Matt Olson MLB Picks At Sleeper Today, 5/17: Baseball Projections
The Saturday MLB slate brings us a full 15 games and another strong opportunity to win some money on Sleeper Fantasy with our MLB DFS pick ’em picks!
With seven of the 15 games sitting with a 9-runs or more game total, we’re expecting some serious offensive output and with hurlers on the mound like Kyle Gibson, German Marquez and even Reds' primary Chase Petty on the mound, we’re expecting some fireworks. But don’t worry, guys like Zack Wheeler will help keep things in check as well. Let’s dive in and see what looks good for our MLB pick ‘em picks today.
Sleeper Fantasy Picks for Saturday, May 17: MLB DFS Projections
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Matt Olson Sleeper Fantasy MLB Pick: More Than 0.5 Hits (1.34x)
He’s been a little inconsistent at the dish, but I’ll happily invest in Olson and his ability to put the hurt on a mediocre hurler like Lucas Giolito. Yes, that’s right – mediocre. The guy’s popularity is based on name-recognition alone these days and I’ll focus more on the .362 wOBA lefty bats are posting against him so far.
It’s been a tough road against righties for Olson through the first month of the season, but his .370 career wOBA and even his BvP against Giolito – 5-for-10 with three home runs – has me thinking he comes up with at least one hit today.
Carmen Mlodzinski Sleeper Fantasy MLB Pick: More Than 2.5 Earned Runs Allowed (1.55x)
While the Pirates' righthander has settled down a bit and hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in each of his last three starts, we’re going to use a tough Phillies lineup against him today. The Phillies have outstanding plate discipline, posting a strikeout rate under 20-percent against righties, but, more importantly, they have the second-highest walk rate (10.4-percent) against them as well.
Now, Mlodzinski throws strikes and doesn’t walk a ton of guys; he’s likely to be careful with this lineup and that could get him in trouble, particularly with some of the left-handed bats. I’m looking at the Phillies team total with a -160 for over 4.5 runs and feel like most, if not all, should come early against the righthander.
Total Multiplier: 2.07x
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Player News
Twins acquired RHP Noah Davis from the Dodgers for cash considerations.
Davis will head to Triple-A St. Paul as extra organizational relief depth for Minnesota heading into the second half. The 28-year-old righty was jettisoned from Los Angeles’ relief corps last week after getting torched for a surreal 10 runs over 1 1/3 innings against the Astros back on July 4. He’ll operate in middle relief for the Twins, if he makes it back to the big leagues again this season.
Marlins designated C Rob Brantly for assignment.
Brantly has been on the shelf since late April recovering from a lat strain in his right shoulder. The 36-year-old journeyman backstop figures to pass through waivers and elect free agency unless he decides to stick around as emergency organizational depth/
Diamondbacks optioned RHP Juan Morillo to Triple-A Reno.
Morillo was torched for four runs on five hits over his lone inning of work on Saturday against the Angels. The 26-year-old righty has posted a pedestrian 4.94 ERA and 28/16 K/BB ratio across 27 1/3 innings (31 appearances) this season. The Diamondbacks will make a corresponding roster move following the All-Star break.
Jeremy Peña (rib) told reporters he’s progressed to light hitting, fielding and running.
Peña added that he doesn’t have an exact return timeline yet, but believes he’s moving in the right direction. The 27-year-old is at the Midsummer Classic for the first time in his career, but won’t play in Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Truist Park as he recovers from a fractured rib that he suffered in late June. There should be a clearer return timetable once he begin ramping up baseball activities after the break.
Grant Hartwig has signed a contract with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseaball.
Hartwig heads overseas after making 32 relief appearances for the Mets since 2023. The 27-year-old righty posted a strong 29 percent strikeout rate this season for Triple-A Syracuse, but never wound up getting the call back to New York. He was cut loose earlier this month to pursue a more lucrative opportunity over in Japan.
The Athletic’s Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal report that a sale of the Rays has been agreed to in principal to sell the franchise to a group led by Patrick Zalupski for roughly $1.7 billion.
Drellich and Rosenthal add that the finalized sale is expected to be completed as early as September and that the Zalupski group plans to keep the club in the greater Tampa area with a preference for Tampa over St. Petersburg. It’s the first change in ownership for the franchise since Stuart Sternberg purchased the club for $200 million back in 2004.