MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Thursday, May 23

On the East Coast, you might be watching the rain come down before today's slate. However, there's probably no need to worry. Most of the East Coast rain should clear up in time, before the games begin.

That's huge news for our early six-game slate that we'll be covering below. Check out today's MLB playbook below before you get your lineups in on DraftKings and FanDuel as we present our MLB DFS picks for today, May 23rd!

MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, May 23

MLB Weather Today, 5/23

Seattle Mariners vs. New York Yankees

• There are some storms in the area, but those storms are expected to clear by game time. 

San Francisco Giants vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

• Showers will occur before and after this game, but the storms should be clear during the game. 

Texas Rangers vs. Philadelphia Phillies

• Again, rain should clear around first pitch for this game. There shouldn't be an issue with finishing this game out. 

San Diego Padres vs. Cincinnati Reds

• Rain will most likely arrive after the game is over.

MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts

I'd argue Luis Gil and Paul Skenes are better options than Zack Wheeler today. Wheeler has struggled against lefites throughout the season, giving up a .207 ISO and wOBA of .339 to his first 126 lefties. He's also struck out just 22.2% of lefties this season.

Even last year, Wheeler added just 22% of strikeouts against lefties and induced only 39.1% of ground balls. It's only gotten worse this season, with more fly balls and line drives allowed to lefties. 

That said, Wheeler will likely face seven lefties in today's Rangers lineup. Those seven lefties in the projected lineup have combined to strike out 17.6% of the time this year. I'd let everyone else take Wheeler and go a different direction today.

Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers

Top Options For Strikeouts

• Luis Gil (7.5, +110) vs. Seattle Mariners
• Paul Skenes (7.5, -110) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
• Zack Wheeler (6.5, -155) vs. Texas Rangers

Best Odds For A Win

• Zack Wheeler (-105) vs. Texas Rangers
• Paul Skenes (+145) vs. San Francisco Giants
• Luis Gil (+155) vs. Seattle Mariners

Core MLB DFS Pitchers

Luis Gil, New York Yankees

Gil could have another 10+ strikeout day. After all, the Mariners' projected lineup has struck out 28.2% of the time against righties this season. Only Josh Rojas has struck out below 23.1% against righties in that lineup. 

Meanwhile, Gil has struck out 31.2% of batters, while holding opponents to a .101 ISO and wOBA of .244. He just had to limit walks better and has done that over the last couple of games. Beyond that, the Mariners have only walked 7.7% of the time against righties, using the projected lineup, and have hit a wOBA of just .299. 

Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

Paul Skenes has already struck out 45% of his first 40 batters faced. In addition, Skenes has limited teams to 7.5% of walks and has limited opponents to a .114 ISO and wOBA of .249. Skenes has induced 64.7% of ground balls and has allowed just 11.8% of line drives with 23.5% of fly balls. 

His walks can get high against lefties, and he's allowed more fly balls and power to righties. But opponents have to make contact with the pitches first. That's already extremely hard to do. While Skenes doesn't have the largest sample size, he'll face a Giants projected lineup that has six batters striking out at least 23.1% of the time against righties this season. With six strikeout targets, Skenes should be able to rack up strikeouts today. 

Ben Brown, Chicago Cubs

If you want to be a contrarian, you'll want to consider Ben Brown today. Brown has struck out nearly 27% of batters. He's also allowed a .108 ISO and wOBA of .288. Brown has looked really good throughout the season. He'll be in line to face a Braves lineup that has struck out 24.6% of the time against righties. The lineup has also hit just a .152 ISO and wOBA of .323 with only 8.3% of walks. 

Atlanta's offense hasn't been what it was last year. Only Marcell Ozuna really has eye-popping numbers against righties. Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies have lacked power against righties and most of the bottom of the order can't really do anything right. 

Recommended MLB DFS Hitters

Highest Expected Run Totals 

• San Diego Padres (4.5, -125) vs. Cincinnati Reds
• Atlanta Braves (4.5, -110) vs. Chicago Cubs
• Philadelphia Phillies (4.5, -115) vs. Texas Rangers
• Cincinnati Reds (4.5, -105) vs. San Diego Padres

Core MLB DFS Hitters

Evan Carter, OF, Texas Rangers

There will be plenty of people fading the Rangers, who are going up against Zack Wheeler. However, I'll be fading Wheeler and rocking with the Rangers' offense. After all, Wheeler has allowed a .207 ISO and wOBA of .339 to his first 126 lefties this season. In addition, he's only struck out 22.2% of lefties and has allowed nearly 30% of fly balls with just 38.1% of ground balls induced against lefties. 

He'll be in line to face six or seven lefties in the Texas lineup today. The lefty that stands out most is Evan Carter. Carter has hit a .238 ISO and wOBA of .343 with 11.6% of walks. He's also hit 30.8% of fly balls, 23.1% of line drives and has an above-average barrel percentage. 

J.T. Realmuto, C, Alec Bohm, 3B, Edmundo Sosa, SS, Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies will take on Andrew Heaney of the Rangers. He's a lefty allowing a .170 ISO to his first 160 righties. He's also allowed 34.8% of fly balls and has induced just 34.8% of ground balls. Heaney has also given up 50% of hard contact to righties and has allowed more than 24% of line drives. 

J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm, and Edmundo Sosa are the three consistent right-handed hitters in the Phillies' lineup. Realmuto has hit a .180 ISO and wOBA of .408 with only 20.8% of strikeouts. Bohm has hit a .200 ISO and woBA of .404 with just 13.6% of strikeouts. Finally, Sosa, has smacked a .345 ISO and wOBA of .457 with just 20% of strikeouts. All three righties are solid plays for today's DFS slate. 

Elly De La Cruz, SS, Cincinnati Reds

The Reds don't have much power against righties. However, Elly De La Cruz is the one consistent hitter against them this season. De La Cruz has smashed a .299 ISO and wOBA of .398 against righties. He's also hit more than 60% of hard contact and has an 18.2%-barrel percentage with a .362 BABIP. 

He'll face Matt Waldron of the Padres, who has allowed a .250 ISO and wOBA of .420 to his first 96 lefties. Waldron lacks the ability to earn ground balls and has allowed more than 26% of line drives and fly balls to lefties this year. 

Ryan McMahon, 3B, Colorado Rockies

The Athletics will give Joey Estes another chance on the mound today. However, the right-hander has allowed a .500 ISO and wOBA of .507 to his first 18 lefties. While he's got a high strikeout rate against lefties, Estes has only earned 12.5% of ground balls and has given up 50% of fly balls when the ball is put into play. 

He'll face Ryan McMahon a couple of times in the Colorado order. McMahon is a lefty, who has hit a .212 ISO and wOBA of .381 against righties this season. He's also smashed 28.7% of line drives and has a team-leading 19.5%-barrel percentage against righties. McMahon has also hit a .358 BABIP, thanks to his 66.7% hard contact rate against righties. I'd recommend using McMahon in your lineups today. 

Player Pool

• DraftKings
• FanDuel

$ Tier	SP	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	OF
High	Luis Gil $10,200	J.T. Realmuto $3,100	Bryce Harper $4,100	Luis Arraez $2,800	Alec Bohm $3,700	Elly De La Cruz $4,400	Aaron Judge $4,500
	Paul Skenes $9,500					Corey Seager $3,400	Juan Soto $4,200
							Marcell Ozuna $4,000
							Fernando Tatis $3,800
							Cody Bellinger $3,300
Medium		Shea Langeliers $3,000	Jake Cronenworth $3,100	Nico Hoerner $3,000	Christopher Morel $3,500	Anthony Volpe $3,300	Brent Rooker $3,500
			Anthony Rizzo $3,000		Ryan McMahon $3,300	Dylan Moore $3,200	Seiya Suzuki $3,400
					Abraham Toro $3,000	Ha-Seong Kim $3,100	Giancarlo Stanton $3,300
						Oneil Cruz $3,000	Brenton Doyle $3,200
						Ezequiel Tovar $3,000	Jurickson Profar $3,200
							Alex Verdugo $3,200
							Michael Harris $3,000
							Connor Joe $3,000
							Mike Tauchman $3,000
Low	Ben Brown $7,400	Kyle McCann $2,700	Nathaniel Lowe $2,900	Ji Hwan Bae $2,200	Edmundo Sosa $2,900	Orlando Arcia $3,000	Will Benson $2,900
			Michael Busch $2,700		Jeimer Candelario $2,600		Evan Carter $2,800
			Mike Ford $2,500		$0		Luke Raley $2,700
			Tyler Soderstrom $2,300				JJ Bleday $2,600
							Leody Taveras $2,500
							Dominic Canzone $2,400

Stacks

Phillies	Edmundo Sosa	Alec Bohm	J.T. Realmuto	Bryce Harper
DraftKings	3400	5600	5200	5900
Fanduel	2900	3700	3100	4100

Rangers	Leody Taveras	Evan Carter	Nathaniel Lowe	Corey Seager
DraftKings	3300	4500	4200	5100
Fanduel	2500	2800	2900	3400

Reds	Will Benson	Elly De La Cruz	Jeimer Candelario	Mike Ford
DraftKings	4100	6300	3900	3300
Fanduel	2900	4400	2600	2500

Padres	Jurickson Profar	Jake Cronenworth	Luis Arraez
DraftKings	4100	4400	4200
Fanduel	3200	3100	2800