Daily Fantasy Baseball 2015: MLB DraftKings Ideal Lineup Picks for June 25
DraftKings players should be focused on Wrigley Field and Coors Field on Thursday afternoon.
The Chicago Cubs have taken two of the first three games from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the two teams' current four-game series. Expect the Cubs to win the fourth game of the series by a wide margin on the strength of the team's left-handed pop.
The Dodgers will send 25-year-old right-hander Carlos Frias to the mound, and he hasn't exactly handled lefties well this season. Southpaws are hitting .355 against Frias in 107 at-bats.
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Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo should be able to benefit from this matchup. All but one of his 15 home runs this season have come against right-handed pitching. Thursday afternoon's game seems like a good spot for Rizzo's next dinger.
At $5,300 in DraftKings salary, Rizzo is a little cheaper than the Arizona Diamondbacks' Paul Goldschmidt, but the former should prove to be the better value on Thursday.
Also keep an eye on Chris Coghlan. He's another lefty who could see some success. All eight of his homers have come against right-handers this season. Rizzo and Coghlan are the picks to provide Cubs starter Jon Lester with the offense he needs to stoke the North Siders to a win. Coghlan will come pretty cheap for $3,500 and could be one of the biggest values of the day.
Coghlan and Rizzo aren't the only duo set to be dynamic on Thursday.
There's reason to like the Colorado Rockies' Nick Hundley and Troy Tulowitzki. The Rockies host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, and Rubby De La Rosa will be on the mound for the visitors. He's been sharp in his last two starts, but this is his first start in Colorado.
Coors Field can turn a streaking pitcher into a slumping one quickly. That's especially the case when the Rockies bats have been hot.
Tulowitzki is on an eight-game hitting streak, and he's been tearing it up in the month of June. He's hitting .368 with 19 RBI this month, and there's no reason to believe De La Rosa will be able to slow him down. Tulo's DK salary is a hefty $5,500, but he'll be worth the investment.
Likewise, Hundley has obviously been seeing the ball very well. He homered on Wednesday night to maintain his torrid pace over the last three games. In that span, Hundley is hitting .545 with the homer and three RBI. He is 2-for-4 against De La Rosa as well, for what that's worth. Hundley should help fill the tricky catcher position for you for just $3,500 in DK salary.
There should be a good number of fantasy points to be had from these four hitters. Here's a look at the full DK lineup for Thursday. Just below the table is a closer look at the top pitcher from the list.
| P | Jacob deGrom | Milwaukee | $10,100 |
| P | Alfredo Simon | Chicago White Sox | $6,500 |
| C | Nick Hundley | Arizona | $3,500 |
| 1B | Anthony Rizzo | Los Angeles Dodgers | $5,300 |
| 2B | Cory Spangenberg | San Francisco | $2,600 |
| 3B | Manny Machado | Boston | $5,500 |
| SS | Troy Tulowitzki | Arizona | $5,500 |
| OF | Nick Markakis | Washington | $3,600 |
| OF | Chris Coghlan | Los Angeles Dodgers | $3,500 |
| OF | Brock Holt | Baltimore | $3,900 |
Jacob deGrom ($10,100) at Milwaukee Brewers
It was tough to take the New York Mets' Jacob deGrom over the Oakland Athletics' Sonny Gray, and you would likely be over budget trying to have both. The latter is coming off a tough start, and this is his third time going against the Texas Rangers. Despite Gray's previous dominance against them (.184 batting average against for the current roster), you have to think the Texas bats will get the best of him at some point.
In the case of deGrom, his performance this season has been exemplary. In 14 starts, he's had only three games in which he's allowed three or more earned runs. In June, his ERA is 1.53, and he's struck out 30 batters in 29.1 innings pitched.
DeGrom has been so good, the New York Post's Joel Sherman wonders aloud why the 27-year-old isn't seemingly being viewed as favorably as Mets ace Matt Harvey.
Were it not for Max Scherzer, deGrom might be on his way to NL Pitcher of the Month honors. As it stands, he's just been really solid, and that should continue on Thursday. Milwaukee has scored just 266 runs in 73 games this season, and it's hitting just .238 as a team.
This is a good matchup for most pitchers, let alone a guy who has been going as good as deGrom.
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