We have a big slate tonight, with 28 out of the 30 teams eligible for selection. The Orioles and Cubs play early, so they will be the only teams not a part of the night slate. The big aces going tonight are Kevin Gausman, Shane McClanahan and Zac Gallen. There is some interesting pricing among pitchers with the 10th highest priced pitcher being Julio Teheran over guys like Yu Darvish, Patrick Sandoval and Taijuan Walker.

This is for the 6/16 4:05 PM PST classic slate on Draftkings.

Writer’s Record

29-19-1

Philadelphia Phillies -1.5 Run Line (+120)  @ Oakland Athletics

This matchup pits a team that is hot against a team that has probably maxed out over the past week. The Phillies are 10-2 over their last 12 games and their offense is starting to get going. They’re coming off a fun series against the NL leading Diamondbacks and should continue to score runs.

New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox u10.0 Runs (-115)

This number is surprisingly high. It’s the second highest run total on the board after Colorado-Atlanta. German has been pretty good this year, sticky stuff aside. Tanner Houck hasn’t been terrible either, but this is moreso a play on these impotent offenses. There are only two guys in these combined lineups that hit over .300 and those two guys are Adam Duvall and Billy McKinney.

DFS Pillar Plays

Taijuan Walker

Position: P

Salary: $7,000

Taijuan Walker has been inconsistent this year, but two of his best starts came in his previous two outings. In those two games, he gave up no runs with a combined four hits and 13 strikeouts in 12 innings. The Phillies travel to Oakland to continue their west coast road trip, which puts Walker in a favorable matchup. This is a good price for a veteran pitcher against the A’s, who despite being a little bit better of late, still remain one of the more limited offenses in the league. 

Shohei Ohtani

Position: 1B/OF

Salary: $6,400 

There’s no reason to believe Shohei Ohtani will slow down at the moment. In June, Shohei has seven home runs with 16 RBIs. The Angels travel to Kansas City, who now hold the title of worst team in the league. Ohtani has a whopping 59 total bases in the last 15 games, per Codify. It’ll be hot in Kansas City tonight, with temperatures sitting in the high 80s. 

Jake Burger

Position: 3B

Salary: $3,500

Jake Burger ranks 3rd in barrel % this year. We saw some realization of that in the White Sox’s three game set at Dodger Stadium. Burger left the yard three times in that series, with two coming on Wednesday and one coming off Clayton Kershaw. The third baseman ranks 13th in xSLG among qualified hitters. 

DFS Value Plays (<$3300 Salary)

Jordan Walker

Position: OF

Salary: $3,000

The top prospect is currently on an eight game hit streak. The Cardinals face off against Tylor Megill, who had a really rough go of it in his last start against the Pirates. In that game, Megill gave up nine runs and didn’t get past the 4th inning. Walker has a lot of potential and while he hasn’t been as flashy as some other rookies, he’s putting up much better production in June. His OPS is .908 this month. 

Josh Naylor

Position: 1B

Salary: $3,300

Zac Gallen is on the mound for the Diamondbacks. He’s not been as good as he was earlier in the season. Josh Naylor is on a 14-game hit streak. Over that stretch, Naylor has eight extra base hits and 26 total hits. He hasn’t hit a home run in June, but that should be coming soon with the way he is swinging the bat at the moment. The Guardians offense owes a lot to Naylor’s increased production, as they’ve really rebounded from a dismal stretch where they could not score. Naylor is ranked 7th in xBA among qualified hitters.