Today’s DraftKings DFS slate will be the earliest one of the day. It includes 11 games that begin at 11:15 a.m. ET. FanDuel has an identical slate, which includes the same 11 games. That means we can compare apples to apples. Having a comparison is always helpful when looking for DFS values.
Sunday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Sunday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (5/4)
- You’re going to have to be thrifty in other areas of your lineup to afford Garrett Crochet, but it will likely be worth it. His strikeout rate has dropped a bit from the highs of last season, but it is still a solid 28.6%. With fewer strikeouts, he can go deeper into games. He has scored over 23 fantasy points in three of his last four starts.
- Tanner Bibee’s value has dropped from where it was at the beginning of the season. His last two starts, though, have me thinking he is turning his season around. He has scored over 18 points in his last two games, even though he has struck out fewer than one batter per inning. Today, he takes on the Blue Jays, who rank fourth-worst in OPS versus right-handed pitchers.
- If you want to go cheaper, roll the dice on Blade Tidwell. This may be his only start before being demoted to Triple-A again, but there is the making of a fantasy-friendly outing here. First, he gets the Cardinals. You’ll see below why I expect he’ll win that matchup. Second, Tidwell has shown he can strike batters out in Triple-A — 37 strikeouts in only 27 innings.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Milwaukee Brewers Projected Lineup (5/4)
Today’s DraftKings DFS slate will be the earliest one of the day. It includes 11 games that begin at 11:15 a.m. ET. FanDuel has an identical slate, which includes the same 11 games. That means we can compare apples to apples. Having a comparison is always helpful when looking for DFS values.
Sunday’s Top MLB DFS Picks & Player Props
Sunday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings (5/4)
- You’re going to have to be thrifty in other areas of your lineup to afford Garrett Crochet, but it will likely be worth it. His strikeout rate has dropped a bit from the highs of last season, but it is still a solid 28.6%. With fewer strikeouts, he can go deeper into games. He has scored over 23 fantasy points in three of his last four starts.
- Tanner Bibee’s value has dropped from where it was at the beginning of the season. His last two starts, though, have me thinking he is turning his season around. He has scored over 18 points in his last two games, even though he has struck out fewer than one batter per inning. Today, he takes on the Blue Jays, who rank fourth-worst in OPS versus right-handed pitchers.
- If you want to go cheaper, roll the dice on Blade Tidwell. This may be his only start before being demoted to Triple-A again, but there is the making of a fantasy-friendly outing here. First, he gets the Cardinals. You’ll see below why I expect he’ll win that matchup. Second, Tidwell has shown he can strike batters out in Triple-A — 37 strikeouts in only 27 innings.
Suggested Lineup Stacks
Milwaukee Brewers Projected Lineup (5/4)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| OF |
Jackson Chourio |
$5,100 |
$3,600 |
| 2B |
Brice Turang |
$5,000 |
$3,300 |
| C |
William Contreras |
$4,300 |
$3,100 |
| OF |
Christian Yelich |
$4,600 |
$3,500 |
| 1B |
Rhys Hoskins |
$3,600 |
$2,700 |
| OF |
Sal Frelick |
$3,900 |
$2,900 |
| OF |
Daz Cameron |
$2,000 |
$2,000 |
| SS/2B/3B (FD) |
Joey Ortiz |
$2,500 |
$2,500 |
| 3B/2B (FD) |
Caleb Durbin |
$3,200 |
$2,700 |
- The Milwaukee Brewers are not typically a team you target against left-handed pitchers, but they have a good track record against Shota Imanaga. In his only career start against the Brewers, he gave up seven earned runs in 4.1 innings.
- One of Imanaga’s issues is home runs. That is what happens when you give up fly balls 51.4% of the time. That can work at Wrigley Field when the wind blows in, but this game is at American Family Field, which currently ranks as the sixth-best park for home runs, per park factors.
- The first batter to target is Rhys Hoskins. He has a career .898 OPS versus left-handed pitchers. He also leads Brewers batters in hard-hit rate (34.3%).
- William Contreras is another batter who will be in some of my lineups. He has a substantially better career track record against left-handed pitchers with an impressive .927 OPS against lefties in his career.
New York Mets Projected Lineup (5/4)
| POS |
PLAYER |
DraftKings Salary |
FanDuel Salary |
| SS |
Francisco Lindor |
$4,900 |
$3,700 |
| OF |
Juan Soto |
$4,800 |
$3,800 |
| 1B |
Pete Alonso |
$5,300 |
$4,300 |
| OF |
Brandon Nimmo |
$4,300 |
$3,200 |
| OF |
Jesse Winker |
$3,000 |
$2,800 |
| 3B/1B (FD) |
Mark Vientos |
$3,100 |
$3,000 |
| 2B/OF |
Jeff McNeil |
$2,800 |
$2,700 |
| C |
Francisco Alvarez |
$3,400 |
$2,900 |
| 2B/SS (FD) |
Luisangel Acuna |
$3,200 |
$2,400 |
- The New York Mets are a lineup stack to target for the second day in a row, thanks to a rainout. They didn’t get the opportunity to take on Erick Fedde yesterday, but it will happen today.
- A quick refresher from yesterday: The Mets are a top-10 team in OPS, runs scored and home runs. Meanwhile, Fedde has struggled with too many baserunners and a plummeting strikeout rate. His walk rate has reached a career-high mark of 11.8% while his strikeout rate has reached a career-low mark of 12.5%.
- Finally, the Mets have multiple hitters with a history of success against Fedde. Jeff McNeil is 7-for-16 against Fedde in his career, but with just one extra-base hit. Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso are going to cost you a bit more, but they each have six hits off Fedde in their careers, with multiple extra-base hits each.
Core Studs
- First, make sure Salvador Perez is in today’s lineup. He has sat out the last two games with hip soreness. If he is in the lineup, go ahead and plug him in. He has three home runs in his career against Kyle Gibson.
- A bit of a slow start has dropped Xander Bogaerts a bit for us. Today looks to be a good day to use him. He is 8-for-16 in his career against Andrew Heaney with four extra base hits, including two home runs.
- For the second day in a row, Manny Machado finds himself as a core stud recommendation. Yesterday, he delivered with a home run. He gets another left-handed starting pitcher today in Andrew Heaney. The difference is that he already has two home runs against Heaney in his career.
Value Plays/Punts
- We’re still waiting for the first extra-base hit from Nick Kurtz. However, he keeps finding a way to get on base and is hitting the ball quite hard with an average exit velocity of over 92 miles per hour (MPH).
- If you’re looking for cheap exposure to the Boston Red Sox lineup, Romy Gonzalez offers that. Since replacing Triston Casas two days ago, Gonzalez has gone 4-for-7 with a double and a steal in his absence.
- It has been a tough season for Jonathan India. He is hitting only .209 without a home run. Today could be the day for his first home run. He has gone 3-for-10 against Kyle Gibson in his career, with all three hits being home runs.
Sunday’s Top 3 Underdog Player Props
Kyle Stowers has cleared 0.5 total bases in nine of his last 11 games. That’s an 82% hit rate. He faces left-handed pitcher JP Sears today. As a left-handed batter himself, you would think that would be a reason to avoid Stowers. However, he has a reverse platoon split in his career with a .300 batting average against left-handed pitchers and only a .224 average against right-handed pitchers.
Reese Olson has made six starts this season. In three of his starts, he would have been done in by the hook, finishing with five strikeouts. However, his last two starts have each had seven strikeouts. Today’s matchup is against the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels have the second-highest strikeout rate in baseball (26.8%).
After sitting out the last three games, it’s expected Kristian Campbell will return to the Red Sox lineup today. In his young career, Campbell has crushed right-handed pitching with a triple slash line of .322/.398/.529. Today’s starting pitcher is Chris Paddack, who has an ERA of 5.60. That ERA is fully supported by his FIP, which is a bit higher (5.84).
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