Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm MLB DFS Playbook for Tuesday, May 13th! 

We have a 10-game main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. There is no Coors Field and no Sutter Health Park! Tonight's slate also features a few weather concerns to keep an eye on.

Whether chasing big GPP prizes or grinding cash games, we’ve got you covered with insights tailored to today’s matchups. Let’s jump right into the key plays and strategies to dominate the slate!

 

 

This season's MLB DFS picks and playbook will consist of a pitcher and hitter core players section with written analysis, player pool grid and core stacks section.

The core player section should be used as a starting point for all lineups, you may not be able to use all players in the same lineup, but those players should be the building blocks for you on a given night.

The player pool grid will feature both players from the core player section along with additional plays to help you build a complete lineup. The grid will be broken into top priced players, mid-priced players and value tier players.

The stacks section will bring you our favorite lineups stacks for the day and which players we would look to include in those stacks based on matchups and pricing.

Tune in to the daily MLB DFS Show at 5 PM ET to get some last-minute advice and answer your questions before the slate begins! 

Make sure you subscribe to the Fantasy Alarm YouTube channel so you never miss a show! Also, join the Fantasy Alarm Discord to get your DFS lineup questions answered by our MLB DFS team! Plus, as always, be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the Daily MLB Projections, MLB DFS Rostership Projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting.

 

MLB DFS Picks & MLB Playbook

MLB Weather: Tuesday, 5/13

New York Mets vs Pittsburgh Pirates

  • This is a big one that needs some more clarity before lineup lock. I'd be pretty concerned if there is a pre-game delay. Either way, it's dicey as of now. Tune into our 5 p.m. ET show for more.

Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals

  • Chance of light showers, possible late start or delay.

Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins

  • Could be some light rain lingering early in the evening. Cool temps, decent pitching weather.
 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

I'm keeping my pitching pool tight tonight, as there seems to be some great spots to target.

Let's get into today's core pitching plays for our DFS lineups

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres

The Angels are quite Jekyll-and-Hyde this season. They’re either taking down GPPs or getting embarrassed by someone standing 60 feet away from them. That bodes well for Dylan Cease tonight, and although he has been inconsistent, we should be thinking about his ceiling. LAA ranks just 25th in wRC+ and leads MLB in K% (in the bad way) vs. RHP this season. Cease has been much better vs. righties in terms of limiting loud contact and has yielded just about a third of the barrel rate to them compared to LHB. LAA’s projected lineup has seven RHB in it, and that could set up for a Cease smash spot. LAA’s implied run total is just a hair over 3 runs.

Kodai Senga, New York Mets

Weather could be the biggest obstacle for Senga’s outcome tonight. If we get a fairly confident forecast prior to lineup lock, fire him up for GPPs in one of the best matchups on the board. Senga has been much better vs. RHB this year, with a sparkling .037 ISO and .177 wOBA allowed, and he was also borderline elite vs. them last season. Lefties have given him a bit more trouble, but the Pittsburgh projected lineup only has three of them in it. If the official lineup looks similar, I’ll be very interested. The first couple of hitters are scary, but after that, it’s pitiful. PIT ranks 29th in wRC+ vs. RHP this season. Pittsburgh’s implied run total is currently less than 3.

Ben Brown, Chicago Cubs

Brown is still volatile, no doubt, but he does check a lot of boxes as a value option. He has a 100-pitch leash, striking out 25% of hitters, and there should be some nice, cool temps at Wrigley Field this evening. Oh, yeah, he has Miami on deck, which has been much better vs. southpaws compared to RHP this year. One more “oh, yeah,” he’s just $7,500. Miami is 24th in wRC+ and has the fifth-highest K% vs. RHP so far in 2025.

Max Fried, New York Yankees

Fried has been excellent this season, and the only reason he isn’t my favorite pitcher is due to price. Seattle has shown some pop vs. southpaws this season, but Fried gets a mega park upgrade to pitch in this evening. He’s also giving way to just a 5% barrel rate while he’s maintained a massive ground-ball rate vs. RHB over the last season and a half or so. SEA may send out eight RHB against him. While Fried is striking out slightly fewer RHB, he’s essentially not allowing any damage to them this season, allowing just six XBH in 139 ABs against them. Although Seattle has shown power vs. LHP, their projected lineup has a 27% K% against them in the fairly young 2025 season. I think it’s possible Fried is the “safest” pitcher on the board, a term that we hate using in the DFS streets. However, per dollar, Cease has a significantly higher ceiling if everything goes right for him.

 

 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Let's check out today's core plays to build our lineups around.

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Jeffrey Springs

It’s been night and day for Springs when comparing his success against lefties vs. righties. He’s using a nice sweeper vs. lefties, which has helped him keep them in check. He doesn’t really have that in his bag against righties, and has fared much worse vs. RHB for about a season and a half now. In terms of a stack, it makes sense to prioritize Will Smith, Mookie Betts, and Andy Pages. Springs is walking 10% of hitters and striking out just 18% of them, so don’t be shy to fill out your 5-man with a monster lefty of your choosing. Springs has some decent numbers, but his 5.03 SIERA indicates that he’s been a little lucky. Mason Miller gets all of the headlines for the A’s bullpen, but they have the third-worst bullpen ERA in baseball, which speaks volumes about how bad the rest of their personnel is.

Chicago Cubs vs. an Overachiever

I just can’t buy into the 2025 Valente Bellozo success, as he owned a 5.14 xERA in 68 IP last season. He does have a nice 3.84 xERA this year, but that’s two runs higher than his actual ERA. Bellozo’s SIERA is over 5.00 so far again, much like his 2024 stint was in the bigs. Bellozo struck out just 15% of batters last season, and that hasn’t changed much. He gave up an 11% barrel rate paired with a decent chunk of fly balls. There is some decent pitching weather tonight at Wrigley, but the Cubs are one of the few offenses that may be borderline weather-proof, if you will. Bellozo has really struggled vs. lefties so far this season, and he throws a ton of cutters. That leads me to liking Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch quite a bit, who have had solid success vs. that right-handed pitch over the last two seasons. Sign me up for some Seiya Suzuki as well. When Bellozo departs, the Cubs can attack a bullpen with the league’s fifth-worst ERA.

Texas Rangers Value vs. Kyle Freeland

Kyle Freeland isn’t pitching at Coors Field, but that doesn’t suddenly make him good at his job, and he actually had a higher ERA away from Denver last season. ERA estimators, in his defense, have indicated he’s been a little unlucky this season, but it’s hard to ignore the prices of some of these Rangers, who have been disappointing more times than not in 2025. We have some talented, underperforming TEX bats against a subpar southpaw, and I’m going back to the well to bet on the long-term, historical talent. Wyatt Langford is the most expensive hitter, but he might be worth every penny, as he owns a .276 ISO and 15% barrel rate vs. LHP since the start of last season. Marcus Semien has been borderline awful this year, but he’s way too cheap per the matchup. I can say the same about Jake Burger, who was sent down recently and mashed a few home runs, so maybe he woke up. He’s the same guy who logged a .198 ISO vs. southpaws in 2024. The Rangers have the second-highest implied TT on the board, so the math be mathin’ here, and it makes sense to get some Texas exposure at these generally cheap prices.

Athletics Power Bats vs. Landon Knack

Knack isn’t a total gas can, but he has underwhelming numbers across the board, sporting xERA and SIERA estimators north of 5.00. This season, he’s striking out just 16% of hitters, while giving up high line-drive and hard contact numbers. Lefties have been giving him a little more trouble this season, but in 2024, he gave up a 14% barrel rate to RHB. The bottom line is he’s throwing north of 50% of 4-seam fastballs to hitters this season, and the A’s have some guys who just mash ‘em. Dating back to the start of last season, Tyler Soderstrom has an absurd 78% hard-hit rate, 23% barrel rate, and .341 ISO vs. right-handed 4-seamers. Brent Rooker has a .240 ISO and a massive 42% fly-ball rate against righty 4-seamers in the same time frame. Luis Urias and Lawrence Butler are both over .200 ISOs against righty 4-seamers this year, and I can never argue with some Shea Langeliers or JJ Bleday. We just about covered the entire lineup vs. this predictable pitcher, so I have zero issue with the A’s tonight. They’re a little expensive, and the Dodgers have one of the better pens in baseball, so maybe you’re better off power hunting/running a mini stack.

 

 

Player Pool

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Stacks

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