MLB DFS Picks & Playbook For Today’s Games: Thursday, May 9
Published: May 09, 2024
There are only three games on the early MLB slate today.
Meanwhile, one of those three games has the potential to be delayed or even postponed.
I'll share how you should navigate through this small slate to give you the best chances of winning your DFS contests today.
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 9th!
MLB DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, May 9
MLB Weather Today, 5/9
- Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Cincinnati Reds:
- Cincinnati has scattered showers and storms all day. It sounds like this game will eventually play through, but it's certainly not ideal conditions.
- San Francisco Giants vs. Colorado Rockies:
- The rain should stay west of the ballpark.
MLB DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
All indications are the Reds and Diamondbacks will get their game in today.
I wouldn't spend a lot on today's early slate. But the game does play, you can potentially take advantage of many players who don't play any Reds or Diamondbacks players.
It's a risk I'd take for a small amount of money.
That said, Pablo Lopez should be the first pitcher used in both platforms.
Recommended MLB DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options For Strikeouts
- Pablo Lopez (8.5, +135) vs. Seattle Mariners
- Hunter Greene (6.5, -115) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
- Logan Gilbert (6.5, +105) vs. Minnesota Twins
Best Odds For A Win
- Pablo Lopez (+150) vs. Seattle Mariners
- Hunter Greene (+165) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Core MLB DFS Pitchers
Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners
Logan Gilbert has already struck out 28.2% of batters, including 35.6% of lefties.
He's in line to face a Twins lineup that will have five lefties in the lineup. Those lefties have struck out 25% of the time since last season. Therefore, Gilbert has a lot of potential to add strikeouts tonight.
In addition, Gilbert has also held batters to a .134 ISO and wOBA of .226 and has allowed only 7.3% of walks. While his ground ball rate could be higher, he's at least limited line drives to 21.9%.
Pablo Lopez, Minnesota Twins
In the afternoon, Pablo Lopez and Logan Gilbert will be the two most used pitchers in DFS.
If I had to choose between the two, I'd take Lopez.
Lopez has struck out more than 30% of batters this season. While he's allowed more extra-base hits, he's also in line to face a Mariners lineup that has struck out 27.3% of the time against righties since last season.
The entire lineup, but Ty France has struck out more than 20% of the time against righties. It's more likely Lopez will finish the day with more strikeouts. Plus, the Mariners' lineup only has a wOBA of .323 with 8.5% of walks.
Keaton Winn, San Francisco Giants
If you want to be a contrarian, you'll want to consider Keaton Winn. Yes, he's pitching in Coors Field, which is already a bad look.
However, he's also in line to face a Rockies lineup with a .133 ISO and wOBA of .297 with nearly 30% of strikeouts against lefties since last season.
This projected lineup has also walked only 6% of the time and has just one batter hitting an ISO above .160 since last season.
That's Ryan McMahon, a left-handed hitter. Winn has held lefties to a .088 ISO and wOBA of .224, with 58.5% ground balls and 14.6% fly balls.
Winn has added more than 60% of ground balls this season. That should help in Coors Field.
Recommended MLB DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
- San Francisco Giants (5.5), vs. Colorado Rockies
- Cincinnati Reds (4.5, +110) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Core MLB DFS Hitters
TJ Friedl, OF, Elly De La Cruz, SS, Mike Ford, 1B, Will Benson, OF, Jake Fraley, OF, Cincinnati Reds
All reports indicate that the Reds-Diamondbacks game will eventually play. There IS a risk to playing these guys. So keep that in mind.
But ultimately, you won't want to play many bats against Logan Gilbert and Pablo Lopez, so you're stuck with this game and the Rockies-Giants matchup for bats.
That said, the Reds have an appealing matchup against Slade Cecconi. The right-handed pitcher has allowed a .241 ISO to 31 lefties and has only struck out 19.4% of lefty batters.
Meanwhile, Cecconi allowed a .232 ISO and wOBA of .320 last season with nearly 42% of fly balls and only 35.4% of ground balls induced.
The Reds lefties certainly have potential today.
Since last season, TJ Friedl has an ISO of .199 with a wOBA of .335 and just 15.8% of strikeouts against righties. Elly De La Cruz has the most power potential against Cecconi, with an ISO of .244 and wOBA of .361 since last season.
Jake Fraley has also smashed a .180 ISO and wOBA of .353 against righties since last season. He's also struck out just 20.2% of the time against righties.
Mike Ford is also a lefty who dominates lefties. In his last 226 plate appearances, he's hit a .266 ISO and wOBA of .344 against righties.
Finally, since last season, Will Benson has smacked a .242 ISO and wOBA of .381 against righties.
The Reds are easily the best stack on the board.
Jung Hoo Lee, OF, LaMonte Wade, 1B, Michael Conforto, OF, Mike Yastrzemski, OF
Although Cal Quantril has been better recently, he's still allowed an ISO of .159 to his first 76 lefties.
In addition, the Colorado starter has struck out just 14.5% of lefties and has allowed 25.4% of line drives. That's not ideal in Coors Fields.
While Jung Hoo Lee doesn't have much power, he's still hit a wOBA of .311 with just 7.5% of strikeouts against righties this season.
Meanwhile, LaMonte Wade has hit a .161 ISO and wOBA of .367 against righties since last season. Wade has also struck out only 19% of the time.
Other lefties who can do damage include Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski. Since last season, Conforto has hit a .154 ISO and wOBA of .327 against righties, while Yastrezmski has hit a .216 ISO and wOBA of .342.
The lefties look good in this lineup, especially knowing Quantril gave up a .201 ISO and wOBA of .376 to lefties last season.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Logan Gilbert  $10,900 |  Ryan Jeffers $3,500 |  Christian Walker $3,600 |  Ketel Marte $3,500 |  Ryan McMahon $3,700 |  Elly De La Cruz $4,500 | Brenton Doyle $3,600 |
| Hunter Greene $9,400 | Spencer Steer $3,400 | ||||||
 Michael Conforto $3,400 | |||||||
| Julio Rodríguez $3,300 | |||||||
| Medium | Pablo López $9,200 | Cal Raleigh $3,000 |  LaMonte Wade $3,100 | Thairo Estrada $3,200 | Matt Chapman $3,100 | Willi Castro $3,000 | Charlie Blackmon $3,200 |
| Jung Hoo Lee $3,200 | |||||||
| Lourdes Gurriel $3,000 | |||||||
| Corbin Carroll $3,000 | |||||||
| Mike Yastrzemski $3,000 | |||||||
| Mitch Haniger $3,000 | |||||||
| Low | Keaton Winn $7,700 | Mitch Garver $2,700 |  Jonathan India $2,700 | Jeimer Candelario $2,600 | Leo Rivas $2,200 |  Joc Pederson $2,800 | |
| Will Benson $2,800 | |||||||
| Jake Fraley $2,800 | |||||||
| Luke Raley $2,500 | |||||||
| TJ Friedl $2,600 | |||||||
| Austin Martin $2,500 |
Stacks
| Reds | Will Benson | Elly De La Cruz | TJ Friedl | Jake Fraley | Mike Ford |
 DraftKings | 4000 | 6000 | 4400 | 4100 | 3000 |
| Fanduel | 2800 | 4500 | 2600 | 2800 | - |
| Giants | LaMonte Wade | Mike Yastrzemski | Jung Hoo Lee | Michael Conforto |
| DraftKings | 4100 | 3800 | 4800 | 5300 |
| Fanduel | 3100 | 3000 | 3200 | 3400 |
Player News
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that Zach Eflin (lat) is likely to return and start Sunday against the Angels
It was assumed that Eflin would be back this weekend, but now we have a concrete date. The 31-year-old may not be at full strength after throwing fewer than 60 pitches in his rehab start, but the Orioles feel confident enough to have the right-hander back on the bump for the series finale against the Angels.
Riley Greene is not in the lineup for the first game of a doubleheader against the Rockies on Thursday.
Greene will get a break and likely return to the lineup for the second game of the twin-billing. Zach McKinstry will get the start in left field while Greene rests.
Yu Darvish (elbow) is facing live hitters on Thursday.
Darvish has been throwing bullpen sessions and traveled to the team’s complex in Arizona to face live hitters on Thursday. It will be his first time facing live batters since a spring training appearance on March 13th. He will likely need a few sessions like this before the Padres can map out a rehab appearance timeline for him.
Adael Amador is starting at second base and batting ninth for the Rockies on Thursday.
Amador has now started three of the last four games at second base for the Rockies. He’s gone just 7-for-43 this season with 15 strikeouts in 16 games. He’s just 22 years old, so there is plenty of time for him to adjust to the MLB level, but he doesn’t need to be on redraft radars right now.
Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting second for the Orioles on Thursday against the Twins.
With Cedric Mullins sitting out on Thursday, Gunnar Henderson will bat lead off, and Holliday will jump up from sixth in the order to second. Holliday is riding a hot streak right now, and the Orioles are taking advantage. This is likely just a one-game sample with no Mullins or Adley Rutschman in the lineup, but Rutschman has been struggling, so perhaps it could become a more permanent spot in the lineup for Holliday moving forward.
Endy Rodriguez (finger) had his splint removed this week.
Rodriguez suffered a lacerated right index finger on April 14th. Now that he is out of his splint, he “is playing catch and doing a slightly modified swing.” Once he can progress to taking full swings, we’ll have a better sense of the timeline for his return.