Fantasy Baseball Picks: Top DraftKings MLB DFS Lineup Strategy for Reds vs. Padres Showdown on June 18

The San Diego Padres pulled off one of the most electric wins of the season on Thursday, blowing a 2-0 lead to fall behind by two runs, only to tie it up and walk it off in the ninth. Will the Cincinnati Reds come out with a vengeance here and take the second of a three-game set?

Plenty of fun is sure to ensue, so let’s get right into how to construct your DraftKings lineups for Friday night’s Showdown contest.

Texas Rangers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Captain’s Picks

Jesse Winker ($15,900 CP) - Wink going against a pitcher who throws his four-seamer 62% of the time? Where do I sign up? He hasn’t wowed you in terms of fantasy production over the past four games, but he does have a five-game hitting streak working! He’s also hit .341 off of four-seamers this year with a 55% hard-hit rate and a Run Value of 11. Considering he’s also hit righties far better than lefties, and the righty he’ll face on Friday is a struggling one, the stars are aligned for a huge Winker night.

Chris Paddack ($15,600 CP) - I know I just alluded to the fact that Paddack is struggling, and I just don’t normally like playing him in DFS. With that said, both offenses are in a bit of a rut here and I think runs could be hard to come by. Paddack has been great over his past two starts, which came against a surprisingly great offense in the Mets, and struck out 15 over a combined 12 innings. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to keep that up against an offense he profiles well against.

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $8K Extra Inning [$2K to 1st] (CIN vs. SD)

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UTIL Plays

Trent Grisham ($7,800) - Trent Grisham is back! Why does nobody care? The left-handed slugger has begun to look like himself in recent games, with two homers in the six contests he’s taken part in, and it’s only a matter of time before he reclaims the leadoff spot he vacated when he went down with an injury, considering how poor the Padres have hit. He could very well slide into the top spot here against a righty, and at this price, it’s hard to pass him up.

Tucker Barnhart ($6,000) - Barnhart is a great hitter, and a great building block here on a slate where you’re going to be interested in the high-priced options. He should be in there against a righty, and in his past four starts behind the dish, he’s compiled 28 DKFP. He’s made contact on a decent 75.4% of his swings over the past two weeks and has a great 12.9% walk rate. That bodes well for you if you need some points.

Fades

Eric Hosmer ($8,800) - Hosmer had been ice cold at the plate up until his moonshot down the right-field line to tie Thursday’s game in the ninth, and I’m not willing to become a believer after one swing of the bat. Not against a righty anyway, where Hosmer has actually performed worse this year. He found himself dropped to sixth in the order last night, so not even a premium lineup spot can save him.

The Outcome

Both offenses have been hurting, so I don’t think we’re going to see many runs scored here. If you have to choose between the two pitchers, though, you’re going to take Paddack over Tony Santillan ($10,000). The runs here should be mostly scored via the homer, and with that strikeouts should abound. I’ll give San Diego the slight edge with the better pitcher and the home-field advantage.

Final Score: Padres 4, Reds 3

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $8K Extra Inning [$2K to 1st] (CIN vs. SD)

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