Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Tuesday, July 1st! 

Our team of experts has poured over the matchups, stats, and trends to bring you a curated selection of top plays and value picks to help you build winning lineups. 

Whether you’re chasing big GPP prizes or looking to cash in head-to-heads, we’ve got you covered with insights designed to give you an edge. Let’s dive into today’s slate and get ready to crush it!

 

 

This season's MLB DFS picks and playbook will consist of a pitcher and hitter core players section with written analysis, player pool grid and core stacks section.

The core player section should be used as a starting point for all lineups, you may not be able to use all players in the same lineup, but those players should be the building blocks for you on a given night.

The player pool grid will feature both players from the core player section along with additional plays to help you build a complete lineup. The grid will be broken into top priced players, mid-priced players and value tier players.

The stacks section will bring you are favorite lineups stacks for the day and which players we would look to include in those stacks based on matchups and pricing.

Tune into the MLB DFS Livestream at 5 PM ET to watch us break down today’s slate, give you last-minute advice, and answer any questions before locking in those lineups!

Make sure you subscribe to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel so you never miss a show! Also, join the Fantasy Alarm Discord to get your DFS lineup questions answered by our MLB DFS team! Plus, as always, be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the Daily MLB Projections, MLB DFS Rostership Projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting.

 

MLB DFS Picks & MLB Playbook

MLB Weather: Tuesday, 7/1

Athletics @ Tampa Bay Rays

  • Scattered thunderstorms that could miss the ballpark or end up causing an in-game delay. Even if a storm does end up over the ballpark, there is a chance they arrive late enough for starting pitchers to get their full workload in. We will need to monitor this one up until first pitch. 

Milwaukee Brewers @ New York Mets

  • Rain is likely to cause an issue here. Late start and/or postponement are both on the table. 

Cincinnati Reds @ Boston Red Sox

  • They should have a tight window to play the game between storms. Another situation that will need to be monitored up until first pitch to get the most accurate information. 

Los Angeles Angels @ Atlanta Braves

  • Typical summer pop-up storms in the Atlanta area. The heavier storms are expected later in the evening, but if anything pops-up earlier that causes a delay they may have difficulty finishing.  

Houston Astros @ Colorado Rockies

  • Might need a late start for rain to clear, but there should be no issues after that. 
 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Let's get into today's core pitching plays for our DFS lineups

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers

Yamamoto was working on an absolute gem at Coors Field in his last outing before a lengthy rain delay cut his day short after just 56 pitches. Today, he gets one of the best possible matchups as the White Sox and their league-worst wOBA come to town. The righty owns the highest strikeout rate of any pitcher on the slate, and the plus matchup gives him a great chance at a ceiling performance. 

Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers 

Jacob deGrom has recorded a quality start in seven of his last eight starts, and he has needed more than 90 pitches in just two of those starts. The strikeouts may be down significantly from his prime, but the command and efficiency are as impeccable as ever. He is also a big favorite in this spot against the Orioles, so there is little to no concern for his upside in this matchup. 

Matthew Boyd, Chicago Cubs

The price tag should keep Boyd a low-owned option on this big slate, but I think the upside is there to pay off the hefty tag in this matchup. The Guardians have been dreadful against left-handed pitching this season, posting a 75 wRC+ and 24.4% strikeout rate. Boyd routinely completes six innings with a strikeout rate around league average. 

Shane Baz, Tampa Bay Rays

Rays righty Shane Baz is coming off a fantastic start against the Royals in which he tossed eight shutout innings and registered nine strikeouts. He has dealt with inconsistency this season, but when he is on he can deliver tournament winning upside. The matchup comes against a scuffling A's lineup that posted just a 90 wRC+ and ranked 23rd in wOBA over the past month. The A's also struck out at a hefty 23.8% clip in that timeframe. Baz is backed by a red-hot Rays offense that ranked number one in wOBA and wRC+ in June. 

NOTE: Keep an eye on the weather as we approach roster lock. 

Jeffrey Springs, Athletics 

On the other side of the game from Baz is lefty Jeffrey Springs. As mentioned, the Rays offense has been red hot, but they are also much better against righties than they are against lefties where they have posted just a 93 wRC+ and 23.2% strikeout rate. Springs is still very cheap on DK and fairly priced on FD. He has delivered better results recently after plenty of struggles earlier in the season, and the matchup is sneaky good for the left-hander. 

NOTE: Keep an eye on the weather as we approach roster lock. 

 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Let's check out today's core plays to build our lineups around.

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Houston Astros in Coors Field 

The Astros begin a three-game set in Coors Field today. With Jeremy Pena joining Yordan Alvarez on the Injured List, not one hitter in the lineup is priced above $5,000 on DK or $4,000 on FD. The 'Stros matchup against rookie right-hander Chase Dollander, who has been dreadful at home this season. Dollander sports an 8.54 home ERA compared to a 4.25 road ERA. His strikeout rate is just 15.1% and he has allowed 2.73 HR/9 in Coors. Isaac Paredes and Jose Altuve are the top priorities, and Christian Walker still owns an above average ISO against righties despite a down season overall. Jake Meyers and Cam Smith have also both been hitting the ball well lately. 

Boston Red Sox Lefties vs. Brady Singer 

The Red Sox gave rookie phenom Chase Burns his welcome to MLB moment last night, chasing him (no pun intended) from the game before the end of the 1st inning. The Sox tallied 13 runs in total and get another great spot here tonight. Brady Singer has seen each of his strikeout, walk and groundball rates move in the wrong direction this season, and lefties have hammered him for a .196 ISO and a massive 16.2% barrel rate. The Red Sox happen to have plenty of lefty swingers to attack him with. Wilyer Abreu owns a healthy .245 ISO against righties, and Abraham Toro is enjoying a breakout with a .208 ISO. Jarran Duran has above average power against righties and has swiped 15 bags this season. Rookies Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer each have displayed big power early in their MLB careers as well.  

Elly De La Cruz and Austin Hays 

Elly De La Cruz is enjoying the best season of his young career with 18 homers and 22 steals so far. He is displaying that dynamic power/speed combination while trimming his strikeout rate to 25%. He will hit from his strong side of the plate against a low-strikeout righty in Richard Fitts. As awesome as De La Cruz has been, it is actually righties that have given Richard… fits (sorry). Righties have pummeled Fitts for a .344 ISO and 19.6% barrel rate. Austin Hays is the easy choice for top Reds righty with his .240 ISO and .343 wOBA. Cincinnati has an implied team total of nearly five runs, so I certainly wouldn't talk anyone out of a full stack, but EDLC and Hays would certainly be the first two in any lineup. 

Atlanta Braves vs. Tyler Anderson

Whatever voodoo Tyler Anderson had working in his favor last season seems to have worn off. The low strikeouts and loads of flyball contact have caught up to him as he has posted a 4.41 ERA and 1.58 HR/9. The Braves have been shockingly bad against lefties after dominating them the past couple of seasons. Catcher Sean Murphy has actually been their best hitter against lefties, followed by lefty swinging Matt Olson. Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies have been the primary culprits of the Braves struggles against lefties, which is odd considering their many years of excellent numbers against southpaws in the past. Marcell Ozuna has seen his power disappear against lefties, but he still has a very strong .354 wOBA. Ronald Acuna has been far better against righties, but still very good against lefties. Matt Olson is the top play here with his .228 ISO and the reverse splits of Anderson, but the full stack looks great as well.    

Vinnie Pasquantino vs. Emerson Hancock

Unfortunately, the Royals are not the best team to power hunt with, as their ISO ranks 2nd-worst in baseball, and they lack the upside to love them as a full stack. But there is one matchup that stands out. Emerson Hancock has a lefty problem with a .267 ISO allowed to lefties this season. The Royals lone lefty power threat (at least until Jac Caglianone figures out big league pitching) is Vinnie Pasquantino. There is a nice mini-stack if you want to add in Booby Witt and Maikel Garcia. Afterall, it was righties that troubled Hancock just last season. And by all means, throw a dart with a cheap Jac Caglianone as well. He is going to hit eventually. I guess I have talked myself into a full Royals stack, but play Vinnie P for sure. 

 

 

 

Player Pool

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Stacks

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