MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Friday, May 31

Published: May 31, 2024
With 13 games on the MLB DFS main slate for Friday, May 31st, there are a LOT of different directions you can look to go. We don't have Coors Field, elite starting pitching, or many bad weather spots, so being different on this slate is fairly easy. Names like Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Jose Ramirez, and Corey Seager are hitting the diamond and are all in good spots.
Before you finalize your daily fantasy lineups with help from our MLB DFS picks, it's important to check out today's MLB DFS projections and MLB DFS ownership projections. Take advantage of our MLB Lineups Page to identify players who are in and out of the lineup, along with utilizing our MLB DFS Lineup Generator!
MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, May 31
MLB Weather Today, 5/31
The forecast indicates that there is fairly consistent rain in Kansas City. Not enough to postpone the game, but enough to linger and turn into a delay. A negative for pitchers here.
MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
This is an interesting 13-game main slate because we don’t have many elite pitching options on tap. There are solid pitchers, but nobody that is likely going to compete for a Cy Young and I’m not sure how many All-Star bids will come from this group. That means we have a lot of elite bats on tap, which is why I’m spending a lot of my salary on expensive bats and living in the mid-tier for pitching.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options For Strikeouts
- Tanner Bibee, Cleveland Guardians - 6.5 (+130)
- Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners - 5.5 (-160)
- Walker Buehler, Los Angeles Dodgers - 5.5 (-150)
- Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels - 5.5 (-150)
Best Odds For A Win
- Walker Buehler, Los Angeles Dodgers (-300)
- Tanner Bibee, Cleveland Guardians (-225)
- Reynaldo Lopez, Atlanta Braves (-225)
- Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners (-175)
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners
Of all the pitchers up over 9K on DraftKings, Woo is the most appealing. Sure he only struck out one guy in his last outing, but it’s the Nationals. That’s what they do. Woo struck out over one batter per inning last season, so last time out was more of an anomaly. A good offense against lefties, the Angels are not that team against righties. They’re bottom-10 in OPS and wOBA and pair that with a 23.7% K-rate, which is the 11th highest in the league. Woo has a ceiling in this spot.
Walker Buehler, Los Angeles Dodgers
I’m not sure many people get to Buehler here but things are trending in the right direction for him. He worked up to 91 pitches last time out and in back-to-back starts has pitched at least 5.2 innings. He faces the Rockies as the biggest favorite on the board and COL is 24th in OPS away from Coors Field. They also have a 25% K-rate on the road.
Reynaldo Lopez, Atlanta Braves
It’s been quite a revitalization for Lopez as a starter this year as he’s posted a 1.75 ERA through his first nine starts. The strikeout numbers haven’t been great lately, but he’s right around one per inning on the year. That could change here against Oakland as they have the third-highest K-rate in baseball vs. RHP at 26.5%.
Jose Berrios, Toronto Blue Jays
It’s been an interesting season for Jose Berrios because he’s been good, he just hasn’t missed a whole lot of bats. That being said, he’s been better in that department at home and just overall great in Toronto. Also, Pittsburgh strikes out a LOT. They have a 25% K-rate vs. RHP on the year, ranking 29th in OPS and wOBA.
Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels
Soriano is an interesting play today and one that probably gets a lot of love because of the matchup he has on his plate. Nobody comes close in terms of strikeout rate to the Seattle Mariners against right-handed pitching and they also rank 27th in OPS and wOBA against them. Soriano has five or more punchouts in four straight starts and has put up 18+ DKP in four of five outings.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- Los Angeles Dodgers - 5.3
- Atlanta Braves - 5.0
- Toronto Blue Jays - 4.7
- Boston Red Sox - 4.6
- Cleveland Guardians - 4.6
Core MLB DFS Hitters
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
Dakota Hudson is in a lot of trouble with this matchup. He struggles with lefties pretty badly and Ohtani is as elite a left-handed bat as there is. Hudson has a 16% BB rate, 1.23 HR/9, and .362 wOBA against lefties this year.
Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians
Happy Patrick Corbin day to everyone who celebrates. There are few hitters in baseball hotter than Ramirez as he’s had 12 extra-base hits and 15 RBI over his last 10 games. This is the better side of Ramirez’s split as he’s hitting .323 against Southpaws on the year.
Corey Seager, Texas Rangers
Seager’s hit eight home runs over his last eight games and is riding a 12-game hit streak. He now faces Sixto Sanchez and there’s not much standing in front of a ninth homer in nine games and a 13-game hit streak.
David Fry, Cleveland Guardians
Lefty hurlers simply don’t get David Fry out. Nobody has lately as he’s slashed .467/.600/.867 over his last 10 games while hitting four bombs and 12 RBI. He’s hitting .353 on the year and .419 against LHP. Some of his appeal was lost when they took his C eligibility away on DK, but I love Fry and the spot.
Josh Smith, Texas Rangers
Smith is hitting in the middle of the Rangers lineup these days and will continue to see plenty of pitches to hit wedged in between Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia. He has a .791 OPS and .354 wOBA against righties this year and has an elite matchup vs. Sixto Sanchez.
Adam Duvall, Atlanta Braves
Adam Duvall ONLY hits left-handed pitching. He does hit lefties well, though, notching a .275/.387/.588 with a .314 ISO and a .416 wOBA. All five of his bombs have come off lefties. JP Sears struggles against right-handed hitters as his K-rate cuts in half, his HR/9 is 3x than it is against lefties and the wOBA is 70 points higher.
Mark Vientos, New York Mets
It’s a small sample, but Vientos has raked against left-handed pitching. He has nearly a 1.300 OPS and a ,476 ISO against southpaws on the year. Righties have given Jordan Montgomery hell, batting .305 and an .850 OPS.
Player Pool
$ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
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Stacks
Guardians | José Ramírez | David Fry | Tyler Freeman | Steven Kwan | Josh Naylor |
![]() | 6500 | 4800 | 3700 | 4400 | 5100 |
![]() | 4500 | 3500 | 3200 | 3200 | 3600 |
Rangers | Nathaniel Lowe | Adolis García | Marcus Semien | Corey Seager | |
![]() | 4200 | 5600 | 5000 | 5500 | - |
![]() | 3100 | 3800 | 3700 | 4100 | - |
Mets | Mark Vientos | Francisco Lindor | J.D. Martinez |
![]() | 3400 | 4700 | 4000 |
![]() | 3100 | 3100 | 2900 |
Red Sox | Rob Refsnyder | Wilyer Abreu | Jarren Duran | Connor Wong | Rafael Devers |
![]() | 3500 | 4200 | 5200 | 3600 | 5700 |
![]() | 2800 | 3200 | 3200 | 2700 | 3900 |
Braves | Orlando Arcia | Ozzie Albies | Adam Duvall | Marcell Ozuna | Travis d'Arnaud |
![]() | 3400 | 5200 | 3800 | 5700 | 4000 |
![]() | 3000 | 3700 | 2900 | 4000 | 2900 |
Player News
Jo Adell went 2-for-3 with a triple, two runs scored, and one RBI in the Angels’ 8-5 win over the Rangers on Tuesday.
Adell put the Angels on the board with base hit in the first inning to bring home two runs. Though, he’d only be credited with one RBI as one run scored on a throwing error. He later led off the fourth with a triple and scored on a fly out. Adell reached again on a walk in the sixth and scored a second run. The 26-year-old outfielder is hitting .237/.307/.470 with 21 homers, 40 runs scored, and 61 RBI across 375 plate appearances.
Kyle Higashioka went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three runs scored against the Angels on Tuesday.
Higashioka took Yusei Kikuchi deep for a solo homer in the fourth inning to put the Rangers on the board. He then singled and scored in the sixth before slugging his second home run of the game off Connor Brogdon in the eighth. The 35-year-old backstop is hitting .263/.310/.409 with six homers and 27 RBI across 200 plate appearances.
Kenley Jansen struck out one batter in a scoreless ninth inning to record the save against the Rangers on Tuesday.
Jansen was summoned in the top of the ninth to close out his third straight game on Tuesday with a three-run lead. He struck out one batter and worked around an infield hit for his 20th save of the season to go with a 2.93 ERA.
Yusei Kikuchi allowed four runs -- three earned -- with five strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Rangers on Tuesday.
Kikuchi stranded four baserunners through three scoreless innings before giving up a solo homer to Kyle Higashioka in the fourth. The rangers brought another run in to score in the fifth on a hit batter and two singles. Kikuchi would start the sixth inning despite being at 94 pitches and left with two runners on and one out. Both inherited runners would come in to score on a throwing error. The 34-year-old left-hander will take a 3.30 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, and a 132/54 K/BB ratio across 128 innings into a start against the Rays in Anaheim on Monday.
Patrick Corbin allowed three runs -- two earned -- with six strikeouts over five innings in a no-decision against the Angels on Tuesday.
Corbin put two runners on for the Angels with a hit batter and a walk before both runners scored on a single and a throwing error. One more run would come in to score in the fourth inning on a triple and a dropped fly ball in shallow right field. Corbin would toss one more scoreless inning, ending his day after five with six strikeouts. The 36-year-old left-hander will take a 3.78 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and a 93/32 K/BB ratio across 109 2/3 innings into a start against the Mariners in Seattle on Sunday.
Brent Rooker went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer to power the Athletics to a 6-1 win over the Mariners on Tuesday.
Rooker’s lone hit of the game was a big one as he took Logan Evans deep for a three-run shot in the third inning to put the A’s on the board. The 30-year-old slugger is up to 22 homers while hitting a solid .272/.347/.496 with 67 runs scored and 61 RBI across 477 plate appearances.