Sons of former Major Leaguers generally tend to understand the business of baseball. And with the MLB receiving an influx of talent, second-generation players are standing out. Fernando Tatis Jr., Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have all cemented themselves as stars in the first half of the 2021 MLB season, and all three have become staples in MLB DFS lineups. Meanwhile, White Sox rookie Gavin Sheets, son of former MLB outfielder Larry Sheets, has had an impressive first month of his career as well.
Sheets has an .896 OPS with five homers and 14 RBIs in his first 17 games but are there better values in the MLB DFS player pool on Friday as he takes on Brewers all-star Freddy Peralta? Building effective MLB DFS rosters is all about exploiting matchups to find value. Before locking in any MLB DFS picks for Friday, be sure to check out the MLB DFS advice, strategy and projections from SportsLine daily Fantasy expert Mike McClure.
McClure is a daily Fantasy pro who has won almost $2 million in his career. And when it comes to daily Fantasy baseball, McClure is at his best. Recognized in the book "Fantasy Football (and Baseball) for Smart People: How to Turn Your Hobby into a Fortune" as a top MLB DFS player, McClure's proprietary projection model simulates each game 10,000 times, taking factors such as matchups and recent results into account. This allows him to find the best values on every site.
On Thursday, McClure included Braves starting pitcher Charlie Morton as his top pitching option on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The result: Morton went six innings in a win over the Phillies, allowing just two earned runs and striking out eight on his way to 46 points on FanDuel and 24.7 points on DraftKings. Anybody who had him in their lineup was well on the way to a profitable day.
Now, with the 2021 MLB season rolling on, McClure has locked in his top MLB daily Fantasy picks for Friday. Head to SportsLine now to see them.
McClure's top MLB DFS picks for July 23, 2021
One of McClure's top MLB DFS picks for Friday is Angels outfielder Shohei Ohtani at $6,500 on DraftKings and $4,400 on FanDuel. In a game full of dynamic young talents, Ohtani is the brightest because of his ability to impact that game in so many ways. As a hitter, he has titanic power and leads the American League with 34 home runs.
However, he's also an impressive pitcher with a 3.21 ERA who strikes out 11.7 batters per nine innings. On Friday, he'll be in the lineup as a hitter and his splits show that he'll be unbothered by a lefty-lefty matchup against J.A. Happ. Ohtani has a .987 OPS against lefties and he's also stolen five bases off left-handed pitchers this season.
Part of McClure's optimal MLB DFS strategy includes rostering Reds outfielder Aristides Aquino ($2,700 on DraftKings, $2,200 on FanDuel). After a surprising rookie season where he flashed enormous power by blasting 19 homes runs in just 225 plate appearances, Aquino struggled in 2020 and wound up playing just 23 games and posting a .623 OPS.
However, he appears to have rebounded since being called back up in June. Aquino has six home runs in just 67 plate appearances and he's appeared comfortable against both right-handed and left-handed pitching this season with three home runs against each and .990 OPS overall.
How to set your MLB DFS lineups for July 23, 2021
McClure is also targeting an undervalued player who is set to explode for huge numbers on Friday. The stars are aligning for him to return tournament-winning value and he comes at a price that won't break the bank. You can only see who it is here.
So what are the top MLB DFS picks for Friday? Visit SportsLine now to see DFS millionaire Mike McClure's complete player pool and picks for FanDuel and DraftKings, and cash in big on MLB DFS.
