for those of lesser constitutions. We're picking Semien because a) we won't lose points for the errors he's bound to commit, b) he's super cheap, and c) Hector Santiago (2.55 ERA, 4.66 xFIP) is due for some serious regression. I hate the fact that he's slid to the bottom of the order, but otherwise, he looks like the best in a bad situation.

Outfield

Kind of a rough day in the outfield as two of my would-be favorites, Nelson Cruz and Carlos Gomez, have been sitting with nagging injuries. If they're back, I'd give them a look. If not…

I'd prefer not to spend as much, but I just don't feel great about a lot of outfielders on this slate. Cutch offers the obvious superstar upside, plus the elevated floor of a high-walk/low-strikeout guy, multiplied by a factor of Kevin Correia.

If you can stomach the strikeouts, I like Pederson tonight – primarily because Despaigne doesn't miss a ton of bats, and the matchups shape up in favor of a good night for Dodgers. And while the sample-size caveat applies, there's a lot to like in what we've seen so far from Pederson against righties: 18.1% walk rate, .289 ISO, .384 wOBA.

He's closing in on 40, and pretty close to split-neutral this season, but nobody is Wandy neutral, and Hunter's career numbers (.202 ISO, .364 wOBA) show the expected lefty preference. I'd like him most if he's hitting out of the two-hole, but he's a fine play at these prices out of the four or five spot, as the Twins are in a good spot to produce crooked numbers tonight.