MLB Cash Game Picks : 6-19-15

Cash Game Locks: MLB Daily Fantasy Baseball

Pitcher

Talk about a tough stretch for the Rangers, facing Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, and now Chris Sale. He is your top pitching option tonight and is the strikeout king of Chicago. He made one mistake to Asdrubal Cabrera in the later innings of his last start, which cost him a win. He still struck out double digit batters, making it five starts in a row, and six of the last seven starts with that accomplishment. He has a 15.9% swinging strike rate, which ranks first in the bigs, edging out Kershaw. Sale makes left-handed bats almost nonexistent, which Texas will bring a few to the plate tonight, giving Sale an even bigger advantage. The White Sox offense should find some run support for Sale off Colby Lewis tonight.

Because Jacob deGrom is just a shade under Sale in pricing, it doesn't make sense to use him in cash games. I love Carlos Carrasco tonight, his price tag makes for a solid SP2, and even a decent FanDuel play, so you can stack some bats. Looking at the numbers above, it is hard to believe Carrasco has an ERA over four. His .342 BABIP is just ridiculously high, and he will actually have a matchup tonight with an offense not in the top 10. He has pitched predominantly against better than average offenses -- Royals, Tigers, Blue Jays, etc -- and Tampa ranks just outside the top half in wRC+ against right-handed pitching and have a 21% strikeout rate. Carrasco has a healthy 12% swinging strike rate, which is better than a lot of aces who are no brainers any night they pitch.

Catcher

We have seen sites bump up the Coors prices this season, which is the case again today, but Jonathan Lucroy is actually at a value price in my opinion. Lucroy is hitting .294 in June with a 30% line drive rate. He is beginning to look like his past self, unlike in the early parts of the season before he went down. Jorge De La Rosa is decent on the road, but get him at home, you are going to want to pick on him. He is allowing a .375 wOBA at home, and a .381 wOBA to right-handed bats in Coors. This sets up a few Brewers' cash game picks today.

First Base

2014 Phil Hughes is over and done with, and he has been no better than a pitching machine this year. He is allowing a .345 wOBA to left-handed bats this season, and an even higher .367 wOBA to right-handed bats. Lefties have a 27.2% line drive rate, and the Cubs power bats can attack Hughes' low ground-ball rate. The Cubs just put up a score higher than Jay Cutler could achieve the other day, and they have another favorable matchup tonight. Anthony Rizzo is just about as consistent as they come with a .400 wOBA off right-handed pitching this season.

I am a big fan of Jose Abreu on FanDuel tonight, not overly expensive, which makes him nice to pair up with a top priced pitcher. I will lean towards Rizzo more on DraftKings. Abreu has been crushing right-handed pitching this season, with a .374 wOBA. The only difference between 2014 and 2015 for Abreu is he hasn't hit lefties well this year. I like to target lefties against Lewis, which makes Adam LaRoche a nice GPP play tonight, but Lewis has a very poor ground-ball rate. That does not bode well for pitching U.S. Cellular tonight.

Second Base

No reason to pay up at second base today, there are other positions that you should divert your salary to. Phillippe Aumont has faced 66 lefties in the majors and has allowed a .492 wOBA, with a .411 average. He is making a spot start for Philly tonight, and outside of Hamels, their staff has been target practice for DFS this season. This won't be any different, yet the Cardinals only have a couple of options to choose from. Kolten Wong has an awesome price tag tonight. He has a poor average in June, but that should not steer you away from him. He has a 27.5% line drive rate, and upped his hard hit ball rate from the first two months. His strikeout rate also dropped, so he has just been rather unlucky this month. He is a big part of the Cardinals success, no hacking jokes here, he has a .363 wOBA against right-handed pitching this season.

Third Base

I can see why neither site upped his price, because Aramis Ramirez has the looks of a veteran baseball player limping to the finish line. With Todd Frazier in a likely rainout, and some of the other prices, it is hard to overlook Ramirez and his track record. He will get the Coors bump, which these Milwaukee bats desperately need. I like getting these Coors bats for cheap, we have seen Coors revive a player's season for one series. I am banking on that tonight. If you have excess cash, Manny Machado is in play again tonight, and he has been red hot.

If Ramirez is dead to you, look to Boston's spark plug, Brock Holt. The Red Sox will avoid facing Yordano Ventura, who hit the DL, and instead will face Yohan Pino. Lefties have had a career 27% line drive rate off Pino. Holt keeps the phone in his locker during games, so no worries of a suspension from him today. He will hit leadoff or second in the order, depending on Dustin Pedroia's status. Holt is hitting .382 this month and has a .377 wOBA against right-handed pitching on the season. He has a line drive rate over 30% against lefties and righties this season. Holt was going to force himself into an everyday role anyway, but injuries have aided that process. A very cheap play on DraftKings, and appropriately priced on FanDuel.

Shortstop

Hey Taylor Jungmann, make your third career start in Coors! Jungmann has looked good over his first two starts, but Coors and the Rockies are a different animal. He has a small sample size, but a 38% ground-ball rate to right-handed bats won't cut it tonight. His FIP has been average to below average depending on when you look at him in the previous minor league seasons. Troy Tulowitzki is hitting .367 this month after a very sluggish start. He has a 41.5% hard hit ball rate against right-handed pitching, despite hitting .266 off them. If you can afford him, go for it.

Shortstop is either pay up for Tulo, or go dirt cheap. Marco Estrada has a 5.00 FIP against right-handed bats and is a guy who likes to give up the long ball. He has a 1.40 HR/9 against right-handed bats in his career, and he has allowed a 34.7% hard hit ball rate. Over the last three seasons, the Rogers Centre has had a 120 park factor for right-handed homers, which will aid the J.J. Hardy value play tonight. He had eight hits in that four game series against Philly and has a .354 average in June.

Outfield

Much like Tulo, Carlos Gonzalez has come out of the early season slumber. He is hitting over .300 with six homers this month and has a .365 wOBA off right-handed pitching this season. His numbers against right-handed pitching have always been impressive, his only issue has been staying healthy. I will have a lot of Cargo tonight, as well as his teammate Charlie Blackmon.

Ryan Braun is a Milwaukee bat to pay up for tonight. He has done nothing but mash lefties in his career. He can take advantage of De La Rosa's struggles in Coors, and has in the past. Braun has a 46.9% hard hit ball rate off left-handed pitching, which ranks top 10 in the league. Braun has impressive hard hit ball stats this season, which has yet to be shown in his average. He has a .214 ISO this season, and power has not been a question, with 13 homers this year.

So I mentioned targeting lefties against Colby Lewis, Adam Eaton is that guy, and he makes an excellent value play. Colby Lewis has allowed a .348 wOBA to lefties this season, which goes with his .360 wOBA allowed in his career. Eaton is a base stealing threat and can generate runs. He is a low strikeout threat, unlike some of these other cheaper guys who are more boom or bust.