Happy Monday! Today we have an 8-game main slate kicking off at 7:05 EST on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Nestor Cortes is making his first start since being pushed back because he was dealing with strep throat. Some other exciting pitchers taking the mound between Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Dylan Cease of the Chicago White Sox, who placed 5th and 2nd in the Cy Young voting last year, respectively. Some good offenses taking the field today as well, with some top MLB hitters between the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, and can’t ignore the San Francisco Giants facing a right-hander today. There are a few good early games to watch, with both the top team in the AL, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the NL Central division leaders in the Pittsburgh Pirates, playing for you to enjoy while preparing for tonight’s main slate. Plenty of exciting arms and hitters to target today and be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the daily MLB projectionsMLB 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 Playbook May 8

MLB Weather Updates

There is some rain happening at Wrigley field for the St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs game, but it looks like it should clear up before gametime. 

DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

There are a lot of pitchers that I think are viable today. The top end between Zac Gallen, Dylan Cease, and Nestor Cortes are all good options. Zac Gallen is easily the top pitcher of the slate in my eyes, but he is priced as such, so my favorite for the value is Nestor Cortes getting to face the Oakland Athletics. The middle of pitching also provides a ton of good options. Hunter Brown, Marcus Stroman, and Freddy Peralta are all great pitchers that I could see putting up great starts on the mound today, but my favorite value play of the day is Anthony DeSclafani of the San Francisco Giants. My favorite offenses to target today are the San Francisco Giants, who hit right-handers quite well despite still striking out a lot and are facing Jake Irving of the Washington Nationals today, as well as the Chicago Cubs, the New York Yankees, the Houston Astros, the Texas Rangers, and the Seattle Mariners

Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options for Strikeouts

Nestor Cortes vs Oakland Athletics

Dylan Cease vs Kansas City Royals

Zac Gallen vs Miami Marlins

Hunter Brown vs Los Angeles Angels

Best Odds for a Win

Anthony DeSclafani vs Washington Nationals

Zac Gallen vs Miami Marlins

Nestor Cortes vs Oakland Athletics

Logan Gilbert vs Texas Rangers

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Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups

Nestor Cortes, New York Yankees

Nestor Cortes hasn’t been incredible this year, but I am not too worried about a bit of a slow start from him. The strikeouts have still been there and we know how shutdown Nasty Nestor can be when he gets going. He got a bit of a rest from his last start after dealing with some Strep Throat, which worked out in his favor matchup-wise, allowing him to skip the Tampa Bay Rays and now getting to face the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics have the ability to make any pitcher look amazing, so an actually great one in Nestor Cortes facing them, I am all over to put up a bunch of strikeouts and get a win. 

Anthony DeSclafani, San Francisco Giants

Anthony DeSclafani continues to pitch well for the San Francisco Giants. The Washington Nationals don’t strike out very much, but beyond that are not good hitters against right-handers. Anthony DeSclafani had a low strike-out game in his last outing against Houston but considering went 8 innings without giving up a run and only giving up 3 hits, you will live with only 3 strikeouts. Besides that start, he has been getting around a strikeout an inning and has a 2.13 ERA and 0.82 WHIP on the season. DesClafani is a great value against a weak opponent today. 

Recommended DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

San Francisco Giants vs Jake Irvin

New York Yankees vs JP Sears

Chicago White Sox vs Zack Greinke

Houston Astros vs Patrick Sandoval

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Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups

Christian Walker, 1B Arizona Diamondbacks

Christian Walker has been red-hot lately. He is slashing .356/.383/.733 in his last 10 games, with 5 home runs over that stretch as well. He also has a .982 OPS against left-handers this year so he should fare well against the lefty Braxton Garrett today, who has been far from great and has a 1.71 HR/9 on the year. These Arizona Diamondbacks have been a solid offense so far and I expect a solid run total put up in this matchup today, with Walker being a really good home run bet as well.

Gleyber Torres, 2B New York Yankees

JP Sears is probably the Oakland Athletics' best pitcher, but that isn’t saying much, considering he still has a 5.06 ERA as well as a 1.97 HR/9. Gleyber Torres is a great hitter in general and especially against left-handed pitching. This New York Yankees offense has been wildly disappointing this season, but Torres has not been. He is still slashing .242/.338/.408 on the year, with 4 home runs and 5 stolen bases. Against JP Sears, the poorly performing Yankees should still be able to put up some runs and I don’t expect that to happen without a good performance from Gleyber Torres today. 

Jeremy Pena, SS Houston Astros

I highlighted Jeremy Pena a few days ago getting to face a left-handed pitcher and I am going to stick with him today as he is still far too cheap against a left-handed pitcher in Patrick Sandoval. A few days ago, his OPS was 1.049 and he has now pushed that up to a 1.104 OPS against lefties. Patrick Sandoval has been solid for the Los Angeles Angels, but Jeremy Pena is a good enough hitter that I am still betting on him to beat Sandoval in this matchup. 

Ian Happ, OF Chicago Cubs

Miles Mikolas has been extremely hittable this year and is sporting a 5.79 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. The Chicago Cubs have continued to be a great offense this season and a big part of that has been Ian Happ, who has been dominant against right-handed pitching. He has a 1.057 OPS against right-handers this season, and going up against a not-great one in Miles Mikolas should be a great opportunity for him today. Keep an eye on the weather at Wrigley today, but it is looking like it should clear up and if so, the Cubs are a great option today in this game. 

Check out today's MLB DFS Podcast!

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