Sean Barnard gives his top DraftKings MLB Pick6 plays and projections for today’s MLB slate.

It is a full day of MLB action across today’s Sunday slate with all 30 teams in action. The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds kicked off the day with a 12:10 p.m. ET first pitch, and it will build out for the final Sunday Night matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves. There are plenty of ways of getting involved in the action. One of the more unique ways is with one of the newest features on DraftKings this year in Pick6 Fantasy Baseball!

This article will look at my top Pick6 plays for today’s action. You simply choose whether each set statistic will be more or less than the set number. With the stage set, here are my favorite picks on today’s MLB slate.

Giancarlo Stanton More Than 0.5 Runs Batted In

The New York Yankees will be facing the White Sox in Chicago today and looking to complete a four-game series sweep. Since returning from the injured list, Giancarlo Stanton is batting .298 with 17 home runs in just 54 games. He will look to add to this today with Martin Perez on the mound for the White Sox.

Perez has some interesting metrics this year. Across his seven appearances, he is posting a 2.02 ERA with just one home run across 35.2 innings pitched. However, the advanced metrics are not buying that this is sustainable, and Perez has a 4.39 career ERA across his 14 seasons pitched. Stanton is 4-for-14 in his career against Perez, which comes out to a .286 batting average and a 1.188 OPS with a pair of home runs launched. He has not fully gotten it going in this series yet, but he is hitting .364 with eight home runs over the past four weeks. Even if Perez does get off to a strong start, the White Sox bullpen is posting a collective 4.18 ERA with 61 home runs allowed on the season.

A home run feels in play for the 2017 MVP, but I am opting to go a bit safer and back Stanton to record an RBI. Perez is destined for some regression, and the Yankees slugger has been red hot at the plate. Look for him to maintain his form and drive home a run in the matchup.

Freddie Freeman More Than 1.5 Total Bases

The Los Angeles Dodgers are hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks after dropping the opening two games of the series. Brandon Pfaadt will be on the mound for Arizona. The right-hander enters with a 5.24 ERA and is allowing 1.39 home runs per nine innings this season. Winds will be blowing out to center field with temperatures in the mid-90s, and this has the makings of a high-scoring matchup. Pfaadt was chased from his previous start in just 2.2 innings after allowing six runs and eight hits against the Brewers.

Freddie Freeman jumps to the top of the list of players I expect to inflict some damage. The nine-time All-Star is slashing .300/.373/.499 on the season with 18 home runs and 75 RBIs tallied. Freeman has faced Pfaadt 18 times since 2023 and has tallied five hits with a 20% barrel rate and .556 slugging percentage. The power numbers are not what they once were for the former MVP, but Freeman remains one of the most consistent hitters in the league. He has tallied a double in three of his past four games and tallied more than 1.5 total bases in seven of his last 11. Look for Freeman to add to this tonight and produce more than 1.5 total bases against Brandon Pfaadt.

Rafael Devers More Than 1.5 Total Bases

It has not been the most ideal start to Rafael Devers’ tenure with the San Francisco Giants, but the lefty slugger is still one of the most dangerous bats in baseball. Across his first 64 games with the Giants, Devers is slashing .243/.353/.443 with 12 home runs and 33 RBIs. However, he is hitting .421 at the plate with a pair of home runs over the past week and has a favorable matchup with Tomoyuki Sugano on the mound for the Orioles.

Sugano will be making his 26th start of the season and enters with a 4.06 ERA and 23 home runs allowed on the year. 15 of the 23 home runs have come against left-handed hitters. He relies primarily on his splitter as his out pitch, but Devers is hitting .348 against splitters thrown by right-handed pitchers this season, with two home runs tallied. The three-time All-Star is also hitting .462 against curveballs thrown by right-handed hitters and has always effectively smashed fastballs.

Devers is posting an impressive 19.2% barrel rate against right-handed hitters this season, and Sugano has struggled when facing lefties. Winds are expected to be blowing out to left-center in this matchup. Devers has been hot at the plate and has a favorable pitching matchup. Look for the trade deadline acquisition to capitalize and tally more than 1.5 total bases and add to the eight hits he has tallied across the past five games.

Jesus Luzardo More Than 4.5 Strikeouts Thrown

The Philadelphia Phillies will face the Atlanta Braves in tonight’s Sunday Night Baseball matchup with Jesus Luzardo on the mound. The 27-year-old was the biggest offseason addition by the Phillies, and expectations have been scaled up after Zack Wheeler was shut down for the season due to a blood clot issue. Luzardo is posting a 12-6 record with a 4.23 ERA and has allowed 146 hits while striking out 175 across his first 149.0 innings pitched.

The Braves enter with the 11th-most strikeouts tallied on the season as a team, averaging 8.6 per game. Luzardo has tallied 175 total strikeouts or 6.5 per game on the season. He has tallied more than 4.5 strikeouts in 19 of the 27 games he has started this season, including three straight matchups and seven of his past nine entering tonight. The former Marlins standouts had some midseason struggles pitching out of the stretch and tipping pitches. But he has looked more like the dominant version of himself of late, and this is a friendly matchup from a strikeout perspective. Luzardo has not faced the Braves yet this year, but look for him to announce his presence by striking out at least five hitters tonight.

Matt Olson More Than 0.5 Hits

One guy who should still be in line for some level of production against Luzardo is Matt Olson. The Braves’ first baseman leads the National League with 36 doubles this year and is slashing .271/.367/.460 on the year with 21 home runs and 76 RBIs. Atlanta’s season outlook got derailed right from the start, but Olson has continued to deliver and is on pace to record his fourth consecutive year playing all 162 games.

Olson has 142 hits across his 136 games and has notched a hit in 99 of the 136 games outright. This includes entering this matchup on a five-game hitting streak and having hit a home run in two of his past four games. Olson has faced Luzardo 24 times in his career, with one home run and five hits tallied. Look for the three-time All-Star to extend his hitting streak tonight and continue closing the season on a strong streak.

Kyle Schwarber More Than 0.5 Home Runs

Trailing only Cal Raleigh, Kyle Schwarber is second in the MLB with 49 home runs launched this season. The Phillies slugger is making a legitimate MVP push and became the 21st player in MLB history to hit four home runs in the same game earlier this week. The three-time All-Star is slashing .247/.368/.580 with a .980 OPS on the season. Schwarber also leads the entire MLB with 119 RBIs, but enters this game after failing to hit a home run in back-to-back games. This is a notable drought by his sky-high standards.

Hurston Waldrep will be on the mound for the Braves tonight and is making just his seventh career MLB appearance and sixth start this year. The 23-year-old has impressed across the 30.0 innings he has pitched thus far, posting a 0.90 ERA with 24 strikeouts and 21 hits allowed. No member of the Phillies roster has faced Waldrep thus far in his career. But Kyle Schwarber has been productive against every style of pitcher and both right and left-handers. 30 of his 49 home runs have come against righties this year. Waldren is allowing a .310 slugging percentage and .654 OPS to lefties compared to .130 and .373 to right-handed hitters. The youthful pitcher will face a difficult challenge against this Phillies lineup, and this match has a likely pathway to being his most runs allowed on the season. Look for Kyle Schwarber to lead the charge and push his home run total to 50 tonight against the inexperienced Braves starter.

Pick6 is a peer-to-peer fantasy variant where you build a lineup (your “Pick Set”) of 2+ players and select whether you believe each will outperform their listed stat projection. Enter your Pick Set in Pick6 contests to compete against other users. Get enough picks correct and win a share of cash prizes.

How to Play

Create a Pick Set

Create a Pick Set by choosing 2+ players from the same sport and Pick Group (a set of picks available from a group of set competitions). For each player, simply select if you think they’ll have more or less than their listed stat projection. In each Pick Set, you can not pick the same player twice and you must pick players from at least two different teams.

Enter an Amount

Once you finalize your Pick Set, choose your entry fee amount. Your entries will be automatically distributed into available contests, subject to your confirmation.

Sweat Your Picks

When the games go live, use the My Picks tab to follow your picks in real time to track how your players are performing against their projections and how they stack up against other users.

Compete for Prizes

Make enough correct picks and win a share of the contests’ guaranteed prizes. Any prizes won will be credited to your DraftKings account after contests are finalized.

Play at DraftKings Pick6 or by downloading the DraftKings Pick6 app on Apple or Google!