MLB DFS Playbook May 28: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: May 28, 2023
Happy Sunday! It should be a great day for baseball and a great day to make some cash with our daily fantasy lineups. Today we have an 8-game main slate kicking off at 1:35 PM EST on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Plenty of exciting games are happening around the league, including Gerrit Cole taking the mound for the New York Yankees against the San Diego Padres and Yu Darvish. There is also what should be another exciting pitching duel happening in the Chicago White Sox vs Detroit Tigers game, with Dylan Cease facing Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound. Beyond those matchups, there should be a lot of offense happening around the league, with a lot of lower-end pitchers on the mound beyond those four. There are some great ways to build your DFS lineups today to make some money, whether you are playing cash games or in gpp tournaments. Be sure to check in with our MLB DFS Tools, with the daily MLB projections, MLB DFS rostership projections, and our MLB DFS Lineup Generator when building those lineups today to help you decide which players you should be targeting!
MLB DFS Playbook May 28
MLB Weather Updates
None
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
There are a lot fewer big-name pitchers taking the mound today. Gerrit Cole leads the charge as the top pitcher of the slate, but you do have to pay up for him. I personally like some of the other pitching options that are a lot more affordable. On the hitting side, I think there are quite a few offenses that are worth looking at today, with a lot of lower-end pitchers taking the mound. My favorite offenses to target today are the St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants, and Chicago Cubs. There are quite a few others that are worth taking a look at today as well.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
MacKenzie Gore vs Kansas City Royals
Gerrit Cole vs San Diego Padres
Yu Darvish vs New York Yankees
Eduardo Rodriguez vs Chicago White Sox
Best Odds for a Win
Gerrit Cole vs San Diego Padres
Jordan Montgomery vs St. Louis Cardinals
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Eduardo Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers
Eduardo Rodriguez has continued his fantastic season, getting another 9 strikeouts in his last outing against the Kansas City Royals. Today he faces the Chicago White Sox, which is obviously a tougher challenge than the Royals. Still, E-Rod has been so solid this season that I am not worried about him being able to rise up to the challenge and put up another great outing in this matchup.
Dylan Cease, Chicago White Sox
I am taking the other side of the Detroit Tigers vs Chicago White Sox game today. The Tigers are always a great offense to target, and I think last year’s AL Cy Young runner-up will be able to tear them apart today. Dylan Cease has not been at the top of his game lately. He only has 3 strikeouts in each of his last two starts, but he is talented enough that I think it is only a matter of time before he regains his dominance, and I am going to take the shot that it is today against the Tigers.
Jordan Montgomery, St Louis Cardinals
Jordan Montgomery is my favorite value pitcher for the day, being priced way too low. Montgomery only made it 4 innings in his last start giving up 4 earned runs and striking out 4. That was in Cincinnati, which is one of the best hitters’ parks in the league, so I am not going to hold that start against him. He should be able to handle the Cleveland Guardians today, and is priced far too low.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
Baltimore Orioles vs Cody Bradford
St. Louis Cardinals vs Hunter Gaddis
San Francisco Giants vs Colin Rea
Toronto Blue Jays vs Bailey Ober
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
Joey Meneses, 1B Washington Nationals
Joey Meneses was one of my value plays yesterday, and he only had one walk and nothing else. I am going to double down and dive back in today. He has been hitting the ball great of late and gets an even easier matchup today getting to face Daniel Lynch. He is a great cheap option, and before no hits yesterday, he had 10 hits in 5 games, so I am going to bet on him jumping back on the hit train today.
Nolan Gorman, 2B St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals have been playing great baseball lately and today, against Hunter Gaddis, they should be able to put up plenty of runs. Nolan Gorman has also been a great hitter all season. He has 7 home runs in May and has a .981 OPS on the year. He is quickly becoming one of the best hitting second basemen in the league, and he is easily my favorite second baseman on the slate today.
Carlos Correa, SS Minnesota Twins
I get that Correa had a slow start to the season, but there is no reason he should still be as cheap as he is. In his last 10 games, he is slashing .297/.435/.459 and has been one of the best hitters in the league for quite a while now, so I am going to trust that the slow start was only a slow start, and he will continue to hit well. He got the day off yesterday and should be back in the heart of the lineup today, getting to face Jose Berrios, who we know is always at risk of giving up a big game.
Seiya Suzuki has the 10th highest OPS in the league in the month of May at 1.029. Suzuki has been such a good hitter when healthy since coming to the major leagues, and I don’t really understand how his price isn’t higher in this matchup today. Graham Ashcraft has been really bad as of late. He has given up 26 runs in his last 4 starts, and until he figures it out, I am going to be happy to target him. The Cubs and Suzuki should be a good place to go for today’s slate.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Gerrit Cole  $11,100 | Paul Goldschmidt $3,900 |  Marcus Semien $4,200 |  Nolan Arenado $3,400 | Corey Seager $4,000 |  Christopher Morel $4,400 |
 Cedric Mullins $4,000 | ||||||
 Byron Buxton $3,600 | ||||||
| Medium |  Eduardo Rodriguez $9,600 |  Joey Meneses $2,900 | Nolan Gorman $3,800 |  Patrick Wisdom $2,900 |  Bobby Witt $3,300 |  Seiya Suzuki $3,300 |
 Dylan Cease $9,500 |  Luis Robert $3,500 | |||||
 Alex Cobb $9,300 |  Michael Conforto $3,300 | |||||
| Low | Jordan Montgomery $8,500 | Matt Carpenter $2,600 | Brendan Donovan $2,700 | DJ LeMahieu $2,800 | Carlos Correa $2,900 |  George Springer $3,100 |
| Drew Smyly $8,700 | Joey Gallo $3,000 | |||||
| Riley Greene $2,900 |
Stacks
| Rangers | Nathaniel Lowe | Marcus Semien | Corey Seager |
 DraftKings | 4300 | 5800 | 5400 |
| Fanduel | 3200 | 4200 | 4000 |
| Orioles | Austin Hays | Adley Rutschman | Cedric Mullins |
| DraftKings | 3500 | 4900 | 5300 |
| Fanduel | 2800 | 3300 | 4000 |
| Cardinals | Paul Goldschmidt | Nolan Gorman | Brendan Donovan | Nolan Arenado | Paul DeJong |
| DraftKings | 5500 | 4700 | 2600 | 5100 | 3600 |
| Fanduel | 3900 | 3800 | 2700 | 3400 | 3800 |
| Twins | Alex Kirilloff | Carlos Correa | Joey Gallo | Byron Buxton | Edouard Julien |
| DraftKings | 3300 | 4300 | 4000 | 5600 | 2700 |
| Fanduel | 2900 | 2900 | 3000 | 3600 | 2500 |
| Blue Jays | George Springer | Bo Bichette | Vladimir Guerrero |
| DraftKings | 4700 | 5000 | 5300 |
| Fanduel | 3100 | 3700 | 3800 |
| Cubs | Christopher Morel | Seiya Suzuki | Ian Happ |
| DraftKings | 5700 | 4000 | 4100 |
| Fanduel | 4400 | 3300 | 2900 |
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.