MLB DFS Playbook May 29: Top Plays for DraftKings and FanDuel
Published: May 29, 2023
Happy Memorial Day! Whatever way you are getting to celebrate it, hopefully it will include getting to enjoy some baseball and building a winning daily fantasy lineup. For Memorial Day, we get a 6-game slate kicking off at 1:05 PM EST on both DraftKings and FanDuel. With an early slate, make sure you get those lineups set in time! This should be an exciting set of 6 games today with a good range of pitchers on the slate of some exciting ones to put in your lineup as well as some to target for your offenses. There is also a range of offenses on the other side, with some weak offenses to target with your pitchers and some strong ones to stack. This allows us no shortage of ways to build a winning lineup, so let’s dive into the playbook to help you cash today, whether you are playing cash games or 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 29
MLB Weather Updates
Thunderstorms at the Minnesota Twins vs Houston Astros game kicking off at 4:10 PM; keep an eye on it as game time approaches.
DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
Nathan Eovaldi highlights today’s pitchers, and while he may not seem like a big name at the top, he sure has been pitching like an ace this year. Beyond Eovaldi, there are some good pitchers to target today, between Sonny Gray, Taj Bradley, Tyler Wells, Marcus Stroman, and J.P. France, but that is the entirety of pitchers I would trust today. My favorite two from that list can be found below. On the hitting side, my favorite offenses to target are the St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Baltimore Orioles.
Recommended DFS Starting Pitchers
Top Options for Strikeouts
Nathan Eovaldi vs Detroit Tigers
Marcus Stroman vs Tampa Bay Rays
Best Odds for a Win
Adam Wainwright vs Kansas City Royals
Ryne Nelson vs Colorado Rockies
Nathan Eovaldi vs Detroit Tigers
Tyler Wells vs Cleveland Guardians
Favorite Starters to Use for DFS Lineups
Nathan Eovaldi is coming off his second complete game of the year. In his last 5 starts, he has thrown 9 innings twice, was one out short of 9 innings in another, and threw 8 innings and 7 innings in the other two. He has also only given up 4 earned runs over that span. He also put up 12 strikeouts in one of those games against the Oakland Athletics. Getting to face the Detroit Tigers today, he should be able to put up another high strikeout game and is definitely the best pitcher on the slate today.
Tyler Wells, Baltimore Orioles
Tyler Wells is my second favorite pitcher on the slate today. He has been pitching well, getting at least 7 strikeouts in each of his last 3 starts. I think this is a good matchup today against the Cleveland Guardians, where he should be able to excel. Cleveland has the second-lowest OPS against right-handed pitchers at .634, so this should be an easy matchup for Wells to keep up his quality pitching, and is at a very reasonable price.
Recommended DFS Hitters
Highest Expected Run Totals
St. Louis Cardinals vs Josh Staumont
Arizona Diamondbacks vs Karl Kauffman
Kansas City Royals vs Adam Wainwright
Favorite Hitters to Use for DFS Lineups
I am back again hitting the Jonah Heim vs lefties drum. I will quit doing it once he is appropriately priced, but so far, every time he is facing a left-hander, he is clearly the best catcher to play. He still has a 1.019 against left-handed pitching and should have no problem continuing to crush Matthew Boyd today.
Yandy Diaz has been incredible this season. He is slashing .325/.429/.619 this season for the Rays and already has 12 home runs this season, just two short of a career-high for him. He has 3 home runs in his last 8 games and should be able to keep up his strong season against Marcus Stroman today.
Ryan McMahon, 3B Colorado Rockies
Ryan McMahon is coming off a 3 hit game, including a home run along with a walk, 5 RBIs, and 3 runs. That was his third straight game with a home run, and he has 8 hits in his last 4 games. This has been quite a tear for McMahon, and I think he will continue it even outside of Coors. He gets to face Ryne Nelson today, which should be a good matchup for him.
Corbin Carroll, OF Arizona Diamondbacks
Karl Kauffman is probably the easiest pitcher on the slate to target today, and the lefties on the Arizona Diamondbacks should have a great chance to have big games. Corbin Carroll will certainly be a part of that, as he has been incredible so far in his rookie campaign. With an .860 OPS as well as 7 home runs and 14 stolen bases already Corbin Carroll has been living up to expectations for the Diamondbacks and I love him in this matchup today.
Player Pool
| $ Tier | SP | C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High |  Nathan Eovaldi  $11,200 |  Yandy DÃaz $4,100 | Marcus Semien $4,200 | Josh Jung $3,600 | Corey Seager $4,000 | Josh Lowe $4,000 | |
 Sonny Gray $10,200 |  Corbin Carroll $3,500 | ||||||
| Taj Bradley $9,900 | Lourdes Gurriel $3,500 | ||||||
| Medium |  Tyler Wells $9,700 | Jonah Heim $3,400 |  Christian Walker $3,300 | Brandon Lowe $2,900 | Nolan Arenado $3,400 |  Bobby Witt $3,300 | Randal Grichuk $3,000 |
 Marcus Stroman $10,000 |  Seiya Suzuki $3,300 | ||||||
| J.P. France $8,200 | Lars Nootbaar $3,400 | ||||||
| Low |  Luke Raley $2,900 |  Ryan McMahon $2,600 |  Patrick Wisdom $3,100 |  Tommy Edman $3,000 | Charlie Blackmon $2,900 | ||
 Steven Kwan $2,900 | |||||||
 Edward Olivares $2,800 |
Stacks
| Orioles | Austin Hays | Anthony Santander | Cedric Mullins |
 DraftKings | 3700 | 4200 | 5200 |
| Fanduel | 2800 | 3300 | 3900 |
| Rangers | Josh Jung | Jonah Heim |
| DraftKings | 4900 | 4300 |
| Fanduel | 3600 | 3400 |
| Cardinals | Paul Goldschmidt | Nolan Gorman | Lars Nootbaar | Nolan Arenado |
| DraftKings | 5400 | 4800 | 4200 | 4800 |
| Fanduel | 3900 | 3800 | 3400 | 3400 |
| Rays | Wander Franco | Randy Arozarena | Yandy DÃaz | Brandon Lowe |
| DraftKings | 5100 | 5700 | 4700 | 4900 |
| Fanduel | 4000 | 4000 | 4100 | 2900 |
| Diamondbacks | Lourdes Gurriel | Corbin Carroll | Christian Walker |
| DraftKings | 4300 | 5100 | 4400 |
| Fanduel | 3500 | 3500 | 3300 |