It's the final weekend of June, which means we're in the heat of summer and 4th of July is right around the corner for us and for MLB. Friday is, as expected, loaded with evening action. There are 13 games on the slate starting at 7:05 p.m. ET or later. Here are my MLB DFS lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Will Warren, NYY at BOS ($8,500): Warren has built upon the promise he showed last year, as he's gotten his ERA down to 3.45 with improvements across the board statistically. Of course, this matchup is also encouraging, as the Red Sox seems locked into the bottom five in runs scored given we're halfway through the season and they'd have to make up a lot of ground to get out of that realm.
J.T. Ginn, ATH at LAA ($7,700): Last season, Ginn was notably better on the road than in the Athletics' short-term home in Sacramento. That is also the case this year, but the difference is that he's been very good on the road. Ginn has an 1.99 ERA away from Sacramento. Though the Angels are above-average in terms of runs scored, I am not sure how good they will be in the long run given the roster, and at present Mike Trout is injured.
Luis Castillo, SEA at CLE ($6,900): Castillo hasn't exactly been lights out after a bad start to the season, but he has a 3.62 ERA over his last seven outings. At this salary, and in this matchup, that's sufficient to me. The Guardians are in the bottom five in runs scored and team OPS, and the lineup is missing a few pieces, most notably Jose Ramirez.
Top Targets
He's only played in 44 games total this year, but Jackson Chourio ($5,400) has a .919 OPS against lefties and a .901 OPS at home. He wasn't nearly as good at home last year, but he did have a .973 OPS against southpaws, so his success on that front is not a surprise. The expectation is that the Cubs will throw David Peterson right into the rotation after acquiring his services owing to injuries. Maybe escaping the Mets will be good for the southpaw, but he has a 6.09 ERA on the campaign.
Though Matt Olson ($5,000) has been cold, maybe Friday will see him get back on track. He's slugged .542 against righties in 2026 but also slugged a whopping .611 on the road. Surprisingly, given the ballpark in San Francisco, Trevor McDonald has a 6.10 ERA at home this year. Additionally, in his career, lefties have hit .308 against him.
Bargain Bats
After a promising 20/20 campaign last year, Wyatt Langford ($4,000) started the season slow and dealt with injury. However, since returning from a lengthy absence earlier this month he has a .978 OPS. While he hasn't been good against lefties in 2026, he was decidedly better against lefties prior to this in his career, so I will chalk that up to the sample size. As per usual, Patrick Corbin has allowed righties to hit more than .300 against him this year and he also has a 5.96 ERA at home.
You need a catcher, and while Keibert Ruiz ($3,800) hasn't panned out, per se, this year he has hit .275 and slugged .473. Last year's remarkable campaign for the southpaw Trevor Rogers has proven unsustainable. He has a 6.66 K/9 rate, and his ERA is up to 5.30. Since the Nationals are light on viable righties, I figured the switch-hitting catcher was the way to go.
Agree with these recommendations? Give them a spin with various combinations of other players in RotoWire's MLB DFS Lineup Optimizer.
Stacks to Consider
Dodgers at Padres (Walker Buehler): Freddie Freeman ($5,300), Max Muncy ($4,600), Dalton Rushing ($4,100)
Buehler has been good in June, that is true. However, lefties have hit .288 against him this season. Last year, they hit .300 against him. The year prior to that, southpaws hit .296 against Buehler. All of that is to say I have decided to stack three left-handed Dodgers here.
This season, Freeman has a .944 OPS against righties, a .987 OPS on the road, and a .951 OPS over the last three weeks. Turns out he can still hit like a Hall of Famer. Since 2024, Muncy has slugged .511 against right-handed pitchers. Normally, the third baseman is better at Dodger Stadium, but this year he has a .916 OPS on the road. Rushing is a catcher, so the fact he has a .468 slugging percentage is good for his position. Perhaps not surprisingly, given his limited MLB experience, he struggles with lefties, but he has an .824 OPS versus righties.
Rays vs. Diamondbacks (Zac Gallen): Junior Caminero ($5,700), Jonathan Aranda ($4,100), Cedric Mullins ($3,200)
Originally, this was going to be Brandon Pfaadt making his return from Triple-A. Then, Arizona's game Thursday was rained out. However, everything is still coming up Tampa! Gallen has a 6.98 ERA and 2.1 HR/9 rate on the road. Lefties have hit .345 against him this season, so I have two southpaws in this stack.
Caminero is a righty, and I promise I am not recommending you roster him because he hit three homers Thursday. Of course, he's also the kind of guy who hits three homers in a game and it registers as notable but not surprising. His OPS at home this year is approaching 1.000 after Thursday's explosion, and in his career he actually has a higher slugging percentage against his fellow righties. Aranda doesn't have the same power as his teammate Caminero, who to be fair appears to have elite power, but he does have a .386 OBP. He does struggle with southpaws, but he has an .890 OPS versus righties since 2024, and so he'll be happy to see Gallen. Mullins is here because he is a lefty, he has a low salary, and he can deliver counting stats. The former Oriole has 13 stolen bases, and he also has six homers and a triple in 68 games.
