Happy Monday! It was an exciting weekend of sports with the NBA matchups getting set for the Conference Finals, Xander Schauffele winning his first major at the PGA Championship, the NHL Playoffs continuing, the WNBA in full swing, and, of course, plenty of great baseball games. We’ve got another week ahead full of baseball, so let’s start the week going right by building some more winning MLB DFS lineups!

 

 

 

We are back to our usual smaller Monday slate with an 8-game main slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel set to get underway at 6:40 PM ET. We have some great matchups with an AL East showdown between the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox and get to end the night in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks taking on the Los Angeles Dodgers.  

Lots of great players to talk about, so let’s just dive right into today’s playbook and some of my favorite MLB DFS picks for the day!

MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, May 20

MLB Weather Today, 5/20

No weather concerns for today.

MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

We have a day full of talented pitchers, with a ton of top-end arms highlighting this slate. The plethora of quality arms gives us less obvious pitchers to target on the offensive side, but still plenty of options across the board to build our lineups today. 

There are a lot of pitchers I would consider today. While I have my favorites down below, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Logan Gilbert, Tanner Houck, Framber Valdez, Dean Kremer, and Marcus Stroman are all quality options you could also go to today. 

On the offensive side, some of my favorite lineups to target today include the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, and the Detroit Tigers. 

 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options For Strikeouts

Best Odds For A Win

 

 

 

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Pablo Lopez, Minnesota Twins 

Pablo Lopez didn’t have his best outing in his last start against the New York Yankees. It was still a quality start, though, with only 3 runs through 6.1 innings, 3 strikeouts, and 10 hits. I think he will bounce back today against the Washington Nationals.

Before that last start, he had gotten 8, 8, and 10 strikeouts in his previous three outings. We should see him get back to more of that type of production again today, and the Nationals don’t pose enough of a threat for me not to want to jump right back in with Pablo Lopez.

Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays

Going against Tanner Houck (who I also like today) and the Boston Red Sox hurts his win potential a bit, but Taj Bradley has looked great in his first two starts. He faced the New York Yankees and The Boston Red Sox and got 13 strikeouts in 11 innings, only giving up 3 earned runs. 

I don’t see him struggling with the back-to-back against Boston. I think we can even see a better start today with him hopefully making it 6 innings. I think 6 strikeouts is the baseline for him here, with more very much in the cards. 

Reese Olson, Detroit Tigers

While there is a ton of top-end pitching talent today, Reese Olson is the obvious guy for me if you want a cheaper option for your lineup. He has been pitching incredibly well this season, with a 2.09 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP through 47.1 innings. He had low strikeout numbers in his first two starts but has had a 24.8% strikeout rate since then. 

He is coming off a gem against the Marlins, throwing 8 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts and only giving up 3 hits. The Royals pose more of an offensive threat than the Marlins, but I don’t see Olson having any problem going out and putting together another solid outing today. 

 

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

Core MLB DFS Hitters

*Note: Will Be Updated As Official Starting Lineups Are Released

Spencer Torkelson, 1B Detroit Tigers

Spencer Torkelson got off to a slow start this year after a solid previous season. He is starting to get things going a bit more lately, with hits in 12 of his last 12 games. He also has 3 homers over that stretch and is slashing .280/.333/.560, and while that isn’t anything crazy, it is much more of what we expect out of Spencer Torkelson. 

While paying up for the Dodger bats is a great option at first, if you can’t afford those guys I would move all the way down the board and take the cheaper option here with Spencer Torkelson. 

Luis Rengifo, 2B/3B Los Angeles Angels

I’m not likely to stack a bunch of Angels bats against Framber Valdez, but Luis Rengifo has been absurd against lefties this season. He has a 1.224 OPS against lefties this year, and while Valdez is a tough lefty to face, I think Rengifo still provides some great value here despite the tough matchup.

Gunnar Henderson, SS Baltimore Orioles

Gunnar Henderson appears to be trying to follow up his Rookie of the Year season with a potential MVP season. He is now tied for the league lead in home runs with Kyle Tucker at 15 after homering in each of his last three games. 

Sonny Gray is a great pitcher, but we have already seen him struggle with giving up the long ball a bit this season, and I am not sure if anyone is able to keep Gunnar from hitting the ball out of the yard right now. 

Jake Meyers, OF Houston Astros

I am a fan of Reid Detmers and think he has been pitching well, but this Astros lineup has been clicking lately, and Jake Meyers has been a big contributor to it over the last few days. He has 9 hits over his last 4 games, including 2 homers and 2 doubles. 

Meyers has some strange splits this season, batting .338 against right-handers and only .214 against lefties, but the OPS between the two is almost identical, with a .934 OPS against righties and a .889 OPS against lefties. He is traditionally a much better hitter against lefties, though, so I am absolutely taking him for cheap here against Detmers. 

 

 

 

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