MLB DFS Value Vault May 13: Eduardo Rodriguez Bounces Back
It's Friday, so that means another weekend of MLB DFS baseball and back to full-size fantasy baseball slates. We have 13 games on tap tonight on all three sites – DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo. It is our job to go through every MLB game today and find those fantasy baseball sleepers and diamonds in the rough that will put your MLB daily fantasy lineup in the green. If you want to roster Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, or Manny Machado, then those value plays will come in handy for your MLB DFS lineups today. One game we'll be looking at is the Detroit Tigers vs. Baltimore Orioles. We have a lot to offer at DFS Alarm besides value plays, so be sure to check out all of our tools before you finalize your daily fantasy baseball lineups. That includes the MLB weather report, MLB daily lineups page, MLB daily projections, and much more! So, let’s get this Value Vault open and see who some of the MLB DFS top plays are for Friday, May 13th.
MLB DFS Value Pitchers
$7.1K DK / $7.2K FD / $37 Yahoo
The former Red Sox SP has made six starts for the Tigers this season and is 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 1.16 WHIP, 31 strikeouts, and 11 walks. Eduardo Rodriguez's four-seamer, which is averaging 92 mph and down a little in velocity, is still his “out pitch” and he is holding opposing hitters to a .175 average and .250 slugging. Tonight, he is home with the wind blowing in at Comerica Park (pitcher-friendly) and may be in line for his first win of the season. He faces the Orioles, who are striking out 27.9% against LHP with a 13.2 SwStr% and .102 ISO.
$5.4K DK / 7.9K FD / $33 Yahoo
Jordan Lyles has now made two straight quality starts and has at least 18 fantasy points in three of his last four starts. He has lasted at least 4.2 innings in every start this season and the veteran righty has probably the best matchup of the slate against the Detroit Tigers. Against RHP, the Tigers have a league-worst .084 team ISO and .290 slugging percentage and second-worst .567 OPS; .261wOBA and 72 wRC+. Lyles can implode at any moment but still, his price and matchup make him viable if multi-entering in tournaments tonight.
MLB DFS Value Hitters
$2.6K DK / $2.7K FD
Brad Miller is in a great spot tonight against right-hander Nick Pivetta and the Red Sox. Miller has turned into a platoon specialist and has really heated up over the last week. He now has home runs in back-to-back games and is 7-for-18 (.389) over the last week with three home runs and seven RBI. Since the start of 2021, Miller has a .225 ISO with 49.3% hard contact against right-handers. Tonight he faces Pivetta, who has a 4.53xFIP along with a 39.6% hard contact and 42% flyball rates. Pivetta is also in the bottom 4% of the league with a 93.2 exit velocity and 115.7 Max EV. Miller will be in many cash lineups tonight.
$3.2K DK / $2.7K FD / $10 Yahoo
Mark Canha is another hitter in a solid spot tonight. He is coming off a 3-for-4 game yesterday with a solo home run, three RBI, and a couple of runs scored. Canha’s slash on the season is .313/.376/.398 with a .774 OPS and his wOBA is sitting at .350 (the second-highest of his career). Tonight, he gets a matchup with lefty Marco Gonzales and the Mariners. Gonzales has always struggled against right-handed batters and this season is no different. He has an xFIP of 5.65 and is not missing many bats with a 14.3% strikeout rate. Against the right side, Gonzales is allowing a .259 ISO/.335wOBA with high 40% hard contact and 48.8% flyball rates. Canha is viable in all formats tonight.
$3.6K DK / $2.8K FD
Even though Max Kepler has been hitting more and more against left-handed pitching, he is still considered a good platoon hitter in my opinion. Going back to the start of last season, Kepler has a .224 ISO with 42% hard contact against RHP and should be hitting cleanup when he has the splits advantage. He already has five home runs on the season and his XSLG (.557) and XwOBA (.404) are both top 10% in the league. Tonight, he faces Aaron Civale and his bad 5.71xFIP. Civale is getting hit hard (42% hard contact) and is not keeping the ball on the ground – as evidenced by his 46.3% flyball rate. Against righties, Kepler has 21 home runs with a .230 ISO over his last 150 games and three bombs over his last 20 games with a .238 ISO/.381wOBA.
$3.9K DK / $2.7K FD / $14 Yahoo
Why is Austin Meadows sub-4K on DK and sub-3K on FD against a righty? Highway robbery if you ask me! He has been a righty-killer since day one and he gets a great matchup tonight against Jordan Lyles. Meadows has a .267 ISO/.365wOBA with a 48.6% flyball and 41.9% hard contact against RHP. Over his last 150 games, he has 22 home runs with a 145.5wRC+ and is averaging over two FP per plate appearance. Even though Lyles has had a solid past couple of starts, he still historically gets raked by left-handed bats to the tune of a .231 ISO/.349wOBA and won’t miss bats (16.2% K rate). I have made a DFS career out of playing Meadows against righties and won’t stop tonight.
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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.