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

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

• San Diego Padres vs. Kansas City Royals

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

• DraftKings Player Pool
• FanDuel Player Pool

$ Tier	SP	1B	2B	3B	SS	OF
High	José Berríos $9,400			José Ramírez $4,500	Mookie Betts $4,300	Aaron Judge $4,500
	Reynaldo López $9,000			Rafael Devers $3,900	Gunnar Henderson $4,400	Shohei Ohtani $4,400
					Corey Seager $4,100
Medium	Bryan Woo $8,900	Freddie Freeman $3,600	Ozzie Albies $3,700	Mark Vientos $3,100	CJ Abrams $3,300	Adolis García $3,800
	Walker Buehler $8,300	Josh Naylor $3,600	Marcus Semien $3,700		Willy Adames $3,600	David Fry $3,500
		Nathaniel Lowe $3,100	Andrés Giménez $3,400			Tyler Freeman $3,200
						Steven Kwan $3,200
Low	José Soriano $7,900		Brice Turang $2,900	$0		J.D. Martinez $2,900
			Isiah Kiner-Falefa $2,600			Adam Duvall $2,900
						Blake Perkins $2,800
						Jason Heyward $2,500
						Kyle Stowers $2,400
						Rob Refsnyder $2,800

Stacks

Guardians	José Ramírez	David Fry	Tyler Freeman	Steven Kwan	Josh Naylor
DraftKings	6500	4800	3700	4400	5100
Fanduel	4500	3500	3200	3200	3600

Rangers	Nathaniel Lowe	Adolis García	Marcus Semien	Corey Seager
DraftKings	4200	5600	5000	5500	-
Fanduel	3100	3800	3700	4100	-

Mets	Mark Vientos	Francisco Lindor	J.D. Martinez
DraftKings	3400	4700	4000
Fanduel	3100	3100	2900

Red Sox	Rob Refsnyder	Wilyer Abreu	Jarren Duran	Connor Wong	Rafael Devers
DraftKings	3500	4200	5200	3600	5700
Fanduel	2800	3200	3200	2700	3900

Braves	Orlando Arcia	Ozzie Albies	Adam Duvall	Marcell Ozuna	Travis d'Arnaud
DraftKings	3400	5200	3800	5700	4000
Fanduel	3000	3700	2900	4000	2900