MLB DFS: DraftKings picks for Saturday, June 5th

It’s a six-game slate on DraftKings. Here’s what strikes my fancy at first glance. A lot can change in 11 hours though, so make sure you verify that all players are actually playing before locking them in.

Holy pitching, Batman!

There are loads of arms available on this small slate, none better than...

Jacob deGrom @ San Diego Padres ($11,100)

Jacob deGrom allowed two hits and struck out eight Arizona D-backs in his last turn. He’s sporting a 0.71 ERA, is on year 2 of sporting a swinging strike rate in excess of 21.0%, which is just absurd. He leads the majors in strikeout rate, at 45.8%. For reference, that’s double the K-rate of guys like Anthony DeSclafani and Nathan Eovaldi, who are pretty darn good MLB pitchers. I know Fernando Tatis Jr. is a Padre, but you can’t ignore the best pitcher in the majors, either. I think I”d pay close to 12K for him if I wanted to pay up at pitcher. Can’t ever fault you if you roll with deGrom.

Alex Cobb vs. Seattle Mariners ($6,900)

I’m actually excited about this one. Cobb has been good this year—his 2.44 xFIP backs up his 3.78 ERA, and he’s sporting career-highs in strikeout rate (30.1%) and swinging strike rate (12.9%). He’s got an absurd 38.9% chase rate in the early going, and he’s generating ground balls at over a 50% rate. I love the floor here due to the Mariners matchup, who have a .208 batting average on the season (worst in the majors). Add in that Jarred Kelenic has been struggling (and dropped down in the order) and that Kyle Lewis is currently shelved to injury...it’s an even juicier matchup for Cobb, who look like a really solid SP2.

Hitting

New York Yankees vs. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez

The Yankees catch the struggling E-Rod, who has actually pitched better than his 5.64 ERA attests (3.71 FIP, 3.35 xFIP). That said, the results have been less than stellar given that he’s just not missing bats as much in 2021 (9.8% swinging strike rate). The Yankees are still tied for fifth in homers against southpaws (25) despite a sluggish start to begin the year, and despite the absence of Giancarlo Stanton for a while. There’s also a clear-cut top five in this unit, as the 6-9 hitters are pretty ghastly. Lastly, cost isn’t prohibitive, as DJ LeMahieu, Gio Urshela, and Gleyber Torres are all under 4K, and Giancarlo Stanton is just $4,100. You’re only really paying up for Aaron Judge, at $5,000.

Cheap Coors Bats

You can theoretically land a top stack of the night (Yankees), the top pitcher (deGrom), a rock-solid SP2 (Cobb), and still have money to add Coors bats. That’s right, Coors pricing looks super-soft, with guys like Chad Pinder and Jed Lowrie sub 4K, while Yonathan Daza (3K) is projected to bat second. That’s just too cheap for hitters in that locale.

And now I’m headed out into the woods for a hike, but I’ll double back later to see what else jumps out at me. Who are YOU considering in your lineups today, ladies and gents?