MLB DFS Winners and Losers: Alonso, deGrom and More

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There was a 15 game slate on Tuesday, June 18th. After a few delays we were able to get in 14 of those with the exception being the Phillies and Nationals game. The Mets had some huge scoring performances and there were also a few big names who did not perform up to their lofty standards. Points and salaries are based on DraftKings.

Winners

Pete Alonso ($4,900)

Alonso and the Mets were the team you wanted to back in fantasy on Tuesday. They beat the Braves 10-2 on the road and had three huge fantasy performances, starting with Alonso. Alonso went 4-for-4 with a home run and two doubles. He finished the game with three RBI, three runs scored, and walked twice. That all added up to 39 fantasy points. Alonso has been a beast in his rookie campaign and has now hit 24 home runs and has 57 RBI. He has a batting average of .274 to go with his impressive OPS of .982. He extended his hitting streak to seven games.

Alonso’s Outlook

Pete Alonso and the Mets have one more game in Atlanta before heading to Chicago for a four game series with the Cubs. They will face off against Max Fried Wednesday. Fried has decent numbers on the year but he has not pitched well lately. He has a 4.11 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Over his last four starts, though, he has given up 17 earned runs on 17 hits while pitching just 20.1 innings. He has also given up 10 home runs to righties this year and they have a batting average of .281 against him. This looks like a great spot to fire up Alonso again after his huge game Tuesday.

Jacob deGrom ($10,300)

He got the win as he went 8.1 innings while giving up two earned runs on five hits. Both of these runs came on solo home runs in the ninth inning. He scored 35.15 fantasy points. deGrom has been a really good fantasy pitcher this year and his strikeout numbers are in great shape. deGrom has a K/9 that is north of 11 to go with his ERA/WHIP of 3.26/1.08. He has been really good in his last three, striking out 28 over 21.1 innings and giving up only six hits.

deGrom’s Outlook

deGrom’s next projected start will come on Sunday, June 23 in Chicago against the Cubs. The Cubs offense has been just adequate lately and averages 4.6 runs per game in the month of June. Over that same time span they rank 23rd in team batting average, hitting only .237. They are also below league average at home this year, ranking 17th. The positive outlook doesn’t stop there either as they rank 14th in team batting average in day games. Chicago’s strikeout numbers are also up as they rank 10th in the league in the month of June. All of these stats point to deGrom being considered for the top pitcher spot against the Cubs Sunday.

Whit Merrifield ($4,800)

Merrifield and the Royals won in dominating fashion on Tuesday. Merrifield went 3-for-4 and hit two home runs. He ended up with six RBI and three runs scored. He scored 41 fantasy points. This now brings Merrifield’s season batting average to .306 and his OPS is at .862. He has hit 10 home runs and has 39 RBI. He has also added 11 stolen bases.

Merrifield’s Outlook

The Royals have one more game in Seattle before heading back home to face the Twins for four games. Wednesday starter Marco Gonzales has been inconsistent this year and Merrifield has the platoon advantage in this matchup. In Gonzales’ last four starts, he has given up earned runs of one, two, six and 10 and hit numbers of two, two, 10 and eight. The Royals have been one of the worst teams in the league but have found offense lately, scoring 23 runs in their last three games. Expect Merrifield to keep it going against Gonzales and the Mariners Wednesday.

Losers

Julio Teheran ($9,500)

You have already read about the Mets winning big Tuesday and that means that the Braves starter, Teheran, got roughed up early. Teheran was only able to get through four innings and gave up six earned runs. The Mets got to him for eight hits, three walks, and one home run. He did strike out three over his 83 pitches. This netted him -3.6 fantasy points. Teheran fell to 5-5 after the loss and his ERA rose to 3.40. His WHIP also grew to 1.26. His K/9 is at 8.14.

Teheran’s Outlook

Teheran has been a dominant pitcher lately and gave up more earned runs Tuesday than he had over his last eight starts combined. That covered 44.2 innings. The only issue with Teheran in that span is that he does not control his pitch count well and didn’t get past six innings in any of those. Those numbers, though, add up to a bounce-back opportunity for him in his next start against the Cubs at Wrigley on Monday, June 24th. I already went into detail on the Cubs struggles lately and nearly all of those stats from above can be copied and pasted here against Teheran. Look for him to bounce back against the scuffling Cubs offense.

Giancarlo Stanton ($5,200)

Giancarlo Stanton made his highly anticipated return to action Tuesday and disappointed in a big way. He went 0-for-4 with two ugly strikeouts. He didn’t hit the ball hard in any of his at bats and did not look comfortable in the box. This was Stanton’s first action since May.

Stanton’s Outlook

Stanton has come off a long layoff and had mixed results in rehab. He hit .286 overall but went only 1-for-11 in Triple-A. Five of Stanton’s six hits in the minors went for home runs. This has been his all-or-nothing style that we have grown to know. Stanton should get back to hitting home runs but I am giving the rust plenty of time to go away before I pay a premium price on him.

Injury Report

Mike Moustakas left Tuesday’s game after being hit in the hand by a pitch. He should have some X-rays to make sure there are no breaks.

Max Scherzer broke his nose after fouling a bunt off of his face in practice Tuesday.

Justin Smoak (quad) and Edwin Jackson (back) are both headed to the 10-day IL for the Blue Jays.

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