The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays combined for 20 runs with five home runs from four different players in the exact type of matchup daily Fantasy baseball players dream of. Despite the Blue Jays scoring seven runs in the first inning, the Yankees rallied to tie the score at nine in the top of the eighth before Toronto scored two runs in the bottom half for an 11-9 victory. Toronto scored 12 runs against the Yankees the day before and goes for a four-game sweep on Thursday, but should your Thursday MLB DFS lineup include red-hot Blue Jays like George Springer, Addison Barger or Vladimir Guerrero Jr.?
Thursday features a 10-game slate, with seven contests beginning after 7 p.m. ET. Should you expect offensive fireworks to continue the day before the Fourth of July from Yankees vs. Blue Jays and build your MLB DFS strategy around this contest on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings? Before locking in any MLB DFS picks for Thursday, be sure to check out the MLB DFS advice, strategy and projections from SportsLine’s 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 Wednesday, McClure highlighted Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton as one of his top MLB DFS picks on both sites. The result: Stanton went 1-for-4 with a walk and a three-run home run, returning 20 points on DraftKings and 28.7 points on FanDuel. Anybody who included him in their lineups could have been well on the way to a profitable day.
Now, with the 2025 MLB season continuing on Thursday, McClure has locked in his top MLB daily Fantasy picks for July 3. You can head to SportsLine now to see them.
McClure’s top MLB DFS picks for Thursday, July 3
One of McClure’s top MLB DFS picks for Thursday is Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani, who is $6,400 on DraftKings and $4,700 on FanDuel. The three-time MVP winner is third in baseball in home runs (30) and OPS (1.015) while leading the National League in nearly every power statistic, such as homers, OPS and slugging percentage (.631). He’s hit a home run in four of his last nine games and had a hit and an RBI in back-to-back contests, including launching his 30th home run on Tuesday. Ohtani is the overwhelming favorite to win his fourth MVP Award this season, and McClure expects him to continue to showcase why on Thursday.
The White Sox are starting right-handed pitcher Aaron Civale, and Ohtani has the second-best slugging percentage and OPS in baseball against RHP. He leads all of baseball with 24 home runs off RHP. He’s scored 69 runs with RHPs on the mound, 15 more runs than anyone else in baseball, and McClure expects Ohtani to be well worth his price for Thursday MLB DFS lineups.
McClure is stacking Ohtani with Dodgers 2B/SS/OF Mookie Betts ($4,500 on DraftKings and $3,200 on FanDuel). Betts is having the worst season of his career with a career-low .246 batting average and .697 OPS, and he’s 0-for-12 over his last three games. However, McClure expects Betts to bounce back against Civale, who is allowing a .310 batting average and .883 OPS against right-handed hitters this season.
The Dodgers are 14-3 over their last 17 games as the defending World Champions are showcasing why they’ve been a perennial power as of late. Meanwhile, the White Sox are 28-58 this season, and the Dodgers have scored 11 runs over the first two games of the series. McClure expects another big Dodgers offensive performance with Betts contributing at an inexpensive price on Thursday, and views this Dodgers DFS stack as an asset to Thursday MLB DFS picks. See McClure’s full MLB DFS player pool right here.
How to set your MLB DFS lineups for July 3, 2025
McClure is also targeting an undervalued player who is set to explode for huge numbers on Thursday. 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 Thursday? 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.
