Covering The Bases: MLB DFS Picks for Friday, May 31st
Long-time grinder, stlcardinals84, is here to cover the bases for the upcoming MLB DFS slate. Whether you are looking for the top pitchers or the best stacks, Cards has you covered with an extensive deep dive into his favorite MLB DFS picks.
Happy Friday, everyone! Welcome to the last day of May, and by the time this slate starts…the beginning of the weekend! I’ll be in for Cheese today while he gets ready for a family wedding. We have the usual massive Friday slate on our hands, with 13 games on tap for the main DFS contests.
I will say from the top that this is one of the most challenging full slates we have seen in quite some time. There are thin dividing lines on both the pitching and hitting sides of the ledger, and very little stands out as “completely obvious” on either side. I wouldn’t expect ownership to really congregate massively into one or two spots, outside of maybe the Dodgers bats. We’ll get into the details, but just know from the jump that I have less conviction than usual on this slate. Sometimes, that’s just the way it is — and it’s up to each of us individually to decide how we want to handle slates like this one!
Let’s dig in and see what this Friday slate has to offer.
Friday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings
SORT OF A TOP TIER?
Dylan Cease vs. Royals
Tanner Houck vs. Tigers
Tanner Bibee vs. Nationals
Ronel Blanco vs. Twins
I debated about whether or not to split the pitchers into tiers. I didn’t really want to, because I really don’t think there’s necessarily a “top” or “elite” tier on this slate. However, I also didn’t want to jumble something like 12 pitchers into one group. There wasn’t a perfect answer, so I decided to opt for the split. As a word of caution, don’t take my split here as gospel. This is not a defined group of four aces — I just want to make that clear.
Again, this goes back to my introductory comment that the dividing lines on this slate are very thin. It’s a tough slate to analyze.
In any case, let’s take the usual glance at the 2024 stats to date:
Cease – 3.29 ERA, 3.19 xFIP, 31% K, 8% BB
Houck – 1.90 ERA, 2.77 xFIP, 24% K, 5% BB
Bibee – 3.99 ERA, 3.73 xFIP, 25% K, 7% BB
Blanco – 1.99 ERA, 4.06 xFIP, 24% K, 10% BB
The easiest name to cross off the viable list is Ronel Blanco. He’s way too expensive, and there’s no way he keeps up anything resembling a 1.99 ERA. He has walked a lot of batters, his strikeout rate is nothing to write home about, and it’s not like he has an easy matchup with the Twins. He has benefited from a wildly below-average .200 opposing BABIP this season, and I simply have zero interest at these DFS salaries. Pass.
The remaining three pitchers are all viable. Dylan Cease has the highest strikeout rate of the group and the longest track record of ace-like status. On a smaller slate with fewer options, he might be an obvious SP1 target. However, I do not think that is the case here, as the walks remain a bit of an issue, and the Royals are by no means a cupcake opponent these days. If you are looking for a strikeout ceiling, Cease is certainly the most likely pitcher to get double-digit strikeouts, but I do not believe that he is anywhere near a must-have pitcher in this matchup.
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