Fantasy Baseball Picks: Top DraftKings MLB DFS Lineup Strategy for Rangers vs. Dodgers Showdown on June 12

The Saturday night Showdown on DraftKings this week is an interleague contest between the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers are still chasing the Giants in the NL West but have moved into second place just one-and-a-half games back at 38-25 on the season. The Rangers quickly dropped to the bottom of the AL West and are only 24-40. They have only managed two wins in their 15 most recent games and dropped the series opener to L.A., 12-1 on Friday night.

In more bad news for the Rangers, they have to take on Trevor Bauer ($16,500 CP; $11,000), who has been very good in his first season with the Dodgers. To oppose Trevor, Texas will give the ball to Kolby Allard ($14,400 CP; $9,600). Not surprisingly, the Dodgers are heavily favored on DraftKings Sportsbook with a -290 moneyline while the over/under for this game is low at just 7.5 runs.

There are some interesting fantasy plays to consider on both sides of this matchup, so let’s take a look at to construct your DraftKings lineups for Saturday night’s Showdown contest.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Dodgers 2B Gavin Lux is not in the lineup Saturday vs. the Rangers.

Captain’s Picks

Trevor Bauer ($16,500 CP) - Bauer is averaging a robust 25.2 DKFP per start this season with a 6-4 record and an 11.25 K/9 rate along with a 2.40 ERA and 3.79 FIP. The variance between his ERA and FIP is due to a very low BABIP allowed of only .188, which is unsustainably low but also shows how hard it has been to make hard contact against the reigning NL Cy Young winner.

Bauer has been very consistent with at least six innings in six straight and nine of his past 10 starts. He has also been especially dominant at home, with a 1.69 home ERA and an average of 30.6 DKFP per home start. On top of all that, he has a great matchup against Texas since the Rangers strike out 9.47 times per game, which is in the bottom third of the league and only score 3.86 runs per game, which puts them in the bottom five of the MLB as well.

Gavin Lux ($12,000 CP) - While filling in for the injured Corey Seager at SS, Lux seems to be settling in as a Major League hitter after struggling last season and early this year. He has raised his wOBA to .303 on the season with a .156 ISO. In 35 games since May 1, he has hit all six of his home runs and has posted a .192 ISO and a .346 wOBA. He is a lefty in this matchup against the lefty Allard, but that may not be for much of the game since the young southpaw is far from an innings eater. Since I don’t expect Allard to be able to shut down the Dodgers, I think it’s a good night to live the Lux life at this pretty affordable Captain’s Pick salary.

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $15K Extra Inning [$5K to 1st] (TEX vs LAD)

Value Plays

Isiah Kiner-Falefa ($6,600) - Kiner-Falefa has already hit a career-high five home runs this season in his 64 games and has added a career-high 11 stolen bases as well. He’s hitting .333 overall with a .121 ISO and .319 wOBA. He usually hits in the leadoff spot for the Rangers, so he typically gets plenty of at-bats and opportunities to score runs. He started the season a little slow, but he has picked things up over the past six weeks with a .342 wOBA and seven stolen bases since May 1. Facing Bauer is obviously a tough matchup, but you have to play a Ranger, and IKF is my favorite option due to his multiple ways to produce solid fantasy value from a premium lineup spot.

Albert Pujols ($5,600) - Pujols has shown a little life in his bat since joining the Dodgers, going 15-for-56 (.268) with two doubles, five home runs, an impressive .304 ISO and a .377 wOBA. The majority (34) of those at-bats have come against lefties and four of those five homers have come off southpaws, who Pujols has posted a .438 ISO and .537 wOBA against since joining the Dodgers. Whether it’s a new team, more limited playing time or just a fresh start that has revitalized the legend, Pujols is definitely a nice way to get a middle-of-the-order bat packed with power potential for an extremely affordable salary in this showdown.

Fades

Adolis García ($9,000) - Garcia went 0-for-4 on Friday and is now just 10-for-47 (.213) over his past 13 games since hitting his most recent home run. He has on fire earlier this season and could get back to that level, but this matchup against Bauer doesn’t seem like a good place to pay way up for García. Like García, many of his high-salary Rangers teammates have collectively slumped lately. In their 10 most recent contests, Nick Solak ($7,400) is only 6-for-34 (.176), Joey Gallo ($7,200) is only 5-for-29 (.172) and Nate Lowe ($7,000) is only 4-for-29 (.138). This is a tough spot to pay that much for any of them when Pujols, IKF and other value plays come in so much hotter and also so much cheaper.

The Outcome

The Rangers looked overmatched on Friday night and will have another tough task facing Bauer in this contest. Allard has been decent but doesn’t pitch deep into games most of the time, which will leave the Rangers’ bullpen overexposed once again. Despite a few injuries, the Dodgers' depth and strong starting pitching will likely prove too much for Texas to overcome.

Final Score: Dodgers 9, Rangers 2

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $15K Extra Inning [$5K to 1st] (TEX vs LAD)

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