MLB DFS Slate Preview: Monday, May 22
Erik Wardenburg previews the Monday, May 22nd slate, breaking down his favorite MLB DFS picks, the top stacks, and some optimizer values at DraftKings & FanDuel. Sign up for MLB Premium to build DFS lineups like a pro!
Coors Field is back in our lives, as the Rockies start a series with the Marlins on today’s seven-game main slate beginning at 7:20PM EST. Gavin Stone is getting another shot in the majors, as he’ll take May’s spot in the Dodger’s rotation against Morton in Atlanta. Luis Castillo headlines the SP’s today in a dream matchup with Oakland, while Cristian Javier faces off against Corbin Burnes in the most entertaining SP matchup of the day.
Seth Brown will return for Oakland, and Jorge Polanco is out indefinitely for the Twins, giving Edouard Julien another big league chance. Plenty of other news and notes to get to along with some MLB DFS picks!
MLB DFS Picks: FanDuel & DraftKings
This daily article highlights some of RG’s most helpful MLB DFS tools, including our industry-leading MLB DFS projections and MLB DFS optimizer, with some picks and analysis along the way. I will focus on the main slate of the day, but you can still find plenty of other tools, content, and analysis on RG for other slates. Let’s get to it!
MLB DFS Weather Check
Before we look at the projected lineups and MLB DFS picks for the day, it’s crucial to understand how the weather will impact the slate. Then we can better understand if we want to target certain games with ideal hitting conditions, for example, and possibly avoid games at risk of delay or postponement. Two tools to use are the MLB Weather Report and MLB WeatherEdge, which are both managed by RG’s Chief Meteorologist, Kevin Roth. You should also be following Roth on Twitter for his important weather news and updates.
- LAD/ATL is our only concern today for rain, as there are a few late evening storms around the Atlanta area. For now, it looks like it should play on time or potentially after a short late start, but keep an eye on any updates from Roth closer to lock if you’re using players from this game. Temps in the high 60s with 10mph wind blowing in from left here.
- DET/KC and SF/MIN are the hottest games with temps in the mid 70s, and both will have a slight breeze from right to left.
- MIA/COL will be the low 70s with a 6-8mph breeze out to left, and BOS/LAA will be in the mid to low 60s with 8mph wind out to left-center. OAK/SEA & HOU/MIL are today’s dome games.
MLB Projected Lineups – Analysis & Top Stacks
There are ways to get edges in MLB DFS, such as stacking a lineup or targeting guys higher in the order (since they are more likely to see an extra at-bat). We should always look for value bats that arise each slate. They allow us to fit those extra one or two players into our lineup who are likelier to hit home runs and get us those ceiling games we need to win tournaments.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at MLB Starting Lineups to see what the likely batting orders are for this slate, which teams I’m looking to stack, and any other interesting notes. Going forward, the projected lineups will usually be pretty consistent daily, with the main changes being based on the opposing pitcher being a righty or lefty. Also, certain players are more likely than others to get a day off if playing a day game after a night game.
- Seth Brown is back for Oakland and Jordan Diaz has been sent down.
- Edouard Julien should be a lock to start again righties until Polanco returns, and today he’s hitting cleanup.
- Jose Altuve is getting a day off for Houston, so Dubon will hit leadoff and play 2B.
- Jean Segura has sat the last two games after hitting leadoff the previous two games, but if he’s back in there at leadoff, he’d be a top value play especially for $2,900 on DK. If Segura remains out, look for Berti to continue to hit leadoff, and we’ll see who starts at CF between Edwards and Hampson.
- Justin Turner sat both games over the weekend with knee soreness, but Cora said he’ll hopefully be ready today. Look for him to DH, if active. If Turner needs another day, Triston Casas should continue to hit third with Tapia likely getting another start at either DH or LF. Jared Walsh returned over the weekend and should continue to get most starts at 1B against righties for LAA.
- The Royals are moving Bobby Witt down to 6th today, and moving Nick Pratto up to leadoff. Nicky Lopez is back from the IL hitting seventh, and Hunter Dozier has been optioned.
- Taylor Ward is out of the lineup for the Angels, so Mickey Moniak will hit leadoff and play LF.
- Chase Anderson survived his last start in Coors allowing just 1 hit over 5 innings, but he still only had 3 strikeouts, so the Marlins are my top stack today. The Rockies are the 1b stack today, as Edward Cabrera is still allowing a lot of walks and has 2+ ER in every start this year. Houck has really struggled lately, so I like LAA as a top stack option. BOS, MIN, SEA and ATL round out my pool of top stacks today.
Make sure to follow the RG MLB Twitter feed for confirmed lineups, as well as our DFS Alerts page for important news and analysis.
MLB DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Optimizer Picks
With a good feel for the projected lineups, weather, and strong stacks to consider, let’s check out the RotoGrinders MLB DFS optimizer, LineupHQ. With this tool, you can create up to 300 MLB DFS lineups in seconds, all of which will adhere to the custom settings you input. For insight into how one of the best MLB DFS players uses LineupHQ, read this article and watch the embedded videos from the GOAT himself, CheeseIsGood.
If we click on the “P/$” column header in the LineupHQ grid, it will rank all of the available players from highest to lowest based on their expected fantasy points per dollar of salary on the specific DFS site you have selected — this is one of the best starting points for finding value on every slate. Let’s do that now and see what stands out on FanDuel and DraftKings.
- Today’s top cash game SP couldn’t stand out more, as Luis Castillo ($10,500) gets a home matchup with the A’s, who currently have a projected run total below 2.5. If he was closer to $12k then I could see an argument for going with a cheaper SP to fit more Coors bats, but at his current salary, I will 100% be using him in my main build and am expecting most people to as well. Javier ($10,800) and Burnes ($9,700) are top GPP plays and going overweight on both is a good strategy, as one is likely to put up a big number and possibly outscore the higher-owned Castillo. Morton ($10,100), Ober ($10,300), Lorenzen ($8,800), and Singer ($7,400) round out my GPP pitcher pool. If your mass multi-entering GPPs, I also would have exposure to Edward Cabrera ($7,800). He’s super cheap, should be very low-owned, and does have some upside against the Rockies even in Coors Field.
- Jorge Soler ($3,700) is my headline bat today. He is by far the highest-upside play of the slate against the reverse splits of Chase Anderson hitting in warm weather in Coors Field. Soler did go up $400 in price, but it’s still not enough to even consider fading in cash games. He’s coming off a 4 for 5 game with an HR yesterday, and has 3 HR’s over his last six games. Bryan De La Cruz ($3,400) is my next target from Miami in cash games, as he too is swinging a hot bat and has huge power. Luis Arraez ($3,300), Garrett Cooper ($3,200), and whoever hits leadoff between Berti and Segura would be where I go to round out a full stack.
- For the Rockies, Charlie Blackmon ($3,300) and Ryan McMahon ($3,300) are my top targets with the platoon advantage on Cabrera at great prices. I also don’t mind targeting a couple righty COL bats as well, since Cabrera has been a reverse splits pitcher this season, allowing a .284 average to righty compared to .179 to lefties. Bryant ($3,300) and Diaz ($3,200) should hit 3rd and 4th and make for a very cheap full stack with Blackmon & McMahon.
- If you’d rather diversify bats a bit more in your main build, then Seattle has some great value options. Julio Rodriguez ($3,500) remains too cheap with the platoon advantage on Muller. France ($2,800), Suarez ($2,900), and Hernandez ($2,800) are a fantastic value stack all with the platoon advantage as well.
- Gavin Stone struggled in his first big league outing against PHI, allowing 4 ER over 4 innings with just 1 strikeout. His matchup with ATL today doesn’t get any easier. Matt Olson ($4,100) is one of the hottest bats in baseball right now with eight hits over his last six games and is a top 1B target today. Riley ($2,900), Rosario ($2,500), and Albies ($3,300) are a high-upside value stack for GPPs.
- More cheap value bats I like today include Zach McKinstry ($2,500), Riley Greene ($3,000), Edouard Julien ($2,500), Carlos Correa ($2,900), Mickey Moniak ($2,000), Hunter Renfroe ($3,000), and Joey Wendle ($2,600).
- Luis Castillo ($9,200) is the third most expensive SP on DK and could break records for ownership at that price. Cristian Javier ($10,000) is my preferred SP2 in cash games, but if you need the extra salary for bats, then Bailey Ober ($8,100) is my next top p/$ play.
- Using Ober as your SP2 will help you fit in Jorge Soler ($5,300), who remains my top bat of the slate. Bryan De La Cruz ($3,700) is massively underpriced on DK and is the next bat I’m locking in. Joey Wendle ($2,600) is a top value at SS, and if Segura ($2,900) is back at leadoff, he’ll be a top value at 3B. COL bats are much more expensive compared to FD, so I’ll likely use only a couple in cash games. Ryan McMahon ($4,800) and Elias Diaz ($4,900) are currently who I’m targeting just based on positional scarcity. I like taking higher than 10.5 fantasy points for Soler on Underdog today, and if you’re a new user, make sure to use RG’s Underdog Fantasy promo code.
(See RotoGrinders projections directly on the Fantasy Pick’em sites with our browser extensions, available to premium users.)
- France ($3,900), Hernandez ($3,600), and Suarez ($4,000) remain a great value stack for SEA exposure, with Hernandez being my favorite one-off in cash games if you need a cheap OF.
- Jared Walsh ($2,300) and Edouard Julien ($2,700) are jumping out as top p/$ plays at the 1B and 2B position, and both will really help you fit in top SPs along with more expensive bats. Triston Casas ($2,200) is also a fine value target, and going overweight on both he and Walsh at 1B is one of my favorite GPP strategies today.
- Other value options to consider include Eddie Rosario ($2,500), Zack McKinstry ($3,700), Akil Baddoo ($2,400), Nick Pratto ($2,900), Michael Massey ($2,200), Alex Kirilloff ($3,400), Jarren Duran ($3,800), Mickey Moniak ($2,600), and Jose Caballero ($2,400).
MLB Premium subscribers will have access to all of this data in LineupHQ, so be sure to keep checking there as we start getting the confirmed lineups and projections update. The very best P/$ plays tend to be pretty consistent throughout the day for MLB. That being said, projections can always change if someone is hitting higher in the order than initially projected or if a player with a low salary gets a spot start for an injured/resting player.
MLB DFS – RotoGrinders Premium Tools Pre-Lock
If you have any tough last-minute decisions or need some quick MLB DFS picks, our MLB Premium package also contains Consensus Value Rankings, an Expert Survey, and daily LineupHQ Premium tags from our MLB DFS experts.
And for up-to-the-minute news and analysis leading right up to lock, make sure to watch MLB Crunch Time later in the day.
Good luck today!