Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan became the official MLB leader in batting average on Thursday, finally meeting the minimum plate appearance requirement after missing a month with a hamstring injury. The third-year pro is batting .367 through 59 games, which is nearly 100 points better than his .268 mark last season. Kwan celebrated his leap into baseball’s best batting average by going 3-for-4 on Thursday while showcasing some power with a home run. His batting average hasn’t fallen below .360 since the start of May, so is he someone daily Fantasy baseball players should use in MLB DFS lineups on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings for Friday?
The Giants are starting rookie Hayden Birdsong against the Guardians on Friday as the right-handed pitcher is set to make his third career start. Birdsong has a 4.66 ERA over his first two starts, so should you build MLB DFS stacks around Kwan and Guardians players? 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 more than $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 identified Yankees outfielder Juan Soto as one of his top MLB DFS picks. The result: Soto went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk, returning 25.2 points on FanDuel and 18 points on DraftKings. Anybody who included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
Now, with the 2024 MLB season rolling, McClure has locked in his top MLB daily Fantasy picks for Friday, July 5. You can head to SportsLine now to see them.
McClure’s top MLB DFS picks for Friday
One of McClure’s top MLB DFS picks for Friday is Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. at $6,800 on DraftKings and $4,800 on FanDuel. Witt went 3-for-4 with a double and hit his 14th home run on the season on Thursday. He is a true five-tool player who can score points in a variety of ways for MLB DFS lineups with his ability to hit for both average and power while creating chaos on the bases.
The 24-year-old is third in baseball in batting average (.319), tied for fifth in stolen bases (22) and 11th in OPS (.926). Witt is one of just two players with at least 12 home runs and 20 stolen bases this season. Witt also leads baseball in hits (113) and doubles (24) while playing in all 89 games this year.
McClure is stacking Witt with Royals first Vinnie Pasquantino ($5,200 on DraftKings and $3,700 on FanDuel). Pasquantino has three RBI over his last two games and he is hitting .400 with a 1.063 OPS over his last six contests. He also has two home runs in his last six games as his 10 home runs on the season tie a career-high for the third-year player. The 26-year-old has already played a career-high 85 games and he’s more than doubled his career RBI total this season, driving in 58 runs this year after recording 52 RBI over 133 games in his first two seasons combined.
This is a significantly improved Kansas City team than in Pasquantino and Witt’s first two years on the team. The Royals have won 48 of 89 games this season (53.9%) compared to winning just 121 of 324 games (37.3%) over the last two years. The Royals begin a three-game series at hitter-friendly Coors Field on Friday as the Rockies have allowed the most runs in baseball (509) this year. McClure views this as a strong stack opportunity for Pasquantino and Witt in MLB DFS lineups. See McClure’s full MLB DFS player pool right here.
How to set your MLB DFS lineups for July 5, 2024
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, and get the rest of McClure’s MLB DFS picks, 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, all from the DFS expert who has won more than $2 million.
